Aruba Poker Classic
Sunday, October 4, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
When I cover the World Series of Poker every year I’m amazed at how many fans poker players have, and how ardent those fans can be. It’s not unusual to see some bright-eyed fan race after a well-known player and ask him/her to sign a magazine or ball cap or even their shirt. And some stars attract vast throngs of railbirds who watch and cheer them along. I never had to ask anyone where Phil Hellmuth was sitting in the Amazon Room–I just headed for the biggest mob along the rail and that’s where I’d find him.
And here in Aruba poker players/fans have a chance to meet their favorites up close and personal. There are lots of opportunities for people to talk to the players they’ve only seen on TV–at the parties, during the tournaments, even hanging out by the pool. But perhaps the best chance to meet with our pros came this morning, during our annual Poker Academy in the Radisson ballroom. Yes, you’d have to get up early–the sessions started at 10AM–but those who dragged themselves out of bed got to hear Annie Duke give a seminar about bankroll management and all-in situations.
After Annie’s presentation the attendees sat down at tables and played a few instructional hands with our players acting as dealers/teachers. Seriously, how often will you get the chance to play a little poker with Phil Hellmuth in the box?
Even the Team UB players who weren’t officially leading the sessions kept wandering by to join in the hand discussions as they played out:
Normally you have to pay good money to attend a seminar like today’s and you don’t get as much personal attention from the pros. We hold these academies every year in Aruba and if you missed it this year, plan on attending when you make your plans for next year. It’s free, it’s a good time…and you might even learn something.
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Saturday, October 3, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
The comedian Louis CK was on Conan O’Brien’s show not so long ago and put our “I want it NOW NOW NOW!” culture in perspective. We live in a time of incredible technological advantage and yet so many people are, in his words, “spoiled idiots”. In particular he railed against people who complain about air travel, people who forget that modern jet aviation allows people to travel thousands of miles in the course of a single day. “Did you fly through the air like a bird,” he says, “did you take part in the miracle of human flight, you non-contributing ZERO??” The video’s well worth a watch.
I remembered Louis’s words as my girlfriend and I tried to make our way from cold, gray Pittsburgh to sun-kissed Aruba. It looked like we’d have a busy day, but after waking up at dawn we figured to be downing Balashis by dinnertime. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Unbeknownst to us there was a seven-card accident on the road leading to the airport and said road was shut down completely while police, fire and ambulance crews could respond. We left in plenty of time to make our flight…so long as we didn’t have to sit in stopped traffic for 75 minutes. Which is what happened.
When the road was finally cleared I ignored the scores of flashing lights along the roadside and drove like a madman for the airport. We still had a chance, and outside chance, to make our flight. We ran to the gate, grabbed the first person in authority we could find and presented our problem. Unfortunately we weren’t the only ones caught up in that traffic jam, and even though we’d reported 30 minutes before our flight we were told there was no one for us to board. They couldn’t hold the plane, couldn’t get our bags checked in time. In other words, we were screwed.
And I was hugely ticked. I’d done what was expected of me and now I was being told that wasn’t good enough. And a cursory review of other flights headed to Aruba led me to believe that we might not be able to get there until Sunday. And that, as you might expect, made me even more ticked off. “I have to be there for work,” I explained, hoping that the fact I wasn’t a mere tourist looking for sun and fun might help my cause.
But as I sat and stewed and made a nuisance of myself, Terry went to work. She was the US Airways person helping us out and after fifteen minutes of keyboard-clicking and phone calls to other airlines came up with a hop-scotchy itinerary that would get us to Aruba Friday night. She went above and beyond and I felt bad about all the things I said and thought and Tweeted about my selfish predicament.
We arrived around 10pm last night, the miracle of flight moving us two thousand miles before the calendar turned. Of course it was dark when we arrived but we woke up early to meet the beach and the sea and so I could introduce my girlfriend to the colors of Aruba:
It’s a little bit gray today, a bit overcast. Wait, that almost sounds like I’m complaining again. I’m not. It’s gorgeous today and it’s going to be gorgeous all week. And like many others who are making their way to Aruba today, we’re here.
