The world is on fire with poker, one tournament starts, one ends, some of them overlap and everyone seems to be in ‘tournament frenzy’ mode. It’s just a matter of where you want to play or be today. And if there isn’t a major tournament going on, you’ll find daily and weekly tournaments in almost every poker room on Earth, and don’t forget all of the free rolls – they are everywhere. In case you’re fresh out of casinos in your area and your pals refuse to come to your home game anymore because you’re too tough, visit this page – a tournament’s just a click away.
I made a run to Mandalay Bay this afternoon to visit Jack Gallery where a poker art exhibition is taking place. Some of the poker greats were there on Friday night for opening…wine tasting was part of the fare. Why the hell didn’t I make it? Especially when wine was involved. Well…I had to hang with my buddy Riot and he’s a lot more important. But other than the temperature outside today – today was just as good as Friday – minus the wine:
Amy and Greg were meeting me there. Amy arrived first and just as I was visiting with Leah Murawsky, National Director of Staff Development, and introducing Leah to Amy, who should appear? Amarillo Slim, of course, and he was more than quick to accept my request for a picture of him with a beautiful young lady. Amy meet Slim. Slim – Slim – SLIM LET GO OF HER, DAMN IT! *laughing*
More info on the art gallery will be appearing in an article on the main page of PokerWorks soon.
Slim was pretty funny, he quipped that he loved all the women in the poker games because it was the only place he could beat a woman and not go to jail for it. He had Amy giggling all the time he was trying to keep her from escaping his clutches. He loves the ladies and they love him – I caught him in this photo with three of them giggling and laughing with him, later, in the casino:
Greg, Amy, and I drifted over to the poker area. The first day of the final event of The Mandalay Bay Championships was in full swing. The tournament area is set up right outside the poker room – in a section of the pit/slots that has been temporarily removed. There were a kazillion familiar faces at the tables – dealers and players alike. Some of our regular room dealers at Bellagio were dealing this event.
We milled around the outside of the area and visited with people here and there as we ‘milled’. No flash allowed on picture taking – I got a few shots of famous people in ‘night shot’. I love night shot. It’s almost a grayscale format but not quite as harsh…except in a completely black setting (no light at all). In that setting it has a tendency to show a person’s (or animal) eyes as luminous silver orbs…freaky!
Night Shot and a long ways from Daniel Negreanu:
More Night Shot and Liz Lieu:
And Phil Ivey:
One of my favorite people – and one of the zaniest, most unorthodox people I’ve ever met – always has me laughing whether I’m dealing to him or just strolling by – is Jim Meehan AKA Silent Bob. He’s a chain smoker so it was easy to catch him out on a break while he was playing ‘chatty Cathy’ and talked nonstop until I got ready to take his photo. Check out this pose:
We found Jason Kirk hard at work in the ‘press’ section of the tournament. I got a huge hug and warm welcome…nice!
A few more spins around the arena and I was a gone goose. I told Greg and Amy goodbye and then went to find the Silver Steed that was out somewhere in ‘convention center parking land’. I tried to get lost but it didn’t work, it was just a helluva long walk and extremely hot.
Back to work tomorrow…hopefully I can plant my tush in the dealer’s box and laugh all the way through the night.