Main Event Days 1 and 2
The Inaugural Season of the Epic Poker League brought together a collection of some of the best poker players in the world. The 8-Handed Event featured fast, exciting action, nearly cutting the starting field in half by the end of the day.
When players returned from the dinner break, the final number of registrants stood at 97, generating a total prize pool of $2,301,200. There will be 12 players paid, with those fortunate dozen making at least $46,020. The winner will collect $762,410, the Champion’s ring, and a guaranteed spot in the end of the season Epic Poker League Championship, which will feature a prize pool of $1 million.
Among the 97 who played and made it through Day 1 play on Tuesday are three players who made the inaugural final table; defending Epic Poker League Champion Chino Rheem, Erik Seidel, and Huck Seed each made it through the day, while Gavin Smith and Hasan Habib were not so fortunate. Also among the 50 players to make it through Day 1 were the current top two players in the WSOP Player of the Year race, as both Phil Hellmuth and Ben Lamb look to continue their successful years.
While Dan O’Brien held the chip lead for the majority of the later stages of Day 1, he ended play in second chip position going into Day 2. Pro/Am qualifier Jaime Kaplan made a late charge to end the day with 324,600, eclipsing O’Brien by just 3,200 to top the counts. Five of the nine players who qualified through the Pro/Am are going on to Day 2; Hellmuth, Nam Le, Greg Mueller are each card-holders, while Kaplan and Sean Getzwiller, each in the top 10, look to crash the party on their way towards deep runs.
There were highlights and lowlights on Day 1, but few hands were as memorable as the confrontation between David Williams and Chau Giang. They got all-in preflop, Williams holding AA against Giang’s AA, and while they each had a lot of chips, they were both looking forward to chopping the pot and moving on with the rest of their day. The deck had different ideas, however, as two spades on the flop, followed by a spade on the turn and a spade on the river sent Williams home early in the most brutal of ways. Giang quite a few of those chips to Kaplan when Kaplan’s flopped set of tens held against Giang’s pocket kings.
There were some fresh faces that made their first appearance in the Epic Poker League, and made their way through to Day 2. Tom Dwan, Bryan Devonshire, and Fabrice Soulier are all card-holding league members who may be thinking twice about not having played Event 1, as they played and ran well enough on Tuesday to give themselves an opportunity at a deep run of their own.
Play is set to resume at 12 pm PT Wednesday, with play scheduled to go five levels without a dinner break. They will play down to the final table of eight on Thursday, and the final table will take place on Friday. Here are the top ten chip counts heading into Day 2.
Jaime Kaplan - 324,600
Dan O'Brien - 321,400
Alec Torelli - 231,500
Mike McDonald - 199,600
Nam Le - 176,300
David "Chino" Rheem - 173,300
Sean Getzwiller - 165,000
Andrew Robl - 149,700
Adam Levy - 145,400
Marco Johnson - 145,200
Day 2 was a busy day in the 8-Handed Event, with plenty of movement in the chip counts and just 23 players making it all the way through to the end of the day. Some of the biggest names in poker fell by the wayside, but some interesting storylines are developing heading into Day 3.
Fabrice Soulier is the chip leader at the end of night, with David Steicke and Erik Seidel close behind. Seidel and Chino Rheem, the Inaugural Epic Poker League Champion are still among the final 23. On the other end of the spectrum, three Pro/Am qualifiers are still amongst the group as well, and while Nam Le is a card-holding League member, Jaime Kaplan and Sean Getzwiller are each still in position to crash the party.
There were 50 players at the start of play on Day 2, with the action moving at a steady pace from the beginning. Level 7 saw Scott Clements as the first player out the door on the day, and a few more followed by the end of the level, including Ben Lamb, David “ODB” Baker, Steve Brecher, and Hafiz Khan.
Level 8 was where things really started to pick up. Chau Giang, Lee Markholt, Nicolas Levi, Justin Bonomo, Greg Mueller, Mike Matusow, Matt Graham and Huck Seed all hit the rail during that 90 minutes of play. The biggest, and surprisingly quietest bustout of the day happened to be Phil Hellmuth’s, especially considering it came at the hands of Allen Bari. Bari’s KK flopped a K to have Hellmuth’s JJ drawing nearly dead, and with no running jacks to be found, the Poker Brat hit the rail. “The best player in the world busted the best player in the world,” said Michael Binger from the next table over as Hellmuth exited the room.
