The stereotype of today's hot player is an undereducated, sunglassed, twenty-something year old, white male; weaned on televised poker and the current incarnation of internet play. But for those paying attention, today's successful tournament players would more likely be cast in The Revenge of the Nerds than Top Gun.
Long before the sexy graphics and fish laden vestiges of today’s online poker sites, there was IRC poker. The IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server, developed by Greg Reynolds, Greg Mummert and other Usenet rec.gambling.poker (rgp) enthusiasts, hosted some of the toughest online tournament competition ever collected. It has, in no small way, served as poker’s brain trust. The brain trust is embodied by a lunatic nerd fringe of poker players that live in a subculture defined by their IRC participation, the early days of rgp, the now traditional live rgp tournament events, such as BARGE (Big August Rec.Gambling Excursion), and too many college degrees for their own good.
It seems like every year at the WSOP, this brain trust continues to perform. And this year is no different. Bill Chen (pictured above) has a PhD in mathematics and his book, The Mathematics of Poker, should be released any day. But perhaps of more interest to readers is his outstanding performance in the 2006 WSOP. Chen has won two WSOP bracelets and has cashed in three other WSOP events so far this year. And right now he’s sitting with a stack in Day Two of another WSOP $1500 event. [Note: Chen finished 7th in this event for yet another cash]
Read more about the lovable nerd pack, including former WSOP Champions.
Another IRC poster child for this year’s WSOP has to be Suzan “Sabyl” Cohen. Cohen was the last woman standing in the Championship event, finishing in 56th place with $123,699. It comes as no surprise that Cohen was the 2004 BARGE Best All Around Player and the 2005 BARGE 2nd Best All Around Player.
Other members of the IRC/rgp nerd pack include 2000 WSOP Champion Chris Ferguson, 2004 WSOP Champion Greg Raymer, Tiltboy and WSOP bracelet winner Perry Friedman, WSOP bracelet winner Jay “Sippy” Sipelstein, and accomplished tournament pros such as Steve Brecher, Paul Phillips, Phil Gordon (another Tiltboy), and Andy Bloch…for starters.
I’ll write more about this bizarre bunch and the poker legacy they created – including the birth of the poker road trip report, many important books, the terminology they’ve introduced, and some places to find their sage advice. And yes, I will also cover their drunken craps crawls, wacky prop bets, and strange game inventions like Binglaha.
