When i booked my recent vacation to Vegas i looked for a hotel with large, comfortable rooms - the Aladdin fit the bill. Fortunately, the 1/2 no limit cash game at the Aladdin almost foot the bill for the whole trip.

Aladdin’s poker room is located up an escalator in a room seperate from the main casino. Because of this, i feared that the tourists who normally drop into a poker room –simply because they walk by it on the main casino floor– would not bother to sit down and give away their cash. Fortunately, i was dead wrong.

After watching five hands go by with no pre-flop raises i knew it would be a good night. Eight weak-tight players and one clueless calling station with a roll of $100 bills made my vacation. It’s a shame there aren’t more games in which you can see every hand for $2 against players who can’t get off top pair.

Another good place to play 1/2 no limit is Tropicana. I assume locals wouldn’t bother playing there because the room is so small and pathetic looking. The rakes are also somewhat higher. However, the Trop poker room seems to be a magnet for drunk tourists. After watching one guy in a designer suit piss away $300 (all the while slurring his words, hitting on the waitress, and trying to order burritos for the table) i knew this game was gold. After he raised to $40 pre-flop i looked down to find QQ on the button. After re-raising to $100 he called and showed down J8 offsuit??? After busting out again, the guy pulled out a 6 inch knife and stabbed it into the table! Security was called, but fortunately Crocodile Dundee left without wounding anyone.

Next time you’re in Vegas and want to make some easy cash, drop by Aladdin or Tropicana between 12am-5am. Play tight and aggressive and pay for your trip. Cirque du Soleil, filet mignon and lobster are much more enjoyable when you know some yahoo with a knife payed for them.

Winding down my year, I can

I hope everyone is enjoying a safe and happy holiday season! On Thursday I returned to Las Vegas after a nine day trip to my hometown of Titusville, PA, courtesy of my thoughtful and amazing girlfriend Beth! Those who know me know that I absolutely despise Las Vegas during the month of December, with the exception of New Year’s Eve of course; the novelty of toothless drug addicts in Santa hats, $400 Christmas trees and decorative lights on palm trees and cacti has simply worn off. I needed to be home for Christmas and thankfully I was.

My stay in T-Vegas, a nickname given to Titusville by its most recent generation of young adults due to the city’s dissimilarities to the real Vegas, was loaded with good food, family, board games, bad weather, a lot of laziness, and as always, a poker game with the usual suspects. My dad summoned the old crew, and we played a $40 sit’n'go on Thursday night - I took third. It was great to spend some time reminiscing with the guys who sparked my enthusiasm for the game of poker. Imagine a home game filled with guys toting nicknames like MamaLuc (pronounced ooch), Raymone, Edgar or “The Lawyer,” Junior, Senior, The Banker, and the Fonz. I promised them that if I ever make a final table at the World Series, I’d fly each one of them out to Vegas for the occasion - the producers at ESPN would be glad that I did.

Now that my vacation from Vegas is over, I’m getting ready to get back into the swing of things. Check back soon for more dirt direct from Sin City as I brush the dust off my keyboard and get back to work.

Be safe and enjoy the new year!

GG

The awkward gap between Christmas and New Year

Hey guys,

Sorry the site has been a little slow with the updates of late. Wisehandpoker.com operates off a small staff, and even our tireless guys needed a break come Christmas time. Hope everyone else’s were happy and healthy, we’ll be getting back into the swing of things shortly. All the best,

Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com

The final table at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic was a huge success. Joseph Hachem (my draft pick, by the way) took down the title at an exciting table that also featured Daniel Negreanu. As a result the World Poker Tour website broke traffic records once again. After things finished up at the taping I grabbed a catered box lunch, some free beers and headed up to my room to re-group for the evening. Gary Wise and I joined Tony from our coverage team for some pre-party drinks in his room as we watched the fountains from the 18th floor of the Bellagio. We then headed down to Donatello ballroom 3 for the WPT

Hey guys,

Its 8:46 AM and I just finished working all night on a cover piece for Bluff Magazine. Vegas was great, but to tell you about it now wouldn’t do it justice. I’m going to bed. Hope everyone enjoyed the World Poker Tour coverage this week. It was a great tournament. You’ll be hearing from me tomorrow,

Gary Wise
gary@wisehandpoker.com

The latest World Poker Tour tournament has reached its final table, which will be played tonight. I find it a little ironic that two big names players are there.

The first is chip leader Daniel Negreanu. He did not keep it a secret that he did not like the structure of the WPT event at Foxwoods. What do you know? The very next WPT event is held at the Bellagio, which is known to have great tournament structures. Negreanu himself mentioned how he loved the structure of this tournament. Well, he got in the tournament with the structure he wanted and it has paid off so far.

The next player is 2005 World Champion Joe Hachem. He is part of the group of pros that is suing the WPT. None of those players have played a WPT event since the lawsuit, till now. Hachem showed up on Day One and has been coming back every day to keep playing. I find it a little ironic that the first person from that group to return makes the final table and will be considered one of the favorites to win. Hachem has declined to comment on why he decided to play. No matter what the reason is, I am glad to see him back.

Several months ago, I spent some time interviewing Daniel Negreanu. I must say that he was very gracious, giving me as much time as I desired for the chat and answering all of my questions with unabashed honesty. He welcomed me into his home, while his assistant Patti worked in the kitchen, his wife Lori came and went to run errands, and his dog Mushu tried to figure out who I was and how long I would be intruding on his territory. It may sound chaotic, but it was one of the most relaxed interviews I

This past Friday night, the World Poker Tour hosted a player appreciation party at the ultra-hip Bellagio nightclub, Light. All the players, media and our WPT crew were invited and I was excited to blow off some steam for the evening. Gary and I had to write like madmen in order to finish our various daily recap articles and make it over to Light by the 10:30 P.M. start time, but we made it just fine.

Even though we were armed with WPT press passes and Light VIP passes we managed to get stranded in line for a few minutes. I love Vegas, and the fact that if you are an unaccompanied male waiting in line at a club you are treated like the scum of the earth by rude bouncers. Good times. I was shocked at one point to see that they sent Ted Forrest (a man who likely has $1 million sitting in a safety deposit box of the casino