Things slowed to a more reasonable pace during the next level, as six players hit the rail. Andy Frankenberger, Mike Sowers, Bryan Devonshire, Tommy Vedes and Frank Kassela were all victims of a decreasing stack. Steicke began his initial run towards the top of the chip counts by flopping a set of threes against Alec Torelli’s flush draw, which bricked out. It was at this point in the tournament that the stacks got deep and the play slowed dramatically. The next level, Level 11, saw just two bustouts as Chris Klodnicki and Tom Dwan had their runs come to an end. The stacks weren’t static, however, as Seidel took a big pot off of Andrew Robl to cross the 400,000 chip threshold.
The final level of the day saw Soulier begin his run to the top of the counts by eliminating James Mackey. The biggest mover during Level 11, however, might have been Christian Harder, who went from the bottom of the counts to the middle of the pack. He cracked Steicke’s AA with AJ by flopping two jacks, then beat Marco Johnson’s JJ with 77. Steicke recovered from his own personal misfortune, however, flopping another set with 33 against Dan O’Brien’s top two-pair with AK, rocketing him up to second place.
There is 18:17 left in Level 11, as play was paused when two eliminations brought the number down to 23, necessitating the redraw for the final three tables. With the money bubble looming at 12, there will certainly be some tense moments. They will play down to the final table of eight, no matter how long it takes.
Here’s the top five heading into Day 3 of the Epic Poker League’s 8-Handed Event.
Fabrice Soulier - 453,500
David Steicke - 436,000
Erik Seidel - 353,500
Nam Le - 306,000
Matt Marafioti - 302,000
Fabrice Soulier is the chip leader at the end of night, with David Steicke and Erik Seidel close behind. Seidel and Chino Rheem, the Inaugural Epic Poker League Champion are still among the final 23. On the other end of the spectrum, three Pro/Am qualifiers are still amongst the group as well, and while Nam Le is a card-holding League member, Jaime Kaplan and Sean Getzwiller are each still in position to crash the party.
There were 50 players at the start of play on Day 2, with the action moving at a steady pace from the beginning. Level 7 saw Scott Clements as the first player out the door on the day, and a few more followed by the end of the level, including Ben Lamb, David “ODB” Baker, Steve Brecher, and Hafiz Khan.
Level 8 was where things really started to pick up. Chau Giang, Lee Markholt, Nicolas Levi, Justin Bonomo, Greg Mueller, Mike Matusow, Matt Graham and Huck Seed all hit the rail during that 90 minutes of play. The biggest, and surprisingly quietest bustout of the day happened to be Phil Hellmuth’s, especially considering it came at the hands of Allen Bari. Bari’s KK flopped a K to have Hellmuth’s JJ drawing nearly dead, and with no running jacks to be found, the Poker Brat hit the rail. “The best player in the world busted the best player in the world,” said Michael Binger from the next table over as Hellmuth exited the room.
Things slowed to a more reasonable pace during the next level, as six players hit the rail. Andy Frankenberger, Mike Sowers, Bryan Devonshire, Tommy Vedes and Frank Kassela were all victims of a decreasing stack. Steicke began his initial run towards the top of the chip counts by flopping a set of threes against Alec Torelli’s flush draw, which bricked out. It was at this point in the tournament that the stacks got deep and the play slowed dramatically. The next level, Level 11, saw just two bustouts as Chris Klodnicki and Tom Dwan had their runs come to an end. The stacks weren’t static, however, as Seidel took a big pot off of Andrew Robl to cross the 400,000 chip threshold.
The final level of the day saw Soulier begin his run to the top of the counts by eliminating James Mackey. The biggest mover during Level 11, however, might have been Christian Harder, who went from the bottom of the counts to the middle of the pack. He cracked Steicke’s AA with AJ by flopping two jacks, then beat Marco Johnson’s JJ with 77. Steicke recovered from his own personal misfortune, however, flopping another set with 33 against Dan O’Brien’s top two-pair with AK, rocketing him up to second place.
There is 18:17 left in Level 11, as play was paused when two eliminations brought the number down to 23, necessitating the redraw for the final three tables. With the money bubble looming at 12, there will certainly be some tense moments. They will play down to the final table of eight, no matter how long it takes.
Here’s the top five heading into Day 3 of the Epic Poker League’s 8-Handed Event.
