Dave's WSOP Adventure -- UPDATE #2
UPDATE #2 – Travel and first day in Vegas
Traveling to Las Vegas
I got up a little too early at 6:45. I am packed and ready to go by 7:00. My kids made a gallant effort to get up and “say goodbye to dad†but they only managed to make it to the couch and stretch out under a blanket and doze off again.
Still, I am glad they did. If I go deep in this tournament I will be too long away from my family. I can go four nights and then I start to really miss my lovely wife and kids.
Dad picks me up and takes me to the airport. I get my last Timmy’s. I have a Starbucks meeting with UPF on Sunday but I am not really a Starbucks guy. I love Tim’s.
In Vancouver I make my way to gate E77 for the Vegas departure. I play a little game with Vince Martignetti (won a freeroll for his WSOP seat): “Spot the online WSOP winner.†There are 8,000 players descending on Vegas for the next ten days – there MUST be some on this flight. My theory is that a lot of online winners will be traveling by themselves. In a crowd of 100 I can see 7 probable WSOP players.
Prior to departing I loaded my mini-iPod with 163 songs. I have come to believe that I may have AD.D. and I think that listening to music while playing me help to keep me focused. I may try it or I may not… we shall see. In any event, I set the iPod of “song shuffle†and hit play. The first song is Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee “White Boy Lost in the Blues.†I wonder when I will get to the end of the 163 songs.
Also en route I review my “2006 WSOP Manifesto†three or four times. I am feeling VERY good about my game. I feel like I have done the preparation and that I will play well. It’s a good feeling.
I note that the flight ALWAYS gets bumpy when you slip over the mountains that ring Vegas. No different this trip.
I arrive in Las Vegas slightly behind schedule at 5:00 pm. Saskatoon’s minor heat wave was starting to get to me. Thank goodness that I have escaped the heat! Vegas is only 40 C (that’s 104 f). Phew. What a relief.
I get to my room. I unpack. Like last year I do a thorough job of unpacking. As much as possible I try to make my room here a version of home. It is the ONLY place that I have that is tranquil and balancing. The only thing I do that is out of the ordinary is to set my two beavers near my computer and lay my kilt out on a chair in the main room. My kilt is with me for the final table.
Checking out the WSOP room
Having unpacked I wander down to the WSOP room – a BIG convention room with 200 poker tables. I decide that I will pick up my registration and then find Randy Blumer from Planet Poker.
The walk to the WSOP room is a LONG hallway. As I walk along I play “What poker or Hollywood celebrity will I spot first?†I guarantee that you will NOT guess who the first celebrity that I see is.
I note also that when you come from Saskatchewan where there is no longer any indoor smoking it is quickly apparent that there are people smoking here. A lot of people smoking here. I am REALLY glad that I quit back in 1998. Smokers are obnoxious.
The WSOP lifestyles show (a quick walk through only) is bigger than last year. A lot of online sites have BIG displays and are competing for attention. Bodog is, again, the winner though. They are right by the front door. They have built a two story display. They have the most scantily clad Vegas showgirls by a long shot. And, I’m told (no… really Heather, I am TOLD) that if you go upstairs at Bodog you are allowed to sit in a chair while scantily clad models have a pillow fight behind you and another model takes your picture. I am not kidding. I may have to investigate tomorrow.
The crowds here are shockingly different than the 2004 at Binion’s. I am really glad I played that year. It was big but it was the last of the “old world.†I guarantee that Doyle never imagined that poker would come to this. The place is packed. There are players, fans, groupies, and everything else you can imagine. It is crowded. Really crowded. I get to the Will Call window and pick up my registration. They have clearly fixed a lot of the problems from last year. It takes me all of five minutes to get my registration. I play on Saturday at table 15 seat 7. I am happy with this seat draw since it is in the corner of the room that I played four tournaments in last year. It sort of feels like home field.
While I am standing in the Will Call line I note that I am back in the land of “Big Hair, Big Boobs, and Too Much Make-up.†This note was made because of a particular woman who was standing in the hallway nearby. Then I laid eyes on my first celebrity and the nearby “boob girl†became clear. The first celebrity I spot is … Ron Jeremy the king of Porn! He is playing the event. He was surrounded by handlers who were helping him through the registration process. It turns out that he is promoting a site called Naked Poker. What a bust! I am on the lookout for celebrity and the only one I see is a has been porn star. He is, by the way, really ugly up close. Damn ugly from a distance now that I think about it.
