On a flop of . Bertrand "Elky" Grospellier led out for 300. Jennifer Harman called, and the only other player in the hand folded. Grospellier bet again when the hit the felt on the turn, this time for 750. Harman called again, and the Grospellier checked. Harman then bet 1,750. Grospellier thought for a minute and then called. Harman said something softly, but didn't expose her cards, and then Grospellier turned over for top pair. Harman mucked and Grospellier took the pot.
In August of last year, Judge Jack Weinstein of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that poker is a game of skill and is not illegal under the Illegal Gambling Business Act. The ruling came in a case against defendant Lawrence Dicristina, a New York resident who had previously been convicted of running an illegal gambling business for operating a live no-limit hold'em game. That ruling overturned his conviction.
In Judge Weinstein's 120-page opinion he said: "Contrary to the government's argument, chance (as compared to skill) has traditionally been thought to be a defining element of gambling and is included in dictionary, common law, and other federal statutory definitions of it. The influence of skill on the outcome of poker games is far greater than that on the outcomes of the games enumerated in the IGBA's illustrations of gambling. While a gambler with an encyclopedic knowledge of sports may perform better than others when wagering on the outcome of sporting events, unlike in poker, his skill does not influence game play. A sports bettor is better able to pick a winning team, but cannot make them win."
"In poker, by contrast, increased proficiency boosts a player's chance of winning and affects the outcome of individual hands as well as a series of hands. Expert poker players draw on an array of talents, including facility with numbers, knowledge of human psychology, and powers of observation and deception. Players can use these skills to win even if chance has not dealt them the better hand. And as the defendant's evidence demonstrates, these abilities permit the best poker players to prevail over the less-skilled players over a series of hands."
As PokerNews' Matthew Kredell explained: "The entire poker community will reap the benefits. The ruling will serve as justification for why online poker should be separated from other forms of Internet gambling to be licensed and regulated."
We mention this whole scenario because the man whose case inspired the ordeal, Lawrence Dicristina, is in today's Main Event. Apparently winning the Main Event isn't the only way to change the course of poker history.
We passed by Johnny Chan's table a few times hoping to catch the master in action, but instead we found Mick "Tall Michael" Graydon extracting value from an unfortunate opponent.
The board read by the turn, with five players involved in a multiway pot, including Chan. Two player's checked to Graydon, who fired out a bet of 1,250 and picked up a single caller.
On the river, Graydon's opponent tossed out a single orange T5000 tournament chip while simultaneously announcing "two."
After his intention to bet 200 or 2,000 was sorted out, the larger amount was wagered and the action was back on Graydon. The Irish pro, who became the first player from that gorgeous emerald isle to achieve the coveted Supernova status on PokerStars, cut out a raise to 6,900 and moved it into the middle.
After a long tank to contemplate his options, the player eventually decided to look Graydon up, but quickly mucked when "Tall Michael" tabled the for a lock on the hand.
We went to validate the information and sure enough caught Grafton in a hand with the board reading . Grafton led for 4,4200 and his opponent raised to 9,200. Grafton called and tabled and his opponent had one better with . While he may not have won this pot, he seems to be winning plenty of others as he sits with a near double starting stack.
We arrived at Antonio Esfandiari's table as the all-time WSOP earnings leader was deep in the tank on the flop. With the board reading , his lone opponent had checked, and Esfandiari had bet 2,150. His opponent then check-raised to 6,000 and Esfandiari spent about three more minutes considering his options. He eventually decided to call, and the dealer turned the . Action checked to Esfandiari, who bet out 6,100. Now it was his opponent's turn to tank, and after thinking a minute, he pushed his cards toward the dealer and yielded the pot.
The hand brings Esfandiari back above his starting stack, and he now sits with 32,000.
Maxwell Troy called a button raise of 500 from the small blind before checking a flop. The preflop raiser continued for 500 only to have Troy make it 1,200 to go. Troy's opponent quickly fired out a three-bet of 3,500 and Troy called before both players checked the on the turn.
The river landed the and Troy checked to his opponent who fired out 6,000. Troy called, but then mucked at the sight of his opponent's as he slipped to 17,000 in chips.
Despite what you see on TV, poker tournaments can be long and boring, especially in the early levels. To give you an idea of just how slow it can be at times, we decided to spend an orbit (nine hands) with 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Jamie Gold.
Hand #1 (Gold was in the big blind): It was easy for Gold to win this hand as he received a walk.
Hand #2 (SB): A player in early position raised to 450 and Gold folded from the small blind.
Hand #3 (button): 1983 WSOP Main Event champ Tom McEvoy limped and the hijack did the same. Gold then folded the button.
Hand #4 (cutoff): McEvoy raised to 500 and Gold called from the cutoff. The small blind came along and three players saw a flop of . Two checks put action on Gold and he bet a single yellow T1,000 chip. The other two players folded and Gold won the pot.
Hand #5 (hijack:): A player in middle position limped and Gold folded.
Hand #6 (middle position): Two early-position players limped and Gold did the same. The big blind checked his option and four players saw a flop of , which they all checked. After the dealer burned and turned the , a player bet 1,000 and the rest of the players, Gold included, threw away their hands.
Hand #7 (middle position): After the under-the-gun player limped, Gold folded from middle position.
Hand #8 (early position): The under-the-gun player folded and Gold did the same.
We just discovered Jay Rosenkrantz, producer of the new poker film Bet Raise Fold, in the field and with him we also found a bunch of chips. We don't know where he got them from but Rosenkrantz did post a video and a tweet sharing his enthusiasm about his new found wealth:
Also in Pavilion White is American statistician, sabermetrician, psephologist, and writer Nate Silver. Silver is most famously known for predicting the results of the last two presidential elections where in 2008 he only missed one state (Indiana) and in 2012 he hit all 50 states correctly. Silver doesn't have quite as many chips as Rosenkrantz but he is still above starting stack here in level two.