Next Stop: Manila

I'm spending my morning in the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX and have reached one inescapable conclusion.

Goddamn the Japanese are weird.

World Series of Poker Final Table clean-up: I'm disappointed with the result last night. I had my own, purely selfish reasons to pull for Demidov. I've lived in Russia at two different times in my life and was hoping that a win by the Russian would help open the Russian poker market. Who can pass up the opportunity to return to the motherland and once again order baked potatoes from street-food vendors? McDonald's ain't got nothin' on Yolki-Palki.

Demidovcame storming out of the gate, actually taking over the chip lead at one point. He was pounding away at Eastgate, winning pot after pot, and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Eastgate took a crippling blow. That never happened. Eastgate fought back and reclaimed the chip lead. When the big pots came, they all went to Eastgate.

ESPN has space for three or four heads-up hands. My money is on the following hands making the cut:

Hand #208 (HU #39) - Eastgate picks off a bluff with a turned pair of jacks
Hand #267 (HU #98) - Eastgate turns a diamond flush with 7d-4d
Hand #271 (HU #102) - Eastgate turns a full house with pocket 3s
Hand #274 (HU #105) - Eastgate turns a wheel with A-5 to win it all

That doesn't come remotely close to telling the story of the heads-up match, but such is poker on television.

If I hadn't been so damn tired last night, I would have spent more time watching Demidov's reaction to losing. I mean hey -- he still won $5.8 million! One thing I remember clearly from Event 2 was that everyone ignored poor James Akenhead after he lost. He wanted desperately to get away from the stage but didn't know how to get paid. I felt sorry for him and directed him to the appropriate individual. Bad enough to take a punch to the junk the way Akenhead did; even worse to have to stand there and watch the junk-puncher receive the admiration of the assembled pokerati.

Now it's off to Manila for a working vacation to crown the next hundred-thousandaire. At least the hookers are supposed to be cheap.