So tonight ESPN airs how the final 18 players go down to the final 9 in this years WSOP. I know 2 of the 9 players that make up the final table, but it will still be intriguing to see who the other 7 players are. I love the new format that the WSOP developed last year. After playing for 8 straight days, the final 9 get to take a couple of months off, rest up, learn their opponents, get sponsorship and get some much needed insight from the world's best.
If I played poker for 8 straight days, other than being in heaven, I'd be exhausted. I'd hate to think that I misread my opponent costing me $8 million after surviving 6000+ players because of exhaustion. When the tournament was under 1000 players and you only played for 4 days in a row, there was no need for a break.
Learning your players, watching the tape of them and asking around for insight about the other 8 is very, very important. Just because you made the final 9, don't go home and celebrate by buying a new house and car. Get to work. There is a big, huge, gigantic difference between 1 million and 9th place and 8 million, 1st place and countless endorsements later. Who came in 9th last year?? Who cares? I know Peter Eastgate won last year and I will always know that from here on in. Learn how they play or if anyone has picked up on a tell. Study every hand that was filmed for TV and see how they played while ahead in a hand or behind or when they didn't know where they were. See what cards they like raising with or flat calling. See how many times they stay in a hand on a draw. Can you bet them out? Can you bluff them? There is so much to be learned.
Getting sponsorship is important if you are short on chips. If you don't think your chances to win the whole thing is high, then put as many stupid patches on you clothes as you can. Get the money up front. Soak in the limelight as much as possible. If you have a ton of chips then get what you can get and get out. You'll be on television longer and if you win it all, you can pick your sponsors later and for much more money.
Next hire a pro to help you fix your game. Pay him to watch you in a tournament. Have him videotape every hand of yours. Go back study your tape. Make sure you are not revealing anything. Figure out a way to do the same thing every hand. If you bet with your right hand when you're bluffing and your left hand when you have the nuts, you'll see that on film. If you touch your face on a bluff, you'll see that. Nobody is going to reveal to you your tell, so the only way to figure it out by watching film. Then there's the strategy of hands, the more you know...well you know how that goes.
Good luck to the final 9, I hope to see you there one year.
Shifting gears back to fantasy football. Now is the best time of the year to pull off trades. The studs and duds have emerged. Bye Weeks are almost over. You as an owner know your team strengths and weaknesses. There is no reason to be carrying a stud on the bench. You either make a run for the money or you get left behind. If you pull off a great deal to bolster your team for a playoff run and an injury happens, tough luck. Better to have tried and failed then to never have tried in the first place.
The common factor I have in all of my leagues is a glutton of running backs with shoddy quarterback play. I banked on Kurt Warner having yet another MVP-esque year, but it hasn't happened. I have been fortunate to have 2 good starting running backs and my 3rd string running back become the fantasy sleeper of the year. Cedric Benson has defied all the odds and become a must start #1 back. Look at what he did against the Ravens earlier this year. Go ahead...look...I'll wait.
In my other league Jay Cutler had a strong start (after Week 1) but has flamed out in recent weeks. I have Ray Rice, Thomas Jones, Pierre Thomas, Clinton Portis and Johnathan Stewart to work with and have pulled off a trade sending my #4 and #5 backs in return for Donovan McNabb. He may not be the best quarterback, but his team is a throwing team and will be a definite upgrade over Cutler. The bears will run more and more as the weather gets colder, but Andy Reid refuses to run even up big (watch the film from last week vs. the Giants).
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