Monday, June 1, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
As you might expect there’s a big crowd watching the two remaining tables of World Champions battling it out. Phil Hellmuth is still in (as of a half-hour ago he had 10k, up from the starting stack of 1,000) and they’ll play until they get down to the final nine for the final table. There are 12 players left (Brad Daugherty, Scotty Nguyen and Chris Ferguson were just eliminated) so chances are they won’t play too deep into the night. I’ve been elbowing and kidney-punching my way around the rail snapping pictures and I thought now might be a good time to share a few of them.
I have to warn you, I like grainy black-and-white pics that have that old-time feel to them, so you’ll have to indulge me if I post a lot during the Series. Truth be told, a crappy color photo can be turned into a compelling B&W pic with a little creative adjustment. I’d like to think I salvaged something from a fairly blah photo here:
That’s Robert Varkonyi, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Huck Seed, Dan Harrington, Carlos Mortensen, and Chris Ferguson. A from-the-hip snapshot captures seven World Champions.
Doyle Brunson. He’s always been The Man, he’ll always be The Man.
The always-thirsty Prince of Poker, Scotty Nguyen.
And, of course, Phil Hellmuth, wearing his game face. I think I would too, if I was in serious contention for a 1970 Corvette Stingray. And the title of Champion of Champions.
I’ll be posting a lot more photos here on the blog throughout the Series, and if you want to see those that either didn’t make the cut or couldn’t be shoehorned into a post no matter how hard I tried, they’re posted at my Flickr page. Now I’m gonna grab my machete and see if I can clear a path to Dan Harrington.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, carlos mortensen, champions invitational, Chris Ferguson, chris moneymaker, dan harrington, doyle brunson, greg raymer, Huck Seed, Phil Hellmuth, Robert Varkonyi, Scotty Nguyen, world champions invitational, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop champions invitational, wsop invitational
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Thursday, May 28, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
OK, so where’s Phil?
That was the question circling the Amazon Room as the end of Level 3 grew nigh. Like I said in my last post, Phil always shows up late, but this was pushing it even for him. It was confirmed he’d registered, there was no danger of him missing the event, we even knew that he’d be sitting at Table 70, Seat 7. He just wasn’t here. There were rumors he was planning some outrageous Main Event-style grand entrance for the swarming ESPN cameras, and I staked out Table 70 like a rancid paparazzi stalking Lindsay Lohan.
They say a watched pot never boils, but my craning neck spotted a black baseball cap with a gold UltimateBet logo knifing through the crowd. Seconds later the ropes parted and there was Phil Hellmuth in the flesh, making his 2009 World Series of Poker debut:
There was some minor commotion as Phil sidled up to his seat. “Philly’s here!” crowed Scotty Nguyen and Scott Seiver said, “The man, the myth, the legend.” The mob clustered around the rail swelled as Phil showed off copies Deal Me In, his new book featuring interviews with a number of top professionals. One of whom, Phil Ivey, took a copy and immediately started riffing through pages, perhaps looking for his chapter:
As you can see, that’s a pretty loaded table…and that doesn’t even include David “The Dragon” Pham, barely visible two seats over from Ivey. There’s enough star power at that table to draw an army of railbirds and platoons of photographers, but I’ll bob and weave my way back there and see how Phil progresses…now that he’s actually playing in the tournament.
Tags: david pham, Phil Hellmuth, phil hellmuth $40K, phil hellmuth entrance, phil hellmuth wsop, phil ivey, Scotty Nguyen, ub, ub wsop, ultimatebet, ultimatebet world series of poker, ultimatebet wsop
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Tuesday, April 14, 2009 - Miss C
Hello Everyone,
I am coming to you live from Las Vegas. I arrived last night and this city still takes my breath away, I swear to God my heart stopped beating for just a second when I saw that skyline. I was lucky enough to land at night time and I do think it is the best time to see the city…all those lights. I cannot believe I have not been here in 3 years. Guessing I will make up for that during the WSOP. I love this city!
This time round I have done something totally out of the ordinary and I am staying at the Signature Suites at the MGM Grand and I have to say they are a bit special. Every room is a suite and included is room internet (very important as the daily rate at most big hotels is hideous), gym (if you are here for a long time, you need to clear your head) and kitchen (nothing like a home cooked meal). If you are here for longer than a week, definitely look at staying here.
UB is having drinks and nibbles for their WPT satellite winners at Fix in the Bellagio. It is a great chance for you to mingle with our Pros. Quite a few of them will be there in full force. It will be a great time to ask some questions or even just have a chat. From experience I can tell you they are very social and I guarantee they will make you laugh.
Today is going to be a great day…I am planning on catching up on all the emails I missed over Easter and I also get to catch up with Scotty Nguyen, I haven’t had a drink with him or heard that familiar Scotty trademark “Baby” in a year and a bit. I can’t wait to get to Bellagio and see the other notable faces. Such an awesome city, makes life so convenient:) Then there is the drinks with the qualifiers and pros, all in all a great day!
Fingers crossed some of our qualifiers will get into the 25K WPT and make the money. I will be cheering from the rails. If time permits and it should in a 24 hour city I would like to play some poker. Lately, I have been playing a few sit and gos with friends and I have so got a feeling for it. Wish me luck! Let’s put it in perspective, the more I win, the more I can add to my purchases.
Next week, I will up update you on the Vegas trip and let you know all the plans for UB in Vegas during the WSOP.
Cheers,
Miss C
Tags: Bellagio, Fix, las vegas, MGM, MGM Grand, Scotty Nguyen, Signature Suites, ub, Ultimate Bet, Vegas, WPT, WSOP
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