All Work and No Play…Well…
Sunday, May 31, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
So last night I wrote a post about how poker players have to grind and grit it out if they want the glory. How that blue-collar, lunch-pail work ethic is what really separates the champs from the chumps. So what did I do after posting that paean to the unglamorous side of poker? That’s right–I went to a wild party at a glizty Vegas nightclub!
In my defense, as I staggered from the Amazon Room last night I had no intention of going out. But when someone asks if you’d like a VIP pass to the official World Series of Poker launch party, the proper way to answer that question is, “Yes please!”. So I lugged my 30 pounds of gear up to ND’s Fuego in the Rio and fell in with a gaggle of poker media types at the bar. Technically this was a work event (and will be described as such when I write my bar tab off on my taxes) but my guilty conscience required that I perform some minor labor to justify my presence. The giant LED displays ringing the club were projecting the WSOP logo along with some wild swirly lights and I said, hey, if I’m gonna lug my camera around, I might as well use it:
They were also scrolling the names of every WSOP World Champion along the walls, waited a bit before shooting this pic:
I hope you’ll forgive the sketchy quality of these photos, it was dark in there (though the darkness was periodically erased by pulsating strobe lights) and I didn’t have my flash with me. Plus it can be hard to take tack-sharp photos when you’ve got a beer in one hand. Though I did put my beer down and put the camera to my eye when the singer and dancers took to the floor:
And…
That’s a beautiful, beautiful…dress. Wow. What stitchwork.
A bit later Jeffrey Pollack took to the stage to officially welcome everyone to the 2009 World Series of Poker, and also to introduce a new rap video starring Lacey Jones (who was the hostess of the party). After the video Lacey took the stage and, thank God, I got one salvageable shot of her speaking to the captivated crowd:
It was about that time that I learned via Twitter than Annie Duke had been knocked out of the $1,500 Omaha/8 event in 30th place. She tagged her tweet “#iamtheworst”, no doubt her frustration was at its peak after coming up short after such a deep run. And that’s when I decided to call it a night and head for home. The hour wasn’t too late, but I knew tomorrow (today) would be a busy day. The final table of the $40,000 Anniversary No-Limit tournament, the start of the Champions Invitational, Day 1b of the $1,000 Stimulus event, and the finale of the $1,500 Omaha/8 tournament. Plus whatever weirdness happens to go down at the Rio on this last Sunday in May. It’s gonna be a long day–back to the grind.
Tags: Annie Duke, annie duke omaha/8, jeffrey pollack, jeffrey pollack wsop launch party, Lacey Jones, lacey jones wsop launch party, world series of poker launch party, wsop launch party
