Harrington and Moneymaker

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Everyone:

I've been hearing that during the WSOP that there was not only some friction between Dan Harrington and Chris Moneymaker, but that Dan thought very little of Moneymaker's playing ability. I'm pretty sure that just the opposite is the case.

For those who don't know, Dan happens to be a long time friend of mine, and I spoke to him at The Bellagio pokerroom a couple of days after his third place finish in this year's WSOP. He told me that by chance he was at Moneymaker's table on the first day of the tournament. Dan said that he was so impressed with his game that he went and told several top players who were nearbye that this was a kid they needed to watch. Well, obviously Dan was right.

Also, Dan had only compliments for Moneymaker's ability and performance at the final table.

Best wishes,
Mason

[BreakEvenPlayer]

You know, I was there on Day 2, the day before he was at the table with Chan and Lederer which got a lot of play on ESPN. He mentioned in the interviews how he was getting run over by some of the better players and he wanted to play his game.

I'll tell you he made a ton of laydowns on this day, I wouldn't have noticed him if his last name wasn't Moneymaker, everyone was making a big deal about this. Well, it's really hard to explain, but anyone who saw his performance throughout the week knows that he has an instinct when it comes to reads, things that can't be taught. You can say he outdrew people a few times, but nonetheless he made consistent and incredible plays, and a victory in the Big Event in NO WAY can be attributed to pure luck.

[wayabvpar]

Thanks Mason... I am sure you saw the long thread on RGP about this. Nice to hear that there wasn't any friction. It would have been nice if ESPN covered each player at the final table a bit more (Harrington got some, but Pak, Singer and Gray were hardly mentioned until their brief appearances), so as an audience we would have had more idea of the 'history' of each player and whether they interacted previously in the tournament.

Anyone who wins a WSOP title got lucky at some point in the tournament. However, luck alone is not enough to carry you to the top; you need to be playing some damned good poker too. Nice to see Moneymaker get some credit from one of the top players.

[JTG51]

That's good to hear. I've never met him, but from watching on TV Harrington seemed like a real class act. I'm glad you confirmed that.

[Tyler Durden]

Can you post the link to the RGP thread please? thanks much.

[Tyler Durden]

Do you think Chris Moneymaker is the John Daly of poker b/c he came out of nowhere? B/c it can also be misconstrued that he has imploded and has similar behavioral issues to what Daly had when he was on the tour (remember, he once claimed that drug use was rampant on the PGA Tour).

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Hmmm. Moneymaker & Daly. Well, both have a more complete game than most give them credit for. Unlike Daly, Moneymaker's only won one major.

[sleepyjoeyt]

Here's some info on Singer (not good stuff):

I was playing in a mix game at Foxwoods with him somewhere around 3 or 4 years ago. It was a full table, real high stakes for me ($75/$150 I think).

We were playing omaha eight or better and there was a showdown at the river between him and one other player. He put his hand down (faceup) on the table and announced "Two pair, 6 low", the dealer confirmed this, and the other player mucked his hand.

About 2 seconds later someone stated "How can he have 6 low when one of his pair is nines?"

The other guy's hand was already mucked, but he claimed that he had a qualifying low hand. The floor was called over, they went to check the tapes, no tape was running for this table, and the floor said there was nothing that could be done since the other hand was dead (but did mention that it was up to David to decide if he wanted to give the guy any of the money that he had put in).

David said that he'd give him $100 but that was all he could do. It wasn't his fault that he read his hand wrong, and then that the dealer confirmed it. The other guy wanted nothing to do with the black chip, considering that he had put in over a thousand during the hand.

A couple of people at the table confirmed that David was way too smart a player to have made this mistake and that it was (in their opinion) a dishonest move by David.

Although he is a great, successful player, I haven't looked at him the same way since.

And yes, I was glad when he set that trap at the final table with his pair of aces, queen kicker, and lost to the aces up.

Again I don't claim to know him well or know much about him, but he was playing at a table with a bunch of fish (me included) so he didn't need to pull that crap (if it was as many believed it to be).

[wayabvpar]

Hopefully this will work-
RGP thread

If not, you can search for the thread by using Harrington and Moneymaker as search criteria.

[JTrout]

Daly: gifted with more talent (in golf) than 99% of professionals, but handicapped mentally/emotionally as much as any professional I've ever seen.
As nice a guy as you would want to meet, but a wife-beater.
Dr.Jekyll/ Mr. Hyde.

Moneymaker:
(Based solely on watching him on TV and a few forum posts)
Probably more talented in every skill needed to be a poker pro than half of all poker pros, but I doubt he's in the top 10% in any skill (except moneymaking!).

Hopefully we won't read about Chris being in debt to the casinos for over $1m, or needing treatment for substance abuse. If so, he'll be far ahead of JD.

But on the flip side, although John will always blow any money he gets his hands on, he'll always be able to get his hands on some money. Not sure it'll be as easy for Chris.