News / Dave Allan / 12 July 2009 / Leave a comment

Time is nearly up for our intrepid blogger Simon Zammit in Las Vegas but he still has a few last tales to tell about Vegas nightlife and, of course, the World Series of Poker.

Team Betfair at WSOP 2009 started amassing at the Encore lobby around 20:00 where Paul, Rob and I greeted a group of around eight players for a treat. As soon as everybody was accounted for, we took a taxi and headed towards Paris in order to see "Hypnotist of the Year", Anthony Cool.

On the way there and at the bar prior to the show, I continued getting to know the players who are a really cool bunch. Just before the 21:00 start, we made our way into the theatre and sat down right at the front. The sign on the door read "Attention - Mature Audiences Only - Crude Humour Warning" which through my eyes meant it will be a good show, and I wasn't disappointed.

As soon as the lights went dim, three beautiful girls came out to introduce the performer and also asked the crowd to not be offended by the amount of curse words used. The time finally came and Mr Cool was on the stage and picking out some of the audience and brought them on stage. The first twenty minutes were quite interesting as he goes through the entire process of turning the guests from "normal state" into "hypnotic state".

I couldn't believe me eyes as each one fell asleep instantly by the touch of his hand on their head and as soon as all the participants were fast asleep, he turned his head and smiled. He made people believe the person next to them farted constantly, had a particular woman think she had three breasts, the other playing a violin, etc. a particular one under his "spell" was actually a member of Team Betfair and we couldn't stop laughing when he played tricks on him in particular.

Of course, half-way through the show the subject turned quite adult and he made people believe he was naked, think they were auditioning for a porn movie, or thinking they were strippers. It was advertised as being one of the best shows in Vegas and I couldn't agree more. This brings me to the subject of the Top 5 shows one needs to see whilst staying here.

In my opinion, The Anthony Cool Experience has to be top of the list as it actually involves the audience the entire show. Number two actually is at the Wynn and is called La Reve - an amazing performance by dancers that involve a lot of colour, synchronised swimming, a moving soundtrack and everything else you expect from a top notch attraction.

Anyone familiar with the show "Girls of the Playboy Mansion" will surely know Holly Madison, who is the star of the new, uncensored and topless performance, Peep Show. Taking place in Planet Hollywood, this show is a must according to people who I met and had actually went there so it is hard to ignore the opinion of many!

The Colosseum at Caesars Palace will host, for two nights only, the one and only (and one of my all time favourites) Jeff Dunham and his team of puppets, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Walter, Peanut and Jose in the new show, Spark of Insanity. He is truly one of the best ventriloquists in the world and I have to recommend watching this performance if you are in Vegas at the moment.

"Ka" by Cirque de Soleil has to be included and is hosted at the MGM Theatre. I have only seen flyers but one of my colleagues has been to the show himself and told me it was one of the most amazing trapeze and martial arts show ever! Of course, hundreds of shows are available in Las Vegas so just to make sure I mention something for everyone's tastes, here is a mention for another five great shows:

1) The Beatles, "Love" by Cirque de Soleil - MGM
2) The Lion King - Mandalay Bay
3) Phantom - Venetian
4) Carmen Electra - MGM
5) George Wallace - Flamingo

The World Series of Poker

I woke up this morning with an excited but also sad feeling. Day 3 was to kick off today and aside from Sorel and Peter, about eight other members of Team Betfair were remaining. Unfortunately though, today was to be my last full day in Las Vegas as I will fly off across the ocean at 16:50 local time..

Rob and Paul were still asleep early this morning so I had breakfast on my own and had a think about my trip so far and what hopefully will be a good day for our players. Around 11:00 I was joined by my colleagues and Craig, alias Hangman, who was unfortunately knocked out but wanted to come along and support Kevin, alias E V V O; another player I am glad to have gotten to know.

As we arrived at the door to the Rio Convention Centre, I could already feel that the atmosphere around us was tense and exciting. Play had just started to it took almost an hour to find out where everyone was sitting. The first player I met was Peter Jepsen who had just unluckily lost an 80,000 pot, taking him down to just over 40,000. The player to his left was a famous TV actor who had gotten lucky once, amassed a lot of chips and was bleeding them to everyone else at the table, which was frustrating to say the least.

I stuck with Peter for a while and left him do his thing when he climbed back to about 60,000 chips. Sorel was the next player I visited and I was glad to see that bad luck did not make an appearance here too. Sorel seemed quite happy with his table, even though the Devilfish himself, David Ulliott was also sitting there. With about 170,000 sitting in front of him, Rob and I were both confident that Sorel's aggressiveness would be an advantage and before you know it, he was up to just over 340,000 after having his set of 10's called by pocket Queens.

I then heard a dealer mention "All In and Call" from Peter's table and after rushing there, I was discussed to see the actor suck out again and knocking out our Pro. As Peter and I strolled out, shoulders down, of the tournament arena, I could see the sheer frustration and disappointment in his eyes and all I could do was wish him luck for the European master class, WSOPE, which is just round the corner. Peter is to head back home tomorrow as Vegas isn't looking to nice for him at the moment so have a safe journey my friend!

I then met with Paul and started to look for members of Team Betfair who thankfully are getting what they deserve; an increasing chip stack! One of the Portuguese players, TC Moreira had even reached 410,000 before settling at about 330,000 by the time I left him. Kevin (E V V O) was sitting with about 110,000 by the time I got there and also was on the same table as Chris, host of a Canadian poker radio program and also part of Team Betfair.

Unfortunately, Chris' Pocket Aces were out-rivered by a set of Pocket Kings and was left with just over 10,000. Thankfully, he soon climbed up to about 30,000 and is still fighting for survival as I write this blog. Other players from our contingent were also doing well but the sheer size and amount of players at the Rio makes it hard to keep track of everyone, especially since tables were being broken and players moved!

At about 19:15, Rob, Paul, Craig and I went back to the hotel and I am now getting ready to go out as tonight is my official sending off, which should be interesting. I will be busy packing tomorrow morning so will not be at the Rio but will keep in touch to make sure I know who is still in. Till the next chapter, have a nice day and thanks as always for reading!