Another Day in the Office - Part 6

By Neil Channing - June 2005

A recent email from an MS from Battersea reported that a word search on all my diary pieces produced no matches for the following words or phrases:

Drug crazed, lap, all-night, stripper, alcohol fuelled, dicetastrophy, dancing, wrecked.

I have to say to that person that he must be confusing me with Action Dave (who has not yet been sighted). I have had almost two weeks of eat, sleep and poker with barely a break, even to visit The Secret Gardens of Seigfried and Roy.

My daily journey to the office is similar to the normal trip to the Victoria Casino. I get a cab from the Bellagio, the fare is slightly less than Battersea to Harrowby Street and the driver is generally more grumpy. Getting him to take me to the Convention Centre entrance at the Rio means a shorter walk for me, and is bad for him as it means he is not straight in line to pick up again. That always adds to the tension.

The main differences you notice on arrival is that instead of 38 people on a Monday afternoon, (for the Vic's National Insurance special - not a job between them), there are hundreds AND you can get a steak sandwich after 6pm.

The room is as large as at least six football pitches and there is plenty of room for spectators. The satellites, both single table and supers, have their own seperate areas and are very well organised and busy. The tables near the door have cash games from $4-$8 limit to the new craze of $400-$800 paduki. No limit hold 'em is the most popular with plenty of $5-$10 blinds going all the time.

The middle to back of the room has today's tournament and yesterday's final (often on the TV table).

On Sunday I came into the room with a plan. I was going to be very patient in the $1500 plh and wait for a big hand to double up early. My table contained former World Champion and total rock Tom McEvoy, Gary Jones, Ted Forest and the ever present Thorstein Iverson. Gary had a different plan and went out semi-bluffing against Ted's aces early on. I'm not sure whether Ted's plan was to get loads of chips and then piss them away by calling a lot with no hand, but if it was it worked well. My patient approach was needed as I got absolutely no hands. Eventually I had to go all-in on the big blind. I won that hand and then tripled up with Kings before going out with a big draw in 120th out of 600. Considering I played virtually no hands it's amazing how long I could last. I definitely think that with everyone trying to play so fast in the early stages that this is the correct strategy, I only wish I'd thought of it a week ago.

My daily routine normally ends with the 11pm 2nd Chance tournament and today I got quite deep in it with good chips. I then gave them away in three hands the best of which was A7. I think the frustration of not playing many hands in the WSOP event was coming out. Time for bed.

Talking about the room, several people have asked me about the organisation. Although when I arrived here I was worried that it was going to be total chaos it seems to have settled down. More dealers and staff have been taken on and the new ones (who are kept away from the main tournaments) are improving. The registration is a lot smoother, probably because there are less people around than there were the first weekend, and the tournaments are generally starting on time.

Many of the players are complaining about the food. When you enter a WSOP competition you get a $10 voucher. Unfortuneately this cannot be used for the very expensive snack bar just outside the tournament room. It can also not be used in the nice fish restaurant, Indian or Dead Cow and Chicken All American Meat Eating place that the players favour. It can be used in the buffet which is miles away and then it's only part payment as the total cost is $20.

Cocktail waitreses (and more commonly here) waiters do not appear very frequently, and when they do they have so many orders to take they rarely get them right. They have also been told by Harrahs to only give out one drink per person. When you think that they're taking juice from every tournament +rebuys this is a bit strong. The cocktails have got a little better in that they now come round with carts which have a few commonly ordered drinks on them. However, if you order something not on the cart they send you to the bar to pay $3.50 for an orange juice and $3 for a squirt of Coke.

The bathrooms are the other main problem. The nearest one is a couple of hundred yards away and is mobbed in the busier tornaments when they call a break. If you try and go to a further one you may not have to queue but could get back late. The third bathroom away is the optimal strategy for less queuing but not missing blinds. For this reason it's the bathroom of bracelet holders.

You would think Harrahs would be able to solve these problems before the main event. You might also think they'd stick some TVs showing sports and a window for betting in, if they were smart. I won't hold my breath.

Neil Channing is sponsored by Betusa.com

Click here for part 7