WSOP - My Day 1b Recap...

[Talking Poker]

Rather than regurgitate info that you can easily find on one of the other great sites out there (like CardPlayer, whose team is doing a great job with their updates), I figure I'll make my recaps a little bit more personal, and tell you stories about my days...

It's late and I'm tired, so I'll try to keep this short and sweet. Here's how today went for me:

-As I was walking in to the Rio, Tobey MacGuire was walking out. I said, "Tobey, are you out?" He said, "Yeah." I said, "Sorry to hear that." He's said, "It's ok." Some guy was following him out and giving him shit. A friend of his actually stepped in and got between them. I have no idea what that was about. I did hear that he was getting into it with the ESPN crews, but I think that was unrelated.

-I watched Men the Master lose a lot of chips when he made a straight on the river and reluctantly called a bet from a guy who made a flush. The flush guy has 83s. Yes.... 83s. When Men was knocked out later in the day, he walked right by me on the way out. Good potential for TV time there, as he shouted "See you next year" right after he passed me.

-I had a very nice talk with Robert Varkoni today. I noticed him railbirding his wife and we got to talking... and talking and talking and talking. Nice guy... who happens to think Phil Hellmuth is an "asshole." He's out of the tourney, but as of 1:30 AM, Olga was still going strong.

-Hellmuth played today. He arrived late and eventually ended up at the featured table. When I stopped in after 1:00 AM, I didn't see him, but I was only making a quick pass through the tourney area, so I may have missed him.

-Daniel didn't last very long in the Main Event. He was at the featured table this morning and was out not long after the second break. I watched his exit interview afterwards and I could really sense his frustration. He's been playing well, but just having terrible luck the entire WSOP. In a way, I found this very comforting. It happens to the best of them.

-Antonio and E-Dog were both knocked out earlyish today, and Antonio had been doing very well. Annie Duke was still there late tonight, as were Dutch Boyd, Moneymaker, and a handful of other big names. Cunningham seemed to be playing well, but was nowhere to be seen late tonight. Neither was Phil Gordon. Ok, I know I said I'd skip this part of the updates......

-I watched Moneymaker survive a closer than he was comfortable with all in. He had a set of 2s and was all in (with less chips) against an open ended straight AND flush draw on the flop. He dodged 2 bullets and double up, standing on his chair and celebrating in Moneymaker style when he did. He told me later he was VERY nervous about that hand. He's a lot shorter than he looks.

-Paul Wolfe is a cool guy. He and I have developed some sort of rapport now, and I chat with him when I pass by him. He's got 40k+ chips at last count.

-Doyle Brunson had a party tonight and it was a damn good one! Just wait til you see the pics of the dancing girls I took. The one girl in particular..... *drool*

-I chatted with a number of pros at the party tonight. One was Josh Arieh, who I've never spoken with before. He was eliminated late last night. I talked to him and his wife for about 5 minutes.... I was asking how he felt about how ESPN portrayed him last year and that sort of thing. He said something along the lines of he gave them the material to work with and they went with it. I know a lot of people don't like him, but he and his wife were both very nice to me.

-I saw Cyndy Violette at the party tonight too, which I knew was a bad sign, since she was supposed to be playing today. Sure enough, she had been knocked out. I congratulated her on an awesome WSOP, and she thanked me. She's very nice.

-The same is true for Mike Caro. He told me how he was knocked out. He had JJ and got all in on the turn against a 9 high uncordinated board. His opponent turned over A9 and hit his 5 outer on the river. Mike said, as he teaches, it's good to get knocked out on a bad beat, because at least you played it right. Good attitude, Mike.

-Clonie Gowan, who I played with last year, definitely recognizes me now (whether it be from that or from stuff this year or whatever). She looked great in a black dress at the party tonight, so I took her picture and chatted with her for a few minutes. Turns out she has 50k chips! Apparently, she had a very nice run after I left last night.

-I bumped into Robert Williamson III in the press room today. Let me tell you... I like this guy. For being arguably the best Omaha player in the world and being worth a fortune (you should see his watch), he's totally down to earth and super nice. We talked for a little while and he posed for a picture with a collage thingee someone had made for him. Did you know he has lost over 200 pounds in the past few years???

-When I take pictures of most of the players, they just ignore me and focus on their game. I don't blame them at all, of course, as this is exactly what I would do. But it is nice when some of them acknowledge me, either during the photo or afterwards with a smile. Some of the most table-friendly players include: Evelyn Ng, Katrina Jett, Cindy Viloette, Clonie Gowan, David Grey, and Paul Wolfe. So far, every single player I have asked to take a picture of outside of the poker room has happily obliged.

-There is a girl who works for ESPN that I think it way cute. I may need to hit on her before the week is over.

-Speaking of way cute, I was sad to see Erin Ness was knocked out today. I had chatted with her about her newly acquired fame the other day, and she was very friendly. I took a few photos of her today and was sad to see her MIA later in the day. I promptly scolded her table for sending quality eye candy home far too soon. Here's hoping I bump into her again before the week is over.

That's all that's coming to mind off the top of my head. There's just so much, it's hard to pick what to write about. So I think I'll leave the chip counts and hand histories up to CardPlayer and try to stick with the more personal side of the story with my updates...

It's late. I should get some sleep before Day 1c starts.