The Annual November Nine
We’re all about labels and judging books by their cover. So this exercise is an important one for the game. If, as poker players, we want to see the game continue to grow and reach new audiences, then we want our N9ers to embrace the role of potential future champion. Whether they like it or not, they are more or less the face of poker for the next year. They matter.
The formula here in judging Good, Bad, and Meh isn’t too complicated: if a member of the N9 will generally bring more people to the game and represent it in a positive light, then that person is most likely Good (think Chris Moneymaker). If that N9 member will do the opposite of what we just wrote in the previous sentence, then he’s Bad (think Peter Eastgate). And if said person won’t move the needle much either way, then he’s Meh (think Jerry Yang).
So we’re clear, if somebody is Bad for poker that doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy. For example, take Peter Eastgate. Nobody has ever said anything negative about his character as a person. But when you’re the youngest person to ever win the WSOP Main Event and turn down opportunities to promote the game on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (which he did) and do little in the corresponding year to promote poker’s growth overseas, then you’re Bad for poker.
Got it?
The below list is also not just our opinion, but those compiled by numerous industry types and players we met with as the Main Event was winding down.
So now, without further ado, here is your November Nine Good, Bad, and Meh for Poker list. Note that if Phil Ivey had not made the final table, 2009 would challenge 2007 as the biggest WSOP turd sandwich of a final table of all time.
MEH FOR POKER
Steve Begleiter:Are you excited about an ex-Bear Sterns executive in his fi fties winning the WSOP Main Event? Didn’t think so.
Kevin Schaffel:Another average-looking fi fty-something white guy, Schaffel lives in Florida and has no real desire to play poker full time. He’s this year’s Dan Nassif. Can somebody launch a Facebook fan page for this guy so we can immediately sign up?
James Akenhead:This one was the toughest for us to peg. Akenhead is a good young player from the UK. He looks exactly like you’d think a good young player from the UK. would look like (this isn’t really meant as a knock, but the guy looks British). In America, unless he shows up to the fi nal table with a naked Vikki Blows on his arm, he’s not moving the needle an inch. Maybe across the pond he’ll be a great ambassador, but we don’t know. Everyone we spoke with in the industry, including the players, didn’t really have an opinion either. So he goes in the Meh category for now. Our gut is the way ESPN presents him in their WSOP coverage will ultimately be the deciding factor. For his sake, hopefully he gets edited better than Wes from The Bachelorette.
BAD FOR POKER
Antoine Saout:Let’s put it like this: if Jerry Yang had a cousin who the family referred to as “the shy one”, we’d almost rather see him win than Saout.
Why? He’s from France. And eff France.
Seriously though, Saout may be a good guy, but unless we want an infl ux of dudes who don’t believe in deodorant but will still somehow manage to steal all of our ladies, this can’t be a good thing.
Eric Buchman:The guy is a straight-up mercenary who is only in it for the money. How do we know this? Because he’s said it in every interview he did leading up to and after the final table wrapped. He’s been on record saying that the thrill of winning the WSOP Main Event – poker’s most prestigious prize – means nothing to him, and that he’s only in it “for the money.” We appreciate the honesty, but it’s a jackass stance to take if you want to see the game grow.
Again, whether we like it or not, whoever wins the WSOP Main Event is the focal point of poker for a year. If Buchman wants no part of that, fine. It’s his right. But that doesn’t mean we should root for him either.
Darvin Moon:Of every N9er we asked our peers in the industry about, Darvin Moon caused the most amount of debate. Some argued he could be another Moneymaker. The problem with that is we’re not sure if Moon, who owns a small logging company in Oakland, Maryland, even knows what the Internet is.
Others we’ve spoken with say Moon could be the worst thing that ever happened to poker. He’s another one that really doesn’t care about the “celebrity” attached with winning poker’s biggest tournament.
However, we’ve heard this story before. Last year Dennis Phillips said the same thing. A year later he’s doing his own poker radio show, attends every single poker celebrity event that exists, and even was spotted on the final day of the Main Event trying to corner every player within arm’s reach to get them to sign deals with his sponsor, PokerStars.
So Phillips didn’t exactly shy away from the spotlight. (He’s done some good with the spotlight too, helping raise a lot of money for charity.)
Does Moon have a little bit of Dennis Phillips in him? [Shiver, let’s rephrase that] Can Moon be more like Dennis Phillips and embrace the poker community?
Early indications are clearly “no.” He never took a sponsorship deal (although we’d be shocked if he wasn’t wearing a PokerStars patch by the final table) and would’ve jetted out of town the day after the Main Event finished if it wasn’t for the media obligations. So for now, we’re keeping Moon in the Bad for poker column. We hope he’ll change our minds.
Jeff Shulman:His throwing the bracelet “in the garbage” comment was so disrespectful, we won’t spend too much time on him. We’ll just say that in a way, Shulman acting as the de facto heel of the final table will at least keep everyone in the poker industry talking about what he may or may not do if he does actually win, meaning that he’ll keep interest alive. But as almost everyone we’ve talked to agrees, a Shulman win would be like Ivan Drago pulling out a victory in Rocky IV: soul-crushing.
GOOD FOR POKER
Joe Cada:The general consensus among all in the industry is that a generally good-looking, talented, more or less cool 21-year-old Internet whiz kid winning the Main Event wouldn’t be a bad thing. Players respect his game (he’s not a luckbox like many think Moon is) and wouldn’t shy away from the press. Works for us.
Phil IVey:No real shocker here, right? Having the guy who almost everyone considers the best player in the game make it’s most prestigious fi nal table was a godsend for Jeffrey Pollack and Harrah’s, Matt Maranz and ESPN, and everyone who pulls the purse strings in poker.
This was huge.
If you were in the Rio Amazon Room as the Main Event whittled down to two tables, everyone understood how big Ivey making it would be. Like electricity or some other form of electrical current, the buzz was electric. While some people have argued that Ivey will probably shun the talk show circuit and other promotional opportunities, we say: 1) no he won’t, Ivey likes the fact that he’s Ivey and will relish it, and 2) and even if he does, it won’t matter, because the mass media will beat the “Phil Ivey is the Tiger Woods of Poker” storyline to the ground.
And it’s that second point that makes Ivey’s presence at the fi nal table the most important one since Moneymaker’s back in 2003. For poker to hit the pop culture and broader public chord again, it needs something or someone that is relatable and identifiable to the masses. Everyone knows who Tiger Woods is. He’s the pinnacle of talent in the singular sport of golf. And Phil Ivey is the pinnacle of talent in the singular sport of poker. It’s an easy story to put out there. It’s a story that SportsCenter can run with.
And it’s why Phil Ivey’s final table appearance is by far the best possible thing that could happen for poker right now, and why he is easily the most Good for poker out of any of the November Nine.
