Who Will Win the 2010 WSOP Main Event?

Predicting the winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event would probably be best left up to Paul the octopus.  But with his recent demise, I have weighed in with my own selections as to who will come out on top from the November Nine.  Keeping in mind that I never saw either Jerry Yang or Joe Cada as having a Republican's chance in California of winning, I'm probably wrong. 

On Lou Krieger's show Keep Flopping Aces, I predicted John Dolan to come in first, with John Racener as my next pick.  Surprisingly, Lou agreed with me and so we have nothing wagered on this outcome -- we're either both geniuses or both the victims of bad luck.  Here's the link to the podcast where Lou and I discuss all nine and make our fearless predictions:  Rounders Radio.  Here's the link to Lou's most recent blog article regarding the final table and our picks:  Keep Flopping Aces.  Please overlook the unnecessarily large picture of me and trust that my hair has moved into the 21st Century.

So why the two Johns?  Let's start with the premise that the chip leader going in is going to take too many risks, overplay his hands, and be the shorter stacks' target early on.  Add to that the fact that Jonathan Duhamel was ridiculously lucky to get all those chips.  That hand against Matt Affleck means Duhamel is out of luck, probably for the rest of his life. He made a bad call that turned into a stunning bad beat for Affleck and gave Duhamel a monstrous stack of chips. It is likely that what the poker gods gave, they will just as soon take away. Here's video of that hand.  Be warned, it's not for the squeamish. And to read more about Duhamel's path to the final nine, click here.



John Dolan reminds me a lot of Allen Cunningham -- he's calm, laid back, all business. I think a cool demeanor will help him at the final table just as it did following what was a disastrous Day 7 where he ended the day 24th out of 27. He fought back on Day 8, winning not by sucking out, a la Duhamel, but by putting it in with the best. And during the six-and-a-half marathon bubble play, he doubled his chip stack by showing fearless aggression -- exactly what he'll need this weekend. For more on how Dolan got to the final table, click here.

I like John Racener's position going into the final table.  He's fourth in chips and so has some chips with which to play, possibly at the expense of the short stacks, and some time before he needs to worry about the big stacks.  He's a solid player who has already amassed good results with four cashes in last year's WSOP and three others this year prior to the Main Eent.  His play was less than stellar the last half of Day 8 and that actually gives him the chance to learn from those mistakes and go to the final table better prepared.  Click here for a recap of Racener's run at the Main Event. 

Who doesn't want Michael Mizrachi to win?  Well, besides the eight other guys at the table, I'd say only Frank Kassela, who will have to share WSOP Player of the Year with Mizrachi if he pulls out that win.  Mizrachi has managed to overcome some problems with Uncle Sam earlier in the year to become the feel-good story of the 2010 WSOP, along with his many brothers.  His nickname "the Grinder" is not ironic and it's that steady play that may compensate for his rather anemic stack going into tomorrow.  With just a little over 14 million, fewer than thirty big blinds, Mizrachi will have to find some good hands early.  But if he does, watch out -- he could spoil Kassela's party.  Click here for the recap of how Mizrachi made it to the final table. 

Up until I watched the ESPN broadcast of Day 8, I couldn't have picked Matthew Jarvis out of a lineup, and I'd already written two articles about him.  He does not have much of a presence, which usually signals doom at a poker table.  On the other hand, he sits in the middle of the pack, which is actually a good place from which to make a move.  And he did show some muscle on Day 6, taking out four opponents before the dinner break.  What we've seen of him on TV shows a solid, deliberate, no frills player.  I should be more bullish on him, but for some reason I'm not.  Click here for my article on how he made it to the final table. 

Joseph "subiime" Cheong should be a favorite.  He sits third in chips, he's a darn good player, and he's even had success in the interim since making the final table.  Yet I don't see the killer instinct and bold aggression that the winner is going to need to take this down.  What impressed me -- his unflappability following that cruel bad beat at the hand of Filippo Candio -- maybe his undoing.  Poker players should get riled up from time to time.  He may lack the killer instinct necessary to win it all.  Read my recap of his play here.

