Well it seems that Andy Beal has been beaten by Phil Ivey for what looks to be over $15,000,000. The last $10,000,000 being won in the space of just 4 hours with Andy Beal claiming he is quitting poker forever(he has said this before).
If you read the book by Michael Craig -
Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King : Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time, you will get all the background info you need on this running match between Andy Beal and a conglomerate of Vegas Pro's.
Michael Craig posted some news about the match on the forums at
Bluff Magazine with this being one of his latest posts :-
Again, and for the last time, I apologize for the delay. Here are the highlights:
1. They played $50,000-$100,000. Ivey wanted the higher limit and, of course, Beal wanted it. Ivey convinced the pros, who I think were very divided about it. And even though Andy lost $10 million today, he made a point of thanking Phil at the end and saying, completely sincerely, "Thanks for getting the stakes raised to fifty and one hundred." Not sarcastically, but honestly.
2. Andy was ahead by $1-2 million for the first half of the match. Like the first two days, Phil controlled the action by always raising, always betting, but Andy had him timed very well for picking him off.
3. In a space of 3 hands, Phil made back most of that deficit. Big pots, concealed strength, wicked rivers, etc. etc. etc. (See the May issue of BLUFF for the details.) But Phil took over the lead and just ACCELERATED.
4. He made the $10 million in about 4 hours. (I'll check my notes after returning home and get you an "exact" or you'll read it in my May story, but Andy had the lead for half and Phil had the lead for half. But Phil had it for the better half, and the bigger half.)
5. The game became wild, reckless, and unrelentingly aggressive. The timing Andy had in picking Phil off had failed. Andy got some river suck-outs but, now behind, probably became despirited when he was the victim. (Phil, in contrast, was not affected in the least when Andy sucked out. So I can't tell you if Andy took more bad beats or just got affected by it more.) But with constant reraising and nobody folding, the river will decide a lot of hands. Phil won more of those, which made the game just that much more out of control.
6. It finished up about 45 minutes before my first post. Andy said he's done with poker for ever. One of the pros said he would bet me that Andy will be back within six months. It's not a matter I'll speculate about. (I will tell you, though, that Andy Beal gave me his pocket watch at the end. Say what you will but he BELIEVES that he's done.)
7. Andy was a total gentleman, and so was Phil Ivey, and so were the several pros in the room, who came because they were concerned about how their investment was doing but kept discretely hidden so not to appear to be gloating over the result.
I'm heading for home and may try to post something late, late, late tonight, or maybe tomorrow. But you're going to be looking at one helluva story for the April issue of BLUFF, about Andy's first two trips to Vegas this month, and a very interesting conclusion which I think BLUFF will run in May.
I consider myself lucky to know Andy Beal and to have gotten to see all this from this vantage point. I saw a lot of remarkable play by the pros, but I have to admit that sitting across a table from Phil Ivey for three days was MIND BLOWING. I don't think anyone has ever tried to show that or describe that. Maybe I'll give it a shot.
Michael CraigIn other news it seems that
ZeeJustin has had all his PartyPoker accounts closed with all funds in them being seized to the tune of nearly $100,000. Oops! ZeeJustin(Justin Bonomo), posted
his response to the situation on the forums at
Twoplustwo.com.
Some excerpts I want to comment on :-
Secondly, almost all of you have broken the rules at some point. How many of you have created a second account for rakeback? Neither creating a second account nor receiving rakeback is allowed. Both are expressly forbidden. Maybe you will all see things my way once all your money is seized for doing that. If IÂm a cheater, so are you.
If you are a saint like CSC claims to be, kudos to you. You are in the minority, and are certainly upstanding citizens. I commend you on following Party's rules and not receiving rakeback. Most of us are too greedy to pass up money that easy.He is in the minority for sure, he has a skewed view on this because he is to close to it and perhaps all his close internet buddies do the same. However, it is clear that he is in a tiny minority of players or even pros who enter multiple times in a big tourney. I've never done it nor even considered it and none of my close internet buddies have done it either. As far as creating multiple accounts for rakeback is concerned, this is not even in the same ballpark. You can do this with the same name and details, then Party will phone you and say you can't have two accounts and will close your original and even transfer the money over to your new account for you. They don't give a crap about this and neither do other sites. You certainly won't have any money seized nor will you have any advantage over the other players or be doing anything unethical.
I have been at the same table as myself. For what it's worth, my standard protocol has been to increase my number of tables when this happens. As most of you know, I will very rarely be playing fewer than six tables at a time. If I had 6 tables open and two of my accounts were brought to the same table, I would simply open up 4-6 more SNGs. I felt that this would negate my unethical advantage.He felt unethical about playing on the same table with his multiple accounts so just opened more tables to distract himself from getting an advantage? That is quite a weird justification/response to it. How about just don't cheat? Lol.
Anyway, I don't think it is such a big deal and clearly he has been hugely punished for getting caught. The advantage you get for doing those sorts of things are slim and any advantage he has attained have been fully negated with 100k being seized back. However, to try and justify it, is silly too. It is clearly wrong and you should just suck it down and move on!
