Well, it was a pretty big week in poker. Sure, there was some online pokerments to keep us busy, and some million dollar swings at the virtual nosebleed seats but in the end, all eyes turned to the Rio in Las Vegas for the November 9 and the crowning of our new WSOP Main Event Champion! I, for one, want to wish Ryan Riess (@RyanRiess1) well and bid him even more (if that is possible) #RunGood in his term as poker’s Ambassador. It was on heck of a battle…but he seemed to know it before hand:
This is going to be the best day of my li-ife
— Ryan Riess (@RyanRiess1) November 5, 2013
@ESPNPoker’s Andrew “@AFeldmanESPN” Feldman caught a Vine of “The Beast” getting his bracelet – the most expensive piece of jewelry in all of sports – at a distance, and his face in the camera.
The 2012 champ hands over the @wsop bracelet. https://t.co/9m8Gm98Fkf
— Andrew Feldman (@AFeldmanESPN) November 6, 2013
While we may be talking about his ego as much as the win in the coming weeks, nothing changes the fact that he took it down over a patient, undeterred Jay Farber (@Jay_Farber_LV.) And hey, on top of winning over $5 million, Farber gave us #CombatPanda.
The Twitter fest was so…so…beautiful during the final table. It almost overshadowed anything else this week. I’ll be real selective about everything else, but now, you get a “best of” what I consider the #Hashtags of the #WSOPFT.
#PANDAmonium
When he playfully danced in the upper deck, he was a cute ornament. When he toasted Farber’s rail he was the life of the party. When he drunkenly humped the handrail in the upper deck, he foreshadowed something ominous. When (after apparently being offered $6k) he charged the stage, he temped greatness. When he crashed at the feet of the WSOP Final Table and got tackled by security he became a poker legend for all the wrong reasons. He is, the Combat Panda.
Drunken panda-monium at WSOP Main Event final table! pic.twitter.com/fMyymmGUkv
— PokerListings (@PokerListings) November 5, 2013
He may have been the ringleader of all the costumed shenanigans:
Where were you when the Panda / Leprechan War began? And which side were you on? #WSOP pic.twitter.com/fVkeKCmsNQ
— Conan776 (@Conan776) November 5, 2013
Before he rushed the final table…some other deviant behavior was noted:
Has the dude in the panda suit been humping the rail at regular intervals or just the hand between loosli and @Jay_Farber_LV
— James Guill (@compncards) November 5, 2013
Then, after creeping his way up to the stage without a pass, the dangerous costumed herbivore leapt into action…and faceplanted the stage. Good thing @DanFleyshman had his camera ready:
That amazing moment when the panda sitting next to me dove onto the @wsop final table stage without warning! pic.twitter.com/BjmKCe8J9g
— Dan Fleyshman (@DanFleyshman) November 5, 2013
In the end, the infamy was cemented and well…we all loved it. If only it would have made the coverage!
Panda just rushed stage. Tripped. Fell on face. Security escorted out. Most epic WSOP moment ever.
— PokerListings (@PokerListings) November 5, 2013
#LOLHellmuth
We did not have to sit through a drawn out Phil Hellmuth entrance again this year (I guess that is one thing we can thank ‘Black Friday’ for) but it does not mean we got rid of the Brat. The swami of #WhiteMagic was not at his best live on camera doing coverage at the breaks. I really tried…but I couldn’t find a single positive tweet for you guys regarding this comments and/or commentating skills. So…enjoy the mud slinging:
Podcasters hate it:
And the main event coverage goes from outstanding to atrocious with the flick of a switch. #lolhellmuth #itschipsnotdollars
— Mike Johnson (@2p2Pokercast) November 5, 2013
“The Kids” hate it:
Hellmuth has really no idea what he's talking about. And how does this range analysis stop at 2pair and not include straights/flushes?
— Daniel Strelitz (@dDeoxyribo) November 5, 2013
has Phil Hellmuth ever talked about poker and sounded like he actually knows a single fucking thing about poker? #tilt
— Jared Hamby (@TWKftw) November 5, 2013
Wish I could ignorantly spew poker terms mangled together with such nonsensical confidence as Hellmuth. Would be living a much happier life.
