I never get to know the main event final table contestants until after the fact. Usually it's months after the WSOP has ended because I just don't watch much tournament poker on TV, however, I have watched a lot of the WSOP coverage this year and followed the final table last night. Here is what I think about all the players involved starting from 9th place all the way down to the final pairing.
9th place: James Akenhead - I really repsect this guys play and wish he had more chips at the final table. He did triple up at one point to get his head above water, only to get coolered when his KK ran into AA.
8th place: Kevin Schaffel - Seriously, was this a real guy? He pretty much slipped in and out of the WSOP under the radar. I have no idea what the guy looks like, how he plays, or if he really even exists. His AA ran into Buchman's KK only to have a King on the flop and King on the turn kick him square in the junk.
7th place: Phil Ivey - The baddest man on the planet. Beliedat!
6th place: Steve Begleiter - Begs..This guy just rubs me the wrong way. Not because he's some Bear Stearns executive or whatever. I could give 2 shits about that. But during the WSOP, he was in a big pot against Akenhead. Akenhead got the best of him and after that hand, he reached over and slapped Akenhead in the back..HARD. Akenhead refrained from saying anything. Begleiter knew what he had done wrong and tried to pretend it was "nice hand" gesture, but I'm not buying it. ESPN ignored this antic. The dude just stayed wound up the entire WSOP, ran like the sun, and he just looks funny.
5th place: Jeff Shulman - Shulman was going for the grunge look this year. He's a solid tight/semi-aggressive player. I didn't give him much of a chance to win this tournament because a.) he was getting coaching from Mr. Weak/Tight (aka Phil Hellmuth) and b.) see reason "a".
4th place: Eric Buchman - Another guy who quietly made his way to the final table. Buchman seemed to accumulate all his chips during the late stages of the WSOP. He was the chipleader for quite some time, but didn't really take advantage. There was a good chunk of time when Ivey and Cada were severely short-stacked. Buchman could have basically gotten away with murder at the table. None of the mid to large stacks would have called his raises without the VERY TOP of their range until after one or both of the short stacks were eliminated. Personally I thought he ABC'd it too much and squandered his chance at the bracelet. But WTF do I know? I'm just the low limit pro barely grinding out my mortgage payment each month.
3rd place: Antoine Saout - The most impressive player at the table. I think he was easily the 2nd best player behind Ivey. Saout mixed up his game quite a bit and made life very difficult on the players around him. When he gained the chiplead, I figured the tournament was his to lose. Unfortunately, he couldn't avoid that luckbox Cada's run.
Final 2: Darvin Moon - He's a logger, a donkey, evidently a degenerate gambler, and just an all-around nice guy. I have given Moon shit for a few days, but just because I'd love to run like this guy one time.
Final 2: Joe Cada - I'm impressed how the guy went from having 3 big blinds left in his stack with 7 people left to being in the final 2. Evidently Cada is an online pro. But he's one of those 2+2 contingent pros I guess. These guys should get "Douchebag" tattoo'd on their foreheads. Cada himself did nothing to rub me the wrong way, but his fans made him look awful bad IMO.
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