Toughts on the WSOP2005 Main Event in July 2005......
I dont think there will be any disputing the fact that Three of poker's hottest young stars have to be Daniel Negreanu, 2004 player of the year; Eric Lindgren, 2003 player of the year and Phil Ivey. They all have developed and fine tuned their game plan that includes much more aggression than the older professional player's "A" game.
I believed these new young guns would be nothing more than flash in the pan when going against the likes of Brunson, Reese, Chan or Hellmuth. How can a kid whose experience is measured in months bulldoze someone with experience expressed in fractions of a century? Of course, some of these instant poker celebrities are indeed flash in the pan and just happened to sit in the lucky seat that magic day during the world's greatest poker tournament. Does Moneymaker or Raymer come to mind? None of the three superstars that are the focus of this post have bagged the big one yet; but, maybe this will be the year that Negreanu, Ivey or Lingdren goes home with the title of world's best and the coveted platinum bracelet. Of the three, my money will be on Phil Ivey outlasting the predicted field of more than 6000 hopefuls at the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event on July 7th, 2005. The Poker gods are telling me that the smart money, will be down on Daniel Negreanu.
Another professional player I would make a front runner in the 2005 WSOP, would have to be Phil Hellmuth. I think he brings to the table the best of the old school ideas and the latest Internet spawned ultra-aggressive style. I am also aware he is not the most popular guys around and is better known to the millions of television viewers for his tantrums and abusive behavior than his poker skills; but, tournament poker is not a popularity contest. Phil shares the record of most WSOP bracelets (nine) with Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson. He has won the big one. He retains enough youth (some say he never grew up) to match any young star, stamina for stamina; and remember, this is the player that will quickly tell you he would win every tournament he enters if it were not for bad luck. There is a degree of truth in this ego driven statement since you never see Phil all-in without a winning out, the guy stays out of the traps and is never drawing dead. I’m sure Phil has no doubts about his poker playing abilities and the motivation to become the first player to hold ten gold bracelets has to be a big contributing factor. Hellmuth's recent win at the NBC National Heads-Up Championship proves he is at the top of his game.
Tuan Le, winner of the recent WPT $25,000 buy-in championship is certainly a contender. Tuan has demonstrated on two occasions he can come back from the brink of disaster and win it all so he is on the list. How about defending champion, Greg Raymer? He is lawyer smart and brings years of concentrated Internet experience in surviving large tournament fields. He knows how to win. Maybe Mike Matusow will be there at the end. Mike is loaded with natural talent and perhaps he has matured enough to avoid self-destruction at the end game. TJ Cloutier is probably the toughest professional player to never win the Championship. TJ is way overdue to take this one home. Tom McEvoy, 1983 champion and the first ever champion to come in from a satellite, has found his winning ways again. Let us not forget Dan Harrington, the 1995 WSOP champion that always seems to be at the WSOP main event final table.
There is also a list of females that have the ability and skill to become the first woman champion in the history of the WSOP. From what I’ve seen Jennifer Harman can play with anyone at any level. I think Jennifer is one of the best players, male or female, playing poker today. Annie Duke also knows how to win the big ones and could certainly be there at the end.
Get into the fun and enter your WSOP2005 Final Table picks at the following thread.
WSOP 2005 Final Table Contest
GL to all who enter.
PKRBABY
WSOP 2005 Main Event Countdown and the Rising Young Guns. 
