dannenman on his phone call

[Hobbes 1]

When fans approach him, they usually want to talk about his bluffing Howard Lederer and his phone call to a friend right after. Dannenmann was caught on camera crowing into a cell phone about the play. But as with most televised poker, the context of the event was missing."Here's the real story behind it,'' Dannenmann says. "That hand started 10 hands ago. First thing is, we're on the bubble. Howard's a professional. You look at Howard's chips there, and he had all $100 chips. He was buying the blinds. Howard would come in on every hand. Now, we're 10 minutes between every hand because we're on the bubble waiting to get into the money. Obviously, a professional knows $12,500 [the minimum payout to those who make the top 10 percent of the field] to everyone sitting at the table is a lot of money, so these guys are going to push things. They're going to raise the pot to get some chips."I'm talking to my buddy, Mark Schaech [a player from his home game whose poker ability Dannenmann respects], who I talked to every two hours during that whole time period. Right after a level, we'd talk strategy: 'Hey, Mark, this is what I have in chips, these are the kind of people I have at the table, what do you think I should do?'"I call Mark two hands before that hand goes down, and I say, 'Mark, listen, when it comes to my big blind, I'm going to call his raise and I'm going to check-raise him on the flop to see where he's at.' And that's what happened. It worked."Now here's the funny thing: I happened to get my favorite hand when I was in the big blind, 6-8 offsuit. You know how you have one of those quirky things? It's just my favorite hand. I had my picture taken for Bluff magazine before the tournament with 6-8."That hand was already set up that I would be bluffing him, that I would play back because I was in the big blind. Some people have written some things -- 'Oh, you really disrespected Howard' -- but I could've really disrespected him by showing him the hand, but I never did. "After it's all said and done, I walked behind the bleachers and I tell Mark. That's why I'm covering up my hand on the phone, so nobody can hear it. Little do I realize that I'm on the mike and when I turn around, these cameramen are just cracking up. It was that hand that they started following throughout the tournament because they liked me."I've seen some of the things that were written about that hand. What they said was here I was, this amateur, trying to make a move on a pro and get it on TV. It wasn't the case. He kept on raising every hand before the bubble and he was getting chips, and I didn't like it. I said, 'That's it, I'm playing back at him, I'm going to put a stop to this because he's not going to run the table over.'"Here's the other thing: At the end of the second night, it's all over, and I go up to Howard Lederer and I say, 'I really respect you. I watched you on TV. You are the Cal Ripken of poker.' He nods his head. That's the best compliment he could've received in his entire life. There's nobody more respected in baseball than Cal Ripken. I don't care who you ever try to name. Cal Ripken is a genuinely great guy and has done a lot for his sport, and every time you see him, he's there to sign autographs."Then the next day, I find out I'm at his table.''Dannenmann has talked to Lederer since that episode aired. No hard feelings."I saw him at the Tournament of Champions and went to him and I apologized,'' Dannenmann says. "He said, 'Hey, it's no big deal. It's just one hand.' And I got my picture taken with him.''Some poker forums were filled with threads about Dannenmann acting like a jerk on the phone after that play. But that's the editing process. Don't believe everything you see.The whole article is here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker/colum...teve&id=2239158

[Cory 0]

Ah, that would suck to have happen to oneself. Be made to look like a jerk when you had a reason for your actions.

[speedz99 145]

Very good article.

[Longshanks 0]

i never htought he did anything wrong, but im not a lederer fan

[zimmer4141 0]

So... why the hell would he have his picture taken for Bluff Magazine before the tournament? Did they make a whole magazine of the 5600 people who have almost no chance?

[Suited_Up 2]

So... why the hell would he have his picture taken for Bluff Magazine before the tournament?  Did they make a whole magazine of the 5600 people who have almost no chance?

Duh, they had to cover all their bases! lol.

[swahnroger 0]

Thanks for posting!

[Billy 0]

good read

[iveyfan30 0]

So... why the hell would he have his picture taken for Bluff Magazine before the tournament?  Did they make a whole magazine of the 5600 people who have almost no chance?

[alf13 0]

More proof that this moron is a donkey.....He wants to put a stop to lederer running the table over...so he sets up a check raise and exposes his stack to a top pro.Maybe he should have just actually played poker and gotten in the act of stealing the blinds also...What an idiot.

[Hobbes 1]

Why steal the blinds when you can steal two more bets? Yes, he exposes his stack, but he knows Howard is running over the table with any two cards, so why not force him to have a big hand this one time?Seriously, I don't see it as a big donkey play.

[EJS21 0]

I dont care what that article says or anyone else for that matter. Dannenman is a complete tool and a fake. If you ask me he knew how much of a moron he was going to look like and for the rest of the tournament he went out of his way to try and portray this total nice guy, "everything else is extra credit" portrait for tv. I dont believe it for a second. Regardless of editing, it was still disrespectful and childish to be blabbing on the phone to your buddy about how you bluffed the Cal Ripken of poker. He didnt have that respect for him when he was saying he looked like someone shot his dog and how he popped him for $30,000, funny he didnt go call his buddy when Howard caught bullets on him and nearly cleaned him out. It just goes to show that this tournament along with many others, final tables and winners are becoming more a lottery ticket than skillful play. After this incident and the one at the Tournament of Champions, where he mouths off and says the game doesnt need people like Phil Hellmuth. Regardless of how Phil acts, where does he get off saying something like that, he does well in one tournament and he thinks he is some kind of ambassador for the game. Give me a break. This guy is a total stooge and I have absolutely no respect for him.

