Kevin Chappelle first met Phil Ivy about this time a year ago. When Chappelle was having lunch at Shadow Creek, a famous golf course in Las Vegas, he found Ivy sitting next to several tables.
As Ivy headed to the practice range, Chappelle walked up to him and explained that he was a scratchy golfer and a newcomer to the professional poker world. He immediately offered Ivy a golf lesson in exchange for a poker lesson. Ivey replied with a smile and a smile and then said, “Thank you, but no thanks.” 에볼루션 바카라사이트
As it turns out, Ivy’s decision to teach Chappelle may have been one of his better readings from the last year. This is because in a few weeks, Chappelle and Ivy will meet again, this time in an intimate setting. The two players will be seated right next to the World Series poker main event final table in front of thousands of poker fans at the Penn and Teller Theater, which costs $8.5 million.
“Let me remind Phil about our last conversation,” laughs Shaffel, who will start the final table in sixth place (12,390,000) just ahead of Ivy, who has 9,765,000 and well behind chip leader Darvin Moon (58,930,000). “I’m sure he won’t remember, but I’m going to tell him the offer is still valid.”
Ivy looks set to take another dip. But with what Chappelle has accomplished at the poker table over the past year, you’ll have a feeling that he’ll be fine. Not only was Chappelle one of only nine players to survive at 6,494 stadiums and reach the finals of the main event, but during a four-month break through the second annual Nov. 9, Chappelle continued to rage.
After leaving Las Vegas with over $1.2 million in cheques, Chappelle took second place a few weeks later in the World Poker Tour’s $9,800 No-Limit Championship event in Los Angeles, earning $471,670. Also at the final table of the WPT event was another ’09 November Niner, Steven Begleiter.’ And in early October, he traveled to London for the European Poker Tour’s 5,000-pound No-Limit Main Event, where he took home £17,000 after finishing 19th in the 730 category, which includes former main event champions Peter Eastgate and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson as well as Jeffrey Lisandro the WSOP Player of the Year in 2009.
“It was a good race, without a doubt,” said Chappelle, who will turn 52 next week. “It just shows how straight poker is. Before the World Series, running was very bad. Now I have my chance to win the main event. It’s amazing.”
The terrible streak that Chappelle endured in the months leading up to the World Series was as bad as he had been as a poker player. The streak lasted for four to five months, and most of the money he lost came from cash games. He credits his son Jeremy, 20, and daughter Melanie, 18, with helping him get out of the funk.
Jeremy recently read Ronda Byrne’s bestselling book The Secret. The premise of the book is, “Every human being has the ability to turn any weakness or pain into strength, strength, perfect peace, health, and abundance.”
“This book really helped me, and I knew my dad was going on a tough run and needed some sort of strength,” explains Jeremy, who recently had to give up his hockey career due to a series of concussions.
Jeremy and Melanie came up with a photo of Eastgate holding up a pile of money by photoshopping his father’s face after he won the main event last year. They presented the photo to Chappelle on Father’s Day when he was getting ready to leave for the World Series.
“I don’t even know if they’re aware of it, but I put it in my wallet and I’ve carried it around since,” said Chappelle, who once drew a hearty laugh when Eastgate showed him the picture during the main event. “I see it every time I sit at a poker table. I think the power of positive thinking really works.
“Who knows?” Chappelle continues. “Maybe if I win the main event, I’ll be invited to Oprah.” When the main event started, Chappelle had to use positive energy earlier than expected. At Level 1, Chappelle’s stack was dangerously thin, with 25,000 chips, he picked up his pocket 10 and hit the set on a flop (8-10-J). He went all-in, endangering his main event life, with opponents scoring 7-9 on Instagram.
“Normally I would have started packing and getting ready to leave because I looked pretty grim,” Chappelle says. “But for some reason I didn’t do that that that day. I stayed calm and just felt like I was going to survive.”