Phil Ivey: I'm properly rolled
Losing over $5 million in the space of a month doesn’t seem to perturb Tom Dwan. The 23 year old action junkie returned to winning ways the other night, besting the likes of Cole South, Ziigmund and Isildur1 for just under $900k.
Dwan and Patrik Antonius even engaged in a belated session of the ‘durrrr challenge’, which has proved to be a bit of an anti-climax given the prolonged time frame and intensity of other games. Dwan (4
Q
10
6) won the largest pot of the night – worth $128k – when he rivered the nuts on a J 4
2 9 8 board, but still suffered a $67k loss overall. Regardless, Dwan still enjoys a commanding $700k lead over the measured Finn as the two approach the 28,000 hand stage.
The volatility of Full Tilt Poker’s nosebleed stakes has triggered quite a debate on twoplustwo. The past month or so has seen an explosion in action, with Dwan and Isildur1 experiencing sick, million dollar swings (the former peaked at a $5.2 million profit, but now finds himself nearly $2 million in the red). It begs the question, just who out of the high stakes entourage is properly bankrolled? The general consensus seems to be, that a 100+ buy-in bankroll is required (given the extreme variance of PLO, stiffness of competition and volume of play). With several players taking to the $500/$1000 tables, this would equate to a $10 million ‘liquid money’ bankroll (money available in the cashier, on demand). But with all the borrowing (Dwan was seen asking Ziigmund for a cash injection during his downswing), this doesn’t seem to be the case.
Advocating loose bankroll management is problematic. As one twoplustwo member, ‘squizzel’, aptly puts it, it ‘encourages degeneracy and isn’t a good image to promote to people coming into the game’. But as eager railbirds, in awe of the life changing sums of money being exchanged, we crave big pots and high-octane action. So, just who is properly ‘rolled’? Phil Ivey seems a certainty. A consistent winner online, live tournament winnings exceeding $13.5 million, and a significant stake in Tiltware (the company that owns Full Tilt), he’s probably the most affluent poker player in the world. He also won $16 million over the course of a few days from business bigwig Andy Beal when representing the Corporation. Patrik Antonius is another, with over $5 million in online winnings in 2009, and perhaps more importantly, a level head.
As for the likes of Tom Dwan and Ziigmund, we don’t really know. Dwan, who burst on to the Full Tilt Poker scene back in 2007, is now actually down over a million according to the High Stakes Database. But in terms of indirect access to funds, he may be properly rolled. Such players have built sufficient rapport amongst their peers and wealthy entrepreneurs to warrant financial backing during times of crises. Earlier this year, Gus Hansen accused Ziigmund of receiving anonymous ‘backing’, and suggested he was one of the few pros that actually played with his own money.
Then there are the players who may have the funds, but aren’t prepared to enter the high stakes fray – either because they are more conservative in their money management, or, if you’re being more cynical, aren’t good enough. Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth rank high on the all time money lists, and enjoy lucrative sponsorship deals with PokerStars and Ultimate Bet respectively, but are conspicuous in their absence from the online, nosebleed stakes. It seems that unbridled aggression and a ‘fearless’ regard for finances are pre-requisites for participation in such games, but the likes of Brian Townsend and Cole South seem to thrive despite more conservative approaches.
Perhaps players mellow with age as well, and, with settled families, don’t feel the need for a financial World War 3. People like Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson – the founding fathers of Full Tilt Poker back in 2004 – must have the funds, but aren’t prepared to put them in jeopardy. It must be noted that nearly all the high stakes stars – Patrik Antonius, Ziigmund, Tom Dwan, Viktor Blom, the Dang brothers, are relatively young. Regardless of their bankrolls however, we’ll never tire of the big pots and million dollar swings.
You can check out the twoplustwo thread here.