The Vegas Virgin does the WSOPE - Part 4

/ Dave Allan / 23 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Betfair Poker insider Simon Zammit is back with more behind the scenes looks at working at the World Series of Poker Europe 2009.

Days 8 & 9

For some reason or another, I woke up lying at the very end of the bed and I have no idea why. I guess my mind is starting to get a little tired from all the long nights and very short sleeping patterns. Today was no different as the phone started to ring at 08:30 and I was assigned another interview request for Annette and John. Although most will now assume I say "quick shower and off to the casino", I actually treated myself to a nice bath. It only lasted 5 minutes mind you, but it felt good to just sit down and let the jets relax me.

Although it was going to be a busy one, I was actually looking forward to the day as Event 1 would come to an end, meaning that the first Bracelet will be awarded! Also, Event 2, the daring £2,500 Mixed PL Hold'em & Omaha tourney would be starting as well as an amazing attempt by Paul Zimbler, UK Poker Pro, to play a whole 80 hours of poker non-stop. This would mean that the previous Guinness World Record of 72 hours would be smashed to pieces but more importantly; all donations collected would go to the aid of children via amazing charities, Sparks and Make a Wish Foundation.

I was just at the casino around 10:00 and after downing the first of a lot of coffees, I fired up the laptop and double-checked that everything needed for the day to run smoothly was in place. Soon after, Blochy (or Richard as you have come to know him) also arrived and we started setting up the Heads Up tables for Paul. With the assistance of Casino staff as well as Nick, Paul's agent, the area was soon looking great and the man himself, along with a few other people, showed up and started to get ready.

On the other side of the Casino, players were starting to show up for Event 2 and once again, the great Betfair Staff at the Registrations Desk made sure our players got what they needed at once! Lady Obrestad also arrived early as I had requested (thank you) so she can make a phone interview before trying to win another Bracelet. Unfortunately, I was too busy to stay with her for the interview but she later told me it was good!

Come 13:00, Event 2 was up and running and Paul opened the Heads Up attempt with none other than the legend himself, Mr Doyle Brunson!! Betfair opened the donations with a sweet £5,000 (10% of the target £50k) and Doyle also gave £600 which was a generous gesture. Soon after, the queue started forming with people wanting to be part of history as well as donate a few Pounds.

I then went over to see that John, Ben Grundy and Sorel were all sitting on the same table for the start of Event 2. John was practically dead as he had no sleep at all, cashing in the WCOOP so well played Sir! All players started with 7,500 chips and I was happy to see that Annette had already increased the amount to 12,500 and by the time the first break came along, John had 14,00, Annette had 18,000 (and Chip Lead) and Sorel was unfortunately down to a few thousand's.

After the break, Annette continued to dominate whilst John and Sorel had hit the wall... Sorel had darted home but John was pretty unlucky to make a Full House on the Turn whilst the villain made a bigger one on the River - sorry mate! It was then my turn (woohoo) to play some poker and I sat down next to Zimbler for some Heads Up action!

I know it's for charity, but I wanted to win and was close to do so as I had a 3:1 chip lead after about half an hour. Unfortunately, a frustrated Mike Matusow came along and being "the mouth" he wouldn't stop hassling me to get off so Paul & I went all in blindly for a few rounds so Mike could play. Of course, I lost each one and lost but at least my £10 donation will do some good!

I then followed Paul and Mike's match and he had not won a single hand in the tourney, 42 straight folds if I remember correctly! All he picked up was 3 antes and then busted on a desperate shove. Ironically, he won every hand against Paul so at least the day was not completely crap for The Mouth. He also then apologized to me for being a muppet which was good!

Throughout the day, I saw plenty of big names try and fail in Event 2 but Annette was going strong once again, still Chip Leader with just over 36,000! John Juanda was also on her table but he eventually got knocked out by a crazy old guy to Annette's right. After the dinner break, only 60 players remained and even though it was quitting time for me around 20:00, I stuck along to follow some action on the feature table with Annette and two more WSOP Bracelet winners having a go.

