Going to the show

I tried to start this long, literary post about my upcoming trip to LV; I even had a little snippet of movie dialog to start off with, but sadly I am no Pauly. The title of the post comes from Bull Durham, where Crash (Kevin Costner) is talking about his 21 days in "the show" (the major leagues). I remember how people around him in the bus stop to listen, hanging on his every word.

For poker players, the WSOP is "the show." Of course, the main event is the show of shows, but to play in any event-- even a $1,500 buy-in event-- is enough of a dream (or at least the first step) for many. To be able to say that you played in the WSOP, even if it's just for a few hours, is something you will have for the rest of your life.

But do I want to spend a majority of my bankroll on one event? I think it's pretty safe to say that the answer is "no." Especially when Caesars and the Venetian will be running their Mega Stacks and Deep Stacks tournaments respectively and I can play in 2 fairly big, deep-stack events for about two-thirds the price. I might take a stab or two at winning a satellite to the $1,500 but I just can't see buying in directly. Of course, if I go deep in my first tourney I would consider buying into the WSOP event, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Until then, the dream of going to the show may just have to wait a little longer.

Tips for the WSOP newbie

Pauly has a great primer for food options at the WSOP. Although I've never played myself, I thought I'd throw in a few of my own general Las Vegas/Poker Tourney tips.

Much as I am maligned for doing so, I have a man purse that I use almost exclusively when in Las Vegas. It's a sleek little black Diesel bag that's a throwback from my metro days. If you are insecure about a man purse a backpack would do just as well. Here is a list of things of obvious and not so obvious things I carry in it.

1. a light jacket. for some reason I always get cold in casinos and poker rooms, but not when I'm walking around or outside, so I keep this folded up for when I need it.
2. drugs. another thing that often happens to me is getting headaches. I don't know if it's the dry air or the copious amounts of alcohol often consumed, but I get bad headaches in Vegas. Sure, I could go to the gift shop and buy some, but I'd no doubt pay way too much and I'd also need to leave the table, so instead I just carry some Tylenol at all times. I also have some claritin if my allergies act up.
   
3. candy. We've all been there. You've been up all night and haven't brushed your teeth. Your breath stinks and you know it and the others at the table know it. That's why I carry an assortment of mints and hard candies. Those melting strips are also nice. And if you like gum bring your own. Good luck finding that in the gift shop. I think someone once told me that the casinos don't sell gum because the don't like having to pull it out of the carpet and from the bottom of tables. Also, offering candy to others at the table makes friends, which might be especially nice if you're playing next to Liz Lieu or Jennifer Leigh.
4. water. I know it's "free" in most places, but sometimes you are stuck at the table from hell with the cocktail waitress who comes around every hour if you're lucky. Also, I actually like to walk around the Strip when I'm in Las Vegas so it's always nice to have some with you when you're not at a table. Usually I'll just take a bottle with me from the table and fill it with water fountain water or a big bottle in my room.*
5. Snacks. Pauly touched on this in his blog, but I think this is especially true if you're in an all-day tourney. I personally don't function well when I'm hungry so a couple of energy bars in the bag are good emergency food.
   
6. Misc. Stuff. iPod, note pad, pen, card protector, tournament structure sheets, stripper flyers, whatever (Liz Lieu's phone number after you give her candy...). I guess you could just stuff your pockets, but I'm not a big fan of the bulging pockets look.**
   

On thing about a man purse or back pack is that after sitting at a table for hours on end, it is very easy to forget it's there and walk away without it (especially if your last hand was a brutal, soul-crushing, two-outer suckout on the river). Although it's always been there when I've gone back, it's still a pain to have to go all the way back to the poker room to get your bag. For this reason, also, I wouldn't keep any money or my wallet in the bag.

* thoughts on water. I'm not a miser, but I just can't bring myself to pay $5 for those bottles of water they have in the hotel room. As I said earlier, I like to walk around in Las Vegas, so one of my first jaunts is down to the Walgreens (?) on the strip. I go down and pick up a couple of liters of water and the above mentioned candy and snacks. I usually do this in the evening when it's a little cooler and the walkways aren't as crowded.

** If it's my bankroll that's making my pockets bulge, so be it, but unfortunately I've never had that problem.

Go Godfather!!!