Amateur Soi Nguyen has an all-star team of poker friends, but one of the shortest stacks at the table.  Filippo Candio is the first Italian to make it to the final table, but he's used up all his Ave Marias just getting there, as is evidenced by the sick whooping he laid on Cheong:


Finally we have Jason Senti.  I must apologize for mispronouncing his name repeatedly on Lou's show.  Apparently it's sent-eye, not sent-ee.  However you say it, with fewer than fifteen times the big blind, he'll need a good hand pretty soon for us to even worry about having to say his name.  But I like the guy.  He's a rocker, which already makes him a-okay in my book.  Plus, he's has a great, easy-going personality which can be disarming at the table.  If he doubles up quickly, he could be this year's Jerry Yang.

President Obama's Post "Shellacking" Speech

The White House YouTube channel not only has the entire speech and press conference from the day after the midterm election, but an interactive transcript. Wish I'd seen that before I started trying to transcribe what the president was saying. Here's the video in its entirety:


One of the parts I found most telling came at the 50 minute mark. The reporter asked the president "Are you willing to make any changes in your leadership style?" This is what the president said:

Folks didn’t have any complaints about my leadership style when I was running around Iowa for a year and they got a pretty good look at me up close and personal. They were able to lift the hood and kick the tires. I think they understood that my story was theirs. I might have a funny name and I might have lived in some different places, but the values of hard work and responsibility and honesty and lookin’ out for one another that had been instilled in them by their parents those were the same values that I took from my mom and my grandparents. So the track record has been that when I’m out of this place, that’s not an issue. When you're in this place it is hard not to seem removed. And one of the challenges that we've got to think about is how to I meet my responsibilities here in the White House which requires a lot of hours and a lot of work but still have the opportunity to engage with the American people on a day-to-day basis and give them confidence that I’m listening to them.

So the president admitted what many of us have been saying for years -- that he is a better campaigner than he is a president. He admits that he was successful in Iowa, shaking hands and giving speeches, but not as successful in the White House. Interestingly, this seems similar to his experience in Harvard Law School, where he first showed his talent at campaigning and also showed that, once elected, he leaves the actual work to others.

Unfortunately, while we have a political system that requires a person be a good campaigner as a prerequisite to getting into office, we will often have people running the government whose talent stops at the point that they are sworn in. It would be nice if we as a voting public weren't so swayed by personality and charm and poise and looks, but we are. We often wrongly conclude that if you are good enough and smart enough to run a good campaign, that will translate to your talent once you've taken office. But as our current president has proved, this is a false syllogism.

Barack Obama had no policy ideas, no plans for America, no solutions. What he had was the ability to tap into the national zeitgeist at just the right time. Plus, the Republicans helped him out with a lackluster campaigner in John McCain and a divisive lightning rod in Sarah Palin. And George Bush did much to inflame the anti-Republican passions with his disconnected affect and inability to articulate. This plus the excitement that Obama engendered led to his big win in 2008. But this win was misinterpreted as a shift to the left in America -- and the election Tuesday confirmed that the country does not want to move in that direction.

Many in America have been feeling buyer's remorse since Obama was sworn into office and Tuesday was the first chance to demonstrate that dissatisfaction. They had believed his campaign rhetoric about change only to discover that their trust was misguided. His was as one-sided an administration as Nixon's, distrustful and rejecting of the other side, patronizing the opposition, full of hubris. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid thought they could belittle and marginalize the Republicans and restructure the government in their image, regardless of what the American people really wanted.

Their liberal agenda received the shellacking -- his word -- that it deserved. Now it's up to the Republicans to take their mandate and turn it into some real change in government. Go back to the original Republican values that were abandoned during much of the Bush administration. Bring spending down, help businesses create jobs, streamline the government, and keep our nation safe. They have two years to make good on their promises and to justify the faith the American people have placed in them.

Republican Party Moving Toward Greater Diversity

As a Jewish female it has often bothered me that my party of choice is mostly led by a collection of old White guys. When Michael Steele became the new face of the Republican Party, I was happy with the change, yet worried that he was still the exception that proved the rule.

