WSOP 2007 – Get to Vegas

It’s finally the day to go to Vegas for the World Series of Poker, 2007. It feels like it’s been months. Oh yeah. It has been months since I won an entry at the Hustler.

At the airport, a cute blond sits next to me while I wait for the plane. I guess I creeped her out so she walked away, then an Asian guy sits down and starts listening to weird music on his Nokia cell phone. I look over and it’s Men “The Master” Nguyen. Looks like the WSOP is getting closer by the minute.

After checking into the Ri0, I go downstairs to confirm my pre-registration for the Main Event.  Pre-registering was the smartest thing I’ve done so far. There was a line for registration, then to pay, and even to go to the bathroom.  Okay, maybe not the bathroom, since it was almost midnight.  They make you sign a “release and confidentiality” form. In fact, blogging about the registration might be breaking the rules. This thing is so long, I think I may need 2 attorneys to look at it.

Look at this place. It’s a mad house. And it’s midnight. Event #54 is still going on with Erik Seidel and Chad “Downtown” Brown going heads-up after “Sean” Sheikhan busts out to Brown. Seidel eventually wins his 8th bracelet.

But there’s actually a bigger crowd around a live game ($50 – $100 blinds) going on. I walk up to see what’s going on and see Ben Affleck and Matt Damon playing at the table.  The ladies were taking pictures and giggling. But the guys that walked up after me only saw Daniel Alaei (a top cash game player) and didn’t even notice the actors. That’s a real poker player for you. While this is going on, Johnny Chan walks up to the table for a quick look see. Man, this is like a poker players dream.

Enough watching. Time to play.

Decided to try my hand at $3 – $5 no limit right there. There was a board with 10 or more people on it, but with so many tables, it went quickly. Sat down and noticed that the players were tight. Called a $20 raise with 8 – 9 offsuit.  My kind of hand.  Flopped trip 8s, and had one guy betting into me.  There was a <club> flush draw possible, but I wanted to try slow playing it, and just flat called. Then turned the 9 <club> which gave a flush draw their flush, and giving me the boat at the same time. Sweet!  He went all-in, and I called. Hope the WSOP is this easy. 🙂

Kept playing for a little while longer and finally decided to call it a night before it got too late.  My start date is Sunday so I have 2 more days to play.

Next: Preparation.