Respect Your Edler
In case you haven’t heard, nice guys finish last. Or at least that’s how the cliché goes.
In the years since the poker boom began, fans of the game have been treated to an endless number of characters and villains who seem to get the bulk of TV time.
Whether it’s Mike Matusow crying about his latest bad beat, Phil Hellmuth berating an opponent for outdrawing him, or Tony G threatening to deport his opponent, the glory seems to go to the guys who make a name for themselves with their mouths. The only problem is that nobody ever bothered to tell Bill Edler, a player widely recognized as the nicest guy on the professional circuit who just happens to be the winner of the 2007 BLUFF Magazine Player-of-the-Year award.
As 2007 progressed, all the 43-yearold law school graduate did was win. And smile. And win again. And smile again. And win some more. And smile some more. By the time the year was over, Edler had $2.7 million in tournament winnings, three tournament titles, and the respect of the poker community as one of the games best – and nicest.
“I had a terrific year; I’m obviously very happy with the results. I love tournament poker – I think it really suits my personality,” said Edler as he reflected on 2007. “When you play as many tournaments as we do, no matter who you are, you’re going to do a lot of losing. That’s just the nature of tournament poker, but it was obviously well worth it.”
The run to the Player-of-the-Year title began for Edler at the Winter Poker Open last January at the Borgata in
In February Edler saw his hot play continue and, while it helped his bank account, it didn’t help him win POY. He entered and won a $10,000 buy-in event in
Championship at the
“That was a tough field, very similar to the NBC Heads-Up field, but without the celebrities,” said Edler. “But I don’t think it was the toughest field I played in. Most of, if not all of, those players, as well as some other very tough players, were in other tournaments I played in. But on average I guess, that was probably the toughest field.”
In the first round Edler made quick work of TV producer and respected poker pro Mori Eskandari before eliminating Kristy Gazes in the second round. His quarterfinal opponent, Brad Booth, suffered the same fate as Eskandari and Gazes; and before Edler knew it he was in the semi-finals. That’s where he met up with, and quickly defeated, local pro Jose Tavarez. Edler then took down the title by defeating Barry Greenstein in the best two-out-of-three final.
Despite the all-star field and steep buy-in, the 64-player field fell short of the 100-player minimum required to earn points for POY. Still, the win was a sign of a growing momentum for Edler and, while the event may not have immediately earned a ton of attention, he certainly felt it was a sign of things to come.
“I had a run of near misses early on. The finishes at Borgata, a fourth and a thirteenth, and then I got to LA for the heads-up event and won that,” said Edler. You’d think winning $215,000 would give a man a reason to rest, but for professional poker players there is no off season; and so Edler went right back to work in March and continued his strong play.
Rather than rack up easy money in the smaller buy-in preliminary events, the “nice guy” decided to be at his best with the most on the line. The World Poker Tour’s LA Poker Classic $10,000 buy-in Main Event at the Commerce Casino typically attracts the best players from
“To me, I swear, finishing sixth or seventh is a failure,” admits Edler. “That’s how I view tournament poker.”
Another such “failure” was just around the corner for Edler. The Bay 101 Shooting Stars, another WPT event, would give the nice guy his first WPT final table appearance. And despite his best efforts, Edler again failed, finishing sixth for a $160,000 payday.
“There are some guys on tour who would be really happy with two high finishes in back-to-back tournaments. I’d much rather win one and not cash in the next one than have those two high finishes – even if it means a little bit less money,” says Edler. “It’s not about the money, it’s about the competition.
“If you’re going to be playing poker for money, for a living, you should be playing cash games – there’s probably easier money there.”
As the seasons changed from spring to summer, the city of Las Vegas began to fill with thousands of players chasing the dream of a World Series of Poker bracelet. For any pro, the sign that he’s arrived is that piece of jewelry. Edler is no different and, despite how well the early months of 2007 went for him, the WSOP meant some struggles, at least early on. The first three weeks brought no cashes and no deep runs, but all that changed as June came to an end.
The $5,000 short-handed event is another tournament that, due to the high buy-in and the skill required to be successful, attracts the cream of the crop. Edler rose to the top of the 728-player field, and on June 30th he accomplished every poker player’s ultimate dream by capturing a WSOP bracelet.
“I’d had a horrible World Series until then, so winning the WSOP bracelet was the most special moment of the year,” admitted Edler. “I mean that’s one of the most important tournaments of the year. It’s the biggest buy-in short-handed event of the year and I think playing six-handed requires more poker skill. Every table there was a tough draw.
“I’m very proud of the way I played as well. Not to say I didn’t run good, because I did, but that’s a really tough field and a very important event,” said Edler, who started the final table as the shortest stack.
That final table included Gioi Luong, Dutch Boyd, Erik Friberg, and runner-up Alex Bolotin. The key hand of the final table came against Boyd. After moving his short stack all in on four of the first eleven hands and not getting called, Edler ran his A♦7♠ into Boyd’s pocket jacks. Boyd quickly called but was unable to dodge an ace. The hand eliminated Boyd and gave Edler enough chips to begin playing poker again.
Edler would capture the chip lead not long after this and never looked back. When heads-up play began, he had a 3-1 chip lead over Bolotin. The title and the bracelet would be Edler’s after outdrawing Bolotin’s A♥Q♠ with A♣10♠. The first-place prize of $904,672 pushed his yearly winnings to over $1.6 million.