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Friday, October 2, 2009 - UB Marketing
Aruba is the hottest destination in the Caribbean when the Aruba Poker Classic sets this tiny island on fire. From October 3rd-13th, the youngest, coolest and hippest players from all around the world gather here for a true weeklong poker festival. Poker galore, parties galore. The emotions rise even more as we slowly unveil surprises for our 10th Anniversary celebration.
Just two days ago, we announced that 16 of our pros are going to the event. From reality TV superstar Tiffany Michelle to the one an only Poker Brat, all Team UB will be present. These guys have pretty tight schedules and this is the first time we are able to bring them all to the tournament!
If this was not enough, the Icon bash promises to be the party of the year. This time around, it will take place in the middle of the sea. You heard it right, four hours with the finest drinks and music.
As well, if you won your Aruba Poker Classic seat through our qualifiers, you’re free to enjoy Concierge Services during your stay in the island. Talking ‘bout VIP treatment, huh?
Well, this is just getting started and we’re super excited. We got a feeling that the 8th Aruba Poker Classic will be the best so far. We’ll see you under the Caribbean sun!
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Sunday, September 27, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
A week from today and the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic will be under way. Well, the Main Event doesn’t start till Monday but there’ll be satellites and sit-n-goes and small tournaments over the weekend…you know what I mean. The Welcome Banquet will be held Sunday night, and as always that huge bash (as well as the Awards Banquet at the end of the week) will be held on the deck of the Radisson pool. That glorious concrete tank plays rather a large role during the Aruba Poker Classic, as those who have attended in the past can attest.
For the parties it’s a glamorous backdrop for a night of cool sea breezes and calypso music and many, many Balashis. It’s also Phil Hellmuth’s favorite prop when he grabs the microphone and addresses the crowd during the party. See, Phil likes his parties a bit rowdy, and one of the ways he does that is to offer people money to jump in the pool. Two years ago I believe he offered $500 for the first ten people who took the plunge. What happened could best be described as a stampede, though you don’t often see rampaging cattle doing cannonballs. This was the best picture I got as I avoided a trampling:
Phil wasn’t at the welcome party last year because he was still playing in the World Series of Poker-Europe, so it stands to reason he’ll be looking to make up for lost time next week. My advice to those attending the party is to leave any valuables, especially electronic devices, in your room. You don’t want to jump in the pool to win Phil’s bounty and then find out you fried your phone, your iPod, your camera, the watch your wife got you for your anniversary…leave that stuff in the room. Or have a designated techno-holder whom you know won’t be tempted to hop in the drink.
Last year the band Pearl (featuring Pearl Aday and Team UB’s Scott Ian) rocked the Awards Party while playing on the final table stage, which is actually built over the pool. And again the revelers didn’t shy away from jumping in with both feet and splashing about in an aquatic mosh pit watching the band rattle windows across the island. Again, it might be a good time to keep the pockets empty, and a bathing suit might be a good idea? Especially for the ladies??
Now as I said, the stage that Pearl plays on is the “final table” stage, and for those of you slow on the uptake, yes, that’s where the final six players in the Aruba Poker Classic will battle for the title. Last year I watched them put the finishing touches on the stage before play began and it was a most impressive site, especially with how gorgeous the day was:
I’ve covered final tables all over the world and THAT, Ladies and Gentleman, is the most beautiful set in the world. To be sure Mother Nature plays a pretty big hand in it…and it turned out that Mother Nature can, at times, have a twisted sense of humor. Because just after the players took their seats and play began the clouds rolled in. And then more clouds. Dark clouds that seemed heavy with moisture. And they looked down at our perfect little stage and decided that HERE was the ideal spot to make it rain. And rain it did, like something out of the Old Testament.
Poker, like baseball, is not a game for a rainy day. And hopefully we’ll have a spot of perfect Aruban weather for this year’s final table. Because that’s where the Aruba Poker Classic champion should be crowned, outside, in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. But for those of you who aren’t fortunate enough to win the tournament (or even make the final table) you shouldn’t ignore the pool during your week in Aruba. Or the beach, for that matter. I often walk around the Radisson grounds while I’m working and I’m often struck that the pool is…empty. That the beaches are largely deserted. Now I know that there are other places to go and things to see in Aruba, but there oughta be SOMEBODY taking a refreshing dip.
