On this second Sunday of the 2008 World Series, a lot of attention will be focused on the final table of Event #12: $1,500 Limit Hold’em. Yes, Vinnie Vinh leads going into day three of this tournament but a lot more interest will be paid to the number two man on the leader board, Erick Lindgren. The speculation, of course, is whether Erick can land a second bracelet in less than a week.
A lot of casual observers might see such a double-barreled feat as the result of a good run of cards or just a very good player being overdue. Perhaps a closer look into at just what the first week or so of the Series really looks like to a poker professional like Erick Lindgren might be illuminating.
Friday May 30th, Event #1: $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em. Erick plays about eight hours before having his set of aces lose to another set with a bigger kicker.
Sunday June 1st, Event #2 Day 1B: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em. Erick is mostly card dead and goes out about mid-way in level three, still time for 18 holes before dusk.
Monday June 2nd, Event #4 (5 PM start): $5,000 Mixed Hold’em. Erick and ninety other players survive day one from a starting field of 332. With 8,400 chips. Erick Lindgren’s name is no where near the top of the leader board; not with the leader over 100,000.
Tuesday June 3rd, Event #4 day two: Twelve hours of play narrows the field from 91 to the final table nine. Erick will begin the final day fourth in chips but a veteran packed group has made the final table. Playing for the bracelet will be: David "Chino" Rheem 885,000, David Williams 678,500, Justin Bonomo 517,500, Erick Lindgren 345,000, Howard Lederer 324,500, Roland de Wolfe 194,000, Andrew Robl 162,000, Isaac Haxton 115,500 and Pat Pezzin 108,500.
Wednesday June 4th Event #4 Final Table: After 11 hours and 197 hands, Erick Lindgren defeats Justin Bonomo heads up and wins the bracelet. Nearly every media story leads with some variation of: “The best player never to win a bracelet…wins one!”
Thursday June 5th Event #9: $1,500 NLHE 6-handed. Less then 10 hours after winning a bracelet and who knows how many hours after the celebration ends, Erick Lindgren is back at the tables and perhaps understandably does not survive the first hour of this tournament.
Friday June 6th Event #11: $5,000 NLHE Shootout. Erick along with along with 359 others put up the $5,000 for this event. Thirty-six tables of ten players will play one round today, each table producing a single winner for tomorrow’s day two. Erick busts just before 5 P.M. and immediately registers for Event #12.
Friday June 6th Event 12 (5 P.M. start): $1,500 Limit Hold’em. Eight hundred and eighty players start this limit event with 181 making it to day two. Just before 3 A.M. play halts for the day with 15 hours of poker in two events, Erick has 27,300 chips, which is good for 12th spot on the leader board.
Saturday June 7th Event #12 day two. At 3 A.M. the tournament staff calls the end of a long day, which has not produced a final table of nine but rather two tables and eighteen players. Erick Lindgren will begin the final day second in chips with 244,000 and a shot at a second bracelet.
Sunday June 8th Event #12 day three. The final eighteen will begin play today at 2 PM PDT. After playing down to nine, they will take the ESPN interview/dinner break and then decide the bracelet late tonight. Erick Lindgren the “best player never to have won a second bracelet.”
[7:20 P.M. Erick Lindgren bubbles the final table in 10th place]