Still, the start of the Main Event was only days away and, since he was playing well and full of confidence, Edler was in position for another deep run and maybe even another bracelet. As the 6,328-player field began to dwindle down to the elite few, there was Edler, still with chips, still smiling.
The nice guy would lose the smile midway through Day 6. Short stacked and needing to make a move, Edler pushed his chips in the middle with 10♥ and 9♣ and was called by the A♠K♠ of eventual world champion Jerry Yang. The board brought no help and Edler was eliminated in 23rd place. He may have viewed that as another failure, but the nice guy image came shining through again as he left the tournament area.
“I thought I had pocket tens,” Edler said at the time. “Just kidding.”
His World Series was over, but Edler had won his first bracelet and took home $1.2 million. Halfway through 2007, Edler was leading the BLUFF POY race and was enjoying the most success he’d had since he began touring professionally. But his year was far from over.
As September rolled around, the poker world shifted its focus to
“That was a big one for me to win,” admitted Edler. “I was really proud of the way I played. To win that one the way I won it, coming from being so short early in the tournament.”
“This might sound a little sheepish, but it was my tournament; every time I needed a hand I got it. I don’t believe in destiny, but that was my tournament.”
The win meant Edler had pulled off the rare feat of a WSOP bracelet and a WPT win in the same year and put another $747, 615 into his bank account. It also gave him a commanding lead on the BLUFF POY race with more than three months of play to go.
The win would be his last of 2007, though he would earn a few more POY points, not to mention dollars, in two more events in November. At the WPT’s North American Poker Championship Edler finished 21st, and he followed that up with a final table appearance and 9th place finish at the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge in
Despite a late charge by David Pham and Ted Lawson, the POY race was all but over and Edler had won it. Looking back at the year, Edler’s obviously very proud of what he accomplished and is happy that his game is progressing.
“I started playing in mid-2005 and won a couple of the Ultimate Poker Challenge events and that kept me interested,” said Edler. “In 2006 I started playing all of the bigger tourneys and I had a lot of cashes, a few fi nal tables. By the time 2007 rolled around, I was a much better player.
“Every time I got close (to winning) I’d gain more confidence, and eventually I realized that I belong. A lot of it is learning how to do play various stack sizes against various stack sizes with increasing blinds. I find that aspect really fascinating and interesting.”
And what of that personality that earned him the moniker of the nicest guy in poker?
“It’s a little silly really. There are lots of amazing people in poker and, if I’m in the same category, I find that really flattering. But that phrase is probably born of the fact that I’m pretty good friends with the media,” said Edler. “I mean, I try to be a nice guy and there’s nothing inconsistent there with being a good poker player.
“There’s nothing mean about bluffing,” joked Edler. “It’s part of the game. I try and play very aggressively though.”
Despite his well-polished nice guy image, Edler readily admits he’s lost his temper at the table more than once in his two-and-a-half-year career as a pro; only the manner in which it happens is little different from his opponents.
“I only ever really get angry at myself,” said Edler. “And it’s usually for a bad play or a stupid move. I’ll get disappointed, but I try to avoid negative emotions.”
Not only did he avoid those negative emotions in 2007, but he also avoided living up to that oh-so-tired cliché about nice guys. A World Series bracelet, a World Poker title, another win against an extremely tough field in
2007 Tournament Stats:
2007 Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge
Sunday, November 18, 2007
No Limit Hold'em Championship
$5,000 buy-in
9th place: $12,028
2007 North American Poker Championship
Friday, October 26, 2007
No-Limit Hold'em Championship
$10,500 buy-in
21st: $48, 633
2007
Thursday, September 06, 2007
WPT No Limit Hold'em Championship
$9,700 buy-in
1st: $747,615
2007 38th Annual World Series of Poker
Friday, July 06, 2007
World Championship No-Limit
$10,000 buy-in
23rd: $333,490
2007 38th Annual World Series of Poker
Thursday, June 28, 2007
No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed (Event 45)
$5,000 buy-in
1st: $904,672
2007 Bay 101 Shooting Star
Monday, March 12, 2007
WPT No Limit Hold'em Championship
$9,600 buy-in
6th: $160,000
2007 L.A Poker Classic
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Event #30 - WPT No Limit
Hold'em Championship
$9,600 buy-in
7th: $189,840
2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open
Friday, January 26, 2007
Event #10 - WPT No Limit
Hold'em Championship
$9,700 buy-in
13th: $55,387
2007 Borgata Winter Poker Open
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Event #9 - No Limit Hold'em
$5,000 buy-in
4th: $87,700
The Venetian Poker Room
We were lucky enough to shoot Bill Edler at the beautiful Venetian Poker Room. The facility features thirty-nine tables, five of which are situated in a high limit lounge, and another two that are in a VIP lounge with VIP amenities. Having over 10,000 square feet of poker action, they offer almost any game imaginable, with limits ranging from $2/$4 to $4,000/$8,000. They also have a number of great tournaments, including their popular Deep Stack Extravaganza Series, which is scheduled a few times each year. For more information, be sure to check out www.venetian.com, or call the poker room at 877.883.6423.