Two years ago I was one of those aqua- and fun-phobic folks who didn’t go swimming once. After my flight took off and we banked over the island I looked down at all that dazzling blue-green water and rued the fact that I hadn’t so much as dipped my toes in it. Last year I made a point of waking up early and baptizing myself in the Caribbean before heading to the tournament room. A couple of nights I snuck into the pool well after midnight and floated on my back and looked up at the stars. And most of the time I had both beach and pool to myself. So if you’re going to Aruba next week, please, take advantage of the waters, both natural and man-made. It won’t do much for your win rate, but it’ll do wonders for your soul.
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Sunday, September 6, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Unlike many Caribbean islands Aruba has an arid climate–you see cacti as well as palm trees. Hurricanes almost always give Aruba a miss, and it doesn’t rain too often. That’s one of the reasons why its one of the world’s great vacation getaways, you know that 95% of the time the weather is going to be close to perfect. Temps in the low nineties, blue skies, cool ocean breezes.
That said, even Aruba sees the occasional sprinkle. And perhaps that’s a good thing, because even perfection can become monotonous over time. Back in 2007 I was covering the late stages of the tournament when some big BOOMS could be heard through the Radisson’s thick walls. They were really loud and came with some regularity and I remembered that there was going to be a wedding and reception on the beach that night. “Must be fireworks,” I thought as I returned to my task.
Uh, no–the booms were indeed thunder, as a massive storm passed over the island while I sat inside blissfully unawares. When the dinner break came I went outside to find everything was soaking wet, especially the air–the humidity was probably around 170%. Occasionally the sky lit up with lightning flashes but the thunder was a long time coming, as the storm had moved off. But it was still over the island, and after some deduction I figured out that the boomers were still over Oranjestad, and I raced up the stairs outside my building to find a perch to take some pics. I raced up six flights, aimed my camera, and waited. And waited. And waited. I was sweating after climbing the stairs and what with the humidity I REALLY started to sweat, soaking through my shirt as I waited to get one semi-decent shot I could throw on the blog. I waited until dehydration almost overtook me when I got this one:
Even after that system passed we still got the occasional spot of rain. I think it even sprinkled a bit during Phil’s VIP party that year…though to be honest I’m not the best person to ask about what went on that evening. After a hard day’s work I went to the party intending on having a few Balashi’s, a bite to eat, and then back to my room for a good night’s sleep before the final table. It didn’t turn out that way. It d,idn’t turn out that way because I was unfortunate enough to run into Debo, who asked if I wanted to try a new drink they’d just invented called, interestingly enough, the Debo. Watermelon liqueur, Grey Goose, and a dash of Sprite. Well, when in Aruba…
It was bright, perky, refreshing, especially in the heat. I should say that I’m normally not a vodka drinker, usually I stick with the beers and the cabernets. But damn, that Debo was one tasty drink. And it went down EASY. So I had another one…because, like, EVERYONE had one in his/her hand. And that one went down even easier. I wandered over to the bar and the gentleman manning the controls said, “Another Debo?”. Yes please!
I ended up having like NINE of them, ending up in a state like I like to call “nicely drunk”. I was in love with the world and every single one of its inhabitants…I just wasn’t able to articulate those sentiments coherently in the English language. When the party broke up in the wee hours I remember–vaguely–going to the casino to lose a quick twenty playing video poker. I bobbed and weaved my way back to my room, a smile on my lips and a song in my heart.
When I woke up the next morning, however, the tune had changed a bit. To a funeral dirge.
“Uh oh,” I said when I peeled my eyes open. I felt bad. Awful. Really awful. Epically awful. I threw off the covers and stood up. And that was Bad. Here I’ll lower the curtain for a moment to let you, dear reader, fill in the blanks about what happened next. You’ve been in that spot before. You know. You don’t need it spelled out.
