Zimba Blog:
Out of the dense darkness of remote Nevada hinterland appeared the familiar multi-color neon lights of Vegas' massive casino complexes as we approached the late night landing in the city of sin. I was back for my annual World Series of Poker Main Event trip. Time to document in person the experience of thousands of poker players pursuing their dream to be world champion.
Each year the poker dynamics in Las Vegas has shifted. Gone are the lavish poker room sponsored parties. Gone is the Living Expo with its booths selling various poker wares. Gone are the gaggles of poker girls hawking various poker products throughout the hallways and aisles of the Rio. The heat remains. The hordes of those dreaming to hit it big remain. Now there is a new bigger and more colorful spaceship to take them there. After several years of a dingy star filled background corner featured final table area, the new PokerPro Productions has built an impressive and colorful forum for the poker warriors to do battle. That improvement alone has signified a much needed evolution to the coverage this year.
After arriving at my upgraded room from last year, I quickly unpacked and headed to the Rio to meet a few Twitter poker folks @alcanthang @pokerlawyer @jenshahade @marielizette etc. who were hanging out at the hooker bar. They were quite a few drinks deep so after a while I headed down to watch some of the $50k Player's Championship. The obligatory first pro spotted award went to Jeff Madsen who strolled up the long hallway to the Rio as I caught him he was interestingly juxtaposed against his 20 foot tall 2006 Player of the Year banner that periodically line the hallway. It was a year and series he'll never forget and a level of success he may never revisit again. Once down to the Amazon room the play at the $50k Player's Championship was quite sluggish as they approached the final table from the 11 remaining players. Phil Hellmuth was playing a very solid game remaining right in the middle of the pack and making no big moves or errors as he pursued his 12th bracelet. I returned back to my room around 3 am to call it a night.
Fast forward nearly 24 hours and the mothership stadium is completely packed as Phil Hellmuth is now playing Brian Rast heads-up for the championship. This will be Hellmuth's biggest tournament cash ever and first over a million, if he finishes in second or first for $1.72 million. His 1989 Main Event win was only for $775k. Brian Rast has a large cheering section of his fellow former Victory pro friends while Hellmuth is the sentimental favorite of the crowd.
This day was one to become acclimated to the WSOP this year; picking up my press pass, accessing the press wifi despite my son's recently downloaded malware on my laptop, figuring out the layout and flow of important destinations that I will trod for the next 8 days. Throughout the day I ran into more tweeps like @writerjen, @pkrgssp @kevmath @CasinoVin @CkBwoP @KaraOTR @PokerLawyer and others.
I took a dinner break for a few hours to head over to the CardRunners get together at StripBurger. It was definitely a laid back affair with many of the usuals missing, but I sat with Vanessa Peng, GuiGui_88, Annette Obrestad, and Scott Montgomery eating good burgers and fries while downing $2 drafts. There wasn't much schmoozing but I saw Brian Hastings, Taylor Caby, John Wray, Lana Meier, Scott Augustine, Haseeb Quereshi, Joe Tehan, Will Ma, and Matt Matros.
It's approaching 2 a.m. and the heads up battle between Hellmuth and Rast looks to be a lengthy one. Tomorrow is Day 1A of four to be played. Thousands will have plunked down their $10,000 for their chance at poker immortality. And I'll be back to give my take on what I find.
Out of the dense darkness of remote Nevada hinterland appeared the familiar multi-color neon lights of Vegas' massive casino complexes as we approached the late night landing in the city of sin. I was back for my annual World Series of Poker Main Event trip. Time to document in person the experience of thousands of poker players pursuing their dream to be world champion.
Each year the poker dynamics in Las Vegas has shifted. Gone are the lavish poker room sponsored parties. Gone is the Living Expo with its booths selling various poker wares. Gone are the gaggles of poker girls hawking various poker products throughout the hallways and aisles of the Rio. The heat remains. The hordes of those dreaming to hit it big remain. Now there is a new bigger and more colorful spaceship to take them there. After several years of a dingy star filled background corner featured final table area, the new PokerPro Productions has built an impressive and colorful forum for the poker warriors to do battle. That improvement alone has signified a much needed evolution to the coverage this year.