— corey burbick (@coreyburbick) November 5, 2013
ESPN has access to any expert poker player to help with these strategy segments for FREE and this is what they come up with, mind blowing
— Jesse Martin (@MazeOrBowie) November 5, 2013
these hellmuth segments are great #forthegame
— Zo Karim (@PakmanMMA) November 5, 2013
The ‘OGs’ hate it:
Wow Hellmuth butchered that segment!
— David Baker (@audavidb) November 5, 2013
I'm really disappointed that so many people on my Twitter feed actually watched Hellmuth's hand analysis
— Todd Terry (@toddbterry) November 5, 2013
Phil Hellmuth is Pokers real life Will Ferrell movie character. #WSOP
— Mike Carlson ? (@MJCACE) November 5, 2013
Lol love these little Hellmuth shitshows on break. Can think of a million things better to show.
— Daniel Strelitz (@dDeoxyribo) November 5, 2013
Hell, even Cartoonists hate it:
Hahaha, Hellmuth and his fuzzy math got owned by actual math. #wsop
— Steve Horton (@tropicalsteve) November 5, 2013
But the worst? The worst!? When your fellow commenters hate it:
If you make a joke on TV but you're the only person who laughs, is it still considered a joke? Asking for a friend...
— Kara Scott (@KaraOTR) November 5, 2013
Thank god @phil_hellmuth is there with some color to wake up the slumber party. Give em hell Phil!
— Jesse May (@ScurrilousMay) November 5, 2013
#PieCharts
Can poker fans, pros and media hate anything more than Hellmuth-babble? Well, yes. Yes they can. Based on the briefly explained ‘million hand database’, the pair of Hellmuth and Marianela were left with some very questionable graphics to back their less than stellar break-chatter. Would that tilt purists and math based players? Yes…yes it did.
We’ve jumped straight to all caps here.
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BILLION HAND DATABASE BULLSHIT, NICE PIE CHART
— Dani Stern (@TheRealAnsky) November 5, 2013
Subtle Nag.
Nice range analysis pie chart ESPN LOL
— Randal Flowers (@RandALLin) November 5, 2013
Flashback occurred…or did they?
best graph of all-time. Either I'm tripping and didn't remember, or everyone else on this production is. loooooove it
— Scott Seiver (@scott_seiver) November 5, 2013
The Math Purists Punished them:
Wow and the pie chart didnt even include hands better then two pair on a JT97sss board. lol Come on espn.
— Christian Harder (@realcharder30) November 5, 2013
Who is making these awesomely hilarious WSOP Pie Charts?
— Justin Bonomo (@JustinBonomo) November 5, 2013
@realcharder30 now we just need @nolandalla to write up the history of the #piecharts...
— Michele (@MicheleLewis) November 5, 2013
We’ve just moved into ALL CAPS LAND NOW>>>
YES DATABASE ANALYSIS HERE WE GO
— Dani Stern (@TheRealAnsky) November 5, 2013
THIS PIE CHART IS EVEN BETTER "UNPAIRED HAND " YESSSSS
— Dani Stern (@TheRealAnsky) November 5, 2013
CHARTS! HOW DO THEY WORK?
— Scott Seiver (@scott_seiver) November 5, 2013
And well, it wasn’t done quite yet:
#piecharts #piecharts #piecharts #piecharts #piecharts #piecharts #piecharts #piecharts #piecharts #piecharts #piecharts #piecharts
— Dani Stern (@TheRealAnsky) November 5, 2013
looooool the pie charts the billion hands the humanity
— Karak (@Karak2p2) November 5, 2013
Looooooool pie chart.
— Daniel Strelitz (@dDeoxyribo) November 5, 2013
Dear @Donnie_Peters, this would have been a perfect chart-on-chart response…but @phil_hellmuth did manage to pick up his 13th Bracelet… Who am I kidding…this is still hilarious. #EditTheEditor
@RichTRyan @RemkoMedia pic.twitter.com/yKIpUUs2Li
— Donnie Peters (@Donnie_Peters) November 5, 2013
#FrenchCliqueBaque?