I had to get it together, and fast. The alarm clock on the dresser read 11:30. The final table started at high noon. I got myself in the shower in the hopes that hot water, mixed with Advil, would carry the day. After I toweled off and dressed I felt about 2% better, which meant that at least I wasn’t openly weeping. I shouldered my gear and headed out to the final table stage.
It was hot, and humid, and I desperately tried to figure out how on Earth I would survive the day. I walked over the bridge spanning the pool and as I looked down into it’s shifting blue waters I felt a queasiness rising. I gritted my teeth and muttered, “Oh Gawd, Geno, don’t yack in the Radisson pool!!” I was so focused on keeping it together that I didn’t notice that the final table stage wasn’t quite ready for liftoff.
I found someone of authority walking around and asked what was up. “It rained last night, hard,” he said. The stage had suffered some slight damage and there would be a delay before we started.
“How long a delay?” I asked.
“We’ll be ready around three or so.”
Three hours. Three golden, magical hours to let my self-inflicted wounds heal. I thanked the bearer of this good news and re-crossed the pool bridge with a huge smile on my face. Of course, I wasn’t really in a physical state yet for smiling and my stomach left off a threatening “HHUURRRRRBBBBLLGLLLHHHH!!” before I gathered myself enough to continue on my merry way.
I needed two things–food, and rest. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries from room service and lay across the bed like a corpse. The food came, I tipped the waiter lavishly, and wolfed down as much grease as my rebellious stomach would allow. Two hours of dreamless sleep followed and when I woke I felt like a human being again. A hungover and hurting human being, but one up to performing simple tasks without causing a scene. So while some may curse the rain, I say that into every life some rain must fall. Even in Aruba. And especially when the Debos are flowing.
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Sunday, August 30, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
If I extolled the virtues of working in Aruba in my last post today I must discuss some of the brutal hardships of laboring in a tropical paradise. Of course these “hardships” are, relatively speaking, not hardships at all, especially when you compare them to the difficulties faced by people with “real” jobs. Working in a coal mine presents hardships. Working on an Alaskan crab boat presents hardships. Covering a poker tournament in one of the most beautiful places on Earth…how bad could it be?
Not that bad, actually, but remember that this is about me, and in these navel-gazing times that fully justifies relating my pathetic tales of woe. As I said before Aruba is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, but one thing you notice right away is that those beautiful places are for the most part outside. The sun, the sand, the sea, the breeze whistling through the palm trees…all outdoors. While poker is traditionally played indoors. But traditions are made to be bucked and every year the final table of the Aruba Poker Classic is held outside, where the players and spectators can enjoy some of Mother Nature’s best work.
Moving an indoor event outside can be a challenge, to say the least. But it can be done. The NHL Winter Classic, for example, has been a roaring success the last two years. On a much smaller scale I went to an outdoor wedding a few weeks ago that was a blast. Still, switching environments so dramatically can be a major logistical challenge, and the Aruba Poker Classic is no exception. The first year I covered the Classic (in 2006) the final table was taped by GSN and I watched with a fair amount of amazement as the set was erected and the crates of gear unpacked and assembled. That was the first final table I covered and while I’ve done a dozen or so since then I never get tired of stepping on the set and watching the boom cameras swoop silently overhead.
The final table was played out under brilliant blue skies, light fluffy clouds, and dazzling sunshine. In fact the sun was so bright that I had to wear sunglasses to keep from squinting. And when the sun is that bright it usually means that it’s quite hot as well. And it was hot that day.
Very hot.
Skull-meltingly hot.
The set stood near the Radisson pool and that’s where I stood, on the deck. Close enough to see what was going and and squeeze off the odd picture, but far enough that the TV producers wouldn’t tell me to get out of the (deleted) way. I stood on the concrete deck and it didn’t take long before I started sweating. Profusely. The players had much the same problem–they had some protection from the sun from the roof on the set but they had to suffer the bright spotlights used for the broadcast. Several times play had to be stopped so the players could mop their brows. I stood on the pool deck, which was now as hot as a kiln, trying to remember what the symptoms for heat stroke are. Making the situation downright diabolical was the fact that the pool was RIGHT THERE, inches away from me, and in fact there were people swimming about and watching the action on two flat-screen monitors. “So this is how Tantalus feels,” I thought, harking back to my lessons on Greek mythology. The water looked so cool, so blue, so crisp and refreshing. And my roasted brain tried to convince me that it wouldn’t be THAT unprofessional to cover the final table from the shallow end.
