I’ll be staying in Las Vegas now until the WSOP starts and focusing on the 50K event.  After that I’ll decide if I’m staying longer in Vegas or taking a trip to parts unknown for awhile.  Even if I leave during the Series, I have plans to play some of the events.

I just played the World Team Poker (WTP) event at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.  The whole concept is fantastic and this could be THE poker innovation of the decade.  With China winning it, it could help poker in Asia and we do need a second boom in the market of online poker.  It is amazing to see all of the major online poker sites represented at this event, and the teams playing and working together; that alone is a huge move for poker.

Tournament Time

The WTP was put together by small people with big ideas (not the usual corporate conglomerate) and I guess that sums up what America is all about and what I am about, big ideas with regular people behind them.  Good on them for pulling this off and they have signed so many of the top players in the world that they have a real asset. I hope this turns out to be the biggest thing in poker.

The Team in a huddle

The team time-outs will be a huge part of the show and the audience gets to tune in and watch when the team captain comes over – sometimes steamed up.  One case example is when Brazil had K-K in Omaha and was looking at a 3^rd reraise.  It was clear he was beat and he had K-K-10-2 vs. the A-A for Vietnam and called for time-out.  The team captain came over and said fold but the player called anyway. LOL Obviously the 10-2 came into play and Brazil bad beat A-A in Omaha but the drama of that moment is a huge part of what makes the team play a big hit.

Other moments with Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, the DevilFish, and commentary with Robert Williamson III as the announcer make the show a hit.

Everyone's tired but the Team Spirit still runs high!

The teams will only get stronger.  My team, Team Australia, lost the very first four players and had one left.  We clawed our way back up to fight again.  I played in the end in PLO to get us through but David Saab, with his huge aggression, gave us a big boost, and then Jeff Lisandro played in LH.  We used our best suited players for each game.  We all love it despite the show and the organization not being the best, but it was their inaugural event and the first one takes a little time to figure out.  We all expected to support people with big ideas and let’s hope they become big people with the WTP.  Good luck to Robert Turner; he has been around the poker traps for years and for him to pull this off is great for everyone and gives us hope.