Tuesday, June 30, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
With the Main Event kicking off in a few days that means there will be a huge World Series party just about every night of the week. Last night was the first major WSOP blowout of the season, as UltimateBet welcomed players and fans to Studio 54 in the MGM to drink, dance, drink, stare at the amazing acrobatic dancers and trapeze artistes, and maybe have another drink. I didn’t bring my big camera but I managed to take a few pics here and there…though for every person who said “That picture had better be in the blog!” there were three who screamed “That picture better NOT be in the blog!” I think that’s the sort of ratio you find at a really good party.
In keeping with the Roman theme of UltimateBet’s Tenth Anniversary celebration, there were some appropriately-dressed ladies there for the occasion…though “dressed” might not be the correct word as they were outfits were painted rather than tailored:
I’m afraid of heights so the idea of hanging 20 feet of the ground and performing synchronized acrobatic moves is something akin to magic. And some of the routines performed during the party were downright magical:
Admittedly the performer in the last photo was on the ground, not suspended in mid-air, but ask yourself how many weeks you’d have to spend in the hospital if you tried to arrange your body in that way. Amazing.
As was seeing this as it happened:
Phil Hellmuth, descending from the heavens (well, the ceiling) to address the crowd and raffle off a seat in the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic. Oh, if you were at the party and plan on going to the Aruba Poker Classic in October keep your ticket from last night–Phil said everyone who was at the party last night can use their ticket to attend the party he throws every year in his penthouse suite. So if you had a good time last night and would like another go-round, hang on to those tickets.
Of course it wouldn’t be a UB party without a shot of P0ker H0…ruining a FANTASTIC shot of Debo and Liv Boeree!! Where’s the crowbar tool in Photoshop…
Liv Boeree’s opponent in the Rumble at the Rio, Melissa Castello, tunes up for the bout by giving H0 a tune-up during the party.
For the most part those are the photos that are fit to print. Those that AREN’T fit to print, mercy, there’s some good stuff there. But this blog is rated PG (well, PG-13) and I’m a man of good taste and discretion. Well, that’s not true, but I certainly wouldn’t want someone publishing pics of ME in some of the compromising positions a few revelers found themselves in last night. So let’s end with a nice, wholesome photo of Phil Hellmuth dancing with a couple of women in body paint.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Debo34, Liv Boeree, P0ker H0, Phil Hellmuth, ub, UB Party, ultimatebet, ultimatebet 10th anniversary, ultimatebet party, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop parties
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Monday, June 29, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
It’s a full house today at the Rio–actually it’s a too-full house. Because of the $1,500 No-Limit Hold-Em event that drew over 2,800 players there weren’t enough empty tables to re-start the $3,000 Triple Chance or $1,500 Stud/8 events on time. And those delays snowballed to the point where the Deuce-to-Seven event starting at 5pm was delayed about twenty minutes.
But better too many players than too few, yes? Among those at play today are Annie Duke, who’s had a slow start on Day 2 of the $1,500 Stud/8, and Phil Hellmuth and Liv Boeree, who are playing in the $1,500 NLHE tournament. Liv seems to be off to a blistering start–PokerNews has her sitting with 17,100, while Phil arrived late, chipped up to 7,000, and apparently left again. I saw him walking through the Amazon Room after break and it looked like he was returning to his seat, but now PokerNews is reporting that they lost him again, though whether he was just swallowed up by the crowd (hard to believe, knowing Phil) or eliminated from the event is still a mystery.
If Phil WAS eliminated, there’s at least one small consolation waiting at the end of the day–the UltimateBet party at Studio 54 at the MGM Grand. It starts at 9pm, ends around ???, and chances are the whole UB team (and lots of the folks who play at UB) will be there to enjoy the start of the WSOP party season. I wasn’t able to go to last year’s UltimateBet party as I had an (expletive deleted) final table to cover that lasted well past midnight, but I visited the UB suite the next day and, uh, it seemed like everyone there was feeling a little rough. Hopefully Annie and Liv will be very late arrivals to the party (because that means they played deep into the night), but I plan on arriving at a fashionable hour and enjoying a cocktail or two. Or three. Wonder if the bartenders will be briefed on the procedure for making a Debo…that’s my drink of choice when I’m in Aruba (those of you who’ve attended the Aruba Poker Classic know what I’m talking about) and it seems like it was translate well to Vegas. And of course with Phil there chances are there will be quite a bit of Dom Perignon on ice. But I think I’ll stick with a couple of Debos and some witty conversation. Maybe three Debos.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, Annie Duke, Debo, Liv Boeree, Phil Hellmuth, Studio 54, UB Party, ultimatebet party, world series of poker, WSOP
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009 - P0ker H0
As I reported in my last blog, round 1 of the WSOP was a great one, even though I didnt play 1 event. I was busy winning bracelets in BlackJack rather than Poker:) This time, would be different. Poker wise it was somewhat of a let down, as I went 0-3 in the 1500’s and 500 venetian, but the rest of the trip was Vegas as Vegas should be.
The first night I found myself really intoxicated in the SNG room, and bought into a 550 single table. Normally this wouldn’t be anything to talk about, but as the table filled up, I noticed a couple of faces that stood out. Grammy Winning Recording Artist Nelly was in 1 of the seats, while the owner of the Lakers, Jerry Buss was in another. Well as you know, when I’m drinking it’s my job to make sure people know who I am. Even Nelly and Jerry Buss. After singing and dancing to “It’s Hot in Her”, Nelly definitely knew who I was. And how bout Jerry Buss. Here the Lakers are playing game 4 of the NBA Finals, and he’s sitting with me playing a 550 single table satellite.
The Next day I would play the 1500 NL WSOP Event. Thing went great all day. I was up to 12k never seeing a river. About 5 hours in I would see a flop of 10 6 5, and have my opponent shove his entire 12k stack into a 900 chip pot. I held 1010 so I obviously called, and my opponent tabled 7 8 for an open ender. GG me. This kind of put me on tilt for a couple days and I really wasn’t into to much poker for the rest of the trip.
One thing I miss doing that I did this time, was going out to nice restraunts in Vegas. There are so many great places to eat that you can’t eat anywhere else. I tried NOVE which is an Italian restaraunt at the Palms. I highly recommend that. Also Cafe Mortarano in the RIO has the best Pasta Carbonara if you are into that.
I came home for a couple days once again, but I will be heading out again soon, and staying for the remainder of the summer. The UB Party is on the 29th at Studio54 and it will be a blast just like every other year. Best of luck to everyone this Series and see you out there.
P0ker H0
Tags: Jerry Buss, Lakers, NBA, Nelly, Poker Poker Poker, Rio, Studio 54, ub, UB Party, Vegas, WSOP
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Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - Debo34
The WSOP is past the halfway point, and at this point nothing too exciting has happened for me in Vegas. I have been working hard spreading my action all around Las Vegas hunting for values and tournaments I feel fit my game. So far I have only 2 cashes in 9 tournaments played. Both were small cashes in smaller buy in tournaments. I have spent a fair amount of time on side action as well. All in all I feel like I’m playing pretty well, and I am definitely working hard at it. Between live and online I have been playing about 80 hours a week in the 2 weeks I have been in Vegas.
I am heading home tomorrow to spend a week with the family and take them camping next weekend. This will be a much needed break from the current grind I have been on. Sometimes in poker and in life it seems like you are running uphill constantly. That has been my past several months in a nutshell. A ton of hours with very little positive results. This is one of those things that poker players deal with from time to time. I try to stay positive about things, and if needed take a step back from it like I will be doing this week. I will be heading back down to Vegas in a week to play a couple of more tournaments, go to the UB party and then gear up for the main event.
I am really excited about the main event as usual. I’ve talked about it in the past about how the main event fits my style perfectly. It has the greatest structure on the planet, and it got even better this year. In past years players started with 20k in chips and 2 hour levels. This year it’s 30k in chips and 2 hour levels. I have been able to make day 3 of the main event 3 out of the past 4 years simply by using patience and not putting many chips into a pot unless I’m certain I have the best hand. I know it sounds funny and boring but every year I see someone go broke on level 1 with one pair when he’s sitting 600 big blinds deep. There is really no reason for that in a tournament with this structure.
I hope to see some old faces and meet some new ones as well on June 29th. That is the night of the UB WSOP party. It will be at 9pm that night at studio 54 at the MGM. I’m sure it will be a blast as usual. Hope you can make it.
Good luck
Debo
Tags: MGM, Poker Poker Poker, Studio 54, ub, UB Party, Vegas, WSOP
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