[Ed Note: To read Matt's previous two entries, please click here]
Despite the news that 'Monkey Bulter' resigned from his post before the flight was over and no replacement could be found at such short notice, the remaining members of 'Team Primate' were not going to let it spoil the occasion! This year we decided to fly direct to Vegas instead of doing a one stop via an East Coast American airport. The flight lasted 10 hours but actually went quite quickly thanks to the discovery of a Gameboy system as part of the inflight entertainment. Having watched some of the comedy programs and a bit of the sport we decided that the remainder of the flight would pass quicker if we fired up the Gameboy. It did, and before we knew it we were flying over Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam about to touch down at McCarron Airport.
One of the things that puzzled me during the flight came whilst playing on the Gameboy. The number of games available was quite limited and some were quite old - but then the old classics like Super Mario Brothers would pass an hour or so even in centuries to come.
One of the games we spotted was Pokemon - the trading cards game. Hmmm, a card game where you have to use skill and nerve to outbattle your opponent in order to emerge victorious - and one which must be easy to learn as it is played all over the world by children aged between 6 and 12... Wrong!!
Now maybe it was just that my monkey mind was a bit slow on the uptake - flying at an altitude of about 38,000ft meant that maybe there wasnt enough oxygen getting into the space between my ears!! Having spent an hour trying to build an army, trying to evolve them and turn them into a battle hardened bunch whilst using my wiley commanding officer skills to keep all my team happy was not an easy one and I soon gave up.
It's sort of a cross between football, having a team out on the field whilst having a bench full of substitutes raring to go (I know how Jose Marinho feels now) and the WWE, but at the same time using planned battle moves that Nelson would have been proud of. After an hour I went back to Pokemon Pinball - much easier to grasp!! How on earth 6 year olds who, thanks to our failing schools struggle to read and write, can understand something like this is a mystery to me!!Anyways, back to the trip. Having arrived in Vegas and only spending 45 minutes queueing at the US arrivals, all of our luggage had made it safely too - the signs were looking good. We jumped in a cab and soon arrived at the Monte Carlo which is to be our base camp for the next two weeks (though occassionally it may be at the Rio thanks to BigArmo's package being situated a bit closer to the card room).
Having quickly scrubbed up to freshen up it was off to the Rio to pick up all the registration details. The freshening up did nothing as within 3 minutes of standing waiting for a taxi it felt as though you needed to take another shower!! I just hope that on my first day on Sunday the two people situated either side of me are staying in the Rio and that they both know what a shower looks like and how it works - please, please, please (darn, where's the smiley for the praying to the poker gods when you need it!!).
First thing's first though, on arriving at the Rio after BigArmo (left) had checked in (which took a little longer than usual due to there being two John Armstrongs being booked to stay at the same time (wow if that confused the woman on the check-in desk the first prize on their version of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" should be pretty safe!), it was food time. Even though it was only 5pm local time, my bodyclock was telling me that it was in fact 1am and seemed a bit troubled when faced with the prospect of trying to eat a giant mushroom onion and swiss cheeseburger complete with side order of fries and a rabbit's lifetime supply of salad. Leaving most of the rabbitfood and some of the fries we eventually finished off the burger and decided to have a quick wander round the casino before making our way to the WSOP registration.
We discovered a different casino poker game this year - a version of Texas Hold 'Em. Having watched the Americans play it for a few minutes we decided to give it a spin. You have to pay a blind (your stake) and if you want you can also play the bonus. The bonus being if you were dealt any pair or A-K, A-Q or A-J (suited or unsuited) you got at least 3-1 - though this figure rose higher depending on the quality of your starting hand. The biggest bonus being if you are dealt A-A and the dealer is also dealt A-A then you get 1000-1 on your money (yeah right, like that's going to happen!!). The game is then essentially Texas Hold 'Em.
