Ben Affleck Wins 10k Cal State Poker Championship

[The1calledTKE]

A new chapter in poker history was written tonight at Commerce Casino when, for the first time, a major open tournament was won by a film celebrity. Playing a very strong game, relaxed and obviously enjoying himself immensely, actor Ben Affleck took down the championship event of 2004 California State Poker Championship, $9,900+$100 no-limit hold’em, winning $356,400 and a $25,000 seat in next April’s Bellagio/WPT championship event.

His final opponent was journeyman pro Stan Goldstein. Finishing third was another show business figure, film/TV producer Chuck Pacheco, who finished 41st in this year’s WSOP championship. Between them, Affleck and Pacheco (and sweater Toby Maguire) attracted probably the largest entourage for any poker tournament.

http://www.pokerpages.com/tournament/result9613.htm

Crazy that he was good enough or lucky enough to beat the pro's.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by The1calledTKE
A new chapter in poker history was written tonight at Commerce Casino when, for the first time, a major open tournament was won by a film celebrity. Playing a very strong game, relaxed and obviously enjoying himself immensely, actor Ben Affleck took down the championship event of 2004 California State Poker Championship, $9,900+$100 no-limit hold’em, winning $356,400 and a $25,000 seat in next April’s Bellagio/WPT championship event.

His final opponent was journeyman pro Stan Goldstein. Finishing third was another show business figure, film/TV producer Chuck Pacheco, who finished 41st in this year’s WSOP championship. Between them, Affleck and Pacheco (and sweater Toby Maguire) attracted probably the largest entourage for any poker tournament.

http://www.pokerpages.com/tournament/result9613.htm

Crazy that he was good enough or lucky enough to beat the pro's.

Good enough my ass. The guy has unloaded tons of money into coaches for poker and he still isn't that great. Woop he finally won something...he's still down from all the lessons.

-Rudey

[KSig RC]

Originally posted by Rudey
Good enough my ass. The guy has unloaded tons of money into coaches for poker and he still isn't that great. Woop he finally won something...he's still down from all the lessons.

-Rudey

This is a major event, though, dude - past winners include people like Leonidas and Greenstein.

He's decidedly decent - he'll never be a tier-one pro, but I wouldn't call him awful. To all reports, he does quite well in SoCal high-limit games . . . that's how Johnny Chan makes his living.

[Rudey]

Originally posted by KSig RC
This is a major event, though, dude - past winners include people like Leonidas and Greenstein.

He's decidedly decent - he'll never be a tier-one pro, but I wouldn't call him awful. To all reports, he does quite well in SoCal high-limit games . . . that's how Johnny Chan makes his living.

Yes but those guys didn't drop that much dough to have someone teach them.

-Rudey

[lauralaylin]

I think it shows that if you have enough money, you *can* eventually win a major tournament. Just like Phil Gordon and Paul Philips. They have enough money to pour into the tournaments, hoping to get lucky. Even though poker is a skill game, there is some luck involved. I think this is good for poker though. The more celebrities involved, the more regular people get involved, the more fish out there whose money I can take!

[steelepike]

thats cool for him, i am looking forward to the WSOP coverage on ESPN.

[LeslieAGD]

Good for him
I will probably check out the coverage of the WSOP

[DeltaSigStan]

Originally posted by Rudey
Good enough my ass. The guy has unloaded tons of money into coaches for poker and he still isn't that great. Woop he finally won something...he's still down from all the lessons.

-Rudey

Matt Damon even said in a DVD commentary that Ben sucks but gets lucky that one night.....

Guess the stars aligned on the right night....

Now make a decent movie dammit, you're making Matt (3 times the actor) look bad...

But, good job for railing J-Lo

[KSigkid]

Originally posted by steelepike
thats cool for him, i am looking forward to the WSOP coverage on ESPN.

That coverage is pretty addictive...I can't start watching unless I have a lot of time to spare.

[mu_agd]

Originally posted by KSigkid
That coverage is pretty addictive...I can't start watching unless I have a lot of time to spare.

is it similar to celebrity poker on the bravo channel? b/c i find that quite addictive to watch.

[KSig RC]

Originally posted by lauralaylin
I think it shows that if you have enough money, you *can* eventually win a major tournament. Just like Phil Gordon and Paul Philips. They have enough money to pour into the tournaments, hoping to get lucky. Even though poker is a skill game, there is some luck involved. I think this is good for poker though. The more celebrities involved, the more regular people get involved, the more fish out there whose money I can take!

um . . .you're falling into the fallacy of the 'grinder' . . . gordon, as overexposed as he is, has a pretty solid track record. His knowledge of the game, furthermore, is top-tier - while he's not exactly the Doyle, I'd put his actual game ahead of pure theorists like Malmuth.

Paul Philips, for being a huge douche, well . . . he's put together some serious WPT events . . . I guess I might put more stock into that than others.

Anyway, don't let those two's money cloud your vision of their game - esp w/ Gordon. He's put in his time.

Now, why does no one ever hold this against barry greenstein, who is nearly as wealthy?



(also - Rudey, good point on the coaching, but apparently it's paying off . . . )

[lauralaylin]

Originally posted by KSig RC
um . . .you're falling into the fallacy of the 'grinder' . . . gordon, as overexposed as he is, has a pretty solid track record. His knowledge of the game, furthermore, is top-tier - while he's not exactly the Doyle, I'd put his actual game ahead of pure theorists like Malmuth.

Paul Philips, for being a huge douche, well . . . he's put together some serious WPT events . . . I guess I might put more stock into that than others.

Anyway, don't let those two's money cloud your vision of their game - esp w/ Gordon. He's put in his time.

Now, why does no one ever hold this against barry greenstein, who is nearly as wealthy?

Paul Philips has gotten better, I'll give you that. But Phil Gordon? No way. Did you watch him in either WPT event? He had no idea at all about what he was doing. He must have played pretty well in the last event because he came in with a substantial chip lead, but he was totally floundering. He only won because he got lucky. He didn't win a hand for a very long time at the final table, at least according to Vince and Mike (unless he did and it wasn't shown on tv). In my opinion, Moneymaker was much better at that table. Greenstein is a good player, that's why no one ever says anything about his money. He obviously has a lot more experience playing. Once Paul and Phil get more experience under their belts, I'm sure they'll get better.

Btw, how is Gordon overexposed? They never show him on tv like they show Lederer and Helmuth. I think he's on some celebrity poker show, but we all know that those shows are about the celebrities, not the poker. I don't know a poker player that can stand watching them.

But none of this bad stuff is clouding my vision of the game. I am a huge poker fan, and I play every week. I am a big lurker at rec.gambling.poker, and my husband wins lots of money online too, so I have a great vision of poker.

eta mu_agd, celebrity poker is similar only in that they play the same game, no limit texas hold'em. It's so much better though because it's professional poker players, so they actually know what they are doing. And since poker is getting more publicity and becoming mainstream, many of those players are in their own way becoming celebrities too. I suggest you check it out. WPT is on every Wed at 9pm on the Travel Channel, and the WSOP will begin showing on ESPN in July, but they won't show the main hold'em event until Sept.