Yesterday’s landslide victory for Republicans may be the big story, but lost in that headline is the fact that the Republicans elected a number of candidates outside the usual white, male stereotype. With the election of Marco Rubio, Susanna Martinez, Brian Sandoval, Nikki Haley, Mary Fallin, Kelly Ayotte, Tim Scott and Allen West, the Republican Party is starting a move towards looking more like America.

Marco Rubio, a second-generation Cuban American, was elected Senator in Florida, fending off both the Democrat opponent but also a run by independent Charlie Crist. In Nevada, while Democrat Harry Reid held on to his Senate seat, Republican Brian Sandoval defeated Reid's son to become the state’s first Hispanic governor. In nearby New Mexico, Susana Martinez became the first female governor of her state and the first Latina governor in the country.

Allen West’s win in South Florida’s 22nd Congressional District makes him the first African-American Republican to represent Florida in Congress since the 1870s. Similarly, in South Carolina, Tim Scott -- who defeated Strom Thurmond's son -- became the first African-American Republican to represent that state in Congress since the Reconstruction.  Speaking about their historic wins, Timothy F. Johnson, the founder and chairman of The Frederick Douglass Foundation, told an interviewer last night that "we can say with pride that America is a diverse and unique country. Its people are not monolithic looking, thinking, or voting." But in an effort to deflect attention away from race and on to policy, he added, "The best candidates won, and that includes the black Republicans who will take their seats in the U.S. House of Representatives January 2011."

Nikki Haley, of South Carolina, and Mary Fallin, of Oklahoma, became the first female governors of their states. Haley, an Indian-American, became the second Republican of Indian heritage to win a major election, joining Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Kelly Ayotte adds her name to the growing list of female Republican senators which also includes likely write-in winner Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas, and Maine’s Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. While they were unsuccessful in their bids last night, other women running as Republicans included former CEOs Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina in California and Tea Party favorite, but polarizing, Christine O’Donnell in Delaware.

Before yesterday’s election, Republican Party chairman Steele discussed his party’s move towards greater diversity, running ten African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and more than 100 women for Congress. "I think we've made great strides in that regard." He added a hopeful note, "I think we will see - and have seen over the course of the past year - more and more people of color, people of diverse backgrounds, identifying with our party."

I share that optimism and welcome more people to join us under what will increasingly become a much bigger tent.

Vote Tomorrow!!!

One of the more interesting biennial occurrences in America is the midterm election. It is usually not so much about the candidates or issues of that election cycle, as much as a response to what happened two years earlier. The midterm election is the electorate’s response to the President and Congress’ symbolic “How’s my driving?” bumper sticker.

We’ve had the “contract with America” election of 1994 in which the voters told Bill Clinton and the Democratic-controlled Congress we’re not happy. In 2006, it was the Republican president and representatives who heard the deafening “NO!” from the voters. It’s time again for the disgruntled and disillusioned to have their say, and pollsters and prognosticators are predicting a landslide victory for Republican candidates in the house with strong gains in the Senate and the State houses.

I would think that this year, it would be hard to find a voter who wasn’t angry with those in power. On the Liberal side of the spectrum, you voted for “change” only to see most of your key issues not addressed. Yes, a form of health care restructuring was passed, but it was not as extreme as the Liberals wanted. “Don’t ask, don’t tell” is still being supported by this administration in the courts, we’re still in Iraq and Pakistan, even Gitmo is still open.

Moderates who believed that Obama would bring bipartisan change to Washington have seen him lock Republicans out of meetings and promote divisiveness. They’ve seen money poured into solve every problem, the administration giving more handouts than a pedophile at Halloween.

Conservatives have seen every core value they hold dear come under attack and they’ve been ridiculed and marginalized as crazy extremists. Those who wanted limited government and tax relief have been labeled as evil or uncaring. Our president has recently told Republicans, they can get on the bus, but they’ll have to sit in the back.

So if no one is happy with the direction this President and this Congress are taking America, what will happen tomorrow? Much depends, as it always does, on voter turnout. There is no clearer way to make your opinion known that to vote. For all the water cooler talk, blogging, posting, tweeting, calling into talk radio, it is only what you do tomorrow that really matters.