I ended up being rescued by one of the TV crew who invited me into the production tent so I could watch the action from there. Shielded from the sun and with three quarts of Gatorade in me my color vision returned and I watched Devon Miller complete his pitiless march through the field to take the title. After which, of course, he ran off the set and jumped off the pool. So some words of advice for those who plan on making the final table of this year’s Aruba Poker Classic–hydrate before and during play, and prepare yourself mentally to resist the temptation of the Radisson pool. Which, as I’ll discuss in a future post, has grown even more difficult over the years.
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Thursday, August 27, 2009 - UB Marketing
The countdown has begun for the 8th Annual Aruba Poker Classic. With just five weeks away we’ve added even more luxury to the UB 10th Anniversary event by having a special poker tournament with an ML350 Mercedes as the grand prize. There will only be 10 players in the final run for the prize, so make sure you qualify through satellites starting September 1st.
Separate from the Mercedes event, if you’re still itching to get to the Aruba Poker Classic, the final big seat giveaway is going to be our 50-Seat GTD on Sept 13th. We have plenty of ways to qualify for this event, so check the tourney schedule for specific dates and times.
We’ve had a bunch of exciting changes with our pros since the WSOP, adding Brandon Cantu, Liv Boeree, Billy Kopp, and Bryan Devonshire. The marketing team is working to embrace our pros even more by highlighting them on the Web site with a special section dedicated specifically for them. Be on the lookout next week for the new pros section of the site.
Tags: Aruba Poker Classic, Marketing, mercedes aruba, mercedes qualifier, Team UB
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Monday, August 24, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
I’m sure you’ve been reading Debo’s Aruba reminiscences the last couple of weeks and I thought I’d add a few of my own. It’s hard to believe that this is gonna be my fourth visit to Aruba, especially as it seems like it was just yesterday I made my first trip. Way back when in the Dark Ages (September 2006, to be exact) I was freelance writing and looking for my next project. It was a warm September night and I was checking my email when I saw one with the heading ‘We Need a Blogger!”. Of course I opened it and it was a request from UltimateBet to come down to Aruba and cover their huge yearly tournament.
Now, let me explain what immediately went through my mind after I read this email. First, I thought it was a joke. A cruel joke. Could one of my fellow poker bloggers be pulling my leg? Yes, I could see some of them getting my hopes up then crushing my soul for jollies…but this request seemed quite legitimate. I sent a reply indicating that I was indeed available and would LOVE to cover the Aruba Poker Classic, and after I hit SEND I asked myself, wait, am I dreaming? This isn’t REAL, is it?? I mean, I’m reading a book on the couch and idly check my email and all of a sudden I’ve potentially got a gig to go to freakin’ ARUBA? Nah. Dreaming.
Ten minutes late I got a reply that spelled out what they needed of me and what airport and airline I usually flew. Now, my dreams are usually quite vivid and detailed, but rarely does my subconscious worry about what airline carriers fly out of Pittsburgh. This was real. The next two weeks were a whirlwind of planning and packing and figuring out what the hell I was gonna do once I got down there. I’d never actually covered a poker tournament before, see, and I wanted to kick ass, impress the folks who hired me, etc. So as the plane banked over the island for our landing my adrenaline was pumping pretty good (the fact that I don’t like to fly helped boost my blood pressure as well). We land, I grab a cab and we wind our way through the busy streets of Oranjestad, and I was deposited at my hotel. Checked in, took my gear to my room, and decided to step out on the balcony and see what kind of view I had. This, ladies and gentleman, was my first real look at Aruba:
“Are you KIDDING ME??” I said aloud. Look at those colors, you don’t see that shade of blue/green anywhere else but the Caribbean. I stood on my balcony slack-jawed for about ten minutes, before I saw the time and realized I had to go to a little meeting with the folks I’d be working with. I didn’t stay at the Radisson that year so I kicked off my sandals and walked down the beach. “Now this is commuting,” I said as I dipped my toes in the blood-warm sea.
Looking through the pictures I took that first trip down I’m surprised at how many things have changed, and how much things have stayed the same. The ocean view is always impossibly gorgeous, the weather always perfect. But then I look at other photos and you see the difference a year or two makes. For example, there’s a big resort right next door to the Radisson. This is what it looked like in 2006:
OK, it’s not easy to see what it looked like in 2006 because that picture is pretty awful. As were many of the pictures I took in 2006, because I know pretty much zilch about photography. Since then I’ve gotten more and more into picture-taking, to the point where it’s become something of an obsession. And I can pinpoint the moment when I got bitten bad by the shutterbug. The final table just finished, Devon Miller had put the finishing touches on his destruction of the field, and as promised he raced from the outdoor stage and jumped in the Radisson pool. I raced over, pointed my camera, and squeezed of a few shots. Here’s the one I posted to the blog:
Not the greatest pic but not a bad one either, and one that got me thinking about how you can use photos to tell a story, especially online where space isn’t a worry. Over the next month or so I’ll be posting lots more pictures I’ve taken in Aruba and if (when!) you attend this year’s Classic you’ll no doubt see me lugging around my camera and taking tons of pics. And I promise they’ll be better than the ones I took four visits ago.
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Friday, July 24, 2009 - UB Marketing
Now that WSOP is over we are shifting our gears to The Aruba Poker Classic in October. It’s UltimateBet’s 10th Anniversary and we’re going to be celebrating! We’re planning our opening and closing parties to blow all others out of the Caribbean waters and should be sending more of our own blood to the tourney this year than ever. We’ve already qualified over 40 players and are looking forward to our first big seat giveaway on August 2nd. After it’s said and done, 25 lucky UB players will have their seats reserved to the Ultimate Island Poker Tournament. With at least $2 million in guaranteed cash for this year’s tourney, it’s destined to be recorded as a part of poker history.
The Donkament is in full effect on the site and dragging in the best of our sharks and donkeys. With only points to lose and cash to win, these games are getting feverishly active. Get in on the action from as low as 200 points and qualify for up to $50,000 in cash.
We have some exciting product releases coming up, including our UB Mac software launching next month. Be on the lookout later for a client download that is compatible with your Apple Macintosh so you can get rid of those tedious parallels to run Windows on a Mac. As the release gets closer we’ll keep everyone posted on the launch date and new features to be expected.
The extreme action game of 7-Deuce is coming to UltimateBet in the next few weeks and they’re being brought in with a bang. These permanent tables will introduce a 7-2 side pot to throw a wrench into everyone’s poker strategy. They’ll be available in both low and high stakes so be ready to bluff your faces off.
Tags: 7 deuce, aruba classic, Donkament, Ultimate Bet
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Friday, May 15, 2009 - UB Marketing
It’s been a great week for the creative group. Somewhat chaotic, but it’s coming up on WSOP season, so of course there’s a lot to do. It comes with the territory of being an online poker community for 10 years. We’re planning some killer events for the WSOP to celebrate Phil’s 20th anniversary from his first bracelet and a 10th Anniversary party at the Aruba Poker Classic. It’s gonna be awesome.
To whet your appetite for what’s in store for the next few months, we’re about to add new table skins, one of which is pictured below. Get ready to feel like an emperor while you play at UltimateBet. Still not sure how to qualify for the Series? Our 50-Package giveaway is set for June 21st with a buy-in of $500+30 or through low buy-in qualifier or STEP 7a.
One of our team members is meeting up with Scott Ian this week while he’s in LA. Which reminded me that he is going on tour starting June 13th and gets back just in time for day 1d of the WSOP main event. Ahhh, the rock-star life. We love our pros and as a tribute (not like a bad tribute cover band), we are revamping the pro pages on the Web site and adding a new face or two, so keep visiting the UltimateBet blog for more info.
Tags: 20 anniversary phil hellmuth, aruba classic, aruba poker, Aruba Poker Classic, Phil Hellmuth, ultimate bet 10 anniversary, ultimatebet 10th anniversary, WSOP, WSOP ultimate bet
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