This week, “Inside Deal,” which airs on ESPN.com, welcomed World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Eric Buchman, who will hold the second largest chip stack when play resumes in November.
Talk of recent additions to the Caesars Cup teams opened the show, which is sponsored by PokerStars. Phil Hellmuth and John Juanda will join Team Americas, while Dario Minieri and Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier will become part of Team Europe. “Inside Deal” host and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Bernard Lee gave his take on the selections: “Daniel Negreanu was going to mold his team around team chemistry, solid heads-up play, and high-profile players.” Negreanu and Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad serve as team captains.
Discussion on “Inside Deal” then turned to Doyle Brunson’s Hall of Shame, which features Puggy Pearson, John “Doc” Holiday, Nick “Shoestring” Simpson, Nick Lanette, Stu Ungar, and Nick Vacchiano. Brunson unveiled his Hall of Shame in a recent blog post, with the only criteria for entry being that the person had to be deceased. Lanette earned his induction after biting a dealer’s ear off at the Stardust. “Inside Deal” host Bernard Lee was asked who he would add to the Hall of Shame, dead or alive. His nominee was Tony G, who berated Ralph Perry after eliminating him from the 2006 Intercontinental Poker Championship, among other incidents.
Results from the PokerStars Sunday Million, Asian Poker Tour (APT) Macau, European Poker Tour (EPT) Kiev, and Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge were displayed before Howard Lederer joined the show via satellite. On the young guns of poker, Lederer told “Inside Deal” hosts, “I feel like 2009 was really the true arrival of the internet player, the player who got started in 2004 and finally got enough live play under their feet.”
Lederer and sister Annie Duke were an integral part of the National Poker Week Fly-In, which took place last month in Washington, DC. On the future of legalized and regulated online poker in the United States, Lederer remarked, “A bit of it is timing and a bit of it is politics. The practical effect of [Congressman Barney Frank’s] bill is that there wouldn’t be any sports betting on the internet, but that doesn’t mean the professional leagues aren’t scared of it.” Lederer was one of a half-dozen high-profile players to turn out to the nation’s capital in an effort coordinated by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) to lobby for Frank’s bill.
Attention then turned to Buchman, who was asked how he was turned onto poker. The WSOP November Nine member responded, “My brother got me interested in it. We’d play in clubs in New York and go to Atlantic City.” He has a pair of runner-up showings in WSOP and WSOP Circuit tournaments, experience that he hopes to parlay into a bracelet in the 2009 Main Event: “Final table experience is invaluable when it comes to improving your game and performing under pressure.” Buchman will have three short-stacks to his left when play resumes in November.
ESPN Poker Editor Andrew Feldman, returning from a one-week vacation, asked Lee, “Inside Deal” host Laura Lane, and Buchman who they would add to the American and European Caesars Cup squads. Buchman noted that he’d add reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Huck Seed and Carlos Mortensen. Lee suggested Chris Ferguson and Gus Hansen. Lane threw out Erik Seidel and Vitaly Lunkin. Feldman told the cast that he’d add Lindgren to the U.S. team and Patrik Antonius to the European roster.
Viewer questions included whether Buchman would treat the final table as a continuation of play in July or as a new tournament. He responded, “The experience I have playing against these players and the footage I’ve seen on ESPN will help me get reads on players.” Many in the poker industry have questioned chip leader Darvin Moon’s experience. Buchman noted that, despite Moon’s lack of background on the felts, he is a formidable force: “He’s definitely a threat to win. He doesn’t have as much experience as everyone else, but he definitely can play.” In the end, Buchman predicted that he would be heads-up against Moon for the Main Event title.
“Inside Deal” is released every Tuesday on ESPN.com.