Jennifer Newell

I live in L.A., and it has been a bit warm here over the past week or so. While I live in the West L.A. area - not the baking hot Valley - it's still been hot and those of us who have air conditioners have been running them more often than usual. The electric companies have been warning us to keep it to a minimum because they run out of electricity, the details of which baffle me every year. Anyway, even though it was cooler today, we reached our power peak.

At 6:30pm tonight, our power went off. Poof. Gone.

Ummm, I lost all sense of my routine. No internet access. No power to recharge my computer or cell phone. No TV, which meant no news programs or poker shows.

I wandered outside to chat with neighbors, some of whom I had never met before. We gathered our liquor products and proceeded to sit in our usually empty courtyard. We lit candles and sat under the slightly overcast L.A. sky with a slight breeze, just chatting away. It was actually one of the most pleasant nights I've had in my 8 1/2 years here!

And just before 10pm, the power came on. Within moments, we scattered into our apartments and called it a night. I checked my e-mail and turned on the TV. (In my time away from the world, I missed the fact that Luciano Pavarotti died. Sad.)

All is right with the world again. Nothing will happen in the poker world - or the rest of the world for that matter - without me knowing about it. Ahhhhhh.

Another WPT champion - a Legend no less - has been crowned, and it is Dan Harrington. Fitting, wouldn't you say?

I attended the taping of the final table as a spectator instead of a reporter, and I was so glad that I did. The members of the media were sitting around before play began wondering where they were allowed to go, what their access was going to be, and how they were going to provide sufficient coverage. Honestly, I don't know how it turned out because I went into spectator-mode.

I met up with Tom Schneider's wife, Julie, and a group of their friends and family members. We had an absolutely great time watching the final table. Tom has a fabulous group of supporters in his corner, and I felt lucky to be in their company last night.

A few hours into play, we discovered (okay, he was hard to ignore) a drunk spectator behind us who kept yelling instructions to Dan Harrington. "Raise, Dan..... Harrington!" Obviously, he didn't know Dan, and we were highly amused by the antics. A little while later, said drunk guy was actually being taken from the casino in a wheelchair with vomit on his shirt and in a nearly catatonic state. Lovely.

Tom ended up finishing fourth though he came in as the chip leader. He just couldn't get that usual momentum going, and he was definitely disappointed. My take on it, however, was that this was an incredible showing. After winning two bracelets out of three final tables at the WSOP, capturing the WSOP Player of the Year honors, he makes the WPT final table in the first event he plays since the WSOP. And this was his second WPT final table in less than two years. Ummm, if the entire poker world doesn't take notice of this guy, I don't know what game they're paying attention to.

We left the final table after Tom's elimination and went across the street for dinner. It was a good time - fun conversation and even a short tutorial on Chinese poker. Robert Goldfarb (15th place finisher in the Legends main event) taught me the basics, and though our food came and disrupted the game, I'm anxious to play more in the future. I finally see the attraction to the game, and with a little practice, I'll be ready to lose money to any and all challengers.

When I returned home late last night, I saw that Dan Harrington won the event. The heads-up match between David Pham and Dan lasted quite a few hours; both of them truly wanted to win that title. I know that David has made numerous WPT final tables and wanted to win one more than most people I've talked to in poker, but it wasn't meant to be last night. At the same time, it's difficult not to be happy for Dan - so respected in the poker community and so deserving of a WPT title.

I don't think I'll be returning to the Bike for the WPT Ladies Night event tonight, as I have a ton of work on my plate, and traffic to get over there is just a complete bitch. I don't think I have the energy for it, and my car is begging me not to do it. So, no more craziness from the Bike for the time being...

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!

I want to take this opportunity to pimp a new website that I launched yesterday. It's called "Scoop!" and it presents fake poker news in satirical form. For example, the second post there is an interview with God about poker and Jerry Yang's WSOP win.

The site is www.PokerScoopOnline.com.

I hope readers find it entertaining. Thoughts on the site are welcome, and links to it are very much appreciated. Thanks in advance for your support!

Side note: I'll be heading to the Bike for the Legends of Poker final table later today. Tom Schneider is coming in with the chip lead, but other big names like David Pham and Dan Harrington are certainly going to make a strong showing. I will blog about it later tonight.

