GACKT Official blog update. Translation below:

Today is the WPT finals.
It’s a pity but I left the hotel to watch the final table as a guest
while getting interviewed.

I did my daily morning training.
After quickly getting ready, I headed out of the hotel.
This time, the car ride takes around 40 minutes
for me to get from the hotel I’m staying in
to the Bicycle Casino Hotel where the WPT is held at.

Based on the timing, the roads were oddly packed.
Normally it takes around 40 minutes for me to get there but
although I departed at the same timing as the first day, there was an unusual crowd
and the car couldn’t move at all,
and in the end it took close to 2 hours.

I can’t grasp the traffic jam timings in Los Angeles at all.
Oftentimes, a distance that would normally take 15 minutes to travel can even take more than an hour.
This time, I was on the move for around an hour and a half.

When I arrived at the hotel, preparations have already been set up
and I was led to the stage for the final table.
This tension is unbearable.
I only regret that I couldn’t reach this table.

I sat in my seat and was immediately engulfed in the venue’s mood of tension from the actual game going on.
Everyone was then introduced and I got to my seat.

The most surprising thing about this day was that
Phil Hellmuth was able to get to the final table.
He joined in on Day 2 as a guest.
Of course,
joining in on Day 2 will have you starting at a complete disadvantage.
In a situation where the average number of chips that everyone has is above 80,000,
you’ll be joining in the game with only 40,000 points.
I don’t know which table he was at but whatever the circumstances were,
he broke through and won against those 180 peope left and progressed on.
Too frightening…

He’s ranked 7th in the global prize money rankings but
that doesn’t mean that he simply had a long career,
instead, in addition to his long career, he kept winning every year.
He hasn’t declined.

He’s also famous for his extreme words but recently, he gives the impression of playing with maturity but
that doesn’t mean that his formidability has gone down.
Instead, it feels like it’s become more solid.
When he got to the final table, he was in 4th place

Currently, the best player by far who is in 1st place in this final table, JC Tran,
is also someone who has won in the WPT multiple times, and is a formidable man.
The number of chips he has is an overwhelming amount, more than twice more than the amount in second place.

Art Papazyan, in 2nd place is a player whose exceptionally tight play is his characteristic.

DJ Alexander, in 3rd place, was playing at the same table as me in Day 1.
He wasn’t someone I expected to see at the final table.
Undoubtedly, I the one who was most surprised that he managed to get to the final table.
At Day 1’s table, I completely pushed him.
I remember him as someone who endured frustration no matter how many times he lost his chips.
Wonderful.

In 4th place was Phil Hellmuth, as I mentioned earlier, and after him,
the players in 5th and 6th places had significantly fewer chips to compete with
and that was how the final started out.

In the early half, JC aggressively pushed forth with his exceptional number of chips backing him.
With this happening, no one could stop him.
A play like this, where one pushes with such an amount of chips as backup, isn’t unusual.
It’s not that those who are getting pushed didn’t accumulate anything though.
As JC is attacking after 2nd place’s Art’s position,
even if Art re-raises, he will get further covered over.
Art, who has a tight play style, has no choice but to go down.
Without a really good hand, Art can’t call.
JC is completely playing by looking at his opponents.

Phil’s position is after JC’s.
I could see that he was looking at JC’s play style, and being careful to not get into an accident.
He’s really good.

In terms of position, DJ has more advantage than Phil but
with DJ’s timing of calling when Phil was attacking,
he will definitely get hit with an even stronger attack in the next turn.
Phil’s pressure is impressive.
You’ll become unable to hit him.

The players in 5th and 6th place quickly disappeared.
Then, when DJ’s chips were getting depleted and it looked like he was about to disappear, it started to get interesting.

DJ went all in with AJ, and Phil took the challenge with QQ.
However, DJ picked up an A and doubled up.
From here, DJ kept successfully doubling up more and more.
In the blink of an eye, the tables turned and it looked like Phil was going to get kicked out.

Then,
just as Phil was going to get eliminated,
Phil was successful in doubling up a few times, and DJ steadily dropped lower.
In the end, the chip amounts of the 4 players didn’t really change.

It’s rare that there is such a long final table.

In the middle of the game, I was interviewed.
I spoke about what made me start poker and things like that though.
I’m still not used to having interviews done in English.
It doesn’t go as well as normal conversations.
I suppose things like these I can only get better by experiencing it more.

In the end,
that day’s final was unexpectedly won by Art.

You don’t really know what will happen in poker until the end.
There really are many things that can happen that changes your expectations.
Everyone is surprised by results that no one expected but
I am really impressed that someone will be able to win from that.
I have to practice more to be able to get to the final table next time too.

Source: GACKT Blog

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA