[DoubleG6]

The WSOP 2K5 was already a great experience for me, and the last day of our trip turned out to be the best one yet. I would like to share the events that happened that day in the following entries.

We took our shot at the Palms series and although neither Shake nor I took home the trophy, we did nonetheless manage to turn a profit at the live games. So it was back to square one, back to the Rio to carry out the plan of winning enough dough to enter the main event. We started of on the right foot by Shake winning a $50 satellite and an entry to the $225 2nd Chance NLHE tourney that evening. I myself came close twice but finished on the bubble on both tables I entered. Shrugging off those losses, I told Shake that I was gonna take a walk outside for a minute because frankly I was freezing my ass off in that hangar.

One of the phenomenons that I experience in Vegas is that I never can keep track of the days and nights. I would walk into a casino at high noon, play poker for what would seem like a few hours and walk out of there expecting the cool breeze of nighttime but rather get greeted by another blazing hot afternoon. I never carry a watch we me on vacation because I feel that it defeats the purpose of being on vacation.

Confused as to what time or even day it was for that matter, I approached a man and asked for the time. To my astonishment, it was none other than Toto Leonidas. I regard Toto as one of the best in the world. I mostly like his unpredictable style and his deliberate nature every hand he is heavily involved in. I introduced myself shook his hand and we stood there talking about the nice Vegas day. I asked him if he was playing and he replied that he was on break from the $5K Omaha tourney w/ rebuys. There was an awkward moment of silence between us. I thought for a moment about asking him for some poker tips, but thought Nah, forget it. I shook his hand again and excused myself. I had done well not being starstruck when I ran into a famous pro, but my inner child would soon be tested when I met the man himself. But that comes later.

The 2nd chance tourney was scheduled at 11pm so Shake and I had a few hours to kill before showtime. It had been a while since we both were in Vegas last so we decided to check out the Forum shops at Caesars. If you ever get a chance, check out the exotic car shop. Those machines are absolutely amazing. We spent some time there browsing through our future rides, I mean, after all we were gonna make it big this trip right. We got a bite to eat and play a little blackjack. Time seemed to melt away, especially when this very attractive, very loud, and very drunk girl sat at our table. She saved our asses so bad with all the wrong moves, I mean she was totally going against basic strategy like hitting on her 16 when the dealer showed a 6, but she would make her hand and the dealer would bust. That happened about 5 times and we were ecstatic. So drunk girl helped turn my $100 to a sweet $375 at the $10 blackjack table and managed to book Shake a $70 win. With very little time left till kickoff, we made our way to the Amazon room and found that the tourney was already 2 hands in. 227 players in this one and among the notables were Mike "The Grinder" Mizrachi, The Armenian express Grigorian, and Victor Ramdin and his unmistakeable Full tilt Poker Jersey.

I suffered a beat right away when my JJ was rivered by a guys KQ. The player was all in preflop for $300 and I called leaving me with $700 of our starting $1000 in chips. I mounted a run with some preflop raising and kept myself alive stealing blinds. The structure of the tourney was fast and it wasnt long before people started dropping like flies at the $100 - $200 level. I got my $575 in chips in 3 way with a measly Qd7s on the shortstack and facing the 400 BB on the upcoming level against of all hands AcAd and KdKh. Crap I thought, I need to flop 2 pair to win. The flop came Qs Ts 3d. "Q7" I shouted, as the turn was dealt off, and to my delight it was the 4s. "Spade" please!! and the dealer peeled off the 5s. I took a second look at the other hands and plopped down on my seat and quickly raked in the pot. Come on Man! I just took down Aces and Kings on the same hand with my computer Q7! I'm unbreakable baby! this tourney is mine!----or not. I waited and waited, got blinded and blinded, and finally got my chips all in again with AQ. This time the pot was 4 way against 55, 64(I know), and A9. The flop was A 3 3 and I stood up with delight. I was in good shape so long as the a 9, 5, or running 2/5 or 5/7 didnt show. The turn was bad when the dealer flipped the 9 over. It felt like I took right cross from Ali himself, but I wasn't out, I need a Q, A, or 3. The river was a 7 and I was out. I found myself staring at the 9 on the board and realized that for the 3rd time this trip, I was busted by a 3 outer. I had the more chips than the other two players but less than the A9. I couldn't control my emotions any longer and pulled my best Phil Hellmuth impersonation by commenting about how the A9 could call 3 all ins in front of him for 70% of his chips. I asked him how he could believe his A was good in that spot. At best I said you were up against 1010 or QQ. I kept talking out loud dropped a few chairs on my way out. Please understand that this is not in my nature at all. It might have been that I only had 4 hours sleep in 2 1/2 days, or just that I felt that the poker gods were against me. I finished 27th, 9 out of the money this time.

My wife tells me that everything happens for a reason, and although I seldom listen to my wife ( just kidding honey ), this time she may have been right. Next time I'll share the best part of my trip yet. Till then.