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David Singer opened the pot for 1.7k and two players called, one being Kevin Saul. The flop was Q
J
9, Singer bet 5k, one player mucked and Saul min-raised to 10k. Singer pushed all in and Saul immediately called with K10
. Singer flipped over JJ and needed the board to pair. The turn and river came 38
and Singer is eliminated from the event.
After the hand, Kevin Saul is up to 200k and is the new chip leader.
Justin Bonomo raised to 600 from under the gun. A player in middle position called as did David Singer and Max Pescatori who was in the big blind. The flop came the J42, Pescatori checked to Bonomo who bet 1.6k. Singer made the call while the other two players mucked. The turn was J, Bonomo checked to Singer who bet 4k. Bonomo made the call and the river was the 8. Both players checked and Bonomo flipped over J10 while Singer mucked to rake the pot.
After the hand Bonomo was up to 31k while Singer slipped to 33k.
I have a very high regard for Nolan Dalla. Apart from being a friend, I consider him a straight shooter with a lot of integrity. I called him at 11:43 PM about what I was writing in entry #199 and he called me back by 11:53 PM. He told me he sympathized with Singer, considered him a player of utmost integrity and felt it was unfortunate what happened. But he (on behalf of Harrah's and the World Series of Poker) disagreed with David's view of the situation and made it clear the ruling of the floor was correct. This was Nolan's statement to me:
"The announcements that are made on the subject are unequivocal: no text messages, no use or talking on cell phones. They don't say anything about a player shutting off a cell phone as a matter of courtesy. The player in question did not look at the phone. He shut the phone off and put it back in his pocket."
"This ruling was based on the spirit of the law. A player turning a cell phone off gains no information. That's the bottom line."
"We looked at the phone. There was no text message. No answering of the cell phone. Did he answer the phone? No. Did he talk on the phone? No. How did he gain an advantage? He didn't."
"We live in a new age, an age of technological advancements. Players text between hands, answer their cell phones between hands. We recognize that players may have reasons for not turning their cell phones off. It is impossible to police everyone's cell phone at every instance. Therefore, the rules have to be flexible to respond to each situation. I believe the correct decision was made here."
MY OPINION - NO LACK OF GOOD FAITH BY HARRAH'S BUT THE WRONG DECISION
That will undoubtedly close the matter, though I can't say I like the outcome. Though it would be almost impossible to fashion a remedy - this is like when the umpire clearly missed the tag and declared a runner safe, but you can't go back and show the umpire the other angle - I disagree with the interpretation of the rule. I'm sure David Singer would prefer the player discourteously letting the phone ring for a few seconds instead of being put in the awkward situation of having to ask the floor to rule on the matter, that step itself forcing him to give away information about his hand. And if the player had a sick family member because of whom he needed to keep his cell phone on, he always has the option of taking the call and giving up the hand. If his wife is having a baby or a relative is dying, take the call. And muck the hand.
I don't doubt the good faith of Nolan Dalla or the Harrah's/WSOP people on whose behalf he is speaking. I have said several times in this Blog that these guys are capitalists and wringing all the money they can out of the Series, but they have begun to learn from mistakes, respect the players, and do right by them. This is not a mistake they are trying to cover up. But I still think it's a mistake.
Just for fun, I may take some calls from Jo Anne while I play on Monday. She's in a different state so it's impossible she'll have information to give me from which I can gain a benefit in the hand. If I don't hold up play and I can show that my wife is in Arizona, and record the call to show it had no poker content, I don't see why they can't rule in my favor.
The cell phone rule was Harrah's idea, and I remember Steve Z last year telling me in the Full Tilt lounge about a time he walked away from the table and took a call. He was not at his seat, his hand was dead, he wasn't playing - but the dealer still issued him a warning about getting off the phone. If it's a good rule - whether it's about players getting information or the tournament getting mucked up by every massage-getting, chicken-wing eating jerk also juggling his cell phone during a hand - they are undermining it by leaving it up to this kind of interpretation.
(Read Michael's previous entry about David Singer here)
My first post about the David Singer generated so much discussion I feel compelled to comment further. Here is the rule in question as stated in the 2007 World Series of Poker rule book: “Cell Phone Rule: A player who wants to use a cellular phone must step away from the table. Any player on the cell phone or texting a messaging when the dealer delivers the first card from the deck will have a dead hand. No cell phones can be placed on a poker table.” From what I witnessed the only way the French guy (whose name is something like Michel Petrolist—Bruno Fitoussi told me the guy’s name but Fitoussi’s accent is pretty thick) violated the rule was if he could read a text message on the face of his phone.
My memory of the moment is somewhat hazy. As they say, it all happened so fast. I remember hearing the man’s phone ring. I recall him taking it out if his shirt pocket. I believe he held it in front of his face and looked at the face of the phone the way you would if you wanted to see who was calling you. He then turned off the ringer by touching a button on the side of the phone and quickly returned the phone to his shirt pocket. All this happened in about three seconds.
