Annie Duke and the TOC

[OPJayhawk]

You have to remember ESPN's goal for this is or any show is to drive ratings.

Annie = Ratings (And she can play a little too)

Annie vs Phil in the final two is about as good as it gets for ESPN as those two at this point are probably the most compelling, entertaining people in poker.

PacmanKS

[donny5k]

While winning coinflips is not a sign of skill, it is also not a sign of lack of skill, considering Annie played her hands theoretically correctly for the most part. I don't see how the original poster can claim she shows no poker skill because she won several televised coinflips....

[mrraise]

Well, my comment is that the Title says "Tournament of Champions" and Annie Duke is a WSOP Champion...she does have at least one bracelet. I don't think Barry or Gus do, please correct me if I'm wrong. ESPN sponsored this event and it is Television. It is reasonable to assume that they will structure it to bring in viewers. WSOP novice viewers of the past two years have now seen specials on Annie both years and are familiar with her...ergo...they will tune in to see her. ESPN wanted players that viewers were familiar with. Chip Reese was the lone exception, but no one here will dispute that he certainly belonged there. Soooo, to sum up...she IS a good player, she met the entry requirement of having at least one WSOP bracelet, and TV viewers are already familiar with her, and believe me, this event was done for pure publicity. The additional storyline and possible heads up outcome with her brother was undoubtedly another selling point for her appearance and finally.....SHE WON DAMMIT, give her some damn credit. If you think she didn't belong before, she certainly deserved to be in hindsight since she emerged on top. More power to her!!!

[donny5k]

Annie was clearly ESPN's choice, and she knows that. She's a great player, probably the 9th best at that table, but that doesn't make her unworthy to play cards with them and all of the other players recognize that, so why can't some idiot on the internet?

[blank]

read the other replies i made first pls. once again, like i already said 5 times before, this is not a personal attack on annie duke, read the post, i only criticize annie's play of poker, and her table manners. 3/4 of the ppl here have decided to make personal attacks on me, and i dont think thats fair. furthermore, pls dont sterotype me. i don't play online poker, and i never have. im proud of my small accomplishments in tournaments, and ive only been on 2+2 for maybe 3 weeks now. so whatever stuff u guys talked about in the past, i wouldnt know. all i know is annie duke is nowhere near even the same category as johnny chan and the like, and her appearance at the TOC, in my opinion, was a joke, and to be honest, very aggravating.

u can call me a sore loser if u want, i am sore that annie duke won something she wasn't even supposed to play in. i dont think she deserves it, i dont think she's earned it, and i think she got very very lucky to win it. hey and dont start calling me sexist (like others have), i would have no problem whatsoever if harmon had played and won the whole thing, she plays at the biggest cash games in the world and she is definently a champion.

[dakine]

Blank? Is that your brain? Who walked home with the 2mil. Are you P!ssed because a woman with class won? Gimme a break. Annie earned that 2mil.

[dakine]

Part of a quote from Blank: i dont think she's earned it, and i think she got very very lucky to win it.
Blank...now tell me...are you [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
That's what Poker is all about. "Luck." Ask Gus Hansen.

[Phishy McFish]

Have you sat with her or an of the people you claim "should have been there"??

I'm not saying the others are NOT deserving....it is like picking a pro bowl or All Star team...no matter where you draw the number of players line, someone is always left out.

BUT...FIRST...it is a TV event....so your opinion of who deserves to be there means $h!t to T.V. producers......they aren't showing it for pure poker play....you think Celebrity poker is on TV because the game is good to watch???

2nd....this is like the guy playing flag football telling someone else at the bar how "EVEN I could run behind the Denver Bronco offensive line and rush for 100 yards."

Think waht you will about any of these "pros"....relative to each other....but relative to the poker population there is them and there is us (by US I mean me and the other 94.9% of players.....include yourself if you think it is warranted....and if you are self aware enough to do so.)

[77rules]

[ QUOTE ]
and why are you attacking me anyways? because i have an opinion? i'm not allowed to dislike annie duke? or believe her to be a bad player? who the f are you to tellme what i can or cannot think, and then call me an ass for it. its not like im making fun of any of her physical attributes or her family.

[/ QUOTE ]
You're allowed to have an opinion about Annie Duke. We're just as allowed to have an opinion about you. You may turn out to be a very thoughtful, intelligent person once we get to know you, but based on your behavior so far, I think you're an ass.

BTW, I remember reading sometime that Jonnie Chan won _eleven_ 55/45 races on his way to one of his main event bracelets. The odds of winning all 11 is about 6500 to 1. Does that take away from his accomplishment? Of course not - it just goes to show that you have to be lucky to win one of these things.

I actually like both Annie and Phil (from what I've seen of them on TV). Annie seems like a nice person, and so does Phil. I was glad to see Phil make the final two players, it proves that he still has what it takes. I think he get's way to little credit for that, even if it's not surprising given the way he acts. And I was glad for Annie.

As far as the quality of the players, they're _all_ great players. Greg Raymer was the only person at that table that was a bit questionable I think. I'm sure he's a great person and he may well be a great player, but that really remains to be seen, doesn't it?

Oh well, I'm beginning to ramble.