Hi folks,

Just stopping in for another quick update. Well the numbers are in for the main event in the WSOP and it is officially the 2nd largest field in history with c.6,800 players taking their shot at glory. There were 4 day 1’s and today is a rest day before breaking into 2 day 2’s and proceeding then to the final 9 players. Of those who have taken their chance 666 of them will win money for their endeavours and the winners prizepool is approx $9.1m. That does sound appetizing doesn’t it?

Of the Irish players returning to day 2 we have some mighty strong contenders for glory. Our very own BigC is part of the assault group which also includes Donal Norton, Gary Clarke, Marty Smyth, Andrew Grimasson, Eoin O’Dea, Dave Murray, Donnacha O’Dea and other besides. Watch closely folks, id have a hefty wager on one of these guys making the money.

Otherwise life in Vegas has been good, myself and Ciaran have been out for dinner with guests a few nights and as those who know me might have guessed, I havnt found a steak in Vegas that I havnt liked.

I bumped into Jesse May down the Rio the other day and he told me of a cunning plan he had for yesterday. “I’m getting a bus Noel, doing a pub tour around Vegas starting at midnight and then heading for Red Rock Canyon with a cooler full of champagne to watch the sun rise at 6am, now all I need to do is find 20 people who are willing to drink through the night with me”, knowing Jesse and the calibre of people out here in Vegas I’d wager that he hadn’t too much hassle in sourcing 20 people of such disposition.

So I finally bit the bullet and played my first poker tournament out here in Vegas. I have a preference for cash games and really feel that tournaments are a soul destroying exercise. Sitting for 10 hours with minimal or no return just doesn’t appear to me, but every now and again I like to punish myself and play one.

My poison on this occasion was the Bellagio nightly $1,080 tournament with 142 runners and $50,000 for first. With 12 players left I got involved in a massive pot when the table loon pushed over my raise and I snapped it off with AJ, he tables A10 and I’ve to dodge 3 outs to become the massive chip leader and assume a killer position approaching the final table. The flop bricks but the turn is the ugliest 10 in the deck to cripple me and put me down to 4 big blinds. I’m sickened, dejected and reminded once again of why I hate tournaments!!

Never mind I battle on and push bot my way back into the game and before I know it I’m gathering a small few chips – enough to make others fold at least. I make the final table which was one of the softest I had been on, I’m rueing the demise of my AJ because I really feel if I had chips to work with that I would walk across the table. There was one exception to this though in the shape of Eric Larcheveque, an excellent player whom I had played with before and who held the chip lead in this years Irish Open for a considerable time before eventually finishing in 8th place. With blinds of 4k/8k and a running ante of 1k I have pushed my stack from 60k up to maybe 110k as there is 19k in the middle every time I steal but then I push my AQ in Erics KK and despite turning a Q I fade my remaining outs on the river and I’m el busto in 7th spot for $3,500. A return not to be sniffed at but I would rather the $50k for first. Eric was a commanding chip leader when I exited at 6am and as he is such an experienced player I will be shocked if he hasn’t won it by now.

That’s all folks, the tournament is played in the Bellagios Fontana lounge which looks out on the famous Bellagio fountain, here is a nice shot of the fountain with Paris in the background. They have it all in Vegas folks, including the Eiffel Tower.

Be good,

Noel.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 10:26 pm and is filed underNoel, Live Poker, WSOP 2008 You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.