Poker’s small slothoki world

July 2, 2022   |   by Crouse Linwood

 

…just a brief entry to freak out a little.

A few weeks ago, I sat in a poker tournament across from a guy I’d never met before. He was a friend of a fellow poker blogger. He came along to pony up the $50 buy-in, have a little fun, and bust out of the tourney first.

In case you don’t know, when I’m not a poker playing Otis, I’m a journalist who often covers the court system.

Flash forward to a criminal trial I covered all of last week: The last slothoki on the stand (and perhaps the one that convinced the defendant to cop a plea) was a guy by the same name as the guy who played in the tourney.

2004 WSOP Episodes #5 & #6

Turns out, he did not only have the same name, but also the same DNA.

Now, I’m fully aware of how small a world it is, but it freaks me out a little bit that a poker blogger I only met a month or so ago also happens to be friends with a guy who played a major role in a case I’ve been covering for the past year and a half.

After dabbling in 7 Card Stud and Omaha Hold ‘Em the past two weeks, ESPN will stick to just the classic card game tonight. We’ve got the $1500 NLHE final table followed by the $5000 NLHE final table.

While last week’s events featured familiar faces like Paul Phillips, Mike Matusow and John Juanda, this week’s events don’t seem to have any top pros. Some have made it to some big final tables, but there’s no Phil Iveys in this bunch.

That doesn’t matter much, though, because poker is poker, and I love watching. As usual, go here and listen to “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy.”, and then head back here.

8:00 pm CT

First up, it’s the $1500 NLHE featuring Tonio Scali, Scott Fischman, Scott Epstein, Rollo Johnson, Mike Magazu, Kent Washington, Jason Vriyayuthakorn, Gaya Awada, and Blair Rodman.

8:01 pm CT

813 entrants in this one. We learn three dealers are among those playing for this title. Jason V. is first all in with pocket 8’s. Fischman comes all-in next with rockets. Reminds me of Moneymaker’s 8’s last year, when an 8 on the turn knocked out Aces. The flop is K-K-3. The turn is an Ace, and that’s it. Jason V. is out in 9th. Good… that’s one long last name.