Fabrice Soulier - 453,500
David Steicke - 436,000
Erik Seidel - 353,500
Nam Le - 306,000
Matt Marafioti - 302,000
Watch Lizzy Harrison’s periodic updates and interviews with the players. On Day 1, Shannon Shorr described the unique challenge of playing an Epic Poker event: “These are really great, fun events, despite the tough fields. It’s a very interesting brand of poker. Every street is definitely a decision with these guys.” Michael Binger shared his frustration from Event 1, where he showed up late, came out firing, and busted in an hour. Near the end of Day 1, Lizzy interviewed Tom Dwan and Phil Hellmuth. Tom shared his secret to patience in live games and Phil explained one of the reasons he arrives late to tournament is because he doesn’t play his best poker when the stacks are big and the blinds are small. In the Day 1 wrap-up, Alec Torelli shared his strategy from a big hand in which he doubled off Tommy Vedes.
On Day 2 Andrew Robl took time out to talk about a recent Maui vacation with poker friends, which included his professional responsibilities toward “big fish” Dan Bilzarian. David “Bakes” Baker shared the unbelievable feeling of “winning every single hand for two levels.” Dan O’Brien discussed his outlook on playing with a big stack and Tim West – not pleased to own up to his frequent experience in the area – talked about his prospects as a short stack. Are part of Lizzy’s Day 2 summary, she gets Matt Glantz to talk about the experience of playing with Erik Seidel, and his belief that Allen Bari is a very underrated player.
Shannon Shorr
Michael Binger
Tom Dwan and Phil Hellmuth
Alec Torelli
Andrew Robl
David "Bakes" Baker
Dan O'Brien
Tim West
Matt Glantz
On Day 2 Andrew Robl took time out to talk about a recent Maui vacation with poker friends, which included his professional responsibilities toward “big fish” Dan Bilzarian. David “Bakes” Baker shared the unbelievable feeling of “winning every single hand for two levels.” Dan O’Brien discussed his outlook on playing with a big stack and Tim West – not pleased to own up to his frequent experience in the area – talked about his prospects as a short stack. Are part of Lizzy’s Day 2 summary, she gets Matt Glantz to talk about the experience of playing with Erik Seidel, and his belief that Allen Bari is a very underrated player.
Shannon Shorr
Michael Binger
Tom Dwan and Phil Hellmuth
Alec Torelli
Andrew Robl
David "Bakes" Baker
Dan O'Brien
Tim West
Matt Glantz
Lodden Thinks
Written by BJ Nemeth
EDITOR'S NOTE: On Day 1 of the Main Event, several players at Table 10 engaged in a game of "Lodden Thinks," a gambling game developed by Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari. They invented the game at a WSOP Europe TV table, coming up with questions requiring numerical answers and bidding over/under on what answer European pro Johnny Lodden would give. The actual answers to the questions could be unknowable (like the number of poker players in North Korea) and are otherwise irrelevant (like the number of pairs of pants owned by David Williams). The competitors bid on what Lodden (or the person at the table designated as Lodden) thinks.
Several dealers have already proclaimed Table #10 to be the "fun table," primarily because Antonio Esfandiari is leading a game of "Lodden Thinks."
For those of you unfamiliar with the rules of the game, here's a quick rundown.
RULES FOR LODDEN THINKS
A question is posed which has a numerical answer, but which the person guessing couldn't possibly know -- usually something weird like how many pairs of socks Gavin Smith owns. The game tends to be more fun when the questions are very interesting, and involve other players at the table.
One person is picked as the Guesser, who ponders the question and writes down their best guess to lock in the answer. It's important to note that the actual correct answer -- such as how many pairs of socks Gavin Smith owns -- is irrelevant. The bet is all about the answer that the Guesser comes up with.
Once the Guesser has locked in his answer, 2-3 other players begin bidding, auction-style, on a betting line. They start low, and bid higher and higher until somebody buys the line by taking the under. During the course of this game, Esfandiari pointed out that any time you min-raise (increasing the bid by 1), it's called a "Phil Laak."
Once the betting line is set and the bets are made, the Guesser reveals his written-down answer, and the bets are settled.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM TABLE #10
The Guesser at Table #10 is Pro/Am qualifier Jaime Kaplan, a young online player. (Or should we say former online player, since Kaplan lives in the United States.) The other players at the table don't know much about Kaplan, which introduces more uncertainty and makes the game more interesting.
The bettors were Antonio Esfandiari, Justin Young, and Greg "FBT" Mueller. Here are some of the questions posed here on Day 1 of the Epic Poker Main Event:
1. How many phone numbers for women does Greg Mueller Have In his cellphone?
Esfandiari came up with the question, and stipulated that the number wouldn't include family members -- only women that had the potential to be sexual partners. Kaplan thought for a bit and wrote down his guess, and then the bidding started at 18 between Young, Mueller, and Esfandiari.
