Poker, Football, and everything sports

Its almost here. The 2009 World Series of Poker wraps up this weekend. The final 9 will reunite on Saturday and play down to two players. Those two will come back Monday night to play heads up to decide the champ. The final table will be aired on Tuesday. My friend Platt and I made a bet before the main event started in June. We each picked 5 players for a last longer bet, with added bonuses for top 100, final table, and winner. One of my picks was none other then Mr. Ivey. If he can take this down, then I win 450 bucks from Platt. THE FOLLOWING IS VERY IMPORTANT. I will be doing everything in my power to not find out about the results until Tuesday. I ask that everyone who reads this to please not tell me anything about the results. I will literally be having my gf screen my texts, emails, etc. It will seriously be one of the toughest things I’ve done in a while. So wish me luck lol. Without further ado, my predictions for the Final table.

The chips counts are as follows.

1. Darvin Moon – 58,930,000
2. Eric Buchman – 34,800,000
3. Steven Begleiter – 29,885,000
4. Jeff Shulman – 19,580,000
5. Joe Cada – 13,215,000
6. Kevin Schaffel – 12,390,000
7. Phil Ivey – 9,765,000
8. Antoine Saout – 9,500,000
9. James Akenhead – 6,800,000

Based on what I've seen from these players on ESPN and what they've done since July, I must say that I feel like the bottom 6 stacks are the best players. both Saout and Akenhead final tabled the WSOP Europe main event. Schaffel has final tabled a WPT big event. Cada is an online beast, Schulman is a very solid pro, and Ivey is well....Ivey. So here is how I see the results breaking down.

9. Antonie Saout- I feel like Akenhead is a better player, and will likely get an early double up.

8. Steve Begleiter- This is not a typo. I think Begleiter will have a huge fall. The main reason I say that is because I think he will be most prone to make a big mistake, like getting committed to AQ preflop or calling off with 1010 on a 8 high board against a set or higher pair. He's very inexperienced, and I see him taking an early shot at Ivey and doubling him up. Begs out in 8th.

7. James Akenhead- Begleiter said that he was the best player he ever played against, even with a guy named Phil Ivey at the table. This kid will be a stud for a long time, but he has too few chips to make a good run at this. He will jump a couple spots I think, but will go out in the bottom half of the elimination.

6.Kevin Schaffel- He seems like a very solid player, but I'm not sure he'll be able to pull the necessary triggers if the cards don't go his way. I could be way wrong here I honestly feel like virtually everyone at this table has a shot thats how solid I think it is.

5. Darvin Moon- The massive chip leader, I think Darvin moon will slip to 5th here for several reasons. While Moon has mixed up his play well, he's mostly been a card rack, collecting alot of his chips by giving coolers. He did pull one bluff with J9, but I'm not convinced he can be a "great poker player" if the cards don't go his way. Also, I think the massive money jumps will make him sit on his hands alot, and I think he will slowly slip to 5th.

4. Jeff Shulman- What I can guarantee you if nothing else is that Shulman will not make any mistakes at this table. I haven't seen him make a bad decision all tournament long. He will knock out a player, double up a player, and snag 4th with very solid play.

3. Joe Cada- Taking a bit of a gamble on the youngster. Like Shulman, I haven't seen a bad play out of him all tournament. I feel like he will be one of the most aggressive players, and pick off alot of blinds of people who are sitting on their hands. Most importantly, he proved that he's not afraid to tangle with Ivey, a task I think some of these players couldn't do.

2. Eric Buchman- In my opinion, he is easily the best player of those in the top 3. This is why I have him in this spot, as I feel like he has been around the block before and will use his chips to their fullest potential. But I think he will lose to the man...the myth...the legend.

1. Phil Ivey - Is there even a doubt as to who I'd pick. Ivey is the best player in the world. Period. The best news for him is that he has chips to work with even at 7th place. He will pounce on the amateurs who are waiting on the money jumps. If he can get an early double up, Ivey takes this one.

For those of you asking...can Ivey REALLLY win this? Just look at 2007. If Jerry Yang can go from 8th to 1st...anything is possible. With Ivey..I like my chances. What do you guys think? Does Ivey really have a shot? Who is your sleeper? I'd love to hear back from you guys. Thanks for reading.