Leading the UB Army Into Battle
2008-07-06 21:08:46
By: Gene Bromberg
For the vast majority of players in the World Series physically getting there isn't much of a big deal. Even if you're from out of town it's not like finding a taxi in Vegas is hard. You get to the Rio, find out if you're playing in the Amazon Room or elsewhere in the casino, and then find your table. Piece of cake.
But some people don't like to take the easy way out. They don't just want to show up. The want to make an entrance. A grand entrance. A big splash. They don't want people breaking off conversations in mid-thread to follow them across the room, murmured comments barely audible above the hush. No, they want noise. Lots of noise. A ruckus, a hullabaloo.
As if you haven't already guessed, I'm writing about Phil Hellmuth's entrance today to the Main Event of the World Series of Poker. As you may have heard Phil "invaded" the Rio with members of the UB Army, and I think I'll let the pictures do most of the talking:
No, Phil didn't drive all the way from his hotel in an open-air jeep while wearing a helmet. This is Las Vegas--the suffering would've been enormous. But Phil arrived in full General Patton regalia with P0ker H0 at the wheel.
You may not know this about Phil, but he didn't graduate from West Point.
The general inspecting the troops. I inspected them as well. They passed inspection. Believe me.
And then it was time for Phil and his entourage to make their way into the Rio, with a horde of photographers and camera operators in tow:
This also gave everyone another chance to inspect the troops, and inspect them we did:
And then it was time to negotiate the hallway to the Amazon Room, amid all the fans and players milling about waiting for something, anything, to happen:
And then to the ESPN TV table, where Phil took his seat after being introduced to the crowd and shaking everyone's hand:
And that was that, except for P0ker H0 (and the rest of us) giving the ladies one last inspection:
All Phil has to do now is negotiate his way through 6,844 players and capture his second World Championship and his 12th bracelet. I think he'll find more resistance from the opposition than he did during today's assault.
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