It doesn't matter that Mueller may know the actual number, because the actual number doesn't matter. They're betting on the number that Kaplan guessed.
The bidding started at 18, and when it got to 89, somebody bought it and took the under. With the bets in place, it was time for Kaplan to reveal his guess -- 17.
Everyone at the table found this guess to be hilarious, and Mueller seemed almost offended. Kaplan said he forgot to take into account that a traveling poker player would probably have more numbers than someone who lived in one place. Mueller laughed and said, "What about a former professional hockey player?"
When asked how many numbers for women he actually had in his phone, Mueller said, "I have no idea, but I have two phones. This is just my U.S. phone."
2. Between the nine people at the table (eight male players and one female dealer), how many total sexual partners have they had?
Young came up with this question, and Kaplan was once again the Guesser. Young, Mueller, and Esfandiari bid the number up to 300 before somebody bought the line and took the under.
Kaplan, who may have been overcompensating because of his extremely low guess on the first question, had guessed 712. That's an average of nearly 80 sexual partners for each person at the table.
Thankfully, nobody forced an actual count of everyone's sexual partners.
3. How much money would it take for Justin Young and Greg Mueller to stay within 100 yards of each other for an entire year?
This question was posed by Esfandiari, and Kaplan was still the Guesser. Staying within 100 yards of each other would mean that the two players could still enjoy some measure privacy, but they would have to travel together, go to restaurants together, go on dates together, and so on.
The bidding went pretty fast, and stopped abruptly at $4 million when Mueller bought the under. That would've been $2 million each for Mueller and Young to spend a year together.
Kaplan's guess was $710,000. Mueller just laughed and said, "We have a Lodden fish!"
Kaplan defended his answer by saying that the two players seemed to get along pretty well, and they both seemed like nice, fun guys. Kaplan felt that $1,000 a day for each of them would be enough. Mueller and Young clearly disagreed.
4. If Antonio Esfandiari, Greg Mueller, and Justin Young had one full year to plan a bank heist, what would be the percentage chance that they would be able to get at least one item out of the bank vault?
If nothing else, this would put an interesting spin on the classic heist formula for Hollywood.
The bidding got to 14% before somebody called. Kaplan's guess was 21%, and Mueller won the bet with the over. Since they were in the same ballpark, it seemed that the bettors were getting a better read on Kaplan's guesses.
5. How much money would Antonio Esfandiari have to be paid to skip Burning Man next year?
Context is important here, because Burning Man just ended yesterday (Labor Day), and Esfandiari has spent much of the day talking about what a great, life-changing experience it was, saying he never wanted to miss another one.
Shortly before this bet came up, Esfandiari wrote this on Twitter: "Here I am playing in the epic poker tournament and all I can think about is how I have to wait a whole year til the next burning man."
Kaplan set his guess, and the bidding got up to $25,000 before somebody called to take the under. Kaplan's guess was $111,000.
Once again, everyone started laughing at the guess, but Kaplan stood strong. Kaplan said that Esfandiari called it the best experience of his life and said he'd never miss another one. $25,000 wasn't life-changing for Esfandiari, but Burning Man was.
6. If a random number generator selected random coordinates for someplace on Earth, and Antonio Esfandiari was dropped there with nothing but what he has on his person, what is the percentage chance that he would be able to make it back to Las Vegas alive?
It was stipulated that the coordinates had to be on land -- no oceans, lakes, or rivers.
As Andy Frankenberger pointed out, Esfandiari could wind up in a lion's den, for example, where he would (literally) be drawing dead. Others pointed out he could land in Antarctica, or the middle of a desert, and be equally screwed.
On the flip side, if he ended up in a civilized area, it'd be a near certainty that he'd make it back. So some random coordinates would mean certain death, and others would mean certain survival. But taking everything into account, what are the chances that Esfandiari would make it?
The bidding only lasted for three numbers. Esfandiari started at 1%, Justin Young raised to 5%, and Greg Mueller made it 30%. Esfandiari called, taking the under, and Young sided with Mueller on the over.
Jaime Kaplan guessed that Esfandiari had a 38% chance of surviving and getting back to Vegas.
Esfandiari began arguing with Kaplan that the number should be lower, and Mueller reminded him that it doesn't matter. The table then spent some time discussing what percentage of the land on earth is near civilization, and Kaplan admitted that he had no idea.