I live in California where Republicans have put up two candidates for the major contests that have failed to ignite voter excitement. Meg Whitman has run a confusing campaign for Governor, spending too much time trying to court unlikely voters rather than rallying the Republican base. This is not the year to pander or run as a moderate. Carly Fiorina could have won in a landslide if she just ran commercials of Senator Boxer talking. Whether she was a godsend at Hewlett-Packard or just another overpaid executive, she would be infinitely better for California than the “reliably liberal” Boxer.

As a Republican, I hope the turnout of other Republicans in California will be great enough to overcome the less than electrifying campaigns these two women have run. And if they have to win by virtue of anti-Obama, anti-Brown and anti-Boxer votes, rather than based on any voter enthusiasm for them, I’ll take it.

If you want to have your voice heard, if you are not happy with the direction the country is moving, then say something where and when it counts. VOTE tomorrow.

California Proposition 19 -- Is the State Going to Pot?

According to the most recent polling information, California State Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana possession, is likely to go down to defeat.  The nonpartisan Field Poll results for October 31st show only 42% of likely voters support Proposition 19, while 49% oppose it.  This is a reversal from polling in September which showed the initiative leading 49-to-42%.

Currently, possession of a small amount of marijuana, if prosecuted at all, is dealt with like a traffic fine.  And marijuana is legal for medicinal uses.  So why the need for the initiative?  Some support legalization to end hypocrisy and double standards (why is possession of pot criminalized at all while alcohol is not, they'll say), while others believe the state is missing out on the potential revenue that taxation would afford.  Proposition 19 would not just legalize pot, but would also allow local governments to regulate and tax the sale of marijuana in the State. 

Candidates for statewide election on both sides of the aisle have indicated their opposition to the proposition as have the police chiefs of every county save San Francisco.  Some oppose the initiative because they don't want to appear soft on drugs or on crime.  Others, such as the L.A. Times, think the law would create an unnecessary additional level of governmental bureaucracy by requiring each of the 536 separate cities and counties in the State to impose their own rules.

The outcome for this proposition may be affected by the turnout.  If Republicans, motivated to send an anti-Obama message to Washington, come out in droves, it is likely that Prop. 19 will go down to defeat.  Latest polling shows Democrats support Prop 19 by a slim majority (51%), while Republicans oppose it 65% to 25%.  Voters under 40 years old (who lean Democrat) support the initiative 54% to 38%, while voters 65 or older (more likely Republican) are against it, 63% to 29%.

This may not be the year that pot becomes legalized in California, but proponents will surely try again.  Perhaps a rewrite that better establishes regulatory policies would overcome some of the more mainstream opposition.  But it is surprising that a State that looks to be sending one of the most Liberal Senators back to Washington is too conservative to support legalizing marijuana.

Getting ready for the WSOP Final Table -- The November Nine

The final table will start on November 6th, at 12:00 noon, in the Penn & Teller Theatre at the Rio.  They are starting out on Level 36 with blinds of 250,000/500,000 and antes of 50,000. The average chip stack is just under 24 million. Action will be broadcast on a five minute delay, without hole cameras, on ESPN3. The final two players will return at 8:00 pm on November 8 for the final heads up match. ESPN will air the final table on November 9.

Here are the seat assignments (and chip counts) for the final table: 

Seat 1: Jason Senti (7,625,000)
Seat 2: Joseph Cheong (23,525,000)
Seat 3: John Dolan (46,250,000)
Seat 4: Jonathan Duhamel (65,975,000)
Seat 5: Michael Mizrachi (14,450,000)
Seat 6: Matthew Jarvis (16,700,000)
Seat 7: John Racener (19,050,000)
Seat 8: Filippo Candio (16,400,000)
Seat 9: Soi Nguyen (9,650,000)

I did a series for Poker Player Newspaper on how each of the final nine got there, looking at their chip counts each day and significant reported hands.  You can check out those articles here:  http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/category/authors/shari-geller

Here's a quick rundown on the final nine.

