ENTER THE DRAGON

Day 9…

Fuck me he’s back. Before I’ve even starting updating the pot limit final, this dude who’d been complaining on the last update comes into the shoutbox and says “Oh no, not Dana and Snoopy again,” adding, “their coverage is shit” and even calling me “mentally retarded” at one point without me even pushing his buttons.

His alias is xdragon, and he’s miserable as sin. His comments today made me feel a lot better actually, because I realised that he wasn’t worth worrying about. Thanks again to everyone that has complimented our updates thus far, it makes us feel a lot better because we’re working our asses off out here.

Singer in the Reign

David Singer won the $1,500 event. Incredibly, he’d cashed in two events in the same day earlier in the week, predominantly because the pot limit had whittled down to the money so quickly.

I’m not his biggest fan, mainly because of his angle-shooting with last year’s phone incident, but he did play well, showing the patience of a saint to turn a short stack into a heads up spot. His opponent Jacobo Fernandez was a tough nut to crack, and it took a coin-flip to do so.

It’s good for us that the final was on the outer tables, because it meant we didn’t have to cover every hand, but it was a shame for the players who missed out on the TV spotlight. It’s weird when the final table isn’t on centre stage, it just doesn’t feel important, and no one seems to take any notice, but I guess that’s the power of the cameras. It also means that the finalist won’t get sponsored in any form, likes James Akenhead did in the No Limit.

What this final table did prove, however, is that the WSOP is nowhere near as crapshooty as people like to claim. Yes, it’s a bit restricted at the start and you can’t afford to lose too many early hands, but as you get deeper, it’s a pretty generous structure. If I have to choose, then I’d always have it so there was more play near the end as that is where the big jumps in money are.

Heads-up was circa four hours, and the players did take the dinner break when we lost third place (much to our chagrin), but we still finished at a decent hour. Shame I have to start the Stud/Omaha Hi-Lo event tomorrow. Eek!

Day 10…

Return of the Dragon

Oh fuck me. Apparently we received a couple of complaints today about the tone of our updates. We were asked to turn down the volume, cut out the puns and not be so cheeky. Sigh, why do I get a feeling our friend xdragon had something to do with it?

Oh Crap!

There was a funny story with one of our field reporters. Apparently he’d mistaken indigestion tablets for candy and had been popping them like there was no tomorrow. He can’t crap now.

Erik Lindgren wins event Event 4

Lingren has finally won a bracelet after a couple of near misses. I was hoping he was going to come in second again because I think he’s a bit of smug git. Also, when Matt from PokerListings asked him if it was a spade on the river when reporting a hand one event, Lindgren wouldn’t tell him. He’d won the pot, but shrugged his shoulders and sniggered as if Matt was crap on his shoe. I detest this kind of elitist attitude. Then again, not too many wanted Bonomo to win either.

All Quiet on the Western Front

They’re down to the last nine in the 10k mixed game, only 192 runners though, but that’s to be expected. Tough field, unpopular games, big buy-in – was never going to attract thousands. Anyhow, at 5am, whilst I was finishing off my blonde work (left at 6), they were still playing last two tables and waiting for the bubble to burst.

The atmosphere was really strange. Apart from the odd cash game, the place was pretty empty. You get so used to seeing the likes of Sammy Farha and Eli Elezra being hounded by ‘Heat Magazine’ readers and trailer park housewives that it’s strange to see them in isolation, away from the crowd. They just feel like your Average Joe and you get to see them in a more natural way – “scratching their balls or doing coke on the table” as Benjo says.

It was so late that even the cleaners had the vacuums out, making a loud whirring noise that was driving Sammy round the bend. Have to admit, it was a relief when they turned it off, but it makes you laugh when there are janitors sweeping up behind you and tumbleweed blowing by when there’s so many famous stars playing for so much money – reminded me of the marathon HORSE final from 2006.

As I left, I worried that I’d be updating my event till 5am too. Surely I was just being paranoid though, this was just an exception, wasn’t it?...