Frankenberger posed a follow-up question, but they didn't bet on it. How many people in this room (players, dealers, staff, and media) would agree to be subjected to this experiment -- to be dropped on a random piece of land somewhere on Earth -- for $1 million?
Most agreed that the amount of money was too small for such a high risk of death. But it may have led to the next question.
7. You have to choose a card from a specially prepared deck with one red card and multiple black cards. If you pick a red card, you are killed instantly. But if you pick a black card, you are given $1 billion. What is the minimum number of black cards you would need in the deck to accept this proposition?
Since some people around the world define a billion differently than the United States, the number they are referring to is $1,000,000,000.
Frankenberger stated the obvious -- "A billion. That's kind of life-changing money."
As the Guesser, Kaplan was asked to pick the number that he himself would choose for a 1-in-X chance of death to win $1 billion.
The bidding started at six, and slowly escalated until Esfandiari bought the under at 37. Kaplan's number was 41.
This is just a sampling of the "Lodden Thinks" questions that they ran through during the first half of the day. Unfortunately, Antonio Esfandiari was eliminated about 25 minutes before the dinner break, and the entire table broke a few minutes later.
Written by BJ Nemeth
EDITOR'S NOTE: On Day 1 of the Main Event, several players at Table 10 engaged in a game of "Lodden Thinks," a gambling game developed by Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari. They invented the game at a WSOP Europe TV table, coming up with questions requiring numerical answers and bidding over/under on what answer European pro Johnny Lodden would give. The actual answers to the questions could be unknowable (like the number of poker players in North Korea) and are otherwise irrelevant (like the number of pairs of pants owned by David Williams). The competitors bid on what Lodden (or the person at the table designated as Lodden) thinks.
Several dealers have already proclaimed Table #10 to be the "fun table," primarily because Antonio Esfandiari is leading a game of "Lodden Thinks."
For those of you unfamiliar with the rules of the game, here's a quick rundown.
RULES FOR LODDEN THINKS
A question is posed which has a numerical answer, but which the person guessing couldn't possibly know -- usually something weird like how many pairs of socks Gavin Smith owns. The game tends to be more fun when the questions are very interesting, and involve other players at the table.
One person is picked as the Guesser, who ponders the question and writes down their best guess to lock in the answer. It's important to note that the actual correct answer -- such as how many pairs of socks Gavin Smith owns -- is irrelevant. The bet is all about the answer that the Guesser comes up with.
Once the Guesser has locked in his answer, 2-3 other players begin bidding, auction-style, on a betting line. They start low, and bid higher and higher until somebody buys the line by taking the under. During the course of this game, Esfandiari pointed out that any time you min-raise (increasing the bid by 1), it's called a "Phil Laak."
Once the betting line is set and the bets are made, the Guesser reveals his written-down answer, and the bets are settled.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM TABLE #10
The Guesser at Table #10 is Pro/Am qualifier Jaime Kaplan, a young online player. (Or should we say former online player, since Kaplan lives in the United States.) The other players at the table don't know much about Kaplan, which introduces more uncertainty and makes the game more interesting.
The bettors were Antonio Esfandiari, Justin Young, and Greg "FBT" Mueller. Here are some of the questions posed here on Day 1 of the Epic Poker Main Event:
1. How many phone numbers for women does Greg Mueller Have In his cellphone?
Esfandiari came up with the question, and stipulated that the number wouldn't include family members -- only women that had the potential to be sexual partners. Kaplan thought for a bit and wrote down his guess, and then the bidding started at 18 between Young, Mueller, and Esfandiari.
It doesn't matter that Mueller may know the actual number, because the actual number doesn't matter. They're betting on the number that Kaplan guessed.
The bidding started at 18, and when it got to 89, somebody bought it and took the under. With the bets in place, it was time for Kaplan to reveal his guess -- 17.
Everyone at the table found this guess to be hilarious, and Mueller seemed almost offended. Kaplan said he forgot to take into account that a traveling poker player would probably have more numbers than someone who lived in one place. Mueller laughed and said, "What about a former professional hockey player?"
When asked how many numbers for women he actually had in his phone, Mueller said, "I have no idea, but I have two phones. This is just my U.S. phone."
2. Between the nine people at the table (eight male players and one female dealer), how many total sexual partners have they had?
Young came up with this question, and Kaplan was once again the Guesser. Young, Mueller, and Esfandiari bid the number up to 300 before somebody bought the line and took the under.
Kaplan, who may have been overcompensating because of his extremely low guess on the first question, had guessed 712. That's an average of nearly 80 sexual partners for each person at the table.