In Seat 1 is Jason Senti, a 25-year-old online pro who plays under the name PBJaxx and works as a poker instructor at BlueFirePoker.  He goes into the final table as the short stack, with just fifteen big blinds left.  But he's been down before and battled back.  He had just 15 big blinds on Day 6, finished 69 out of 78, was all in on Day 7 after losing half his starting stack, then went on a tear.  His stack ballooned to fourth place, before being ground down during the long Day 8.

Unlike most at the final table who heeded poker's call early, Senti graduated from college (the University of North Dakota) with a degree in engineering before turning pro.  Not surprisingly, he credits being good at math with much of his poker success, as well as "understanding psychology."  He's concentrates mostly on cash games, but did have one other WSOP cash in the event just before the big one, he finished 32nd in the $10K NLHE Head's-Up event.  But he recently tweeted that he was under the weather.  This would not be an opportune time to be sick!

Seat 2 begins the murderer's row of big stacks. Joseph Cheong is the third in chips, but is one of the best, most experience, most feared players at the table.  He had two prior cashes in this year's WSOP, a 24^th in $1500 six-handed event and 29^th in the $5,000 six-handed event.  As the table shrinks, he can use this experience to his advantage.  And Cheong has been on a roll, with two cashes in the European Poker Tour, since making the November Nine.  He had a 24th place finish and was runner up in the High Roller Turbo event.  He also recently won the Festa al Lago at the Bellagio. 

Like Senti, he's a college graduate, having earned a combined psychology, economics and math degree from UC San Diego.  Cheong's, whose first name is Saguhyon, was born in Seoul, South Korea, but now makes La Mirada, California his home.  He plays online under the name “subiime” and won a mini FTOPS last year earning $55,000.

In Seat 3 is John Dolan, second in chips.  He plays live tournaments and online under the name JRD312. The 23-year-old Floridian dropped out of Florida State University to concentrate on poker full time.  He's done pretty well for himself, with $216,556 in live tournament cashes, including a 6th place finish in one of the $1K NLHE events at this year’s WSOP for $82,804. He’s also cashed for over $1.1 million dollars on FullTiltPoker and PokerStars.

Dolan will be in the unenviable position of having the massive chip leader to his left, and has Cheong, to his right.  So it will be interesting to see how this, and his relative lack of experience compared with some, leads him to handle such a substantial starting stack.  This is especially true when you consider he began Day 8 in 24th place out of the remaining 27 and yet managed to surge to second in chips.  He has played in the big tournaments since the WSOP -- the WSOP Europe and the EPT -- and had just one cash, at the EPT, outlasting fellow November Niner Filippo Candio.

Seat 4 will be hard to see behind his massive stack of chips.  But Jonathan Duhamel will likely make his presence known, continuing the aggressive play that put him on top.  While the rest feared the bubble, he went on a rampage, tearing up for the last five hours before the tenth place finisher was knocked out.  The French-Canadian Duhamel dropped out of college where he was studying finance to focus on poker full time, a decision that right now looks brilliant. But what's interesting is, if you watched all of the ESPN coverage of the main event, Duhamel almost didn't make it to the end.

Duhamel shoved for his last 1.715 and was in a race AhKc against the pocket sixes of Robert Pisano. The flop was a blank, 7d3cJh, and the 5c turn left him with just six outs to stave off elimination. But the dealer showed a near-miraculous Kh and Duhamel was still alive and sitting on about 3.5 million.  He survived another all in about an hour later and now is the monster chip leader.  Will he sail to the end, or will some other short stack get lucky against him and start chipping away at his lead?  Time will tell.

Seat 5 is the best known player at the table, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi.  Known earlier in the year for an unfortunate tax problem, he rewrote his own 2010 by first winning the $50K Players Championship then helming Team Mizrachi which saw all four brothers cash in the main event this year.  If Mizrachi wins the main event, he ties Frank Kasela for Player of the Year and basically rewrites the WSOP record book.

He was nearly down so many times during the main event, you wonder how he could bounce back.  But there is something to being a seasoned pro, and something to the power of having your family supporting you.  He brings all of that, if not an impressive chip stack, to the final table.  I wouldn't count him out.