After arriving at my upgraded room from last year, I quickly unpacked and headed to the Rio to meet a few Twitter poker folks @alcanthang @pokerlawyer @jenshahade @marielizette etc. who were hanging out at the hooker bar. They were quite a few drinks deep so after a while I headed down to watch some of the $50k Player's Championship. The obligatory first pro spotted award went to Jeff Madsen who strolled up the long hallway to the Rio as I caught him he was interestingly juxtaposed against his 20 foot tall 2006 Player of the Year banner that periodically line the hallway. It was a year and series he'll never forget and a level of success he may never revisit again. Once down to the Amazon room the play at the $50k Player's Championship was quite sluggish as they approached the final table from the 11 remaining players. Phil Hellmuth was playing a very solid game remaining right in the middle of the pack and making no big moves or errors as he pursued his 12th bracelet. I returned back to my room around 3 am to call it a night.
Fast forward nearly 24 hours and the mothership stadium is completely packed as Phil Hellmuth is now playing Brian Rast heads-up for the championship. This will be Hellmuth's biggest tournament cash ever and first over a million, if he finishes in second or first for $1.72 million. His 1989 Main Event win was only for $775k. Brian Rast has a large cheering section of his fellow former Victory pro friends while Hellmuth is the sentimental favorite of the crowd.
This day was one to become acclimated to the WSOP this year; picking up my press pass, accessing the press wifi despite my son's recently downloaded malware on my laptop, figuring out the layout and flow of important destinations that I will trod for the next 8 days. Throughout the day I ran into more tweeps like @writerjen, @pkrgssp @kevmath @CasinoVin @CkBwoP @KaraOTR @PokerLawyer and others.
I took a dinner break for a few hours to head over to the CardRunners get together at StripBurger. It was definitely a laid back affair with many of the usuals missing, but I sat with Vanessa Peng, GuiGui_88, Annette Obrestad, and Scott Montgomery eating good burgers and fries while downing $2 drafts. There wasn't much schmoozing but I saw Brian Hastings, Taylor Caby, John Wray, Lana Meier, Scott Augustine, Haseeb Quereshi, Joe Tehan, Will Ma, and Matt Matros.
It's approaching 2 a.m. and the heads up battle between Hellmuth and Rast looks to be a lengthy one. Tomorrow is Day 1A of four to be played. Thousands will have plunked down their $10,000 for their chance at poker immortality. And I'll be back to give my take on what I find.
First Zimba Blog: I Want That Feeling, One Time!
Second Zimba Blog: Sunday Poker Diatribe
Third Zimba Blog: Thoughts and Experiences with Cheating in Poker
Fourth Zimba Blog: The Myth of Money Won in Poker
Fifth Zimba Blog: Poker Super Powers - The Cloak of Invincibility
Sixth Zimba Blog: The Good News About The Portuguese Prodigy
Seventh Zimba Blog: Finding Your Place In Poker
Eighth Zimba Blog: Poker Empathy
Ninth Zimba Blog: Poker - A Global Game
Tenth Zimba Blog: 10 Things I Learned From My First Week Not Playing Poker
Eleventh Zimba Blog: The Blame Game
Twelfth Zimba Blog: Commentary On FSG 218 Pros List
Thirteenth Zimba Blog: Poker News or Perspective?
Fourteenth Zimba Blog: WSOP Memories Redux
Fifteenth Zimba Blog: WSOP Memories Redux, pt. 2
Sixteenth Zimba Blog: Grandfathered In
Seventeenth Zimba Blog: Full Tilt Poker and the $60 Million Cost of Business
Eighteenth Zimba Blog: WSOP Bracelet - What is it worth anyways?
Nineteenth Zimba Blog: Down the Rabbit Hole
Twentieth Zimba Blog: Full Tilt Poker Misplayed Their Hand
Twenty-first Zimba Blog: U.S. Poker: 180 Days and Degrees
Twenty-second Zimba Blog: Women's Event: Life EV Trumps Poker EV
