The first 2007 World Series of Poker tournament is scheduled to kick off tomorrow and the mere thought about it gets me really excited. It's not as if I'm going to actually participate or anything (I'm not that good of a player), but as a staunch poker enthusiast I definitely will follow the reports on the strongest players and the most exciting tournaments.
In my opinion, last year's WSOP final table event was among the most titillating poker events ever. Who could have thought that it would be Jamie Gold who's going to land the first place prize. And, what an impressive prize it was - $12,000,000! This sure is a lot of money for a middle-class TV producer who was relatively unknown in the poker industry. Later, however, I read in the news that he had a fight with some other guy who claimed that Gold had promised him to split the jackpot and later refused. Eventually, they went to court and the 2006 WSOP champion was ultimately ordered to share half of his winnings with the plaintiff. Anyway, despite Gold's immense luck there is absolutely no chance of him grabbing the first place for the second time...
Yet, although winning a WSOP champion title for the second time is certainly a highly challenging goal (on the verge of the impossible almost), there are poker players who've done it. Take, for instance, Stu Ungar. He took the title twice in 1980 and 1981 and also made a hell of a comeback in 1990. What can be more amazing than becoming a three-time WSOP winner?
I've been talking to some friends of mine and they tried to convince me that, this year, we are going to crown Carlos 'El Matador' Mortensen as the fortunate winner. He won the title for the first time in 2005. That year he finished in the money three times in the WSOP and also managed to win the Season Five WPT championship. Last year, Mortensen placed in the money five times and that's why my friends believe that he has the best chances of winning this year.
Personally, however, I believe that there are other gifted (or plain lucky) candidates as well. The likes of Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, Joseph Hachem and Cris Moneymaker. All of the above have proved their amazing poker abilities and talents. On the other hand, there are plenty other skillful players that we haven't heard about it just yet. And, they sure have a chance to make it to the top as well.
So, who is it going to be?
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