Matthew broderick's way to Day 1 chip lead

Season 6 of the World Poker Tour is off to an auspicious, A-list start at the Mirage in Las Vegas, and surprisingly leading the pack through the Day 1 minefield: Mysterious Torontonian David(son) Matthew.

The most mysterious part: is it David, or Davidson? And how does he manage to suck out so often? (And, from an editorial stand-point, is "broderick" even a verb?)

But those are all neither here nor there, really, when you get down to brass tacks: A $156,625 stack is a $156,625 stack anyway you get it, and it leads the star-studded field into Day 2 of the Mirage Poker Showdown.

A comparatively small 309-player field raised some eyebrows off the top for its seemingly dramatic decline from last year's 384.

But an upside has quickly been found, of course, with the short-stacked field heavily skewed in favor of big name and big game pros, who left barely a table free from a heavyweight Day 1 clash.

Among the pros on the felt this week: Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Patrik Antonius, Gavin Smith, Jennifer Harman, Erik Seidel, Dan Harrington, Shannon Shorr, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein, Daniel Alaei, Layne Flack, Vanessa Rousso.

And then some.

And, of course, the surprising Matthew, who came from nowhere to finish second in the WPT World Championship last year, and who has been flummoxing poker pros and media types since with his unpredictable play and surprising finishes.

But results are results and this season seems no different, with Matthew already laying out a few of his trademark suckouts along the way to another chip lead, including this runner-runner flush yesterday as recounted by a PokerListings.com reporter Owen Laukkanen:

"Jen Harman and Davidson Matthew get all the money in on a flop of Jc-5d-3d, Harman with pocket jacks and Matthew fighting for his tournament life with Ks-Kd. The board finishes 7d-4d and Matthew has doubled through Harman, who is left with $14,000 and her dignity."

courtesy of Christopher Hunt

News Added: 20 May, 2007

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