Check these beauties out. They were hovering behind the glass at Shintaro where I met Tony G. for dinner. No we didn’t eat them. That was Sunday night but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Saturday evening/night was spent with my Pan buddies and buddettes. We started with four, expecting two others later and the way it turned out, we played in shifts because everyone couldn’t/didn’t get there at the same time.

A few hours after we started, Chad had to leave for his shift at MGM. Carole and Gordon were almost on the no call, no show list along about 9:30 so we switched to Big Deuce. I’ve played it a few times on the internet but it’s much more fun live.

Carole and Gordon showed late, about 11 p.m. Carole opted to take the extra hand and we played for about an hour while Gordon sat behind me and we all jabbered about the events of the last few weeks. Hey, these games are therapy. We get together and graze, all night long, on a assortment of foods and snacks that we all bring. Oh…don’t forget the wine…some of us drink too.

Wayne had to bail at midnight…his day job at the Palms was taking precedence over us playing cards all night…can you imagine???? The nerve.

After Gordon and Carole left, Vivienne and I went out to light a fire in the chimenea and enjoy the peace and calm of the night. There aren’t enough words in the world to describe a good friend and time shared…

Sunday night found me at Bellagio meeting Tony G. We got on the list for the Sushi Bar and while we were waiting – talk it up time. We ran through websites, blogs, his play, some of the players that passed us and said “hello”, the tournaments, and in particular the Paris WPT showing.

I asked if the Paris dealers ever said anything. Tony said no, they never talk.

I told him that if I had been dealing while he was going through some of his antics, I would have fallen out of my chair laughing. Our chuckling comaraderie turned into full scale laughter when I told him that I found it very entertaining that he threatened to bust them all and then when they went bust, he jumped up and sincerely wanted to console them.

After we were seated at the Sushi Bar, we were continuously interrupted with people passing in and out of the restaurant that wanted to visit with Tony…not tourists but other players. I found the meal, the conversation, and the experience to be quite memorable.

So here we are, outside Shintaro, where a passing tourist offered to take our picture with my camera

*****

The WPT $25,000 + $500 Buy-in NLH Championship started today with 452 Entries. Total Prize pool – $10,961,000. Things should be quieting down when I return to the Poker Pit on Tuesday night. It might even resemble the kind of order and sanity that made it my home away from home. Whew! That would be sweet!

*****

Look for big changes at PokerWorks.Com soon. It’s going to be a hell-uv-a ride…especially for me. An overall facelift, lots of information, and Poker-Poker-Poker.