WSOP / Editor / 06 July 2010 /

As the clock showed 07:15, flight KM100 from Malta to Heathrow took off and a few hours later, yours truly found himself in London and eager to set foot on yet another plane but we had a few hours to kill. A stop at Hyde Park and a great time later, we then took a taxi to Gatwick (as the Gatwick Express was shut down for maintenance) and soon were on our eleven-hour journey to Las Vegas!

The flight was great and I have to say how fun it was to finally get a chance to read and relax as the last few weeks have been uber hectic with the build up to our Package for the WSOP. At 14:15 local time, we were at McCarran airport and after the usual security checks and baggage claims, we were in a taxi on our way to the Wynn.

On the way there, I switched on my Blackberry and a million emails distracted my attention as we made our way to the hotel. Once there, we unpacked our suitcases and took a nap and before you know it, the 20:00 alarm when off and we got ready for the Betfair Poker Team dinner. The Botero restaurant at the Wynn itself was booked and might I say the dinner was a huge success and everybody had loads of fun!

Unfortunately, jetlag took its toll and we had to bail around midnight but having seen some players around 08:00 the next day still enjoying the night out, I was reassured that everyone was happy. The 5th of July meant Day 1A of the Main Event was upon us and 5 Betfair Poker qualifiers would be hitting the felt. After contacting all the players in the morning, we headed to the breakfast place at the Wynn and had a good meal before going to the Fashion Mall and providing a tour to my better half. Come 11:00, we hailed a taxi and went to the Rio to be greeted with the great feeling an epic tournament brings with it. We met all the players and made sure all were branded and then chucked down a pint of coffee to keep me alert!

As the tournament started, we went to the media room to collect the Press Passes and searched for our players to take photos, a few Twitter updates, etc. By 15:00, we were still tired and jetlag was not yet out of our system and thankfully, Richard and two more colleagues showed up to take over and we made our way back to the hotel to rest.

A meeting had been planned between all attending Betfair staff at 18:00 to discuss strategies, shift patterns, etc so we all met up and an hour later, everybody left knowing exactly what needs to be done. My next shift was to be on the morning of Day 1B to ensure the 8 players get everything they need. However, before all that, we had a very special reunion dinner to attend as Dawn and I were invited to meet up with my good friend Barry Woods, his wife Diane, poker announcer David Tuchman, Betfair Pro John Tabatabai and his good friend Joshua, sporting a motorised wheelchair (which can be seen in John's new video blog here)

Dinner at Switch at the Encore was great and we made our way back to the hotel room around 01:00 to hopefully sleep. Of course, this was wishful thinking and by 05:00, we were at the poker room at the Wynn making some money. Thankfully, the early bird really does catch the worms - lol.

It's now 09:00 and we are about to leave for breakfast and start another great day at the Rio and hopefully, some fantastic results for our players!

Take care,

The Vegas Virgin

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