Tidbits for your reading pleasure from Day 2 of the Legends main event at the Bike...

I can't talk about the WPT event at the Bike without giving the latest update on the new media rules that resulted from the WPT/Card Player alliance. Again, the rules were being strictly enforced, but the new problem was that the enforcement wasn't consistent. Various media outlets discussed this issue amongst themselves and requested a meeting with WPT officials. From what I gathered, the rules about what these reporters were allowed to post was unclear - ummm, remember the WSOP? - and they were wondering if future coverage of WPT events would even be worth the time or effort. Reporters were frustrated, and I don't blame them one bit.

As for me - only there to get interviews - I was doing my usual leaning against the door of the tournament room, watching the action from afar and waiting for breaks when I could talk to players. At one point, a PR rep suggested I take a walk through the room, and I declined at the time, as I really didn't have the need. A little later, I was trying to see how many chips one player had left, and I walked less than 20 feet into the room to take a quick look, and I was asked to step out because there was another non-Card Player reporter in there at the same time. She was nice about it, but that was the last time I cared to walk in that room. Too much of a hassle for me.

I'm curious to see how it all plays out. If the WPT and Card Player don't let up a little, no one will be covering the WPT tournaments anymore, period. Is that really good for poker? And is that what the WPT really wants?

Anyhoooo, on to other things...

The field was just stacked today with big names all over the place. There were 191 players who returned for Day 2, and the field was diminishing at a decent pace as the day progressed.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Anna Wroblewski for quite awhile and conduct an interview for a magazine article, and she was just the sweetest person to talk to. Her early years as an orphan in Vietnam are very interesting and say a lot about who she is and why she leads her life the way she does.

My fav music producer, Irv Gotti, was hanging on today and doing well when I left. He was nearing the 100k mark this evening after being down to about 17k early on. I think he was actually starting to dislike the attention of the media, though, and when I finally asked if he'd be interested in speaking to me for an article, he declined. He was polite about it, but he seemed to be distancing himself from the media. Obviously, I was bummed, but he did tell me a little about the new Ja Rule single that should be on the radio soon. (Not many people care, but I'm excited about it. Let me have my moment, will ya?)

The most interesting part of my day was my personal Vinnie Vinh saga. I knew that he busted from Day 1B last night after I left, so I left him a voice mail message to get in touch with me or see me at the Bike today. No sign of him before the tourney started, so I asked David Pham if he knew where Vinnie was. He made a call and returned to tell me Vinnie was back in Vegas. Doh! Several hours later, however, I look up from the sushi bar to see Vinnie walking through the cash game area. Hey! I finished my spicy tuna rolls, then went out to the smoking area where I saw him headed. He thought I didn't see him and darted around to the side entrance of the casino. I wasn't about to chase him, but I got the message. He was definitely avoiding me, so I let it be.

Well, I can only guess that Vinnie is in a strange place these days because of what happened later. I waited for traffic to die down, then went to the valet to get my car around 7:45pm. As I was standing there, Vinnie walked out of the casino doors, locked eyes with me, and came over to give me a hug. "I sorry!" he said as he walked over. He repeated the apology several times, and I told him it was okay. "If you don't want to do the interview, it's okay," I said. "Just tell me the truth." He proceeded to let me know that this was just a really bad time right now, but he insisted that we will meet for dinner very soon, and he will talk openly. "I call you!" he kept saying as I drove away.

Maybe, maybe not. But I'm not giving up. I will have a conversation with Vinnie, and I will chase him until I get it. I won't stalk him or make him uncomfortable, but I want to talk to him. Seriously.

One other thing about my day... Though I was only in jeans and a t-shirt - nothing special - I received compliments today from the valet, the guy working the cafe, and the security guards. I'm sure they don't see many women 'round those parts, but it was nice to be complimented anyway. And it makes the sting of not getting some key interviews a little less upsetting. It's all good in the 'hood for me.

I don't think I'll be making the unpleasant drive to the Bike for Day 3 or 4, but I'm fairly sure I'll be there for the final table. I will post another blog if anything happens with my "Chasing Vinnie" saga or when I return to the Bike.

Interesting notes from Day 1B of the Legends main event at the Bike...