In Seat 6 is Matthew Jarvis and I hate to admit it but after having written about him twice, I still have to look him up.  It's only when I remember he's the Ginger of the group that I can at all recall his play over the previous eight days.  Jarvis is of the lesser known players, whose hands were not covered extensively by ESPN, and this may work to his advantage.  He is the second Canadian at the final table, living in Surrey, British Columbia.  He is 25 and his father is a golf pro who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

He had the chip lead when it was down to the last 15, but his stack spiraled downward from then.  But he was the one who dealt the fatal blow, knocking out Brandon Steven in 10th place.  Since making the final table he has won the Canadian Open Poker championship in Calgary for just under $100K, came in 40^th place at a WSOP-Europe event, and won the Festa al Lago $1,000 buy-in NLHE event at Bellagio earlier this month.

Seat 7 has John Racener who, based on what I've seen of him during the ESPN coverage, would make an excellent model for art students.  Or a corpse for a very long CSI episode.  The guy doesn't move.  He gives away nothing.  He is the anti-Filippo Candio (see below).  I doubt he has a pulse.  Even though he's under the chip average and behind the massive stacks of Duhamel and Dolan), I like Racener's chances to go all the way.

The twenty-four-year-old Florida native John Racener may be young, but he already has an impressive poker resume. He had four cashes and one final table in last year’s World Series of Poker and three cashes in this year’s WSOP preliminary events including one in PLO and another in 7-Card Stud.  He also came in 5th at a PLO event at the WSOP-Europe.

Seat 8 has the fiery Italian, Filippo Candio.  First noticed on the ESPN broadcast for an exuberant celebration after winning an all in that landed him in poker time out, he was later part of that insane hand against Joseph Cheong.  Candio has made himself known and whether that is a good thing or not remains to be seen.  He wears his heart and other internal organs on his striped sleeve and will be the most entertaining of the final nine.

What is interesting about Candio's run is the fact that he finished Day 1 second in chips.  It is a rare feat for someone who peaked early to stay around till the end.  He was involved in a number of questionable hands, including one apparent slow roll and another hand where he pushed chips forward then tried to pull them back (the floor was brought in and it was ruled a call; he lost the hand).  The native of the tiny island of Sardinia chose not to follow in his father's footsteps and become a lawyer, but to try poker.  He is already guaranteed a nice payday even if it all ends on the first hand.  But this unpredictable player may have staying power.

The last seat is occupied by Cuong "Soi" Nguyen, this year's Darvin Moon.  The untested amateur is going in with just under twenty big blinds, but also with low expectations and less known about him than some of the other players.  All this will work to his advantage.  The old man at the table at 37, he plays mostly at local LA clubs including Bicycle and Commerce.  But he will have help along the way as our "amateur" counts among his friends such poker luminaries as Tuan Le, Nam Le, JC Tran, and Steve Sung.

Born in Vietnam and currently residing in Santa Ana where he works as a manager for a medical supply company, Nguyen developed a reputation during the main event as an aggressive player and also made some good reads down the road.  At one point during Day 7, he was in the chip lead after calling pro Theo Jorgensen with just top pair.  His read was good, Jorgensen was on a draw, and when the board ran out safe, Nguyen was out on top.  To get back there, he'll need a little luck in addition to his aggression and good reads.   
 
I'll be on Lou Krieger's show Keep Flopping Aces tonight discussing all this and our predictions for the November Nine. You can find it on Rounder's Radio, starting at 6:00 pm PDT.

Inspiration from the Rail

This was published in two parts by Poker Player Newspaper, but because of the limitations of space, it had to be cut down. Here's the complete article:

Donnie Vann started playing poker in the ninth grade on a junior high trip to Washington, D.C. His cousin Lamar had taught him the fundamentals of the game – basically what beats what and how you make the best hand – back when he was about ten years old. Donnie played off and on, but about five years ago, he became caught up in the poker excitement like so many others in the wake of Chris Moneymaker’s astonishing win in the 2003 World Series of Poker. He started playing online and in casinos near his home in Jacksonville, Florida.

