Destruction could apply to everything we witness on a daily basis in life. It applies to more than one thing during the course of this post.

Bellagio’s Fourth Annual Five Star Tournament is winding down. There was a helluva lot of destruction going on in these events…dreams of aspiring wannabes…chip stacks of leaders in tournaments…side game wars that depleted the pockets of more than one player…and the list goes on. Life is always about destruction. Hopefully, out of all of it, we find a way to reconstruct and remove the obstacles created by the destruction so we can improve self and life.

On Bellagio’s Final Event – out of a field of 604 entrants paying $25,000 plus to do battle at the Green Felt (and yes, everyone’s aware that a lot of them got there through satellites) – there are six left. They square off in front of the WPT Cameras tomorrow. Those six are:

5 James Van Alstyne Las Vegas, NV 8,070,000
1 Joe Bartholdi San Diego, CA 7,135,000
4 Claus Nielson Las Vegas, NV 5,875,000
6 David Matthew Toronto, Canada 5,765,000
2(B) Roland de Wolfe London, England 1,860,000
3 Men Nguyen Bell Gardens, CA 1,490,000

The prize pool for those six:

1st $3,760,165*
2nd $1,903,950
3rd $1,025,205
4th $659,120
5th $439,375
6th $292,915

*And first place receives a $25,000 + seat in next year’s event.

D-A-M-N! Nice pay day kids…and way to destroy all your opponents to get there.

For me, it means that the poker world will slip into a lighter vein at Bellagio. I need this. I hate tournaments. But I’ve said all of that before and I don’t want to restate old hash.

I recently had this profound thought when I saw graffiti splashed all over a fence by a tire repair/replacement shop that is open 24 hours a day – “Everyone has a statement to make. We just don’t all do it with words.” If I’m stealing that from someone – it must be a collective thought thing…you know…where eight of us think it at the same time from different parts of the world? And if I am stealing it, I apologize. Please send me a note and let me know who you are and where you first published it and I will give you credit. If not, I stake claim to it now.

But let’s get back to destruction. I have a wonderful friend that lives in black holes created by him. The depth and darkness of the hole changes at times – yet it always opens back up to swallow and consume him and he flails in its darkness rather than forcing himself to step out into the sunshine. He has such a great sense of humor, such wonderful depth as a universal soul tender, and is infinitely wise, yet he chooses to live in the blackness that pulls at him all of the time. For that part of his existence, I truly am sorry. For his sharing his laughter, his universal touch of the soul, and his wisdom, I am eternally grateful that I’ve been allowed a glimpse of his greatness. He would argue that point – his greatness – but he is great, he just chooses not to see that side of himself. I love him very much! He is one of the treasures of my life. Lest I embarrass him by a public acknowledgement of how much he means to me, I defer naming. And I gave up trying to be a nurse many years ago…band aids won’t cure what ails most of us.

And on to more destruction. Soon the Boardwalk will be no more…it is a shadow of itself now. One can look through the floor levels and see New York New York and MGM Grand.

Soon this happy clown face that has graced the strip – for how many years? – will no longer be there. Such is the way of life in Vegas, if you can’t lift it or make it better by plastic surgery – move over because someone else is taking your job OR let’s blow it up and build something bigger and better that costs a ton of money. History – ain’t no such thing in Vegas…except in the thoughts of those that remember.

And moving past destruction – I spent my time off – away from the Poker Rooms of Vegas, enjoying life with friends, family, and playing online…of course I have to play. I’m a poker slut, remember. I played mainly on PartyPoker.

Saturday night was not the usual ‘tour Vegas poker rooms’ night for the Pan Crew. We had an invite to Gary and Marie’s place to play cards and ‘graze’. Man did we graze! They laid out an incredible spread of food and a few of us brought a few more items. My brother and his wife that live in N. Idaho, Kevin and Gayl, had made wine for our family reunion two years ago. I had my bottle, packed it with me for the last ‘almost’ two years, and decided that if it was going to be any good, it had to be opened. I took it to the gathering. OMG! It was wonderful! Peach Chardonnay. I was almost sorry that I didn’t just open it at home and drink the whole damn bottle myself.

The players were: Gary and Marie – hostess with the mostest, Mike – Gary’s son that was also an attendee of one of my dealing classes (he works at The IP now), Amy and Greg – love those two kids (and Amy started a Blog), Greg has one but never, ever, ever, look for an update, Me – used to be the hostess with the mostest, Suzanne – almost made it to other gatherings but always had to work (she plays NLH at Bellagio and other places in town), and Wayne – Palms dealer extraordinaire.

Since most of the rest of us have been previewed by photo on these pages, the two new faces are Mike (and as bizarre as it may seem, I actually dealt poker to him in MT but I don’t remember him and I doubt that he remembers me):

And Suzanne – she’s a beauty. Not only in the photo but what a great personality.

We played dealer’s choice – the dealer chose the game and that game played out through a round of the table. Everyone dealt their own, we managed to continue to feed, drink, and play cards for hours. I had a great time. I ate too much, didn’t drink enough, may have won a $ but I honestly don’t remember. I do know that I felt a slight nudge of guilt about walking out the door and leaving the mass of food that covered the counter – without helping to clean up or take any of it home. But for me to take food home is a lost cause – it would sit at my house for a day or so and then go in the garbage anyway…better that Marie throw it in the garbage than me to have to cart it home and do the same thing.

And BTW, the view from their place is just down right damned incredible.

We’ve opted to change this coming week’s ‘the Pan Game Plays Vegas’ to Sunday night instead of Saturday. We will be convening at TI. That’s Marie’s pick. If any of you Vegas kids are out and about and want to drop in and play or say ‘hi’…please do.

*****

Greg made a DVD of the Aruba/Ultimate Bet WPT event that I dealt in 2005. OMG! I couldn’t believe how much of it I was actually in – right out of the chute and in a lot of other shots. Great fodder for the grandkids when they act all uppity…I can tell them I was on TV.

*****

I’m itching for a road trip. The hang-up is the sale of Hyman Place. As soon as that happens, it will be much easier to ‘unstructure’ my life.

*****

I leave destruction behind for now – I choose to move forward to better days and brighter lights.