For some reason – known only to the Bad Mattress Fairy, or the Universal Hotel Gremlins, or possibly inner demons that fail to allow one to sleep, I managed to wake, drift off for a few moments of sleep – only to wake up again, over and over. It was brutal. I went to bed around midnight, just to make sure I was rested for TV Dealing Day and I couldn’t sleep. But then it’s been that way since I hit the island. And no…it wasn’t nervousness. I’ve never felt a twinge, shake, or quiver about being on TV. I just don’t sleep well away from home.

I called the Kids Across the Hall to see if they were up and around for food. Suzie had planned an outing for the dealers that would include a catamaran trip with shipwreck snorkeling, swimming, drinking, and whatever else popped into their minds while they were out at sea. Jim and Wayne would be rendezvousing down at the pier around 1 p.m. – with everyone else that was going. Jim answered my call and was ready for food. We trekked down to the same watering hole we’d stopped at numerous times before – where the iguanas gather and they wouldn’t serve us…no, not the iguanas – the people that work in food service. At 10:45 a.m., they are done with breakfast so the rest of the world has to be done with it too. We arrived there within a minute or two of the time clock but we were not going to be fed.

I knew I’d never even get through the first few hours if I didn’t have food. We hoofed further down the beachside and found a place that serves an ‘all you can eat’ breakfast buffet. We did eat there but it was our worst dining experiences and the food was really ugly. The omelets and hotcakes were made on order – we ordered them at the cooks counter – but the rest of it was on a buffet and filled with grease – it was brown and strange looking. UGH!!! Sticking to what we knew was freshly cooked; we ate and ran. My time schedule was really getting tight. When we hit the Azzurro Restaurant, Jim waited downstairs for me (by the beach). I had asked him to wait in case I wanted my picture taken with the WPT shirt on. The answer was NO! I waved at him from the 2nd floor and he went off to enjoy his day of sun and sea.

Barry suddenly remembered or someone helped him remember or something flashed by that told him he shouldn’t deal because he had a percentage of Robbie Border, one of the final six. Robbie used to deal with us at The Mirage and at Bellagio. And so did Barry. With Barry out of the dealing line-up, Janie was in. It would be three women and one man. I was first to deal; Steve would follow me, Janie, then Nikki.

Set make-up was going on in one section. I managed to miss it – kind of, sort of on purpose – but I watched other people sit through it. The crowd was lining up at the edge of the roped off area, putting them about 12 to 15 feet from the table. It was standing room only. Linda Johnson was instructing them on cheering for their player when their player won and groaning for their player when they lost. It was pretty funny to watch and listen to…the crowd got right into the heat of the moment.

The tournament was late getting started. The biggest worry is the sun, without it there may not be enough light; yet when it’s going down across the water, it burns a hole into your brain through your eyes. It was hot. There’s no way to describe the heat, no breeze (the windows all have mesh across them), body heat, lights, and the Aruba weather all roll into a recipe for inner core melt down. My clothes were soaked, my skin was eternally moist, but it was the only game in town and I was damn glad to be there. A glimpse of the action going on behind the scene:

I never dealt a hand that sent anyone packing. The only hand I dealt that had a ‘crowd effect’ was when Johan Storakers went all-in with the A-J of Clubs and Freddie held the A-4 of Spades. Freddie had Johann covered, the ‘drama of dealing’ was taking place, and the Flop was Q-Q-Q. The Turn card brought the case Q. The River was some small card and they were already dragging back their chips that were left in front of them.

I walked when I wasn’t dealing. A little Red Bull, lots of water, a bag of chips, and The Foyer at La Playa had comfortable chairs and a breeze – that’s where I spent most of my time on the two, one and a half hour breaks when I wasn’t in The Box and on deck and wired up for my next session. No…I wasn’t wired up from the Red Bull. A technician wired all the dealers (just before dealing) so we could be heard if Jack or Linda didn’t catch something in the action.

I found these Railbirds at La Playa.

The tournament ended up like this, finishing somewhere around 6:30ish p.m.

1) Freddie Deeb $1 million (includes $25,000 buy-in)
2) Josh Schlein $440,450
3) Johan Storakers $300,000
4) Devin Porter $200,000
5) Robbie Border $150,000
6) Stacy Matuson $100,000

The Bikini Team was on hand…mainly underfoot IMHO. Only one of these girls paid attention to the fact that they were supposed to be taking cold water and ice cold, damp towels to the players. Mostly they stood in the way, over on the side where the staff, dealers, website reporters, and WPT people were trying to get through. But they did do one thing quite well. They were great eye candy and they did their best work when they were brought out to block the sun when it became unbearable as it sank over the water.

I had been out on my third break and returned, ready to deal but the whole show ended when Freddie had Josh covered and Josh (obviously) lost the hand. The crowd was milling, the WPT aficionados were coming over to congratulate and get ready for their part in the toast and trophy presentation. The funniest part of this is that Josh is 20 years old, qualified online, lives in Maryland, and they wouldn’t allow him an actual drink in the toast. I snapped some pictures…lots of them actually, but this is the one I leave the scene on:

I think I almost crawled back to the Wyndham. It was like trekking through the desert, dying of dehydration, too hot to think, knowing that if I could just rip off my sweat drenched clothes and lay down for a few minutes with a glass of ice water, in the peaceful, air conditioned quiet of my room, I could possibly live to see tomorrow. While it may sound like a joke, it ain’t. I lost more body fluid in that seven-hour time span than the law allows…and I was doing continual intake. I did fall down on my bed for about an hour while I searched my brain to see if there was enough energy left there to power my body to the Award’s Banquet. Hell yes! Get up you lazy Turtle!

I called the Kids Across the Hall. No answer. I was sure they had docked around 6ish or so and were probably already at the banquet…so I freshened up and climbed into fresh duds, grabbed my camera and headed back to the Radisson.

I hit the food extravaganza and spotted the mermaids that were lolling around on the sidelines – what else could they do? They sure as hell couldn’t walk with those tails.

Jim found me, told me where Wayne was, they were shoveling food and drinking. I joined them as soon as I loaded up a plate. We visited briefly about the day’s events, theirs and mine. I took off to see who was where and take a few more pictures. I found this beauty visiting with a friend and asked her if she minded if I took her picture. She replied, “Please do.” D-A-M-N if she ain’t good for poker.

I cruised the food orgy, took more pictures, and went back to find the Kids Across the Hall. Sipu joined us. Left to right – Sipu, Jim, Wayne. Gee! They look so innocent here!

Jim went off in search of more food or something Caribbean, Wayne went to find more to drink, and I turned to Sipu and said, “Goodnight.”

I’d had it. I was still overly warm, the pool at the Wyndham sounded so damn good, and that’s where I headed – swimming, then sleep. It was the first time I’d cooled down all day.

Wayne’s flight was leaving very early. I think the Kids Across the Hall just stayed up all night. They said the knocked quietly on my door around 3 a.m. Funny…that’s about the time I woke up. I worked on an Aruba Report post, heard doors across the hall closing, and noise in the hall. When I trekked to the frig for more water, I found the note Wayne had slid under the door, telling me Bon Voyage, c u in a few days in Vegas.

Jim would be moving into my room later today, we would be ‘roomies’ for the next few days and do some island touring…but for now…Snoozle Time. Snoozle Time? That’s a shortie nap – not as long as Sand Woman Land.