Little of this would be noteworthy, were it not for the fact that Donnie Vann is paralyzed from his shoulders down. Injured in a diving accident when he was just 15-years-old, Donnie broke his neck and has been a quadriplegic ever since. To see his cards at a live game, he needs the assistance of one of his round-the-clock nurses who has to show him his cards while not exposing them to anyone else at the table.  He tells them what he wants to do and they make the moves that he cannot.  He plays mostly at local casinos, but this summer he set out to make a dream come true. He got a trailer, loaded it up, brought along his nurses, and headed out west to play in the biggest poker tournament of them all, the World Series of Poker.

I had a chance to catch up with Donnie in the middle of the West Coast part of his adventure. He was very upbeat and excited about the trip so far and looking forward to the next couple of weeks. He told me that he set out from his home on D-Day, June 6th, in a van with a trailer attached. That seemed like a fitting choice of a start date as travelling for someone with such a serious medical condition would seem to require preparation on a military scale. It took five days to make the trek and he started a blog to record his experiences along the way – http://dvann.blogspotcom/.

Once Donnie arrived in Las Vegas, he quickly met up with people who heard of his story and wanted to help, dispelling the stereotype of Las Vegas as seedy and uncaring. He had actually met one of these people, poker pro Susie Isaacs, some months earlier when she and fellow pro Tom McEvoy were teaching a poker seminar on tournament play at the Orange Park Kennel Club in Jacksonville, followed by two days of tournament play.

“After I was knocked out of the tournament, I was sitting next to Susie and we started talking and just hit it off," Donnie told me. "We went to dinner and we have kept in touch by email and phone calls here and there. She is wonderful. She has done so much for me. She’s really made my experience out here through the moon. Without her, I wouldn’t be able to do half the stuff I’m doing now.”

And what Donnie is doing is having the time of his life. Thanks to Susie, he was able to get a sponsor for his first WSOP appearance. Susie then told her friend Doralee Rae, aka Lady Pink, about his story. Lady Pink, in turn, offered to pay his buy-in to one of the $1K tournaments if he would wear her logo. Susie also put Donnie in touch with the people at FullTilt Poker. “She told them my story and they liked it and then put their logo on the trailer that I brought with me to carry all my stuff. They gave me clothes to wear. She really helped me in so many ways.”

But Donnie also helps himself. He was not coming to the WSOP unprepared. He had entered a satellite at his local casino, a $150 buy-in that, if it attracted at least 100 players, would award one seat to the Main Event. 132 players entered that tournament – and it was Donnie Vann who took it down. “I was prepared to pay the $10,000 if I had to in order to play, but I ended up winning the satellite. I’m really looking forward to playing in the Main Event. My mom, my nurses, and my best friend will all be there on the 6th” when Donnie was scheduled to play Day One.

Donnie finished the $1K event in the middle of the pack, happy to get his feet wet, even if he didn’t cash.  With his first WSOP event under his belt, Donnie was ready for more. First, he entered the Pot Limit Omaha 8/b event. Then, it was time for the big show -- the WSOP Main Event.

Like so many other poker players, Donnie Vann has wanted to go to Las Vegas for the WSOP for some time, “It’s always been a dream of mine to play in the World Series of Poker,” he told me during our interview last month. Watching the broadcast on TV, he set his sights on being one of the many at the Rio vying for the most prestigious title in all of poker.  But, for Donnie, a quadriplegic who relies on around-the-clock nurses to help him with even the most mundane matters the rest of us take for granted, it was a dream that took quite a bit more planning and effort.  And his presence at the series has drawn a bit more attention than the average recreational player.

Once he arrived in Las Vegas, Donnie had the chance to meet many of the poker players he had followed on TV for years. “I met several of them so far. I got to get my picture taken between Doyle Brunson and Phil Hellmuth. I also met TJ Cloutier, Joe Hachem, and Jerry Yang.” As his blog will attest, he also had the chance to meet and take pictures with Carlos Mortenson, Ted Forrest, Barry Greenstein and many other well-known poker pros.

