The Year in Pictures, Part One
Sunday, December 28, 2008 - Gene Bromberg
We’ve almost reached the end of 2008 and this is usually the time when people look back at the past year and remember all that took place. Trouble is that during the holidays most people spend the better part of a week staggering around in a tryptophan coma or an alcoholic stupor. I don’t know about you guys but I’m worried that I’ll have nothing left in the tank for New Year’s Eve. I’m beat. Every day it seems like I’m wolfing down a huge platter laden with ham, turkey, fish, pirogi, and various forms of potatoes. Everyone is breaking out their best cabernet sauvignons and filling the fridge with beers that don’t have the word “Lite” in their name. It’s like they say, too much of anything is bad–even excess.
So looking back at the past twelve months through this boozy haze ain’t easy. Especially if you’d like to be somewhat accurate. Fortunately I lugged my camera around for most of this year and have a few pictures that serve to jog the memory so I can remember just what the hell happened.
This is what the opening day of the 2008 World Series of Poker felt like for me, everything a blur. And only seven weeks to go!
I was covering a different event in the Brasilia Room as Phil Hellmuth was trying to win bracelet #12 in a $1,500 H.O.R.S.E event. I ran over during a break to see what was going on and was confronted by a mob around the outer feature table. Usually there are only a handful of people around that table, but of course Phil knows how to draw a crowd. I held my camera in the air, squeezed the trigger, and hoped I got something good. This picture was taken at 12:30am, by the way, so lots of people thought the best thing to do in Vegas that night was watch Phil play poker.
Annie Duke and Don Cheadle address the crowd during this year’s Ante Up for Africa tournament. I was off that day but of course I went to the Rio hoping to get some photos of the celebrities attending the event. And so were about a thousand other people. I went to the person guarding the main opening and asked to be admitted, and he looked at me like I was something he’d scraped off his shoe and told me no way. I didn’t have the proper media pass, you see. I headed to the media room to see about getting that pass when the guy in line behind me got my attention and whispered that no one was checking passes at the Brasilia Room’s other doors. I opened the door, went inside, and no one bothered me as I took pics to my hearts delight. It just goes to show that it’s never a good idea to ask permission. Do the deed first, THEN ask for permission. Life is much easier that way.
A few pics from the Ante Up for Africa event:
While I wandered around and took photos a quintet of female masseuses were waiting outside the ropes waiting for the tournament to start. They asked which celebrities I’d seen in the crowd and I said, “Well, Matt Damon is…” and all five crowded around me and started pelting me with questions. “Matt Damon! Where? What table? Point!!” I hate Matt Damon.
Ray Romano I like. Why? I was taking a photo and someone came in from my left and nearly got in the shot. “Oh, I’m sorry,” the person said and paused while I snapped the shutter. “No problem,” I said and made room for him to get past. That’s when I saw the polite gentleman in question was Ray Romano. Who could buy and sell me a thousand times over. So I appreciated that.
Team UB’s Scott Ian, wearing one of those so-cool T-shirts that debuted at the WSOP. “I have to GET ONE OF THOSE SHIRTS,” I told myself as I circled Scott and snapped away.
Phil Hellmuth in his natural habitat–sitting at a table during the WSOP Main Event, with film crews in attendance. If I wasn’t sure where Phil was sitting in the Amazon Room, I just looked around for the boom mikes.
The most surreal part about this year’s World Series was seeing Tiffany Michelle, who I worked with the last two years, make her deep run in the Main Event. When play started I said, “Oh, cool, TIffany’s playing in the Main Event” and went back to work. Then she made it past the first few days and suddenly she had a pretty healthy stack. And then on Day 5 or so she wins some huge pots and we started thinking, “Holy crap, she could actually WIN this thing”. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, as Tiffany finished 17th, which is still pretty freaking incredible. If you saw ESPN’s coverage you probably saw a bit where Tiffany was eating french fries at the table and catching flack from Scott Montgomery and Craig Marquis about it. Ladies and gentlemen, here is a picture of Tiffany Michelle’s fries:
When she finished the floor staff picked up her tray and put it…on the table I was working at. Which gives you an idea of how I rank out there. Anyway, the fries smelled really good, and I was really hungry, and people kept walking by my table and snagging a quick snack. But I held off, in part because at the time Tiffany still had a ton of chips and there was the very real possibility that she’d make the final table and maybe even be the next World Champion, and I was calculating how much I could sell her leftover fries for on eBay. Then I got my self-esteem back in order and had someone take the tray away.
By the time the field was reduced to ten players and one table my work was done, but of course I wasn’t going anywhere until the November Nine was locked in. I found a perch and took a few shots of the final-table play:
We finished up around 4:30am, had a few cocktails afterwards, and I got home around…noon. Before I left Vegas for good I went back to the Rio to cash in a few chips and see what the place looked like now that the Series had wrapped up. The crews didn’t waste any time breaking down the Amazon Room:
Hmm, this seems long enough already and I only posted pics from the WSOP. I think I’ll pause here before delving into the Aruba Poker Classic and whatever else I have in my folders. Because that’s going to be a marathon by itself.
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