After the incident took place, Singer refused to leave the tournament area until the matter was further investigated. Tournament Director Jack Effel quickly got involved. For him the most important question was whether or not the French guy had used his phone to receive a text message, a question Singer believed to be irrelevant to the matter at hand. If Singer were on the Supreme Court, he would be viewed as a conservative as he seems to favor a literal interpretation of the law (at least in this case. From what I know of Singer he’s actually quite liberal in his beliefs and when not involved in a controversial elimination he’s a really nice and easy-going guy.). Because of the strange nature of his elimination, Singer asked the Tournament Director for a refund or the chance to re-enter the tournament on one of the remaining Day Ones.
Steve Frezer, the floor supervisor who made the initial decision, had the tapes reviewed from the surveillance cameras overhead. The cameras confirmed what I saw, that the French guy didn’t open his phone and answer a call but merely turned the ringer off and put it back into his pocket. The tournament staff even went so far as to take the man’s phone to see if he could have received a text message in the several seconds he handled his phone. From that investigation it was determined that the man would have had to press three buttons in order to receive a text message, which he clearly did not.
The tournament staff is upholding the initial ruling. Singer plans on taking this issue up with the Nevada Gaming Commission. It’s unfortunate that this situation had to happen on the first day of the biggest poker tournament in the world, but it seems like it was bound to happen eventually because the rule is somewhat vague and only sporadically enforced. The David Singer Rule when instituted some time in the near future will hopefully clear up this ambiguity so something like this never happens again.
I spent the better part of this evening hovering between the tables occupied by 1995 world champion Dan Harrington and 1983 world champion Tom McEvoy. They provided an interesting contrast in styles. McEvoy, wearing a bright yellow shirt and his famed gold bracelet, was happy to mix it up whenever he could. When I arrived at his table he was all in against another player who had flopped a set of 7s. Fortunately for McEvoy, he had flopped a set of 9s, which doubled him up.
Ten feet away, Dan Harrington sat like the rock that he is. He was wearing his lucky green Red Sox hat and folding every hand. Despite this, he had a healthy stack of chips in front of him. How does this man accumulate chips when it seems like he never plays a hand? That’s the magic of “Action” Dan. On one of the few hands I saw him play he limped in from the small blind after Bruno Fitoussi limped from the button. The guy in the big blind who had previously said to his buddy, “The guy on my right [meaning Harrington] is keeping me in line,” raised 1.2k. Fitoussi folded, and Harrington gave the man a withering look. “Do you want a call?” he asked. The guy told him that he would show his hand if Harrington folded, which was all the information Harrington needed. “I don’t need to see it,” he said as he mucked his cards.
As if this strong stable needed any more star power, David Singer was relocated to it after the dinner break. After some French guy named Michele limped in, Singer raised from the button. French guy called and the flop came K74. French guy led out for a bet, and Singer moved all in. As the French guy was deciding what to do, his cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his short pocket, turned the ringer off, and put it back into his pocket. Singer immediately lodged a complaint. The rule says No Cell Phone Use at the Table. As the floor was called over and the other players at the table injected their two cents, all hell broke loose. Singer kept demanding a “higher ruling.” Steven Frezer assured him that he was the man in charge this evening and asked why Singer was protesting. “I gave away information about my hand,” Singer told him, “after he broke a rule.” It was clear that Singer didn’t want the man to call him. Nolan Dalla intervened. “David, what advantage did he get by turning his phone off?” Frezer ruled that the man’s hand wasn’t dead. Because he didn’t speak English, Fitoussi translated for the man, who ended up calling and showing KJ. Singer flipped over 54. Singer didn’t improve his hand, and he was suddenly gone from the tournament.
The consensus at the table was that they thought the French guy’s hand should have been ruled dead. “The line is fuzzy,” said Dalla. “We obviously need to make it clearer. We say no cell phone, but at any give time 30% of the field is text messaging someone.” The players at the table thought that cell phones should be completely banned from the tournament room. One man, obviously a family man, protested. “What if there’s an emergency at home with the wife and kids?” “There was a time before there were cell phones,” said Harrrington, putting in the last word.
The gray area created by a rule that is rarely enforced has caused unnecessary controversy on the tournament floor this evening. I imagine and hope that Harrah’s will be addressing it this winter and implementing a stricter rule. When they do, I bet it will come to be known as the David Singer Rule.
Transformers, Stapes' tournament in review and David Singer analyzes hands from stud, razz and 8OB
Direct download: David Singer - July 2
Today's episode: Transformers, Stapes' tournament in review and David Singer analyzes hands from stud, razz and 8OB.
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During the break in the $1K rebuy event, David Singer offered a suggestion on a story that has gone unnoticed. David informed me that, “Jeff Madsen is the best blind player in the world.” I wasn’t aware that Jeff had any sort of problems with his eyesight, so I asked David for clarification. “We’re at the same table, and every time he played without looking at his cards during the rebuy, he woke up with a big hand.”
JS: Is it true you are the best blind player in the world?
