ESPN Inside Deal Features Vanessa Rousso, Dean Hamrick

This week, the ESPN.com poker news franchise “Inside Deal” welcomed recent World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Dean Hamrick and top-tier female pro Vanessa Rousso. New episodes of “Inside Deal” are released every Tuesday exclusively on ESPN.com.

Hamrick finally got over the proverbial hump in 2010, taking down a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event for $604,000 and his first bracelet. He’ll take that money and head back to Michigan, telling “Inside Deal” hosts Laura Lane and Andrew Feldman, “It felt amazing. It was a little weird because it was 6:30 in the morning when I won, so I was as excited to finally get to sleep as I was to win the bracelet. It’s a pretty surreal moment. Everyone is around you and they’re dealing that last river card and you know if it goes right, you’re going to be the champ and get everything you ever wanted.”

Hamrick made deep runs in the 2007 and 2008 Main Events. However, the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament marked just his second WSOP final table. He reflected, “When you’ve been close a couple of times, you realize how hard it is to get back. A final table is very tough, especially in the bigger fields. You don’t want to make a mistake and every decision is crucial.” Hamrick also revealed that the skill level of the field has gotten considerably tougher, a sentiment many pros in the tournament series have echoed.

Rousso joined “Inside Deal” and discussed whether she considered 2010 to be the Year of the Woman: “I think that whole Year of the Woman thing is just to have something cool to say marketing-wise. Yeah, some women have had some great results this year. I don’t think there’s anything unique about 2010. Women will have great results in years to come. Truth is, we just have a lot of great women players now.” Annie Duke, Vanessa Selbst, and UB.com’s Liv Boeree have been among the females to win major tournaments since 2010 began.

In an interview-heavy episode, “Inside Deal” then welcomed Unabomber Poker front man Phil Laak, who is fresh off a 115-hour marathon poker session that set a Guinness World Record. The previous mark, held by Paul Zimbler, was just 78 hours. Why did Laak feel the need to obliterate Zimbler’s record by two full days? “When I got to 80 hours, I hadn’t made a plan of when I’d stop. I just figured I’d stop soon after that because I’d be so exhausted. What I didn’t expect is that I was supercharged.” Laak profited nearly $7,000 from the $10/$20 cash game table at the Bellagio.

Laak added that he has a renewed outlook on life following his weeklong affair: “Since the challenge, I have become super human. I think better, I play poker better, I have more patience, I’m more empathetic, I work harder at the gym, and things are more effortless. It’s crazy.” Laak’s record may have been broken by a group of European young guns; however, the validity of the attempt appears to be in doubt.

Finally, a viewer e-mailed asking Rousso whether she thought the WSOP Ladies Event should offer up a bracelet despite not being open to the general public. Rousso’s response: “I don’t really get that freaked out about it. I know a lot of pros have a very strong opinion one way or the other. For me, it’s up to the WSOP. If they choose to put it on the schedule, for me, it’s a bracelet event. It’s as simple as that.” Shaun Deeb, David Sesso, and other males entered the tournament this year, but none survived Day 1.

Catch ESPN’s “Inside Deal” weekly on ESPN.com.

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Poker talk:

STAKE - The amount of a player's BUY-IN, or the amount of money they are willing to play with in a given session. Compare: BANKROLL.
TO GO - The current betting level, as in "$20 to go" meaning every player must contribute $20 (total) or drop. A $10 raise would then make the pot "$30 to go".
TABLE STAKES - A standard rule whereby during a hand players can only bet the money they have on the table. If the bet to a player is more than the player's stack, that player may call with all his chips and be eligible to win only that portion of the pot he contributed to equally. A side pot is created, for which only the remaining players may compete.
TRIP - Three of a specific kind, as in "Trip sixes".
FLOP GAME - Any of a number of poker games where a flop is dealt.
HOLE CARDS - In Stud and Hold'em, the face-down cards dealt to each player.

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