Thankfully, nobody forced an actual count of everyone's sexual partners.
3. How much money would it take for Justin Young and Greg Mueller to stay within 100 yards of each other for an entire year?
This question was posed by Esfandiari, and Kaplan was still the Guesser. Staying within 100 yards of each other would mean that the two players could still enjoy some measure privacy, but they would have to travel together, go to restaurants together, go on dates together, and so on.
The bidding went pretty fast, and stopped abruptly at $4 million when Mueller bought the under. That would've been $2 million each for Mueller and Young to spend a year together.
Kaplan's guess was $710,000. Mueller just laughed and said, "We have a Lodden fish!"
Kaplan defended his answer by saying that the two players seemed to get along pretty well, and they both seemed like nice, fun guys. Kaplan felt that $1,000 a day for each of them would be enough. Mueller and Young clearly disagreed.
4. If Antonio Esfandiari, Greg Mueller, and Justin Young had one full year to plan a bank heist, what would be the percentage chance that they would be able to get at least one item out of the bank vault?
If nothing else, this would put an interesting spin on the classic heist formula for Hollywood.
The bidding got to 14% before somebody called. Kaplan's guess was 21%, and Mueller won the bet with the over. Since they were in the same ballpark, it seemed that the bettors were getting a better read on Kaplan's guesses.
5. How much money would Antonio Esfandiari have to be paid to skip Burning Man next year?
Context is important here, because Burning Man just ended yesterday (Labor Day), and Esfandiari has spent much of the day talking about what a great, life-changing experience it was, saying he never wanted to miss another one.
Shortly before this bet came up, Esfandiari wrote this on Twitter: "Here I am playing in the epic poker tournament and all I can think about is how I have to wait a whole year til the next burning man."
Kaplan set his guess, and the bidding got up to $25,000 before somebody called to take the under. Kaplan's guess was $111,000.
Once again, everyone started laughing at the guess, but Kaplan stood strong. Kaplan said that Esfandiari called it the best experience of his life and said he'd never miss another one. $25,000 wasn't life-changing for Esfandiari, but Burning Man was.
6. If a random number generator selected random coordinates for someplace on Earth, and Antonio Esfandiari was dropped there with nothing but what he has on his person, what is the percentage chance that he would be able to make it back to Las Vegas alive?
It was stipulated that the coordinates had to be on land -- no oceans, lakes, or rivers.
As Andy Frankenberger pointed out, Esfandiari could wind up in a lion's den, for example, where he would (literally) be drawing dead. Others pointed out he could land in Antarctica, or the middle of a desert, and be equally screwed.
On the flip side, if he ended up in a civilized area, it'd be a near certainty that he'd make it back. So some random coordinates would mean certain death, and others would mean certain survival. But taking everything into account, what are the chances that Esfandiari would make it?
The bidding only lasted for three numbers. Esfandiari started at 1%, Justin Young raised to 5%, and Greg Mueller made it 30%. Esfandiari called, taking the under, and Young sided with Mueller on the over.
Jaime Kaplan guessed that Esfandiari had a 38% chance of surviving and getting back to Vegas.
Esfandiari began arguing with Kaplan that the number should be lower, and Mueller reminded him that it doesn't matter. The table then spent some time discussing what percentage of the land on earth is near civilization, and Kaplan admitted that he had no idea.
Frankenberger posed a follow-up question, but they didn't bet on it. How many people in this room (players, dealers, staff, and media) would agree to be subjected to this experiment -- to be dropped on a random piece of land somewhere on Earth -- for $1 million?
Most agreed that the amount of money was too small for such a high risk of death. But it may have led to the next question.
7. You have to choose a card from a specially prepared deck with one red card and multiple black cards. If you pick a red card, you are killed instantly. But if you pick a black card, you are given $1 billion. What is the minimum number of black cards you would need in the deck to accept this proposition?
Since some people around the world define a billion differently than the United States, the number they are referring to is $1,000,000,000.
Frankenberger stated the obvious -- "A billion. That's kind of life-changing money."
As the Guesser, Kaplan was asked to pick the number that he himself would choose for a 1-in-X chance of death to win $1 billion.
The bidding started at six, and slowly escalated until Esfandiari bought the under at 37. Kaplan's number was 41.
This is just a sampling of the "Lodden Thinks" questions that they ran through during the first half of the day. Unfortunately, Antonio Esfandiari was eliminated about 25 minutes before the dinner break, and the entire table broke a few minutes later.