Iggy, the godfather, or maybe more appropriately, Blogfather, of the poker blog made the money in the main event. Nice parlay of pokerstars satellite. According to Pauly, Iggy might get some TV time as he was playing at a table with some pros. It will be exciting to see how far he can go.

Things to chew on

One of those eternal questions that always come up right around the start of the WSOP is: "would you go all in with pocket aces on the very first hand of the WSOP main event." In my mind, unless you were in the big blind and every single person in front of you had already shoved, you're a pussy if you say no. What part of "best starting hand in hold'em" don't you understand?

A situation that is much more likely to come up in your life is what happened to Terrence Chan during event 5 at this year's WSOP:
http://terrencechan.livejournal.com/246673.html

In summary, some guy keeled over during the tournament and a guy from Terrence's table who happened to be a doctor went to help out. Of course, while doing his good deed, the good doctor was also missing hands. Terrence proposed that the players give the doctor a walk in the park when it was his big blind. While his intentions were good, although technically collusion, I'm not sure I would be able to go along with his proposal. When (if) I ever go to the WSOP, my goal will be to win it. And I am going to do everything (legally) within my means to win. In the abstract, the gesture seems fine, and I'm sure I'd be inclined to throw away a marginal hand if it was the Doctor's BB, but what if I looked down to see Aces?

Also, Shane Schleger has a great post on how to act when at a tournament:
http://shaniaconline.blogspot.com/

Would you walk up to an NBA pro while they walked to the locker room at halftime and start asking them about plays they made or for advice on your jumper? Shane makes the point that for pros, a poker tournament is their job and not all of them want to hear your bad beat story or talk about chip stacks when they are on break. Good thing to keep in mind when (if) I go.

WSOP: Event 2 $1,500 NLHE

From PokerNews:

A New Leader Emerges

We arrived at a table where a lot of chips were being pushed around on the flop.

The board showed {K-Clubs} {J-Clubs} {5-Diamonds} , and Ginikachukwu Izuogu passed the betting over to Michael Goetsch. Goetsch fired out 10,000, and Izuogu put in a check-raise to 35,000. Instantly, Goetsch jams it harder, all in for 75,000.

Izuogu digs for information. "Do you have aces? You have aces?"

Goetsch tells him, "Call and find out," so Izuogu obliges him and puts in the call.

Be careful what you wish for, Goetsch sees he's in trouble with his {4-Spades} {4-Clubs} against Izuogu's {K-Spades} {Q-Diamonds} . The last two cards on the board are {7-Spades} {5-Spades} , and Goetsch heads to the rail.

After the hand, we have our first three-hundredaire, as Izuogu sits with 305,000 chips in front of him.

I don't know who this guy is, but I want him at the final table just to hear Norman Chad say his name.

How is anyone supposed to do any work?

While jumping between blogs and Poker News Live reporting, how is anyone supposed to get anything else done? Why can't we take a cue from the Europeans and take the month off? This is going to be one very unproductive month.

It Begins

In just a few hours the first event at the WSOP will start. Who will claim the first bracelet? Will it be a named player or a one-hit wonder?

Thanks to the folks at Up For Poker have compiled a list of WSOP blogs for those of us who can't be there:

http://www.upforanything.net/poker/2008-wsop-poker-blogs-and-news.html

Siren's Song

Being the center of gambling world (for now), Las Vegas exerts a pull on all gamblers. The pull is similar to gravity in that the more gamble in a person, the stronger the pull. 1100 miles away from me, thousands of people are making their pilgrimage to the yearly event that is the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Every poker player dreams of being at the (3 month delayed) final table of the Main Event, but to play in any event something that everyone schemes to do, even if just once just to say they were there. I was in LV for the first days of the main event back in 2006. Even though I was just a spectator, the experience was amazing. The site of the row upon row of poker tables in the Amazon Poker room was staggering.

Unable to attend, I'll have to live vicariously through the legion of bloggers who will be in attendance. Always a perennial favorite of mine is The Tao of Poker. Pauly's untiring capture of the less seen side of the WSOP is something to look forward to every day. It truly is the next best thing to being there. In fact, even if I was in LV at the WSOP I'd still read Tao of Poker just to know what I was missing.