Vegas Part II - WSOP

Finally, my dream has come true, I got to go to the main event, but unfortunately not as a player but as a spectator. The Rio is next to Caesar's, I could see it out of our room window, so I decided in the heat of the day to walk there on Tuesday. Very bad decision. It is at least a mile and a half and I was soaked in sweat and near death when I arrived. After refreshing with a $3.25 bottle of water I found the WSOP and the 6 remaining tables of players. It was pretty cool to watch them from the catwalk above the featured table. I saw Antonio Esfandiari, Dennis Phillips, Phil Ivey, and Marcel Lusk (spectator). There were some unbelievable hands, with 5 people busting out while I was there (got down to 50) on hands that even I would have been able to get away from. A prime example was losing by raising with AJ in early position for $140K, being re-reraised to 450K by pocket kings, calling, then calling an all-in with a flop of K/J/?. Come on now! Even I give credit for having a king, but then again I am not playing in the WSOP final 50 either.

On two separate occasions I played with guys that had played the main event. One kid showed me his cashout ticket for 493rd place, good for $27,000. He was interesting to talk with, he had won his seat by winning $800 in a $12 buy-in online tournament, then using the money to buy into a $350 tournament and winning his seat plus $1000 spending money. He gave me some advice when I asked him about how he got so deep in tournaments. He said, it is all about position and aggression. He also said that early in a tournament he would never go all-in, even with pocket aces, as blinds are just too small, chips are too large, and not worth the risk.....I thought that was interesting advice.

The other kid I played with was from Austria, and was a "sponsored" player, meaning his entry was paid, but he could only keep 80%. He didn't cash, but said he had done well in cash games and tournaments while there. More on his play in a later update.....