I woke up fairly early and could not decide what to do. I didn't want any part of going to a casino and playing poker before I played poker. What I did want to do was go out to the desert. At this point I was addicted. I didn't want to miss the start of my WSOP debut, but I had to do something. Ghost town. Okay, I'm there. Goodsprings, Nevada.
I pulled up to a Hells Angels photo shoot and got a quick shot before they pulled a knife on me. Just kidding. Actually, on my way out of town you can see the picture of Misses Hells Angels. I got a booming laugh out of her as the real photographer demanded that she not look at my camera. I put the pedal through the yaris' floor and made for the Rio.
The anticipation wasn't as grueling as I thought it would be, I was just bored and ready to start. I drifted from Starbucks where I saw many a 'known player' to the tournament room and tried to care about the 10k Omaha 8 final table, but if watching poker on tv is mind numbing, well, live is just plain horrible. I introduced myself to Micon as I am a member of his site and he was as cool as could be.
I was a little nervous to be one of the first ones hovering around the tournament area (clearly a rookie move) but I saw a dealer that I sat next to in the Venetian HORSE game who seemed to be a nice guy so I talked him up. Then as I took my seat I noticed a guy at the next table over who was the guy that fell over in his chair at the Golden Nugget game! It just so happened that I was sitting next to him at that game as well, so I went over and made sure he was strapped in, etc. or made some lame joke about falling out of his seat. He was cool as well. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised that almost every single person at my starting table was fairly cool in their own right. At least no douche bags anyways. Later on a young Italian hot shot ruined the vibe, but overall not a bad mix of personalities. The main pro at our table was Shawn Rice who couldn't have been nicer. I needled him about the Ultimate Bet gear that he was wearing as he seemed like such a nice dude, representing such a shady site. He smirked and gave a vote of confidence for security. I left it at that.
The Play.
There were no monster exciting hands that a no limit tournament would offer. I dragged a few pots to keep me at average with the field coming back from the dinner break. I was good with that, but after dinner, I started bleeding chips in 2 particular hands. I stayed around too long, looking for a card, but alas, the 8 never fell for me. I played as well as I could after the blood, but there was nothing I could do at that point. The antes were eating me up and I really didn't catch any cards to keep me alive. In fact, I never caught one great hand the whole day. But, the 2 hands I stuck around in out of spite were clearly the leak. Next year.
Although there were no exciting hands, I am slow playing at how much fun I had. I wanted to stick around so goddamn bad. I can't wait to get back next year. I plan on playing a few tournaments, and vow to cash. I am so motivated and felt like I belonged there.
Longingly,
B.
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