Around 21:30 I decide to leave and get some rest before playing some ring games myself but as soon as I hopped into bed, my body went into "shut down" mode and I just couldn't get up. Dawn decided to give me a ring and she was now feeling the effects of a bad cold, so get well soon Miss! After the chat, I then switched on the laptop to follow the Event on wsope.betfair thanks to the Live Updates and I unfortunately saw Annette bust out in a 120,000 pot with AQ on a Q A 10 Flop. Her push all in was insta-called by her opponent who had KJ.

Tomorrow is Day 2 of the Event plus we obviously continue with Paul Zimbler's Heads Up attempt so tune in for some more tales from my end!

Tuesday 22nd September

As Event 2 starts at 14:00, I had the luxury of a late wake up and even had breakfast in a relaxed environment (Starbucks) so all was good. I also went down to HMV to check when Fifa 10 and Modern Warfare 2 are out on the PS3, which means I will be locked in my room soon! I still have a week to wait for Fifa whilst the other one is out in about 3 weeks but luckily enough, I passed by the music section and saw the latest album from Empire of the Sun, which are one of Dawn's favourite bands so picked that up for her - hope she doesn't read this as it will spoil the surprise!

At around 12:00, I then went to the Empire, settled down and answered some emails before checking up on Mr Zimbler. Unfortunately, but good for me, not too many people where around so it was soon my turn to play him again. This time, with no disturbances, I was able to play my game and took it down! A moral boost for just a £20 donation!

Win a Free Seat to WSOPE Main Event

After that, it was just a matter of finding players to have a go with Paul and we did find some cool names such as Ian Frazer, JP Kelly himself, etc. Once that hassle was over, I then got to have a bit of lunch to tame my aggressive hunger! Richard and I then had a chance to follow some action and Howard Lederer seemed to be in charge of his table. Before you know it, Annette and ex-colleague Estelle show up which was a super surprise! After catching up, Annette then proceeded to play Paul Zimbler for the next 3 hours (wow) whilst Sorel, Stephan and I headed into a quiet café for a bottle of wine before dinner.

The conversation was good and it was funny to see Sorel flirt with the waitress, who was good looking and did seem to take an interest in him. She even went back to put on some make up and came back with shiny red lips (haha) Sorel practically fell in love on the spot and when I asked him to get her number, he quoted "I don't want to rush, this is a long term thing" - massive LOL

We then headed back to the Casino and met up with John and also waited a few minutes for Annette. Peter was still flying to London at the time so we had an almost full Team Betfair night out. Dinner was in order and a quick walk to Cocoon a few minutes later saw us order the first round of cocktails, non-alcoholic of course but friggin awesome.

Sorel then once again took charge of the food order and he did a great job once again. We had everything from duck, black cod, lobster, steak, chicken - you name it, we had it! Stephan then got us some really spicy cocktails which almost made me sick but John then ordered a vodka cocktail that quickly brought me back to my senses. After the main course, a cigarette and phone call to Dawn were in order and when I got back, dessert had just arrived which was really good!

Once again, I was omitted from the bill so Stephan, John and Sorel each played a weird game were each had 3 poker chips and after hiding them behind their backs, each brought out a fist and the one that guessed the correct amount of chips in fists got eliminated. First out was Sorel and then John which left Stephan (or Betfair) with the bill, which was really, really cheap compared to Nobu!

After dinner, Annette and Stephan went home whilst John, Sorel and I convinced the just-landed Jepsen to join us in a "pub" called Stringfellows (hehe) We then made it to the pub and funnily enough, every single member of staff knew John by name and we were given a VIP table at the downstairs lounge. No need to mention what was waiting for us but it was amazing.. At about 01:00, Peter then arrived and the look on his face was priceless!

And I quote "When the taxi dropped me, I thought this really was a nice place. When I went in, it looked even more impressive but when I got downstairs and saw a 100 women, I was like WTF?" Hehehe- I love my job! I then offered Peter an orange juice since the man mountain does not drink alcohol and John was busy still talking to staff and Sorel, well he was being Sorel!!

At around 02:30 Peter and I left John at the bar and took a bicycle cab home and called it a night. Tomorrow should be fun as Annette, Sorel and Peter all play the £5k PLO Event 3 and we also have the Final Five in the WSOPE Event 2. Till then, thanks for reading!