JM: By far, by far.
JS: What’s the secret of playing blind and being good at it?
JM: Well, the key is raising blind with big hands. It’s actually not that hard, once you get to my level of ability.
JS: Have you ever played blind at a final table?
JM: Of course. I do that a lot. How do you think I won two bracelets?
JS: Can you give me an example?
JM: If action is passed to you on the button, why bother looking at your cards? Especially if you’re the chip leader. Which I usually am.
JS: What tips would you give David Singer on how to become a better blind player?
DS: I would probably be better off playing blind!
JM: (laughs) Sure. Just don’t overdo it until you have practiced for awhile.
DS: I don’t think I can do it. Are there any baby steps I can take?
JM: Sometimes you should look at only one card. If it’s an ace, you should always raise.
DS: What is someone plays back at me?
JM: If someone plays back at you, don’t look at your other card. If you do, it will probably be a four.
DS: So I should fold?
JM: No way! If you don’t look at it, the odds are it’s another ace, or every once in a while it’s a king. Instead, you should just go all in.
JS: So what were the exact hands you played blind during the rebuy period?
JM: Well, I raised to 300 under the gun without looking, another guy went all in and then the button went all in for about the same amount. I was going to call the first guy in the dark because he went all in every hand anyway, but once the other guy called I had to look. I actually had jacks, and they won against queen-nine and ace-queen.
JS: How are you sitting in chips right now?
JM: I’m in great shape. I have 20k but only had to do one rebuy when I ran aces into kings.
JS: You mean kings into aces?
JM: No, I made a mistake and looked at both cards. Because I did that he ended up hitting a set of kings. Totally misplayed by me.
JS: Alright, David, thanks for the tip about Jeff. Good luck guys. And, just so you know, I'm probably going to make up a lot of this interview when I post it on the web. I'm not kidding, so don't be surprised when you get a few phone calls or emails wondering why you said some of the stuff you did. Call it "editorializing." It's all about the readers.
I'm not able to do live updates but I will be putting up a post or two at the $50,000 HORSE final table.
2:30 I'm sharing media row with ESPN columnist Gary Wise (Gary made an appearance on the radio show last Saturday). There's a bunch of bloggers in front of us, but only GWise and myself were smart enough to sit in the back row where we can diligently copy everything Cardplayer writes. They would probably post a video expose of us copying them, but since they're not allowed to film here I'm safe for now. That saves us from having to release a statement about their video. Not that I would copy what anybody's doing. Except Gary who's posting his article in running blog style on ESPN. Which is a direct ripoff of Bill Simmons (who is every writer's hero, so that makes it OK).
2:40 Thor Hansen was eliminated on the first hand. He sat down 60k short of one big bet. He seemed to be doing OK in the $5,000 shorthanded event when I saw him earlier. Looks like he's headed back there now.
2:55 Freddy Deeb seems to be gaining momentum. Sam has announced, “And Freddy Deeb takes the pot,” a few times in the first limit holdem level.
3:00 Joe Sebok-Greenstein is here rooting on his pops with Amanda. He was inspired by The Bear’s charitable nature and donated all of chips in the $5k event earlier.
3:06 Full Tilt is well represented at the final table by Kenny Tran, Freddy Deeb, Amnon Filippi, and David Singer. UB and Pokerstars (Barry) each have one player at the table.
3:15 JC Tran wasn't neccesarily inspired by Barry Greenstein, but donated his chips so he could sweat his buddy Amnon Filippi.
3:18 David Singer was intently watching the TD add several minutes to the tournament clock following Bruno’s all in. For ESPN final tables, the clock stops for the Degree all-in moment.
3:21 I’m afraid I’m going to gouge out my left eye to make watching limit poker only half as painful.
3:25 “How about a big round of applause for Joe Sebok’s dad, Barry Greenstein,” announced Sam. I wonder how much the cub had to pay for that one…Barry needed a on the river, but was left signing a copy of Ace on the River for Amnon Filippi.
3:28 There are two exceptions that allow poker reporters to root for players. 1) You have them in a fantasy pool and 2) They help with live updates after they go bust. Since I'm totally out of the running for #1, I'm unashamedly rooting for David Singer and Amnon Filippi from here on out.
3:35 Sam just announced some chip counts:
Kenny Tran - 2.04m
David Singer - 1.1m
Bruno Fitoussi - 1.46m
John Hanson - 2.4m
Freddy Deeb - 3.9m
Amnon Filippi - 3.95m (had to give him the lead of course)
3:47 Bathroom break time (for me, not the players)
Tournament Director Sam Minutello was giving player introductions for the final table of the $50,000 HORSE event when he had a bit of a (Freudian?) slip.
“Seat 2 is David Singer. David is a formal environmental lawyer, but he’s had plenty of sex…er success on the tourname…sorry, David.” The apology was already a bit late as the crowd had a good laugh at David's expense.
Steve Brecher
Steve Brecher, on Day 3 of the Legends of Poker at the Bike in Los Angeles, CA.
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