at the wsop

I'm out in Vegas at the WSOP this weekend. I had the distinct pleasure of hanging with Dan, Otis, and Pauly last night, and let me tell you, I take back everything I said about these guys. They are not hard working at all! Through a sophisticated combination of text generators, blow-up dolls and mirrors, they create the illusion of activity while they really are just lounging in the press box, drinking Singapore Slings and cavorting with women of dubious moral value. I don't think Dan has ever even played a hand of poker; he asked me last night what the difference between "Texas hold them" and "Omeeha" is.

Just kidding, of course.... These guys really are working their butts off here covering the series and doing a great job at that. I also spent some time talking to Amy (fellow Austinite) and Jay Greenspan, as well as giving Nolan Dalla my heartfelt praise for his new book on Stu Ungar... If you haven't seen it yet go buy it because it is the best poker book ever written, and way up there on the list for most compelling biography too.

Dan asked me what I thought of the new setup at the Rio, and I said something like "I have seen the future of poker and it is good." It's such an amazing leap up from Binion's in terms of presentability and class, a direction which should only be enhanced by the move onto the strip next year. A very small part of me liked the historical allure of Binion's, but the rest of me definitely disliked the beer-stained carpets, surly staff and permanent smoke smog levels... and no level of marketing will draw people to a downtown casino like it will to a strip casino.

I also discovered the best, and worst, thing about the WSOP being at the Rio this year: drink service provides Red Bull in the poker room, which is rare in Vegas. Quite a few RB vodka's later, I was trash talking my way to poker heaven.

As usual there are plenty-o big poker names walking around, but even after hanging in the Full Tilt Poker lounge next to Howard Lederer, the sighting that actually got me awestruck was when I bumped into Rita from Taxicab Confessions and talked her ear off! Nobody at my table even knew the show, probably because I was playing with nobody over the age of 16 and under the age of 75. She said she plays a lot of poker, and seemed pretty happy to talk to a fan.

The PLH tournament starts in under an hour and the poker room is still fairly empty, save for every few minutes when a college kid runs into the room straight for the satellite tables... make it snappy junior.

All the best, and if you're at the WSOP come by and say hello -- I'm the guy in the flame shirt winning the big pots.

That ugly flame shirt is your lucky shirt, isn't it? Next time I visit Jonno in Austin, I'm running a black bag operation to commandeer it for my own purposes....