A Little Bit of Weirdness
2007-07-24 17:16:45
By: Gene Bromberg
The final table of the Main Event started at noon and I showed up at 11:30 to take in the scene. My press pass wouldn't get me within 30 feet of the players and it didn't take me long to figure out that this would be a day unlike the previous forty-six at the World Series of Poker. Throughout the WSOP there were always spectators trying to get inside to watch the action, but the day of the final table was different.
;)
The line went out the door and down, down, down the hallway. I wondered how many of those folks realized that they might be in for a VERY long day. We played until 4:15 in the morning when the final table was set and I sat there freezing in the vast meat locker that is the Amazon Room hoping to God I didn't come down with pneumonia.
Before play began I elbowed and straight-armed my way up into the Milwaukee's Best Light Lounge and snapped a few pictures. I nearly got trapped up there in the crush of fans trying to find a vantage point to watch the action, and I finally escaped by squeezing under the railing and flopping to the carpeted floor. Not the most dignified escape, but there was no way I was gonna spend 16 hours up there drinking Milwaukee's Best Light. NO WAY.
;)
There were strict restrictions on who could sit inside in the ESPN Arena so there were bleachers and plasma TVs set up to handle the overflow.
;)
And if you couldn't actually make it to the Rio to be in the presence of history you could follow along online as Phil Gordon and Ali Nejad provided live commentary that was streamed over the Internet.
;)
The crowd filed in and took their seats, tournament director Jack Effel introduced the players, the national anthem was sung (I thought this was the WORLD Series of Poker?) and after Jamie Gold wished the players good luck he announced, "Shuffle Up and Deal!"
And that's when I bailed.
This would be my last full day in Vegas, and after seven weeks of covering the action the idea of spending all day watching the final table on closed-circuit TV didn't appeal to me at all. I wasn't allowed close to the action, wasn't allowed to report on what I was seeing...I decided a last fling on the Strip would be a better way to spend my time. Provided I got back in time to see the champion crowned.
I spent some time at the Mirage and, after losing about $150 playing low-limit Hold-Em and tilting so bad I nearly gave up poker for crochet, I went to Bellagio and won $200 playing video poker. Convinced that the Poker Gods do indeed love me I headed back to the Rio after learning that we were down to four players after just six hours of play. An early night looked like a real possibility.
Of course, after seven weeks of covering the WSOP I knew better than to count on that.
Play slowed way, WAY down at that point. The four remaining players--Jerry Yang, Tuan Lam, Alex Kravchenko and Raymond Rahme--went to dinner, and I went to the Rio poker room to play a bit more. I was getting updates from friends on chip counts and I relayed them to the folks playing at my table. I told a few stories about my adventures covering the World Series, but for the most part I kept a low profile. I just wanted to kill some time as the final table played out.
Around 11pm an interesting-looking chap sat down in the 4-seat. He sported a mohawk and a six-inch-long goatee and had a few dozen tattoos. A friendly enough chap, he donked off about a hundred bucks while explaining to us all that he was waiting for the final table to conclude. He worked for ABC News and tried to impress the group with his stories from the World Series. Since I'd been working since June and he'd showed up just a few days earlier, I wasn't too impressed. But he was a nice enough guy, he was drinking along with the rest of us, and like I said, he lost about $100 in an hour. I wanted him to feel perfectly at home.
I don't remember when he left, but around 1:30am I received a text that we were down to three-handed and I cashed out and ran back to the Amazon Room. Which was nearly empty. The bleachers that once were packed with beer-swilling fans were now abandoned. It didn't take long for me to realize that I'd made a big mistake--I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, and once again it was FREEZING in there. I got so cold that I gave in and bought a WSOP hooded sweatshirt to stop the shivering.
Play continued until 4:15am, when Jerry Yang made a runner-runner straight to eliminate Tuan Lam. But it wasn't until the next day that I found out that Yang's victory wasn't the only bit of excitement going on at the time. From PokerNews' coverage:
The crowd explodes into cheers as the house lights flood the ESPN arena. Jerry Yang is mobbed by his friends and family, and he is barely visible. A rogue person with a microphone runs up for an interview, but he is pulled back by ESPN before a security guard goes after him.
The "rogue person", it turned out, was the mohawked gent I'd been playing poker with a few hours earlier. He decided to charge the stage with his equipment and stick a microphone in Jerry Yang's face. What happened next is open to interpretation. He claimed that the ESPN people "assaulted" him and dragged him bodily from the stage. Having had a few run-in with the ESPN folks during the preliminary events, it's a wonder they didn't shoot him on the spot for crashing the Final Table. And that's only a slight exaggeration. The folks from Bristol were not known for their patience and/or senses of humor.I tried, and utterly failed, to get close enough to the stage to get a good picture of Jerry Yang celebrating his triumph. This was the best I was able to do:
;)
But at least I didn't get arrested/manhandled/ejected. And I was able to hear Jerry Yang's very moving speech after he won the Main Event. I know that the average poker fan doesn't realize how doggone long these sessions run, or how exhausting they can be. Even if you're just a spectator. And even if you, like, aren't in the room for the whole thing. It was still a long day, a long day that brought seven weeks of long days to an end. It was a blast. And I'm sure I'll have A LOT more to write about the World Series in the coming days.
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