Five young stars to avoid at all costs
By Andy Wang, MSNBC.com contributor
Posted July 3, 3:20 a.m. ET I'm not exactly the first person to point this out, but the World Series of Poker main event is a battle of endurance. "Day 1" of the tournament (which is split into four different days this year to accommodate all the players) involves 12 hours of play. Add in the time allotted for breaks and then for bagging and tagging chips at the end of the night, and you're talking about a 15-to-16-hour day. This is not an event for those with a sleep deficit. After "Day 1," players get a day or two off depending on which day they played "Day 1." And then they'll have to play five straight days, often from noon until past midnight, to make the final table. There's a school of thought that says the World Series now favors younger players (including those who've spent countless hours playing online), who have the physical and mental stamina that older players don't. Of course, there's also the school of reality that involves the last three main event champions (Jamie Gold, Joseph Hachem and Greg Raymer) not exactly being recent college grads who were captain of their crew teams during the day while crushing the tourneys on Pokerstars.com at night. I, though, do believe that this is largely a tournament for the young, so these are my five players to watch this year. I should point out that I first wrote this entry on Saturday, before I had any idea how deep Pelton, Amit and Martin were about to get in three different events. Guess I should put together a fantasy poker team. | |
Rafi Amit is one young player to watch. (photo courtesy IMPDI) 
1. J.C. Tran
Yeah, I know, this is a big leap. Tran is only the most successful tournament poker player this year, with the potential to become the best of all-time. He's run into some bad luck at this year's Series. For him, one bad month is a dry spell, so expect big things from him soon.
2. Joe Pelton
This World Poker Tour champion just finished seventh in a $2,000 no-limit tournament at the World Series. That result aside, he's had a rocky month, which he's written a bit about on his blog. Don't know the dude and haven't played with him, but based on what I've read online, I like how he thinks and he sounds just like the kind of aggressive maniac/genius that I don't need at my table.
3. Tuan Le
Speaking of aggressive maniacs … Le plays a style of poker that could have him out of the tournament in seven minutes or at the final table. I do wonder if he can hold it together for an entire week of play, given his volatile style. But given that this guy has won more than $4.5 million in tournaments, what I really mean by all this is I really don't want to play against him.
4. Rafi Amit
Yeah, picking a guy who favors and has had much more success in Omaha than in hold-'em might not be the smartest thing. But Amit, who also just won the 2-7 triple-draw championship, is one of the sharpest and most likable players I've ever encountered. He's one to watch because he's creative and always entertaining. And his tendency to joke around at all times in no way conflicts with his desire and ability to take away all of your chips.
5. Jesse Martin
Commissioner of a fantasy-football league I was in last year. He traded me Frank Gore for Peyton Manning last year, a move that benefited me greatly even though friends who don't understand the entire situation (I had Drew Brees!) still think I got robbed. Martin lives in New York City like I do, but oddly enough I've never actually met him, so he's a bit of a wild-card pick for me -- but one I feel good about, given what I've heard and read on his blog. He won a preliminary World Poker Tour event in the spring for nearly $300,000, and he just finished 23rd out of more than 3,100 in a $1,500 no-limit tournament. I think his tournament success might just be getting started.
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