The world of poker sometimes presents mind-boggling conundrums that
even the most brilliant astrophysicist would have trouble wrapping his
or her big brain around. The World Series of Poker is one of the arenas where that can come into play and, in particular, the biggest ever buy in poker tournament, the “Big One For One Drop.”
That tournament presented some of the myriad of complexities that would
have every poker player wondering what they would do in that position.
One of those situations appeared before the first cards were in the
air for the “Big One.” Prior to the start of the million dollar buy in
tournament, a mega-satellite was held on the floor of the Rio that
offered a prize that anyone could get behind. For the princely sum of
$25,000, players had the opportunity to get into one of the biggest
poker tournament of all time on the cheap or, if for some reason not
enough players showed up, to grab a huge payday. Only one seat would be
given out but, if there was a sizeable turnout, then the runner-up and
potentially third place would receive a cash payout.
With a chance at turning a “measly” $25K into what would become an
$18 million payday, there wasn’t much doubt that there would be a line
of players taking their shot. At the end of it all, 96 players turned
out, setting up one seat to the “Big One” and a million dollar payday to
the second place player. With only that one seat available, one of the
more interesting occurrences in recent memory reared its head.
Getting down to the final two players, professional poker players Gus Hansen and Shaun Deeb
were sitting with virtually the same stack. According to many reports,
the twosome discussed the situation between each other, then came back
to the table to settle the score. What happened after that became the
subject of discussion around the poker world.
On the first hand of heads up play, Deeb would put his entire stack
in the center, save for one 5000 tournament chip. Hansen, with the
slightly larger stack, made the call and the duo saw the flop. After
Hansen put out a small bet, Deeb folded his hand even though he had
every pot-odds reason in the world to make the call. As expected, on the
next hand Hansen won, taking the seat to the “Big One” while Deeb
walked away $1 million richer.
It is here that the conundrum appears…what would YOU do in the same situation?
The mathematics are pretty easy to figure out: do you take the
guaranteed million dollars or take a chance at winning your way to the
final nine of the 48 combatants in the “Big One,” where the payouts
would graduate from slightly more than a million to what became the
biggest prize in tournament poker history, $18,346,673. If you look at
it strictly from that standpoint, then Deeb making the deal with Hansen
for a million dollar payout is a no-brainer. (Further note: there
hasn’t been anything stated about whether Deeb got a piece for letting
Hansen have the seat or if there were any other discussions at the final
table over the prize money to be paid out.)
Where the discussion gets murky is in what people consider the game
of poker to be. Is it a competition, where the best man (or woman)
defeats all comers to garner all the glory – and the cash – that comes
along with the victory? Is it business, where money talks and goes
farther than picking up a “chance” at a bigger payday? Or is it a gray
area that, depending on your point in the space/time continuum, suggests
different outcomes on different days.
Deeb, for his part, made the decision based more than likely on that
“gray area” question. A million dollars will buy you into many other
tournaments where you could potentially multiply your earnings over a
wider spectrum of events than a single shot. Some posters on various
message boards have castigated him for not battling it out legitimately.
For him to be vilified for his deal with Hansen is ridiculous in that
he wants to maximize his chances; while being in the “Big One” might be
nice, the $1 million would be better for Deeb to put to the remainder of
the 2012 tournament poker year or other cash games.
Hansen has had the experience of playing with many of the combatants
in the “Big One,” so he may have felt that he had the better chance of
turning that seat into a payout (eventually Hansen would fall short of
the final table, not earning any money). For both sides, the end
justified the means.
But that still doesn’t answer the question of whether poker is a
competition or a business. While those of us outside the high stakes
poker world probably would say “take the seat!” the reality of the world
of poker is that it IS a business and, to operate a business, you need
capital. Thus, taking the money rather than the seat makes a great deal
of sense.
In my opinion, Deeb and Hansen made the correct decisions based on
their own points in the business world of poker as well as the
“sporting” nature of the game. If faced with the same decision, I would
have probably done what Deeb did as well, using that bankroll boost to
be able to play for the rest of the year (and more than likely beyond).
But it does point out the interesting dichotomy of the world of
poker, something that we all need to consider before stepping to the
felt: why do you play the game and, more importantly, what would YOU do
in a particular situation?