PN Blog: The WSOP Live Reporter Grind

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May 29, 2019 7 min read Last updated Dec 19, 2019

To be honest, I wasn't quite sure where to start for this blog entry and my initial inspiration and motivation to turn my thoughts into letters quickly faded when I got back home last July after seven weeks in the annual summer camp for poker live reporters in Las Vegas, also known as the World Series of Poker.

My head was empty, there was way too much poker in it and a complete reboot with healthy food at home had been necessary to get back on track after an exhausting series. It was the fourth time I covered the WSOP for more than an entire month within the last five years, and the duration as well as the responsibility has gradually increased since.

The WSOP Reporter Grind

Back in 2014 when I was one of the “new guys” on the team, I mostly covered the mass fields with buy-ins of up to $2,500 and the Championship Events were a rare occasion on my schedule with the exception of some mixed games such as Seven Card Stud. Only a few years later, it was rather uncommon to cover a $1,000 buy-in and the summer ended with an exceptional highlight: the $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop.

Around three years ago, I bought a Garmin fitness watch – and have upgraded the model twice since – in order to keep track of my steps, intensity hours, and sleep patterns. Below are some of the key numbers from last summer; I shall leave out the details of average sleep, because that would honestly be too scary.

• Total Days: 48 (from first to last day of work)
• Live Reporting Days: 35 1/2
• Number of Events covered: 13
• Number of different poker variants covered: 9

Many of the events last summer were unable to play down to a champion in the scheduled time and additional days were added to spread the live reporting team further. I finished off more than half a dozen of these events before heading straight to the next tournament of the regular schedule. As a rule of thumb, it always helps to expect the unexpected and be ready to adjust accordingly, but the 2018 edition was definitely more intense from my point of view.

Favorite Moments of the 2018 WSOP

All eyes of the public were set on big names winning further bracelets and they were not disappointed. Phil Hellmuth claimed a record 15th gold bracelet, while three players posed for the winner shots twice including Justin Bonomo, Joe Cada and Shaun Deeb. Bonomo's already incredible year became even more astonishing after he took down the $10,000 Heads-Up Championship and defeated Fedor Holz in the Big One for One Drop to end the summer with yet another victory.

Deeb also won two events and claimed the lead in the Player of the Year ranking. Cada's amazing summer not only included two bracelets, but also a fifth place in the Main Event. In many other years, the exploits of Cada would have almost certainly vaulted him into first place in the POY race, but Deeb prevented that.

Reflecting on the 2018 WSOP, a few highlights come to mind that may not have received as much public attention during the summer. I'll lay them out here as we get ready for the 2019 edition.

Jessica Dawley Takes Down Ladies Event

Back in 2016 I randomly met Jessica Dawley at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne and have gotten to cover her in more events since. Along with former live reporter colleague Molly Mossey and Danielle Andersen, Dawley reached the final table of the Ladies Event and coolered Andersen early on before claiming her first gold bracelet. Along with the Team Event, which brought a German / Indian bracelet for Giuseppe Pantaleo and Nikita Luther, it brought along the loudest and most consistent rail on the way to determining a champion.

Calvin Anderson Wins Battle New School vs Old School

Calvin Anderson was a regular on the European Poker Tour and he traveled the circuit past Black Friday. Along the way, he racked up several SCOOP titles in mixed games online and already had one WSOP bracelet to his name with almost $1 million in WSOP cashes.

In the $10,000 Razz Championship, he reached a tough final table that also included Johnny “World” Hennigan, Mike Leah, Jerry Wong and Dzmitry Urbanovich. After Frenchman Julien Martini, who scooped a maiden bracelet early in the summer, departed in third place, it was a battle of generations for the bracelet. Anderson faced Frank Kassela in heads-up and it was a roller coaster battle that went into an extra day.

The Incredible Consistency of Ben Yu

If there was a “who loves it most” award for the summer, Ben Yu would be among the hot contenders to put a strong claim to it and the mixed-game grinder recorded 15 cashes and more than $2.7 million along with his third career bracelet. After finishing third in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship, Yu jumped right into the late registration for the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha High Roller and finished second to Deeb. Towards the end of the WSOP, Yu then emerged victorious in the $50,000 High Roller to finish off the summer in style.

One thing that stands out in particular is his determination and attitude at the tables. No matter what the outcome of the hand is, Yu keeps his composure and that may very well be an important key for his success. If a live reporter has a question, he is always willing to provide the details and remains one player that almost always stacks in 20s to make the guessing game of stack sizes in mixes games less of a challenge.

High Quality Competition in the POY Race

Three players won two bracelets during the 2018 WSOP in Las Vegas and became contenders for the Player of the Year race, while several others racked up at least one bracelet and plenty of deep runs to have a go at the leader board.

Mike Leah also gave it a valid shot and cashed in ten events, making the POY race extremely competitive.

Mixed Games Shine on Live Stream

The WSOP used to stream all final tables for free for everyone to watch, but has since established a partnership with streaming service PokerGO. While not everyone was happy about that development, the live stream schedule for 2018 was definitely a big improvement and especially the mixed games players were given a chance to showcase their skills at their final tables. Hopefully, this trend will continue, as the WSOP is one of very few events every year to unite the best in the world in these game types.

Of course there were plenty of other stories throughout the summer in Las Vegas, too many to mention, and those examples above just stuck with me from a personal point of view.

Travel Stats 2018 and 2019 to Date

In 2018 as a whole, I was on the road for 200 days covering poker. Since the completion of the 2018 WSOP, I have covered 15 events in 12 different countries. Here's a quick look at my travel stats for 2018 and 2019 leading up to WSOP.

2018 Travel

• Number of flights: 45
• Kilometers / hours on planes: 110,091 km / 163 h
• Days on the road for poker: 200
• Number of events / festivals covered: 17
• Number of countries covering poker: 13

2019 Travel Pre-WSOP

• Number of flights: 28
• Kilometers / hours on planes: ~101,400 km / ~141 h
• Days on the road for poker: 89
• Number of events / festivals covered: 9
• Number of countries covering poker: 5

Earning a living through poker is a grind, not just for the players but also for the poker media. I have been pretty fortunate in the last few years to regularly cover live events all over the world. This isn't the case for everyone, though, and I appreciate to be busy consistently. Many events only get confirmed very late on and that makes planning in advance somewhat difficult.

Given how much time I have spent on the road for poker throughout the last few years, an inevitable break or attempt to change the overall balance in general was required sooner or later. A trip to Japan in September 2018 was a first taste of the urge to try and further discover different parts of this planet.

Fortunately, I was recently also able to combine a trip to South Korea for the APPT and head to Japan once more for another eight days. Early in 2019 I also stayed in Australia for an additional week to discover Sydney. The combined experience of those three trips and the opportunity to learn more about the country and culture taught me several lessons.

Going forward, I definitely want to add more of these travel trips to my personal resume and consider to write more blog entries about various things, be it poker, live reporting or travel and sightseeing. But for now, I embark on another WSOP.

Maybe the time has come to reconsider those priorities and aim for something different. I shall continue this ride as long as the job is still fun and represents a challenge. Barely anything can be more frustrating to be stuck in an environment that you cannot enjoy.

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