Today, we went to the Bellagio and had dinner in a restaurant called Noodles, it's excellent. We then took a look in the Poker room, its full, or course. Chip Reece and Doyle were in their private office, chatting away to their fellow players, pausing to look at their cards, and flicking a few $25,000 chips in the pot carelessly. This room is a dangerous place, its where the up and coming players who have recent big win get invited to come and play with Chip and Doyle, and donate their recently won tournament prize to the pot. People come and go in this game, but the same old faces survive. According to a dealer at the Rio, Gus Hansen lost $6m in one session two weeks ago in the big cash game, the only event in the WSOP that Gus has played is the $10k Omaha yesterday, and the dealer told us that he is on the felt (Vegas terms for broke). Every time I come to Vegas I hear that Gus Hansen is broke, yet he still manages to lose a few million the next time he plays! Another story the dealer told me was that when Phil Ivey won a tournament this year for $1m, the casino kept the whole lot, as he had $1m marker with them for Blackjack losses! There is something special about the players at this game, they are at the pinnacle of the poker world, they are the top predators in the food chain of poker. The money pours into the game through tournaments and the $1-$2 games, moves up to the $5-10, eventually ending up at the Biggest Cash Game in Vegas, less the casino's rake. Every cash game player starting out dreaming of growing their modest bankroll big enough to have a crack at the big one at the Bellagio, very few make it, and only the mercurial Phil Ivey has survived it.
The Blondites arrive in this fantastic 24 hour city today, each with their own ambitions of leaving with gold on the plane home. Good luck to them all. Unless I do well in the big one, I'll be leaving with empty pockets and a few stories..