But even more exciting than just meeting them, was actually getting to play against these pros. Donnie played in one of the pot limit Omaha 8/b events and “sat right next to Phil Hellmuth for about three hours. I had him all in, but his hand held up.” He also sat next to Greenstein for about an hour. “It was something you definitely never dream you’d do. There they were [these players he’d followed on TV] sitting right next to me.”

I asked Donnie about the  horrible accident that caused him such devastating injuries, robbing him of all movement and sensation from the shoulders down. “When I was fifteen I dove into a lake, hit the bottom, and broke my neck,” he recounted. Just one sentence to describe how fast and irreversibly your life can change.  No doubt, he’s relayed the story countless times, but it is still jarring hearing him recount it so matter-of-factly. Donnie said it took him many years to get over the anger at what had happened to him. But today, remarkably, there is not a hint of anger or self-pity.

“It took me about seven years to get adjusted to my situation, being paralyzed. But the lord blessed me. I have a wonderful life. I have a great mom and dad and wonderful nurses and friends. I’m very blessed. I just enjoy life. I just have to sit down to do it, that’s all there is to it.”

It is this upbeat attitude as much as anything else that makes Donnie so inspirational. But he doesn’t see his attitude as that unusual. “They way I look at life is that you look at your situation, it could always be worse. I try to make every day as fun as possible because you never know, it could be your last day. So you enjoy – to the best of your ability – each day.”

Donnie's positive attitude extends beyond his physical limitations, encompassing everything in his life. He talks lovingly about his parents and how close they are, and believes that their connection was preordained, but not the way you might think. “I was adopted. It was set up before I was born. My parents couldn’t have children so they adopted me three days after I was born. I always say, the lord’s been looking out for me since before I was born. I’ve got two of the greatest parents in the world.”

He shared how much they did for him after his accident with pride and appreciation. "When I first got hurt, I was in the hospital for six weeks and I was in a rehab center for another six months. Every single day they were there, every hour they could be there. It was hard on them because at first I was very mean and bitter and they stood by me and took care of me always made sure I had the best care possible."

Before the accident, Donnie had wanted to play baseball and was a typically active teen. Discovering poker gave Donnie a great outlet for his competitive spirit and craving for excitement. He plays about three times a week at the Poker Room in Jacksonville. Josh Zuckerman, Director of Poker Operations at the St. John’s poker room, part of the Jacksonville Greyhound Racing and Poker, has known Donnie since the poker room opened in 2004. He was intrigued the first time he saw Donnie.

“When I saw Donnie walk in I thought, oh, this is going to be interesting,” Zuckerman told me. “I wondered how this will work.” But he soon found out that Donnie needed little accommodation, just enough room for his chair and his nurse to sit nearby and show him his cards. “I went over, introduced myself and we’ve been friends ever since. He’s just an outstanding person with an outstanding outlook on life, regardless of his condition and how he got there.”

Not only is Donnie a great guy, but he’s a pretty good poker player as well. Like many amateur players, Donnie not only plays but he enjoys watching poker on TV. What shows does he like? "I watch them all. Of course, the World Series is my favorite and I like the World Poker Tour and I watch High Stakes Poker and Poker after Dark." Donnie says that you may think you learn strategy from watching all those shows, “but once you get to a live table you just can’t play as well as them, but you do pick up pointers here and there. But, I definitely learn more by playing, especially online where you get to see more hands."

Zuckerman said Donnie goes deep in most of their tournaments. Donnie’s first major tournament cash was two years ago in Biloxi on the World Poker Tour. And he can now add a WSOP cash to his stats, finishing 33rd out of a starting field of 847 in the PLO8/b tournament.

The culmination of his trip to Las Vegas, though, was his chance at poker immortality -- guaranteed to the winner of the WSOP Main Event. Donnie started on Day 1B and, though he lost about half his chips due to “a bad run of cards,” did what many failed to do -- headed for Day 2A. After the end of Day 1, Donnie put this experience, win or lose, into perspective. “I'm still having the time of my life!”  And though he was eliminated on Day 2, Donnie is a true winner!