This morning marked the start of play at the final table for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe’s Main Event. Of the nine players who ran the gauntlet of some of the best poker players in the world, perhaps no one was happier about the achievement than chip leader and Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman.
“For 3 days I told friends that I envisioned ending up at final table w/Ivey & Isildur,” Fleyshman Tweeted as the tournament played down to the final table last night. “Scratch that, I’m so glad they’re freaking gone!” Once he actually reached the final table, Fleyshman was looking to take the achievement one step further, Tweeting, “The only thing that sounds cooler then the WSOP Europe Main Event Final Table Chip leader is the WSOP Europe CHAMPION!”
Many in the poker world seem to be behind the Victory Poker CEO, with tournament director Matt Savage offering his congratulations by Tweeting, “Good Luck @DanFleyshman! You are a Playa now!” Victory Poker sponsored pro Antonio Esfandiari summed up the feelings of the stable by chirping, “Go @DanFleyshman wsope main event today… ONE time for the Victorypoker ceo.”
Giving some great insight into the inner workings of the tournament poker world were top poker journalists Benjo DiMeo and B.J. Nemeth. DiMeo has been in London for the WSOP Europe and observed from the sidelines over Twitter, “Full Tilt bounty hunter lurking in the shadows to stick logos on un-sponsored players. $$$ amount dependent on the stack size, obviously.”
Nemeth, fresh off his work at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Poker Open, gave his Twitter peeps a feel for the atmosphere prior to the start of final table play: “There is a surprisingly small crowd here to watch the #WSOPE final table. There isn’t a lot of room, but there is free space on the balcony. If Phil Ivey made it, I imagine the crowd would be at least twice as big. But I’m not sure Viktor Blom would have been much of a live draw.” Action will continue at the WSOP Europe Main Event today until a champion is crowned.
For those not involved with the WSOP Europe Main Event final table, the European Poker Tour (EPT) has taken center stage in London. “Playing the £5K HU EPT event at Hilton tomorrow at noon,” Tweeted Full Tilt Poker pro Annette Obrestad, although she wasn’t truly happy about it. “Gotta pack all my s**t and move hotels in the morning… yuck @ getting up early.” Scott Montgomery seemed to have a better outlook than his girlfriend, Tweeting, “First event of EPT London on Tuesday, 5k heads-up. Sweet!”
The recent record heat wave in California caught many poker pros by surprise as temperatures crept into the low 110s. “Los Angeles is on fire,” Joe Reitman observed over Twitter on Monday. “My band just had a rehearsal and my drummer burst into flames.” Former “Poker2Nite” host Scott Huff joked about the heat, Tweeting, “It is now 106 degrees in Beverly Hills. That’s 6 degrees from frying Kevin Bacon.” “Hollywood” Dave Stann enunciated his thoughts on the heat: “Thought I moved back here from Vegas to get away from this s**t. 113 degrees?” Then, “High Stakes Poker” hostess Kara Scott summed up the burst of heat with an accurate Tweet: “It’s too hot for any decision bigger than ‘mojitos or margaritas?’”
For the best Tweets of the past few days, we have to give Esfandiari props for his ruminations over Twitter. “Sitting in a park solo, people watching, thinking about life,” he opined. “Its an interesting thing this ‘life.’ Does it really end one day? Lights out?” In preparation for his trip to London for the EPT, David Williams wondered, “Downloaded the new Lil Wayne Album, I Am Not A Human Being, for the journey. How do you release new stuff when you’re in prison?” Finally, PokerStars pro Lex Veldhuis took up the job of movie critic in Tweeting, “Watched Clash of The Titans. Way to take an awesome myth and rape it into a new story that makes people want to stab their eyes out.”