When Loosli accidently (or purposely) put in a bit over a half sized raise while seeming to call against JC Tran…and then had KK…the Twitterverse exploded in accusations of angle shooting and contempt for those that would dare accuse the pride of France of underhanded play. All in all, it was another day in the Twittershpere:
Magazines would not back off:
Hmmmm. Loosli had pocket kings. Was it a fake accidental raise? We have our #NovemberNine heel.
— All In Magazine (@allinmag) November 5, 2013
WSOP Bracelet Holder EFro (@efropoker) seemed to have an opinion:
Was that an attempt at a scumbag angle shot by Loosli?
— eric froehlich (@efropoker) November 5, 2013
Then, it just got lethal:
I hope that scarf strangles you frenchie
— Bob Futon (@BobFuton) November 5, 2013
@BobFuton I hate him. he busted @jfiiue4 in 80th and I had a 10 ball. but mostly cuz of the scarf. oh and his face. oh and that he's French.
— Jared Hamby (@TWKftw) November 5, 2013
"Angle Shooting, French Edition" by Sylvain Loosli #WSOP
— AlCantHang (@AlCantHang) November 5, 2013
France > America (at angleshooting)
— Sam Greenwood (@samgreenwood14) November 5, 2013
@RichTRyan You're a few m's short still. "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" is the correct spelling.
— All In Magazine (@allinmag) November 5, 2013
This Loosli guy is incredibly unlikeable/tilting to watch.
— Brett Richey (@BrettRichey) November 5, 2013
In the end, of all the defenders, French media sensation BenjoDiMeo (@BenjoDiMeo) probably put together the most logical arguments…even if it was a bit snippy. (He is French, after all.)
@paulgees81 You really think this guy would try such a shitty angle during the most watched game of the year. Some respect ffs
— BenjoDiMeo (@BenjoDiMeo) November 5, 2013
@RichTRyan Some pros have idiotic opinions that makes me question how far up their asses their brain is.
— BenjoDiMeo (@BenjoDiMeo) November 5, 2013
#HonorableMention
Possibly the best tweet of the night was during heads up but by the man that busted eighth. (For bonus points, go to the tweet and read the replies from poker’s illuminati.)
Just turned $20 into $101 playing the slots at Binion's, in case you were wondering what people do after busting 8th in the Main Event.
— David Benefield (@DWBenefield) November 5, 2013
Side action usually isn’t…physical:
and @JasonKoon finds a way to do a backflip on this broadcast. nice.
— Dani Stern (@TheRealAnsky) November 5, 2013
Kicked while down, or an excellent use of #Showered?
Showers: population, Newhouse.
— Daniel Strelitz (@dDeoxyribo) November 5, 2013
The guys @wickedchops love them some cleavage:
JC Tran should've worn a more revealing top. Gotta show those things off.
— Wicked Chops Poker (@wickedchops) November 5, 2013
And Chris Hanson beat the ESPN coverage to this zinger:
Let's be honest. @RyanRiess1's Lions jersey may be the closest a Lions jersey gets to a championship this year.
— Chris Hanson (@thechrishanson) November 6, 2013
And ESPN big wig and @30for30 co-creator @BillSimmons…turns out he’s a fan too. And may have given Reiss a better (or stickier) nickname than “The Beast.”
This quasi-live WSOP telecast is great TV. I'm riveted. Megatron Nowitzki just lost a ton of momentum. Could this go all night?
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) November 6, 2013
#InOtherNews
In one of the greatest comebacks this poker reporter has ever seen, @chicagocards1 (Moshin Charania) came back from a 7:1 chip deficit to take down the WPT Paris main event. The EPT Grand Final champion now has the second part of the triple crown and did it all in a relaxed, easy style…as seen here:
Heads up! Go @chicagocards1! #MOtown pic.twitter.com/BEqam3wna7
— Sasha Salinger (@sashasalinger) October 30, 2013
