Eight days in Las Vegas during the WSOP was truly a fans dream come true. I have been playing hold’em for about eight years after a lifetime of playing cards. My adult children got me hooked after insisting that I quit playing Blackjack and jump on the poker bandwagon. Guess our whole family got caught up in the poker craze fueled by the Moneymaker win and the first season of World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel.
In about 2003, while my daughters and husband were playing poker live and/or online, I had not played a single hand of Hold’em but had been watching on TV, either WSOP or WPT. Most of what I knew came from Mike Sexton and a page my husband had copied out of a book which listed the starting hands/position recommendations for playing. We were in Las Vegas and staying at the Golden Nugget. We check in, I walked across the street to Binions Horseshoe and entered a $60 tournament that was starting. I got a seat next to the dealer and told him I had not played before and to help me not look like a fool. He was accommodating and I played my very first hand…….lasted about 2/3 of the tournament and had the posting blinds and mechanics of play under my belt. I played 4 tournament in 4 days….left Vegas $50 down for the trip. Did not cash in any tourneys but won enough in Blackjack to offset the entry fees….also left Vegas hooked.
Since that time I have watched every poker show on TV…..many times…..have played in casinos all over and play online nearly every day on several different sites. I play very low stakes……lose mostly online and hold my own in live play. I am a complete fan…….follow all the major and not so major tourneys and read blogs, twitter and generally keep up with all things poker.
This trip to Vegas was a fans dream come true and really was an eye opening experience. While I did know from keeping up for years it was just overwhelming to experience the enormity of the WSOP events. Also was so great to see how much access you had to the players and how easy to rail anyone and everyone. There was something interesting going on all the time!!!
Some of the big moments for me was seeing Jack Binion present the bracelet to Phil Ivey and him standing on the stage, hand over heart while the National Anthem played. Also seeing the bracelet presentations of Dean Hamrick and Gavin Smith was very special.
Watching the first two sessions of the Tournament of Champions being filmed by ESPN was also a high point. To sit for 4+ hours and watch some of the greatest players, unedited was just an avid fan’s dream. This just topped off several days of watching some of our favorites and seeing how they act, play, and interact with each other was just more than we expected.
A couple of funny things heard while watching the TOC happenings…..while watching one table a guy behind me was obviously with his friend and impressing with his knowledge of the players…he says “look…..there is Barry Greenfeld and Jackie Chan”. About an hour later while watching the other table, a guy behind me says to his friend… “look, there is Huck Finn”.
Just too many memories to comment on but we were such fan boys and just had so much fun. Will do it again but as far as the actual playing goes……will change up a bit next time……… next post will address next year.
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