I mentioned yesterday that the PR reps for WPT were being fairly lenient with the new media rules. So much for that! Today, the rules were being strictly enforced with non-WPT and non-Card Player reporters only being allowed into the tournament room for 15-minute increments, once per hour, escorted by a WPT rep.

An unnamed WPT reporter even said that it is a disappointment to see his friends in the media being excluded, especially when it had been the trend in previous tournaments to share information about player names, chip counts, eliminations, and significant hands. I wholeheartedly agree and know that coverage will suffer immensely across the board because of the new rules. It's already happening at Legends. The official live updates reported in their end-of-day recap yesterday that Steve Sung was the chip leader, when the true chip leader was Jerome Mangum. One oversight or a sign of the level of coverage to expect? The previous, I can only hope.

Off my soapbox and into the good stuff...

It looks like there were 266 players today, and it was simply a star-studded field. Everyone from Doyle Brunson to Phil Hellmuth to Jerry Yang to Barry Greenstein was in the room to play.

I met Jerry Yang today, and he was just as humble and kind as reports previously stated. He was decked out in a black suit and excited to play. Too bad his starting table included the likes of Mike Matusow, Erick Lindgren, Mary Jones, Gavin Smith, and Chris McCormack. A few hours into it, though, he was holding his own quite nicely.

Just as people were trying to get close to Jerry and congratulate him, Jamie Gold walked through the lobby to no fanfare and no autograph seekers. Sorry, J!

Phil Hellmuth made his standard late entrance, which is getting old, quite frankly. He took his seat at the same table with Casey Kastle, Chau Giang, Vinnie Vinh, and Freddy Bonyadi. In the first hour, Phil received penalties for checking a PDA during a hand and dropping the F-bomb (though not directed at another player).

As soon as I arrived at the Bike before the tournament, Vinnie Vinh greeted me in front of the casino with a hug. Evidently, we've become close. He still wants to talk to me but certainly not while he was playing. We're scheduling for tomorrow before the tournament. And who bought him in today? It wasn't David "Dragon" Pham, which would have been my guess. (Good thing no one was around to bet me on it.) An unnamed source told me that it was Tommy Vu. Tommy was scheduled to play today but called the tournament director before start time and told him that he would be unable to play; he wanted Vinnie to play in his place. How convenient!

Poor Eskimo Clark was hovering around the sign-up area for today's event, but he wasn't getting any love. He did not play in the main event.

Kenna James came in with his closely-shaven head, a product of his recent trip to Kentucky to host a charity event for the U.S. Army and Screaming Eagle Poker soldiers. He also had a friend with him today filming some "hello" messages from pro poker players to send to the troops overseas. Nice going, Kenna!

Mark Newhouse and Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf were in the same room with no hubbub. On the first break, I check in with Mark in the smoking lounge to ask about it. He said that he had not spoken to Neverwin since the WSOP near-brawl. I asked if he was planning some sort of sneak attack today, he laughed and said, "Maybe." Just as we were chatting, he looked over and saw Neverwin seated on a bench only feet away from us. Mark walked over and said hi as if none of the anger, stalking, and chasing had ever happened. They chatted for a few moments, no violence ensued, and all was well with the world... except for that pesky hundred thousand dollars that Mark is owed. Personally, I think this story is far from over, no matter the friendly words today.

Interesting bustouts after only three hours of play: Phil Hellmuth, Tuan Lam, and Maria Ho. And either Jerry Yang is out or moved, but the official updates are reporting conflicting information about the table at which he began. Argh.

I will be heading down to the Bike again tomorrow to conduct some scheduled interviews and check out the combined field for Day 2. By the way, my favorite music producer Irv Gotti made it to Day 2, so he'll be one of the many I'll be watching in the crowd tomorrow. I shall blog again tomorrow.

Lots of little tidbits to pass on from Day 1A of the Legends main event at the Bike...

First, there is a bit of tension between various media outlets. Though most of us get along, there is a definite line drawn between the Card Player/WPT teams and everyone else. Card Player and WPT media members are seated in or just outside the tournament room with obvious access to everything going on. People from PokerWire, PokerPages, PocketFives, and PokerListings are set up in the sushi bar down the hall. When those reporters want to get into the tournament room, they need permission. While the PR representatives are being very accommodating and attentive to everyone now, it remains to be seen how things will look when there are only a few tables left.