I then find Randy Blumer. He is in a $20-40 game. It is interesting to see Randy sitting, anonymously, in the middle of a 2,000 player poker room playing poker. I am certain that nobody around him knows that he is the “Father on online poker.†Randy is the founder of PlanetPoker, the first ever, online poker site.
I note a lot of people gawking at me. Ah yes… I remember now. I wear earrings. African American males will wear earrings but you don’t see too many white guys wearing them. Not a big deal in Canada. Bigger deal in the U.S.
Randy and I have a great dinner at Gaylord Indian Restaurant. Very good. I have a double martini, two glasses of wine, and a glass of port. Not a lot but more than a person should have if they are going to play poker. Oh well…
To the Venetian for some poker
Randy and I catch a cab over to the Venetian to play some poker.
When we get to the Venetian there is a guy in the lobby dressed as a Frenchman playing an accordion. He is playing the theme from The Godfather. Venice, Paris, Godfather – whatever, Vegas is not afraid to mix their images.
We get to the poker room and get in line to get on the list. I am standing behind a scruffy looking guy in a PokerStars baseball shirt. “PokerStars? What’s that?†I ask.
“It’s a website,†he replies.
“Can you play poker at this website?†I ask.
“Uh-huh,†he answers.
“Cool.â€
Venetian has a BIG room. Limit hold’em 3-6, 6-12, 9-18, 40-80, 50-100.. No-limit 1-2, 2-5, and 5-10. Although I have had a couple of cocktails I am sufficiently in control of my faculties that I think, “I better not get in the big games.†So I try and sign up for $9-18, no-limit $1-2, and no-limit $2-5. Waiting for my seat I look up at the video board and I note that I am on the $50-100 hold’em and $50-100 mixed game interest lists. Oops.
Venetian cocktail staff costumes are not that good. The nylons are support hose and look awful.
Eventually I get called for $2-5 no-limit. Good. $500 buy-in should be about right. I sit down, though and I realize that I have been errantly seated in the $5-10 no-limit game. That’s a little bigger than I want to play but … well, my judgment is impaired. I think, “I will just play for ½ hour or so.†I do, however, pull out another $500 in cash and add it to the table. So, I am in for a dime.
Good thing to. Fifteen minutes later I am up $1100. Q-Js for a flush on the turn and A-A with a guy who bluffed off a lot of chips to me. Phew.
Every time I come to Vegas I have a brief period of doubt: “Maybe these guys are all really good.†That feeling disappears after about five minutes. This game was AWESOME. I have the lineup as: rock, idiot, idiot, idiot, super-idiot, super-idiot, rock, idiot, rock (I will leave you to figure out who I am). Awesome. If I were a pro I would force myself to stay in the game all night. But, I’m not. So I played for an hour and half from 10:30 to midnight. There were a remarkable array of reliable tells available.
I finish the game up $1800. Excellent… That probably covers all of my expenses for the trip.
And… the game leaves me feeling good. I am seeing the game well. I made $1800. And, I am getting my hate on. I am feeling careful and alert, but derisive about the other players. It’s an ugly side of poker but you have to take pleasure in beating those guys. I am feeling that way.
Funny event of the day
I am sitting in the $5-10 no-limit game. Right behind me I hear “Beep beep – it’s me.†It’s a woman with a walkie talkie. Every time she pushed the button to talk it makes a “beep beep†noise. Then every time she stops talking I hear “beep beep†from a table about ten feet away. I look over and there is a man (husband, probably) with the other walkie talkie. The woman is getting more and more irritated. She finally says, “Where are you?†OK… I’ve had enough. I stand up and point to her husband who is no more than ten feet away, “He’s right there. I can hear both sides of your conversation and I don’t have a walkie talkie.â€
Plan for tomorrow
Now, I go to bed. Sleep until I wake up. Go to the gym for a run and some weights. Then I am heading back to the Venetian at 10 am to register for their noon tournament. Then I will have breakfast with Randy Blumer, play the noon event, and head back to the Rio for the Team Planet dinner at 7 pm.
A successful day one, to be sure.
Traveling to Las Vegas
I got up a little too early at 6:45. I am packed and ready to go by 7:00. My kids made a gallant effort to get up and “say goodbye to dad†but they only managed to make it to the couch and stretch out under a blanket and doze off again.
