 We created the Monster
The last few months have been a crazy time for us. We ran the Full Tilt Poker Million, The PartyPoker World Open and the inaugural PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam back-to-back and when they had finished I was beat. That was when I got the phone call from Durrrr. ‘’Hey Eddie, let’s do the show next week.’’ Tom and I became friends during the filming of the PartyPoker Premier League and have spoken most days since. I find Tom fascinating, partly because he is so bright but also because he is the new breed, the new generation of poker players that come to the game with a fearless and supernatural mathematic approach. In short he is a genius... but rarely geniuses have no fear of going broke. 
We turned the Full Tilt Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge round in record time which is ironic because I feel it was one of the best shows we have ever made. Watching these guys play 500bb deep was ‘poker porn’ in my opinion and the Omaha match versus Ziigmund maybe watched for many years to come. Add that with the commentary of fellow geniuses Issac “luvthewnba” Haxton and Phil “OMGclayaiken” Galfond and you have a show that hardcore poker fans all over the world will love. It may have come a little early for the casual player but the poker audience is advancing at such a rate that we need to keep innovating.
The event itself took place just while Tom was battling it out with “Isildur1” and I’m not quite sure how he managed to conduct himself like he did during filming. He would leave the studio after playing 10 hours live and go back to his room at the Waldorf. By the time I had got home and fired up Full Tilt, there he was 5/6 tabling and losing millions. I would pick him up in the morning knowing exactly how much he had lost but it was never mentioned and other than his tiredness, you would never know he had had a rough night. Things got and have got pretty rough for Tom but I guess that’s the swings you face when you play at that level but never once has he lost faith, panicked or lost the belief that he is one of the greatest players in the world and in the long term he will get the money and of that... I have no doubt.
Tom is the first player to have a global TV poker show in his name and it’s a real sign of the times as far as player power goes.
As I write this blog we are just one day away from the PartyPoker Premier League IV at the M Resort in Las Vegas and in recruiting these players I have had to deal with a concoction of agents, personal assistants, lawyers and even make-up artists as we strive to attract the biggest names and personalities to the field. It’s such a great mix of players here this year and I have honestly never seen so many players so fired up to win a poker tournament. The new triple stack structure has been really well received and I’m especially pleased to have Daniel Negreanu in the field after a long absence from our events. 
At the media party last night the place was buzzing with Vanessa Rousso, Phil Hellmuth, Roland De Wolfe, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Tony G and Full Flush in great form. They all fancy their chances but as always there can only be one winner. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be something quite special…
Posted by : Eddie |
