Another Lowball Event

If I'm not playing the lowball events, I'm covering them. Earlier in the WSOP, I covered the $5,000 No-Limit Deuce-to-Seven with Rebuys event that was ultimately won by Mike Matusow. Yesterday I began coverage of the $2,500 Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw event. In addition to following all of the pros in a small, pro-heavy field, I got to keep an eye on New York's New Jersey's own Alceste. He played admirably, even managing to chip up well above average as we were approaching dinner, but then got broken to a table that included Greg Raymer, David Chiu and Bill Chen. Alceste finally went out right towards the end of Level 8, but he did turn in a very impressive performance.

Maybe I'm the Billy Baxter of poker bloggers, but I really enjoy the lowball events. The smaller fields are much easier to manage than the $1,500 no-limit donkaments, and because lowball isn't really spread anywhere, the tournaments generally attract only people that have put some serious effort into learning some of the finer concepts of the game, and name pros. Note that those two categories do not necessarily overlap.

Anyway, as Alceste and I were returning to the Amazon Room after having dinner in the Miranda Noodle and Sushi Kitchen, I saw Sam Simon walking the other way. Sam, you may remember, was at my starting table in the Razz tourney. (Funny side note here: CK Hua was also at my starting table. I had no idea who he was until yesterday. In my recap, I described him as "an older Asian dude who struck me as a SoCal type". Hua apparently lives about 10 miles east of downtown LA. I told you my reads were on.)

Anyway, Sam was very friendly during our time together at the razz table and we chatted quite a bit about driving, writing, girlfriends and ex-wives, and of course poker. In a way, it was disappointing that our table broke so soon because I really enjoyed talking with him. When I saw him walking the other way last night, I called out to him.

"Hi Sam!"

It took him a second to place me, but then his face lit up in a big smile. "Hi," he said. "How did you do in the tourney the other day?"

"I made the money. I finished 33rd."

"Wow!" he said, giving me a firm congratulatory handshake. "That's great!"

"Thanks!"

"I really like razz," he said. "I find it to be a very calming game."

Naturally, I thought he was taking the piss and I laughed and said something to the effect of how I could definitely tell how "calming" everyone else in the tournament found it. But Sam was serious. He said he liked the fact that you started with three cards, and could make a clear-cut decision right from the get-go about whether or not to play your hand.

Maybe stud games are more his cup of tea than flop games. I think Sam has quite a bit to learn about razz, but I don't doubt that if he puts his considerable talents to it, he could become a decent razz player. And if that's one more person that falls in love with razz, then so much the better.

After my experiences the last few weeks of seeing the uglier side of this game -- the loans, the degeneracy, the ugly behavior -- running into Sam was a nice reminder that the vast majority of people that come out to the World Series are here because they love poker.