After a strange week of no rest and confused frustration, tamped down with irritation, double doses of ‘nothing is going as it should’, sprinkle daylight glare and heat over the top of everything, bake in the heart of molten lava for two months, then simmer while pouring in mega doses of ‘Kee-rist!’, served in tidal waves; I finally made it back to the Rio and Poker Land USA.*Begin sidetrack*

Some of you may have noticed that Michael Craig’s Journal entries are no longer part of Table Tango. That is because he now has his own blog. You will find his posts here.

*End sidetrack*

Soon, I will return to the Blogger convention in Vegas last week. But today, I wanted to slam up some photostaken at the Rio last night.

I found Annie Duke in the convention center hallway, looking stunningly attractive as usual,signing shirts or hats or something for a couple of admirers, and having her picture taken with them.

Wehad a hug and a brief visit. I, of course, asked her how she was doing…dumb butt. She exclaimed, “Oh…you mean placing on the bubble in every tournament?”

Ouch! She was running on no sleep – and playing in today’s event. She said, “It’s a landmine field for me. Because everyone wants to be a genius against me.” She went on to tell me about some of the hands and situations in the games she’d been playing in, and expressed again how little sleep she’d gotten. I noticed a gent, over her shoulder, waiting, with T-shirt in hand, for a signature. I wished her luck… This shot is taken later.

Wow! Look at these beauties. They are moving continuously through the aisles of poker tables and the convention area, handing out poker chips – no value – and promoting beer. They even explain where you can go to a booth/room and drink beer, play pool, etc. The beer is what they are pushing but in my opinion, these are Milwaukee’s Best:

Harry Demetriou was playing in the $2,500 six max tournament when I hit the room. They were down to two tables. Harry’s a long time poker buddy and likes to tell the story of how the first hand I ever dealt him, gave him a flopped full house, Aces over, (he held A-A), and he lost the hand. Kee-rist! Memories!!! He likes me anyway. 🙂

I found Ben Roberts seated in a cash game. He’s one of the most gracious players I’ve ever dealt to. He’s also friendly, remembers my name, and always has a ‘hello’ for me. That goes a long way with me in the poker world. His greeting me has nothing to do with how his poker play is going. Sweet!

These two were seated beside each other in a cash game – David Sklansky:

Greg Raymer – and if he isn’t one of the best things that ever happened to the poker industry, I don’t know what is. He’s so calm, so gracious, and so ‘user friendly’.

The H.O.R.S.E final table was getting ready to crank off. There are ‘spectator stands’ set up around the show, but since I have a media pass on, I can’t sit in that area. Only Card Player Media is allowed in there. I suppose I could hide my media badge and take a seat but why? I don’t want to jeopardize my pass by doing something stooopid. And I don’t want to sit there for the entire show either…so It’s tough to take any pictures of anything from that distance but I managed a few that I liked. Robert Williamson III was the Grand Marshal or speaker or something. The Show started late and when it did, Robert announced each player individually. Before the event even began to crank up, all of the players entered the roped off area to be wired for sound and get ready to set up. When Doyle entered the area, he received a huge round of applause. Nice! This is a long distant shot of the back of Chip Reese’s head and Doyle’s profile.

And Chip won this event. Many long hours after I had taken this shot of Andy Bloch, runner up in the event. Hang on to that cowboy hat, Andy.

C U there!