2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Days Eleven and Twelve

Bellagio Poker Room
Originally uploaded by abostick59

The Amazon Room was hopping. It was the day of the Seniors' $1K no-limit hold'em event, and more than 2,200 people had played, the only event of the day due to its size. Hundreds of players still remained in the tournament, and the cash area was jammed. I got on the list for my old standby, the stud/8 game. There was also a huge list for the 20-40 mix game, and I added my name; but it wasn't likely to go down any time soon, as all the lower-limit tables were being used.

There was an empty seat in a 75-150 mixed game, with stud/8, razz, and stud high being the games in the mix. The players didn't look too formidable, so I sat down.

I folded a few hands, then played a straight draw that got open-ended on fourth street and got there on sixth. My opponent had an open pair on his board, and donked me on the river. I said aloud, "Did you fill up?" and called. He had aces up; my straight was good. During the play of that hand I was called over to the stud/8 game. "Yeah, I know, hit and run." I was nearly $800 to the good in that game, from that one hand.

The stud/8 game was another matter. There were a couple of weak players in the game, including one rocket scientist who had been at my table on the first day of the $5K tournament. But I wasn't able to take good advantage of them. I fell behind in the game, but never so far behind as to be net down for the night. Chris Grigorian joined the game. He is an excellent player whose table talk can confuse the unwary (after the manner of Sean Sheikhan). The rest of the players were the rocky regulars, part of the same crew of Vegas locals who, evidently, play this game (for a lower betting limit) all the time at Sam's Town. The rocket scientist kept taking my money and distributing it to the others. He won a lot of pots and half-pots, but for some strange reason his stack kept diminishing. Eventually, as evening turned to morning, he picked up and went to bed.

And eventually we all got moved from the must-move game to the main game, and I was able to get back most of my own, especially as the game got shorter. Some of the rocky regulars were there, but there was an extra soft spot. I had climbed almost back to even when the game broke. Chris Grigorian was imploring me to play him heads-up. I kept in mind what Sky Masterson had to say about ears full of cider, and declined. There were no other games going in which I wanted to play, so I returned to my hotel and went to bed.

I was up on Tuesday morning after only about four hours' sleep. Tuesday was the day that the housekeepers were slated to come through, do some cleaning, and change the sheets and towels. We had had the do-not-disturb sign up last week, so we were overdue for a cleaning. We also needed laundry done. Lynn took the car and headed out to the Clark County Library. I gathered the dirty laundry together and took it down to the hotel's laundry. Doing laundry kept me busy for an hour and a half. Lynn came back shortly afterwards.

I had a party in the evening to go to, just a few hours away. I pretty much had the choice at that point of getting my writing done or going out to play cards. I had already just taken a day off, so I opted to go out to play cards. I drove to Bellagio.

It took a long time to get a seat; the Bellagio poker room was surprisingly busy for a week day (although I suppose the WSOP brings in action). They were hosting a $1000+80 tournament that was sold out and taking signups for alternates. With Bill Chen's party starting at 6:00, I didn't feel like I had time to play in the tournament, so I stuck to cash games. I put my name down on a bunch of lists, and eventually was called to a $5-and-$10-blind no-limit hold'em game. I lost a little bit of my stack playing a bit fast, but made good when I was dealt pocket queens and doubled through a kid who thought his flush draw was golden.

I got up to take a walk, checked the mid-limit brush's clipboard, and saw that it looked like my name was on the top of the list for $15-$30 limit hold'em. I decided that I didn't want to miss that seat, so I picked up my chips from the no-limit table and waited by the mid-limit podium. But it turned out that the mid-limit brush had called my name a long time ago. She had been shouting, not using the PA system. So I was without a seat. The brush would do nothing else for me. I was at the top of the list for 30-60, so I stuck around to wait.

While I was waiting I encountered Kurt, one of the 30-60 regulars back home at the Oaks Club. It says something about Bellagio's place in the poker world that you meet a lot of the regulars in your home club when you play there.

I got my seat in the 30-60. I started out doing well, but eventually fell behind. The game was a mix of good players and not-so-good ones. I could keep my head above water with the good ones, but the not-so-good ones kept making donkey plays that came out right, like Mister Magoo. I wound up giving most (not all) of what I had won in the no-limit game to the donkeys in the 30-60.

At 6:00 I picked up my chips, up a mere $150 for the day, and cashed in. By the cage I saw that Chris Grigorian was playing in the tournament; when he wasn't in a hand I tapped his shoulder to say hello.

From Bellagio, I went to the house that Bill Chen and friends had rented for the month. I believe Bill was sharing the house with Jerrod Ankenman, Matt Hawrilenko, and Gavin Griffin. Bill was spending his time outside in the back, tending the barbecue. Gavin was behind the bar, making marguaritas and daiquiris. Various poker folk showed up, including Alan Jaffray, Jan and Peggy Stein (whom I recalled from days past at the Oaks and other Bay Area cardrooms), Sabyl Cohen, Terrence Chan, Matt Grapenthien, and some people whom I hadn't known before. I felt a little out of place, being a mid-limit grinder in the presence of some serious heavy hitters. But I've known some of these people for years, and I certainly wasn't the only mid-limit grinder present.

We ate wonderful barbecue: "Fred steaks" — which I had never heard of before but are apparently something of a Bay Area barbecue tradition — and chicken breasts, plus grilled vegetables, salad, enchiladas, guacamole (excellent, made by Gavin Griffin), and brie. I was very happy to overeat, and to break my no-feedlot-beef discipline.

We gossiped about other people we know — perhaps even you. We debated when it is right to peel on fourth street in eight-or-better stud. We put our immortal souls in serious jeopardy by watching YouTube videos of Phil Hellmuth blowing up. Some people played pool, or backgammon, or chess. Others watched television.

I was more than a bit distressed to see an episode of Family Guy close with a rape joke, and that helped me realize that I was really tired, running on just four hours of sleep. I said my goodbyes, and headed back to my hotel.

2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Zero
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day One
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Two
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Three
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Four
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Five
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Six
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Seven
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Day Eight
2008 World Series of Poker Diary — Days Nine and Ten

Tags: poker wsop world series of poker las vegas trip report travelogue eight-or-better stud holdem no-limit holdem bellagio rio bill chen jerrod ankenman gavin griffin chris grigorian barbecue fred steak phil hellmuth