Still, I am glad they did. If I go deep in this tournament I will be too long away from my family. I can go four nights and then I start to really miss my lovely wife and kids.
Dad picks me up and takes me to the airport. I get my last Timmy’s. I have a Starbucks meeting with UPF on Sunday but I am not really a Starbucks guy. I love Tim’s.
In Vancouver I make my way to gate E77 for the Vegas departure. I play a little game with Vince Martignetti (won a freeroll for his WSOP seat): “Spot the online WSOP winner.†There are 8,000 players descending on Vegas for the next ten days – there MUST be some on this flight. My theory is that a lot of online winners will be traveling by themselves. In a crowd of 100 I can see 7 probable WSOP players.
Prior to departing I loaded my mini-iPod with 163 songs. I have come to believe that I may have AD.D. and I think that listening to music while playing me help to keep me focused. I may try it or I may not… we shall see. In any event, I set the iPod of “song shuffle†and hit play. The first song is Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee “White Boy Lost in the Blues.†I wonder when I will get to the end of the 163 songs.
Also en route I review my “2006 WSOP Manifesto†three or four times. I am feeling VERY good about my game. I feel like I have done the preparation and that I will play well. It’s a good feeling.
I note that the flight ALWAYS gets bumpy when you slip over the mountains that ring Vegas. No different this trip.
I arrive in Las Vegas slightly behind schedule at 5:00 pm. Saskatoon’s minor heat wave was starting to get to me. Thank goodness that I have escaped the heat! Vegas is only 40 C (that’s 104 f). Phew. What a relief.
I get to my room. I unpack. Like last year I do a thorough job of unpacking. As much as possible I try to make my room here a version of home. It is the ONLY place that I have that is tranquil and balancing. The only thing I do that is out of the ordinary is to set my two beavers near my computer and lay my kilt out on a chair in the main room. My kilt is with me for the final table.
Checking out the WSOP room
Having unpacked I wander down to the WSOP room – a BIG convention room with 200 poker tables. I decide that I will pick up my registration and then find Randy Blumer from Planet Poker.
The walk to the WSOP room is a LONG hallway. As I walk along I play “What poker or Hollywood celebrity will I spot first?†I guarantee that you will NOT guess who the first celebrity that I see is.
I note also that when you come from Saskatchewan where there is no longer any indoor smoking it is quickly apparent that there are people smoking here. A lot of people smoking here. I am REALLY glad that I quit back in 1998. Smokers are obnoxious.
The WSOP lifestyles show (a quick walk through only) is bigger than last year. A lot of online sites have BIG displays and are competing for attention. Bodog is, again, the winner though. They are right by the front door. They have built a two story display. They have the most scantily clad Vegas showgirls by a long shot. And, I’m told (no… really Heather, I am TOLD) that if you go upstairs at Bodog you are allowed to sit in a chair while scantily clad models have a pillow fight behind you and another model takes your picture. I am not kidding. I may have to investigate tomorrow.
The crowds here are shockingly different than the 2004 at Binion’s. I am really glad I played that year. It was big but it was the last of the “old world.†I guarantee that Doyle never imagined that poker would come to this. The place is packed. There are players, fans, groupies, and everything else you can imagine. It is crowded. Really crowded. I get to the Will Call window and pick up my registration. They have clearly fixed a lot of the problems from last year. It takes me all of five minutes to get my registration. I play on Saturday at table 15 seat 7. I am happy with this seat draw since it is in the corner of the room that I played four tournaments in last year. It sort of feels like home field.
While I am standing in the Will Call line I note that I am back in the land of “Big Hair, Big Boobs, and Too Much Make-up.†This note was made because of a particular woman who was standing in the hallway nearby. Then I laid eyes on my first celebrity and the nearby “boob girl†became clear. The first celebrity I spot is … Ron Jeremy the king of Porn! He is playing the event. He was surrounded by handlers who were helping him through the registration process. It turns out that he is promoting a site called Naked Poker. What a bust! I am on the lookout for celebrity and the only one I see is a has been porn star. He is, by the way, really ugly up close. Damn ugly from a distance now that I think about it.
I then find Randy Blumer. He is in a $20-40 game. It is interesting to see Randy sitting, anonymously, in the middle of a 2,000 player poker room playing poker. I am certain that nobody around him knows that he is the “Father on online poker.†Randy is the founder of PlanetPoker, the first ever, online poker site.