If you like the look of your hole cards then you can bet the flop - which has to be double your original stake, if you dont like your hand then you can pass and you lose your stake plus any bonus you may have played. If you still like your hand then you can bet the turn which has to be the same as your stake - if you dont, then you can check and you dont have to put any money down. The same again with the river where you can either bet your stake or check and pay nothing. Then its a showdown where you have to beat the house dealer but, unlike most of the other casino poker games, the dealer doesn't have to have a specific hand requirement to 'open'. This is great when the dealer turns over quality hands like 5-3o, 8-2o time after time as you get paid double your flop, turn and river bets should you have placed any. The downside being it doesnt matter how good your hand is as you still only get double your money.
Things didnt go well at first as I passed quite a few hands to start with but then, after picking up A-4 and deciding that chances are it would beat any two random cards that the dealer would have, I decided I would play it all the way. An Ace on the flop didnt change that view so it was full steam ahead - thankfully a 4 on the river gave me two pairs which was just as well as the dealer promptly turned over A-9 to take everyone else's money apart from mine! Having won a hand I decide to double my stake and hey presto I get K-K - a quick check on the bonus payout sees K-K standing at 10-1 - woohoo - $50 before i even start the hand and to make things even better they stood up so I won an extra $40 on the hand as well, I could get to like this game!!
I went back to my original stake and was glad as the next few hands gave me nothing (I even passed a 7-4o which would have been a winner!). We then decide that it's time to go and register for the Main Event so, with one more hand, we double up our stake again. The dealer deals the first card, I look and its an Ace so, before i've even seen the second card, I place double my stake on the flop box. the dealer puts down an 8 high flop and I decide to check my second card - uh oh, its a second ace! I look at the bonus board, I'm guaranteed to get 30-1 just for my pair but if the dealer has A-A too then that goes up to 1000-1!! I bet the turn and river and with no ace on board it's still possible to pick up the big one... Well, it was briefly, but after turning over J-8o for nothing but a pair of 8s, I had to make do with just the $200 instead of $5000!! Ho hum - still it means i'm in profit for the trip! lolOff we go then to the registration which, despite the queue at the desk, was quite quick and within 20 minutes i had received my starting details - Day 1c, Table 37, Seat 3. I quite like seat 3 or seat 8 as it means that i can watch the rest of the table without having to actually strain my neck muscles. I dont like seats 1, 2, 9 or 10 as, thanks to the dealer, you cant really see the players sitting on the the other side of them in 4 to 6. It's like watching tennis - looking one way then the other, all very tiring work!
They seem to have added some extra levels this year. Last year by the end of Day 1 the 6th level was 300/600 with an ante, this year the 6th level is 200/400 with an ante as they have added a 150/300 level and, with the addition of a 250/500 level, in Level 7 it means that 300/600 is actually level 8 this year. This coupled with the rumour that the levels are to be 100 minutes instead of the 90 minutes from last year means that there should be more play for our money to start with!! The downside being that the schedule sheet does say on it in big capital letters "THERE MAY BE NO DINNER BREAK" - OUCH!!
It turned out to be a double ouch when BigArmo received his details to find he was scheduled to play Day 1a (today) so any plans of having a late night went well out of the window!! So having had a couple of drinks at the Tilted Kilt and paying a quick visit to the Crypto welcoming party where BigArmo was a guest, we decided that an early night was probably best all round at about 9pm (which was in fact 5am due to my bodyclock still running on UK time!). We bumped into fellow blondeite Rob Sherwood (right) at the Crypto party and it turns out he is also down to play Day 1a so I'd like to wish BigArmo, RobS and any other blondeites playing today the best of luck!Ah well, its 7.30am now and I've been up for about 2 and a half hours thanks to me still trying to adjust to Las Vegas time. Time to go get ready and go pay BigArmo a visit to make sure he's ready to go then I may have a wander round some of the other casinos to play an afternoon tourney. I've decided to play one tourney today then no poker on Saturday so I'll feel nice and refreshed when it comes to my opening day on Sunday. Hopefully I'll have something good to report for next time! I'd like to thank everyone for their messages and good luck wishes before I set off - with any luck I'll be bringing the bracelet back for everyone to see at blonde Bash 3!!
