Despite the lack of a certain mysterious Swede, PartyPoker’s Big Game IV turned out to be everything a fan of the game could want.
Over the course of the 48 hour marathon, only two players managed to play the entire time. One, Neil Channing, will perhaps be best remembered for his large pots played against David Viffer, who was the game’s only other iron man.
And while Isildur1 may have been absent, poker fans around the globe will be introduced to a new personality, the aforementioned David Viffer, once the telecast airs later this year. His relentless, aggressive play earned him a total of £147,275 by the time the lights went down.
That figure becomes particularly impressive when you realize that, early in the game, Viffer had put himself into a £40,000 hole. This came largely as a result of the loose image he managed to project to his tablemates. The gambit payed off, and he soon found himself with a mountainous chip stack.
One thing’s for sure – once this game hits the small screen, amateur players will be able to learn a thing or two about using table talk to defeat your opponents. Phil Laak, Roland De Wolfe, and Tony G were among those exchanging barbs with Viffer, who will go down as one of the most entertaining men to ever appear at a televised poker event.
Perhaps the most memorable hand of the entire tournament occurred when Viffer, armed with a pair of pocket rockets, had the discipline to fold against Phil Laak’s rivered full house. He quickly returned to the table, wearing a sign around his neck which read, “Phil’s Bitch.”
As to the commentary, Jesse May managed to keep going for nearly the entire two-day session. “Leatherass” Dusty Schmidt, who was initially only supposed to spend a few hours at the broadcaster’s table, wound up sharing his insights for an entire 24 hours. It was an impressive debut for Dusty who, up until this point, had never spent any amount of time behind the microphone.