I note a lot of people gawking at me. Ah yes… I remember now. I wear earrings. African American males will wear earrings but you don’t see too many white guys wearing them. Not a big deal in Canada. Bigger deal in the U.S.
Randy and I have a great dinner at Gaylord Indian Restaurant. Very good. I have a double martini, two glasses of wine, and a glass of port. Not a lot but more than a person should have if they are going to play poker. Oh well…
To the Venetian for some poker
Randy and I catch a cab over to the Venetian to play some poker.
When we get to the Venetian there is a guy in the lobby dressed as a Frenchman playing an accordion. He is playing the theme from The Godfather. Venice, Paris, Godfather – whatever, Vegas is not afraid to mix their images.
We get to the poker room and get in line to get on the list. I am standing behind a scruffy looking guy in a PokerStars baseball shirt. “PokerStars? What’s that?†I ask.
“It’s a website,†he replies.
“Can you play poker at this website?†I ask.
“Uh-huh,†he answers.
“Cool.â€
Venetian has a BIG room. Limit hold’em 3-6, 6-12, 9-18, 40-80, 50-100.. No-limit 1-2, 2-5, and 5-10. Although I have had a couple of cocktails I am sufficiently in control of my faculties that I think, “I better not get in the big games.†So I try and sign up for $9-18, no-limit $1-2, and no-limit $2-5. Waiting for my seat I look up at the video board and I note that I am on the $50-100 hold’em and $50-100 mixed game interest lists. Oops.
Venetian cocktail staff costumes are not that good. The nylons are support hose and look awful.
Eventually I get called for $2-5 no-limit. Good. $500 buy-in should be about right. I sit down, though and I realize that I have been errantly seated in the $5-10 no-limit game. That’s a little bigger than I want to play but … well, my judgment is impaired. I think, “I will just play for ½ hour or so.†I do, however, pull out another $500 in cash and add it to the table. So, I am in for a dime.
Good thing to. Fifteen minutes later I am up $1100. Q-Js for a flush on the turn and A-A with a guy who bluffed off a lot of chips to me. Phew.
Every time I come to Vegas I have a brief period of doubt: “Maybe these guys are all really good.†That feeling disappears after about five minutes. This game was AWESOME. I have the lineup as: rock, idiot, idiot, idiot, super-idiot, super-idiot, rock, idiot, rock (I will leave you to figure out who I am). Awesome. If I were a pro I would force myself to stay in the game all night. But, I’m not. So I played for an hour and half from 10:30 to midnight. There were a remarkable array of reliable tells available.
I finish the game up $1800. Excellent… That probably covers all of my expenses for the trip.
And… the game leaves me feeling good. I am seeing the game well. I made $1800. And, I am getting my hate on. I am feeling careful and alert, but derisive about the other players. It’s an ugly side of poker but you have to take pleasure in beating those guys. I am feeling that way.
Funny event of the day
I am sitting in the $5-10 no-limit game. Right behind me I hear “Beep beep – it’s me.†It’s a woman with a walkie talkie. Every time she pushed the button to talk it makes a “beep beep†noise. Then every time she stops talking I hear “beep beep†from a table about ten feet away. I look over and there is a man (husband, probably) with the other walkie talkie. The woman is getting more and more irritated. She finally says, “Where are you?†OK… I’ve had enough. I stand up and point to her husband who is no more than ten feet away, “He’s right there. I can hear both sides of your conversation and I don’t have a walkie talkie.â€
Plan for tomorrow
Now, I go to bed. Sleep until I wake up. Go to the gym for a run and some weights. Then I am heading back to the Venetian at 10 am to register for their noon tournament. Then I will have breakfast with Randy Blumer, play the noon event, and head back to the Rio for the Team Planet dinner at 7 pm.
A successful day one, to be sure.
Comments
JohnnieH
ps..Ron Jeremy is one ugly mo-fo.
There can't a be much better feeling than taking down almost 2k on your first night in Vegas. Well, maybe winning the main event I guess...
Good Luck.
Best of luck, Dave. I look forward to your reports.
We all should have such a career!!
Good luck Dave!! Great report.
Hopefully you're still playing when I arrive on August 4th....I'll come by to cheer you on!
I'm told his talents lie elsewhere
06's slogan...."Fear the Speedo baby, fear the Speedo"
Ya, but I hear he has a monster schlong.
GL Dave.
P.S if you get to the final table and get a hold of Aces, think about folding em