[pokerboyvn 0]

More proof that this moron is a donkey.....He wants to put a stop to lederer running the table over...so he sets up a check raise and exposes his stack to a top pro.Maybe he should have just actually played poker and gotten in the act of stealing the blinds also...What an idiot.

yeah, the idiot won more money than a "pro" like you. Stop being jealous

[CaneBrain 95]

More proof that this moron is a donkey.....He wants to put a stop to lederer running the table over...so he sets up a check raise and exposes his stack to a top pro.Maybe he should have just actually played poker and gotten in the act of stealing the blinds also...What an idiot.

Alf, I like you a lot.That said, I couldnt disagree more with your post.He is not a moron or a donkey. He is an extremely mediocre poker player who got lucky at the right time and has been more than gracious in admitting that. He also is a lot of fun....I cant wait to see him needle Hellmuth in the TOC.Lets all lighten up on the amateurs considering we are all amateurs too.

[alf13 0]

yeah, the idiot won more money than a "pro" like you. Stop being jealous

Which is sad....and as for me being jealous....yeah...of course I am....I am probably ten times the player Danneman is...along with 70% of the forum members and I am not a millionaire...so yeah...I'm jealous...what's your point?

[Dead $ 0]

This guy is a total stooge and I have absolutely no respect for him.

no worries. He's probably got enough respect to cover you both.

[alf13 0]

Why steal the blinds when you can steal two more bets? Yes, he exposes his stack, but he knows Howard is running over the table with any two cards, so why not force him to have a big hand this one time?Seriously, I don't see it as a big donkey play.

He got lucky Howard didn't get a good read...

[Hobbes 1]

You can't make plays expecting people to be able to read right through them all the time. The standard re-steal would be just to raise from the big blind, but he called and check-raised which makes him look stronger. He had a plan and he stuck to it; that takes guts against a top pro.

[timwakefield 68]

The guy came in 2nd place out of 5600. I think he knows what he is doing.I did think it was funny seeing him on the phone with his friend (even with the context now) because I couldn't help but wonder how many time Howard had bluffed him out of baby pots...

[Roberto21 0]

I had the opportunity to meet Steve Dannenmann yesterday at the WSOP Circuit event in AC. He's just a regular dude (and is a lot shorter than you might think) and I asked him about that hand. His response was exactly the same as the article and I found him to be a genuinely nice guy.What bothers me is the amount of haters out there. So the guy isn't a nine-time bracelet winner. Does that mean people should belittle his finish at the main event? Everyone wants to say making the final table at the main event is more lottery ticket than skill, but do you have any idea the amount of stamina it takes to survive 6000+ players and five days of 12-hour sessions? I played in the event yesterday (placed 34th out of nearly 600) and I was exhausted. But I made one mistake and that was that. So let's not kill Dannenmann because he is an unknown that made millions. I think it's guys like him that make poker such a great sport. And in the long run, guys like him are going to get more people interested in poker, which is a good thing for the truly skillful players. People who think he got lucky or dismiss him as a donk need to take a step back and take a look at themselves. Jealousy is ugly.

[alf13 0]

AHHH...you know what?I could give a fuk about Danneman...Is the guy good for poker? Yes....he will bring plenty of people into the game and that is good.But I DO RESERVE the right to call him an idiot if I want.

[EJS21 0]

Hey Tim Wakefield, so your saying the countless professionals, and great poker players like Doyle, Ferguson, Negreanu, Harman, etc.. didn't know what they were doing, as opposed to Dannenman. Hey moron it's a lottery, anyone can get to the final table or win or come in second. If it came down to knowing what you were doing the entire time there wouldn't have been an amatuer at the table.

[elkang 0]

The photo for Bluff was during the tradeshow. It was just for fun.Steve was concerned about the negative perception regarding his phone call during the Howard Lederer hand. There was a bigger situation than what made it to ESPN and he felt strongly enough to address it publically. I find him to be a genuine guy and definitely good for poker.I spoke with him at Foxwoods about it when I found out his friend Mark was playing.Disparaging Dannenmann's skill is a pretty silly thing to do. He's the first to humbly admit his skills and he's at least socially more competant than most poker players I've met. Besides that, he has placed well in the big buy in tournaments he's entered (final tabling at TOC, Borgata, USPC). I frankly have little respect for anyone who comments negatively on known players without stepping up to the $10K buy in arena. In my live experience, most of these guys are frustrated "middling" players - who feel they deserve to be recognized or playing at higher levels than they are at.I of course have no clue about most FCPers since I never met them. But, likewise, most FCPers have no clue about the poker world.

[loogie 115]

Hey moron it's a lottery

Why do you play if it's a lottery?

[Hobbes 1]

Hey Tim Wakefield, so your saying the countless professionals, and great poker players like Doyle, Ferguson, Negreanu, Harman, etc.. didn't know what they were doing, as opposed to Dannenman. Hey moron it's a lottery, anyone can get to the final table or win or come in second.  If it came down to knowing what you were doing the entire time there wouldn't have been an amatuer at the table.

This is faulty logic; go back to school.