In a sea of unknown players, there are still a number of professionals within close reach of the greatest prize in poker. There were 10 bracelet winners remaining from a field of 112 at the beginning of Day 5. Among them are main event champions Huckleberry Seed and Scotty Nguyen.
With the difference in field size and the explosion of poker, it would be tough not labeling a victory by either player the greatest accomplishment in poker history.
The most impressive resumes currently belong to, in my opinion, Phil Hellmuth and Carlos Mortensen. Phil’s 10th and 11th bracelets in the last two years are amazing feats. They place him squarely atop the WSOP mountain. Carlos is the only player in the world with both a WSOP main event title and a WPT championship. His recent victory in the WPT championship may not have been against the biggest field, but it was certainly the toughest.
Huckleberry has been at the top of his game for the duration of the main event. It’s tough to characterize his playing style; I’ve seen him fold every hand for an hour, then play what seems like every hand for the next sixty minutes. It’s not just the sudden gear-shifts that have left their impression on me, it’s the quality of his decision-making.
While it’s not always easy to tell whether someone made the right decision when you can’t see their hole cards, Huck has picked his spots well. In a recent hand, action was folded to Ray Henson who raised on the button. Huck reraised another 300k from the small blind and Henson moved all in for about 1m total.
Sometimes a player takes several moments before acting to posture, or to Hollywood a bit. Huck seemed to be in genuine pain as he thought through his decision. Is it time to gamble in a coinflip? Am I even in a coinflip or am I dominated? Should I make my stand here?
Ultimately, Huck decided to lay it down; after Ray showed QQ, it seemed clear that Huck’s decision was the right one. However, it’s probably a big mistake for Henson to show the queens a player of Huck’s caliber. Picking up one piece of information while he was sweating a decision could be the difference maker versus Ray in a later hand.
Huck has slipped down to 800k just before the second break of Day 5—but he could just as easily be out of the tournament had he called Henson. With the blinds at 15k-30k and a 4k ante, Huck still has some room to maneuver before he finds himself in push-or-fold mode.
As long as the cards don't go cold, I expect Huck's experience combined with his current decision-making to keep him around awhile.
