A Little Tune-Up
2007-05-29 23:02:06
By: Gene Bromberg
With the 55 events of the World Series of Poker kicking off in just a few days you'd think poker's leading lights would be resting, conserving their psychic energy for the ordeal ahead. Nah. No, most of them are up at Mandalay Bay playing in a $10,000 WPT event. And since I happen to be in Vegas, and since Mandalay Bay is only a hop, skip, jump, another jump, a monorail and tram ride, and another hop away, I figured I'd check it out.
I read Phil Hellmuth's blog entry from yesterday where he wrote about how excited he was to play in this event and what the WSOP might hold. Alas, Phil never got untracked today and was knocked out when he pushed with pocket fours, was called by a player with Kings, and they were both beaten by a player who flopped quad deuces.
I didn't actually SEE this hand go down, as I wasn't an accredited member of the media for this event and so had to stand behind the ropes with the other unwashed masses. The poker tournament is set up right in the middle of the casino floor, near the poker room, so gawkers can, well, gawk at the players they've seen on TV. One guy was so surprised to see Barry Greenstein sitting three feet away that he dragged his buddy over.
I took some pictures...and since I was shooting at distance with so-so lighting none of them turned out very well. I'm very disappointed that my shot of World Champion Jamie Gold chowing down on a hoagie was a total loss. It looked like a very tasty hoagie indeed. Every table seemed to have two or three (or four, or five) big-name pros sitting there. Maybe so many poker superstars played in this event because the World Series events, with their bigger fields, will seem like a piece of cake after this tournament.
Here's one photo that isn't a blurry mess, though it doesn't really give you a good look at anyone. My pics from the WSOP will be infinitely better, as I'll have total access.
; "wptmandalay1")
Permalink: http://www.ultimatebet.com/poker-blog-post/A-Little-TuneUp/1881
