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January 5th 2007
The Players of 2006
With the Aussie Millions a heartbeat away time is running out to look back at 2006. It won’t be long before the poker of 2007 is filling up the airwaves, and the heroes and villains of 2006 are all but forgotten.
Despite the seismic event that was the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) 2006 proved another boom year for poker, with more big buy-in events and million dollar pay days than any year in the games existence. As with every year since the inception of the World Poker Tour new stars were born, old stars reminded us how they got where they are today, and all contributed to another exciting year in cards.
Here I’ll offer my humble opinion on who were the players of 2006 (both good and bad) and who might be capturing the headlines in 2007.
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi – when someone wins the coveted Player of the Year title that pretty much says all you need to know. The Grinder started off the year in sizzling form, securing second place in January’s WPT Gold Strike World Poker Open in Tunica, before winning the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open just eight days later! Nine days after that Michael bagged another second place, this time in a preliminary event at the LA Poker Classic, and his winnings for 2006 stood at $1.86 million by February 10th.
The Grinder continued his strong form throughout the year, winning four more tournaments and collecting a further $330,000. By ending the year with a 29th place finish in the Five Diamond Classic The Grinder secured his POY title in style, reminding everyone that he will be a force to look out for in 2007.
Jeff Madsen – When the World Series of Poker started in June 2006 Jeff Madsen had never legally played in a live poker tournament, as the boy was still 20 years old. A few weeks and a small loan from his parent later Madsen was the proud owner of a WSOP bracelet, the youngest ever.
These days, with WSOP fields in excess of 2000 even in the early events, the chances of winning multiple bracelets in one year are extremely small. So imagine the hype when a rookie just weeks into his 21st year bagged a second bracelet, and followed it up with a third and a fourth place finish in two further events. What made Madsen’s achievement even more extraordinary was that his four final tables were all in different types of poker (short-handed HE, full table HE, Omaha hi/lo and Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo). I highly doubt that in the rest of my lifetime we will ever see a better WSOP rookie.
Allen Cunnigham – Allen Cunnigham’s permanently quizzical expression and timid, quiet demeanour perfectly disguises one of the deadliest poker minds on the circuit.
In 2005 Cunningham captured the WSOP POY title, and he began this year in style, winning his fourth bracelet in Event #14, the $1000 with-rebuys NL HE tournament. While Michael Mizrachi was busy rebuying six hands in a row (and going all-in blind each time) Cunnigham stayed well clear of Darrel Dicken record of 30 re-buys, winning the event after re-buying just once!
But it was Cunningham’s fourth place finish in the main-event (for $3.6 million) that really caught the eye. His performance was by far the best of the pros and it is tempting to think that without Jamie Gold’s extraordinary run of cards (and Cunnigham’s equally poor fortune) the title could have been his. Don’t bet against him going three better in 2007.
Phil Hellmuth – The Poker Brat does not play as much poker as he used to, dedicating much of his time to his family and other business interests. But that all changes when it comes to the WSOP. There Hellmuth plays like his life depends on it and the results speak for themselves.
Hellmuth is desperate to be remembered as the greatest WSOP player ever, and last year, when both Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson moved ahead of him in the all-time bracelet winners list you could tell it hurt.
So this year, in an attempt to catch them, Hellmuth played nearly every single event in the 2006 WSOP calendar, and his strategy nearly paid off as early as Event #9, but he couldn’t quite get over the last hurdle, finishing runner-up to Jeff Cabanillas. Many thought that Hellmuth had blown his chance but the Poker Brat had the last laugh when he won one of the last tournaments before the main-event, collecting his 10th WSOP bracelet. Hellmuth now shares the record for the most number of bracelets won, but is out on his own with the most ever WSOP cashes, the most ever WSOP final tables, and is sixth on the all-time money list (he would be first if it weren’t for the colossal upturn in main-event final table payouts over the last four years).
Joe Hachem – Joe Hachem was another man on a mission in 2006, desperate to prove that his 2005 WSOP main-event win was no fluke. Already touted by many pros as the best of the recent WSOP main-event winners (the others were Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer) Hachem wanted further validation in the form of a major win.
A second WSOP bracelet in 2006 would have done just that, but in Event #5 Hachem had to settle for second place after Dutch Boyd’s A-5 outdrew the Aussie’s A-Q. Hachem was playing well, and he clocked up a fourth place finish in the Pot-Limit Hold’em event before running deep in the main-event, eventually bowing out in 238th (out of 8773) when his aces were cracked by jacks.
With just 15 days to go before the end of 2006 it seemed like the validation Hachem so desperately wanted might evade him after all, but then came the Five Diamond World Poker Classic and the victory Hachem longed for was his. Hachem defeated over 500 players including Daniel Negreanu on the final table to earn his first ever WPT title and the first prize of $2.1 million. He is one of only four men to hold both a WPT title and the WSOP main-event.
Roland De Wolfe – This young British poker player used to write for a gambling magazine before moving to the other side of the camera, so to speak, in 2004. De Wolfe bagged his first major win in the 2005 WPT Grand Prix de Paris in 2005, collecting $628,678 and in 2006 he proved he was here to stay when he bagged third place in the WPT Championship, worth over a million dollars.
After another third place in the WSOP shootout event Roland set his sights back on Europe and walked away with an EPT title after conquering all comers in Dublin. That $726,000 win was followed by another six figure win in January bringing the aggressive Englishman’s tally to $1.94 million.
Nam Le – 2006 was the year Nam Le emerged from the shadow of his cousin Tuan, the highest earner in the history of the WPT (until this December).
Nam started the year by winning the WPT Shooting Star tournament in March and collecting $1.1 million. Three months later he walked away from the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge with another title and a further $200k, and a month later he picked $400,000 more after finishing second in Event #6 of the WSOP. At the end of the year he had accumulated over $2 million in tournament earnings and was just pipped to the POY title by Mizrachi
Look out for. . . .
Shannon Shorr – this kid had a storming 2006, winning over $1.5 million and putting in some great performances towards the end of the year. At just 21 years old he is still a raw talent but does not lack for ambition: his aim is to become the most touted player in the world under the age of 22.
J.C. Tran – J.C. Tran has been seemingly been perennially on the edge of greatness, and 2006 was no different. Early in the year he booked yet another main-event final table, which was followed by a multitude of five-figure wins and then, finally, two six-figure first places at the end of the year, although both were in preliminary events. In the meantime Tran won the PokerStars WCOOP main-event. His burning ambition will not be satisfied till he wins a major title. Could this be his year?
High Stakes Poker Season III – if there is one televised poker show you watch in 2007 make it this one. High Stakes Poker has changed the landscape when it comes to televised poker with its focus on the cash game. The world’s best known players sit at the table with at least $100,000 of their own money. This year will see the like of Phil Ivey and Jamie Gold introduced to the fray. Should be fun!
Submitted: 05/01/2007 12:19:11
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