News / Dave Allan / 05 July 2009 / Leave a comment

Simon Zammit continues his story of working behind the scenes for a major online poker room at the WSOP wrapping up Day 2 and geting stuck into work on Day 3.

I met up with Amy and Richard at the East Cafe at the Encore around 20:00 last night and we started to receive our guests, a few journalists and another colleague, Robert. The most amazing waitress ever (according to some) came up to us and took the order of pre-dinner drinks and everyone from GQ Magazine, The Sun, Corriere Della Sera, London Paper, etc started to get acquainted.

Just after an hour, we decided to go for dinner inside the hotel itself as most of us had flown in yesterday and were suffering from jetlag. By that time, everyone was happily conversing with each other so every one of us was having a good time, which was the whole point of this dinner. The food was amazing and the portions could have fed twice the amount of people at the table. My fillet steak was cooked to perfection and we all were full to the brim.

By the time we finished eating, the clock marked 23:30 and most of us decided to call it a night in order to be as fresh as possible for the next day. The bed has got to be the most comfortable one I slept in ever but my internal clock hadn't adjusted to the time zone yet so I woke up bright and early, 05:00! The funny thing is Amy and Paul were already up as well.

We all met at the main reception area around 10:00 for breakfast. I was feeling good but a few of our guests couldn't hide the fact that they had a late one. We headed over to the famous Peppermill Diner and had what was possibly the unhealthiest yet filling breakfast ever! It's not every day you get to eat pork and spinach filling on a bagel and omelette bed:)

We finished from the meal around 11:30 and headed off to Downtown Las Vegas and learn about the history of Sin City. Our first destination was Binion's - the original home of the World Series of Poker. All of us appreciated how much the game and players have changed after having a look at the pictures of all previous Main Event Bracelet winners. We then proceeded to walk down memory lane, i.e. the old version of "The Strip" - going into the California Hotel, Golden Nugget, etc. A silly competition was held when everyone was given $5 and had to return with the cheesiest and most ridiculous souvenir possible. Amy and I each bought really silly sunglasses whilst the rest chose key chains, statues or fridge magnets.

Time started to fly and before we knew it, 13:30 had arrived so we hopped into a couple of taxis and headed towards the Rio. The sheer amount of people getting in and out of the building was astonishing and we all headed towards the Rotunda, which hosts the Betfair Stunt for the Cardstacker. We couldn't disturb him but the progress he has made is amazing. Having taken a ten minute break to get some juice or water, we all headed into the Poker Expo and toured the various displays available, including Betfair's own London Bus.

Richard, Amy and the journalists then proceeded to listen to a presentation regarding the history of the WSOP and Vegas itself whilst I ran off to meet and greet the first arrival from our Pro's, Peter Jepsen. After a quick catch up, I took him to the presentation and then rushed off to meet Sorel Mizzi. This was actually a bit funny as we were speaking on the phone trying to find one another when we were literally two feet behind each other:)

After the presentation, our two Pro's stayed to answer various questions raised by the journalists and both of them took their time to answer each one in detail. I had to leave half way though as Amy and I had to go meet up with Annette. After waiting for a scheduled interview with Sky, we then went to the Betfair Bus to meet the rest of the group and had another interview session over there. After the journalists left, Team Betfair and the New Breed sat down to discuss how the Vegas experience is going so far and also discussed more potential meetings during our stay.

The time is now 18:45 and I have to meet everyone in thirty minutes so to round up tonight's plan, we are first going out to dinner at the Venetian followed by a poker tournament at Treasure Island. Finally, since it is Independence Day here in the USA, we shall be going to the Playboy Club for some good old fun!

Till tomorrow's blog, I thank you for reading!

Tales of a Vegas Virgin Part One - The Intro
Tales of a Vegas Virgin Part Two - Destination London
Tales of a Vegas Virgin Part Three - The Real Adventure Begins