It's amazing how much influence the letter 'P' holds at the World Series. When Praz Bansi won his bracelet last week, he was required to defeat 2,091 other competitors. In the Pot Limit Hold'em event of the same buy-in, however, just 650 turned up. People say that televised poker has lost its influence, but it certainly left its mark. Having been brought up on the fast-paced all-in frenzy of the WPT and WSOP, it's clear that Pot Limit Hold'em is a foreign format to many Americans, and one which doesn't hold the glitz and glamour of No Limit.
But this isn't a recent oddity. Pot Limit didn't make an appearance at the World Series until 1984, despite No Limit being regarded as the more modern game. Even then, the game was Pot Limit Omaha. Pot Limit Hold'em actually didn't emerge until 1992 when the late and colourful John Bonetti toppled Chau Giang for the bracelet and $122,400 first prize. Five years later, the $1,500 buy-in took a sabbatical (increasing to $2,500) before returning in 2002, where it has remained ever since.
When I first started playing at the turn of the Millennium, Pot Limit was the only choice, even in the tournaments. In fact, unless you were playing a major tournament (of which, I expect, was attempting to emulate the popularity of the WSOP Main Event), No Limit simply wasn't even an option. It wasn't until the WPT rose in popularity that No Limit became the norm, and Pot Limit a forgotten format. Before then, the UK seemed to showcase an unprecedented loyalty to Pot Limit, much in the same way as America held onto Limit.
It was therefore, I suppose, of no surprise that at this year's World Series, the $1,500 Limit event had few Brits, and the Pot Limit a lower concentration of Americans. Understandably, people don't like playing a game they're not particularly accustomed to, even if they are arguably more skilled formats (Pot Limit, after all, promotes good play down the streets, and emphasises the importance of bet sizing), and it's inevitable that the fields for these events would thin as a result.
I've known James ‘Flushy’ Dempsey since 2005, when I was working for Blonde Poker as site editor and live updater. James later, and after my departure, became a major shareholder at the company, but at the time, he was a regular poster (using the alias 'Royal Flush' - hence 'Flushy') who, despite being banned on multiple occasions due to a brutally honest approach in expressing his opinions, clearly had a talent for the game and a great poker mind. As a result, many had him penned down as a future prospect, a reputation which led to him being selected for BlueSquare's Unusual Suspects promotion in which he came second to Jen Mason for a seat in the EPT Grand Final.
But despite the promise, James never found that big live score, instead, turning his attention to the less variance-ridden world of online MTTs. Playing under the monikers 'JackxxBauer', 'The Norse Horse' and 'MKKMOO', James began his assault on the virtual world, which culminated in a SCOOP runner up finish for $211,747.51, his biggest ever payday. James had intermittently staked various players previously, but this financial boost allowed him to strengthen his stable and become one of the UK's major stakers along with Neil Channing.
The final table will perhaps be best known for its raucous support. In what has become somewhat of a trend at this year’s World Series, the rail was heaving with an intoxicated, but loyal fanbase, the latest batch made up of British talents such as James Mitchell, James Keys, Nicky Evans and David Jones. As the beer continued to flow, the support became more vocal and various chants began to bellow through the Amazon Room. The atmosphere was like that of a football match, the noise becoming so loud that Michael Matusow issued a complaint from a neighbouring tournament.
When James deposed of veteran JJ Liu (2010’s first female finalist, and one of three female players to make the top 13 in this event), he found himself heads-up for the bracelet with only Steve Chanthabouasy standing in his way. The heads-up encounter was a rugged, back and forth battle in which James couldn’t seem to finish off his opponent, but at 10.40pm, and after eight hours of play, James finally sealed victory with Ad-Ts holding up against As-7c on a teasing 6s-5h-4s-Qh-4d board.
"It's great to win a tournament,” commented James after his triumph, “but there's no reason why this should hold any edge over another tournament. You play for money. Someone can finish third in a tournament and make like $300,00, but if you win another event (with a smaller field or lower buy-in) you might get first and it's $200,000 - that to me does not make any sense at all. Poker players play for money. It's great to win a major tournament. But I just think there's too much emphasis put on winning a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. You want to try and win one, of course, you win more money, but you see people playing three events at the same time. It's just stupid.”
“It's something I used to do,” he added, when questioned about his lack of focus in the latter stages. “But I think I matured a bit. Like today, I lost two big pots and then I was short stack, but I really focused and tried to maintain my head. I used to rush some of my decisions, but today, I gave myself some extra seconds to think it through and it worked out.”
This victory was without doubt one of the most important of his career. Since his SCOOP success, James experienced one of his worst downslides to date and came into the World Series with a limited bankroll and the backing of Chris Moorman. Poor form meant the staker was now the stakee. Meanwhile, James continued to stake players, likely due to the make-up bills that he didn't want to concede. Make-up, after all, still has a value to the staker, and James had no intentions of breaking the chain.
I’m not sure who was more relieved in the end: James for clearing his make-up bill, Moorman for receiving the make-up and a percentage of the winnings, or James’s stable for increasing their chances of being staked. As Pauly says, “It’s like a small business borrowing from the bank.” On this occasion, Moorman’s the bank, and the bank just got richer.
Although the final table of the Pot Limit event was predominantly made up of North American representatives, it was perhaps not that surprising that James was the youngest player at 27 years of age, a rarity for post-boom final tables of such a low buy-in. However, like me, James probably played a lot of Pot Limit when he entered the game in 2003, and could well hold an experience advantage over many young, American pros of his age. JP Kelly won the event last year, John Kabbaj won the $10,000 Championship, and now James in 2010 – if only Harrah’s would make the Main Event Pot Limit, we might actually win the darn thing. Not sure how many people would turn up though.
1st James Dempsey -- $197,470
2nd Steve Chanthabouasy -- $121,963
3rd JJ Liu -- $86,512
4th Mark Babekov -- $62,232
5th Scott Haraden -- $45,393
6th Armen Kara -- $33,573
7th Joseph Williams -- $25,166
8th Edward Brogdon -- $19,120
9th Gregg WIlkerson -- $14,715
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