James Woods Comes to the Borgata Summer Poker Open
Posted by djocean on June 20, 2008
I’ve met a number of celebrities and professional athletes during my time in the poker industry and I am constantly amazed when I meet someone that is as passionate about their poker game as they are their career. These people not only dominate their professions, but they can dominate on the felt as well.
James Woods is one of these types of people. Nominated for two Academy Awards, Woods is considered an “actor’s actor” and is one of Hollywood’s elite talents. It turns out Woods is also a very serious poker player. This comes as no surprise when you consider that Woods attended M.I.T and scored a 1580 on his S..ATs.
So why am I talking about James Woods? The “Shark” star arrived at Borgata late Wednesday night and he is staying the weekend to play in several tournaments.
Some of my sources at Borgata told me Woods was coming, so it was no surprise that I saw his name on the seating chart for the day’s tournament. He missed the first couple of levels and then made a “Hades-like” (the Disney cartoon character which Woods voices) appearance on the Borgata poker room floor. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, Woods began immediately taking command of his table after several hands of play.
I walked over to introduce myself to him and I stopped because he was finishing a hand. One of his opponents tried to move all-in on the Casino star, but to no avail because Woods who woke up with pocket Aces. To be honest, I was really glad that he won, because it is a hell of a lot easier to introduce yourself to a player (especially a pro or a celeb) that has just won a pot than one who has just lost one.
Woods was very friendly and I told him that I would catch up with him throughout the day since I was working the “day shift” and doing the tournament coverage. As the tournament progressed I kept checking on him and he just continued stacking chips. At one point, he pulled me aside and he recounted several hands where he made particular moves that paid off. To say I was impressed is an understatement. I knew he was a player, but I wasn’t exactly prepared for his descriptive analysis. He recounted hands better than some of the game’s top pros.
After Woods’ original table finally broke, I caught up with him in the back enclave of the poker room. We got into a discussion about cameras and it turns out he was a photographer for the New York Times. Once again, he rattled off specs and reasons why one of the newer digital cameras was heads and shoulders above the competition. I did my best to keep up. Again, I was totally impressed.
When I finally left the floor, Woods had crossed the $100,000 chip mark and was steamrolling over the field, but in the end it wasn’t meant to be as Woods busted 30th. To be honest, I didn’t care if he won or lost the tournament, because the guy earned my respect. No attitude, no ego, no bullshit. He’s a genuine person that loves the game and his participation makes the remaining Borgata tournaments more exciting to cover.
