I think I can say with some certainty that ever since I started covering the World Series of poker back in 2004, day 1 of the event has been my favorite day of the year. It’s the end of the anticipation, the re-igniting of friendships. It proceeds the inevitable grind that real money slots online becomes for those of us crazy enough and enamored enough with the game to stay away from the tables long enough to make the event work. It reminds us of why we love the game.
Today, day 1 lived up to expectations. Each year, I seem to know more and more of the guys most of you are accustomed to seeing on television. One of the benefits of my job is unfettered access to the tables and I milked it for all it was worth, dancing through tables, shaking hands and bumping fists, cracking jokes and having them cracked back at me. I’m a little old to be a kid in a candy store, but it was the next best thing.
From the moment the event got under way, highlighted by one hell of a rendition of “Viva, Las Vegas!” courtesy of a marching band, there was a shit-eating grin adorning my face. For all the late nights, the times where the words don’t come, the frustration with scandals, the no-show interviews, this was a genuine moment that made it all worthwhile. The euphoria lasted far longer than I should have ever expected considering I’d gotten around four hours of sleep.
The Bluff party at Tao was great despite my only staying for 75 minutes after a few hands and a Philly cheese steak at the Venetian. I headed back to the Bluff house with worldseriesofpoker.com editor Lance Bradley and worked until Bluff own Eddie Kleid returned to the fold. Once lance crashed, Eddy and I got to talking business. Before I knew it, it was 4:30, I still owed ESPN an article and I was more or less collapsed on my keyboard.
The piece –an interview with ESPN’s Jamie Horowitz that will be posted some time over coming weeks—got mailed in at 5:30AM and I crashed a few minutes later. I’d told Lance to awaken me a few minutes before he was heading to the Rio so I could join him. What I didn’t know was that he wanted to be there by 9:45AM, and I’m paying for it now. I’ve been up for eighteen hours on four hours sleep and I’m not so young that I can really do that any more, so you’re reading the end of one hell of a day.
Despite the general fatigue and the exhaustion of my day 1 afterglow, I managed to get a few articles done and posted. The first was an interview with a man I consider to be one of the most important in the poker industry right now, John Pappas;
Pappas, as I hope you’re going to read, is the president of the Poke Player’s Alliance, perhaps our best shot at getting online poker legalized in the United States. He and I get into the basics of why we need that legalization, what the PPA is doing to make that happen and how you can help. Namely, get your ass out and vote.
Another piece I got up on worldseriesofpoker.com was the first of what will be a daily ritual, ‘Notes From the Floor’, a collection of thoughts and tidbits from the day’s proceedings;