For poker players, this is one of the biggest weeks of the year — the week of the “Main Event” at the World Series of Poker. And even though there are a million reasons why I don’t play poker, I thought it would be fun to catch up on some former (and current) chess players who are competing in the WSOP.
One of my former chess opponents, Evan Meyer Sandberg, has been posting regular updates on Facebook about his progress in the Main Event. They’re on day three now, and according to the latest update I saw on the WSOP website, Evan is currently in 640th place with 205,200 chips. That’s pretty good, considering there were 7,874 entrants and there are 2,288 players remaining.
Although I don’t know how cash prizes are determined at the main event, this seems like an important day because historically (i.e., looking up last year’s tournament online) I see that people who survived day three were guaranteed to win money, and that meant roughly the top 1000 players. (Last year, 1084 players were in the money, to be precise.) So Evan has a pretty good shot at prize money — but a lot of things can happen. That’s reason number one million and one why I don’t play poker: there’s no continuity from one hand to the next. In chess, every move leads naturally to the next. In poker, you can have a great hand and then nothing for the next hand (or twenty hands).
I also noticed a couple other chess names slightly to the north of Evan in the standings. I’m sure that Jennifer Shahade, prolific chess commentator and chess author, needs no introduction. She currently stands at #558 with 217,000 chips. And just two places above her is Michael Pearson, #556 with 217,500. Michael was a strong junior player and National Master in the San Francisco area a decade ago. The thing I remember him for the most clearly is that in 2006, we captained the two teams that met in the finals of the East Bay Chess League. And not to rub salt into any old wounds, my team, called “Eight is Enough,” defeated “Mike’s Maters” by the slimmest of margins, 2½-1½.
Michael dropped out of tournament chess a few years after that, and I never knew what happened to him. But apparently he’s been doing okay at his new poker gig. He even won first place in an event a couple years ago, earning $150,000. That’s the good news. The bad news is, according to WSOP.com his lifetime earnings in all events other than that one amount to $25,000. That’s poker for you: feast or famine, and famine a whole lot more often than feast. That’s reason number one million and two why I don’t play poker. I much prefer chess, which is famine all the time.
Anyway, to Evan, Jennifer and Michael, good luck at the cards! Does anyone know any other chess players who are currently playing in the WSOP?