I was there as a writer for Poker Pro Media, as was Katie Lindsay. We were given quite open access, though we only walked through the room a handful of times, then stayed in the hallway until players went on break. But we were only trying to obtain interviews, not blog about the tournament. I really felt for those trying to do tournament updates.

PokerWire was hit especially hard with this situation. About an hour into the tournament, they posted a letter on the front page of their website announcing that they are dismantling the team. They will post a little information from the Legends event, as Heather, Jeremiah, and a few others are already there, but the media restrictions imposed by the WPT and WSOP have severely limited their ability to report on major tournaments, so they were left with little choice. This is sad but illustrates that deals made by WSOP with Bluff and WPT with Card Player cost people jobs in this industry. It's becoming glaringly clear who really cares about the game and who is in it for the money. Enough said.

Second, there was an all-star cast of pro players in today's field, but the total of entrants was only 219. There are more expected tomorrow, but it was an obvious disappointment to the WPT employees registering the players. By 1:30, there were less than 150 players a half hour before start time, and they were a little anxious. I'm sure they were pleased to have 219 when all was said and done.

Within the first few hours, a number of well-known players were already leaving Bell Gardens, California with tails between legs - Jeff Madsen, Vanessa Rousso, Kathy Liebert, Max Pescatori, and Billy Baxter. Many names still remain, though...

I chatted a little with Dutch Boyd before the tournament. He hasn't played anywhere since the WSOP - no cash games, no online tournaments, nothing. He's just been chillin' in Missouri with his family but felt very strongly that he could do well here. His personality these days is such a stark contrast to that of previous years; he's so pleasant to talk to and so focused on the task at hand. I hope things pan out for him in the long run.

Eskimo Clark was wandering the halls at the Bike before the start of the event. Reportedly, yesterday, he was asking everyone - even some media folks - if they would buy him into a satellite. He looked a little lost today, obviously not playing the main event, but he wasn't having seizures and looked relatively healthy.

Vinnie Vinh didn't show up to play today, but David "Dragon" Pham insists he will be playing tomorrow in Day 1B.

Frankie O'Dell agreed to do an interview with me in the coming days but angrily shooed away Card Player reporters requesting interviews. Card Player is unaware of anything they might have done to annoy him, but he told them in no uncertain terms that he was angry with them. Hmmm.

Irv Gotti is in the crowd. Who dat? He's one of the most important and influential producers in hip-hop music; he started the record label Murder Inc. (now called The Inc.), he launched the careers of such stars as Ja Rule and Ashanti, and he has worked with artists like Nelly, DMX, and so many others. Of course, I've been a hip-hop fan since the Sugarhill Gang started rapping, so I was the only one who recognized him. I chatted with him at the first break, and evidently, he's buddies with Amnon Filippi. When he's in L.A., they hang, and he decided to play this tournament today. He played the main event of the WSOP this year and made it to the second day, so he has some skills. I told him that hip-hop needs to represent more in poker, and he's going to try to make the final table to do that. We'll see! I'm rooting for Irv...

Okay, that's all for now. I'll be heading back to the Bike tomorrow for Day 1B, so hopefully, I'll have more interesting things to blog about then.

I just returned from a day at the Bicycle Casino here in L.A. where two events took place today.

The media tournament is an annual event in which members of the media as well as past Legends winners. Obviously, I played as a member of the media. I did relatively well at my first table, grabbing a few pots when the opportunities arose. Then, I got moved to another table. This was unfortunate. I wasn't getting many playable cards, and I had a guy to my left who came over the top of me every time I attempted a move. Finally, with blinds at 100/200, I looked down at pocket 7's. With no bets in front of me, I moved all-in for my last 700. No callers allowed me to chip up a bit. The very next hand, the only person betting before me was Barbara Enright who made it 400 to go. I had a very pretty K-Q of spades, and I reraised all-in. Everyone else folded, and she called. With what? Pocket Aces. Of course. The flop gave her another Ace, and just to twist the knife a little, the turn brought one more, and I was beat by Barbara's quad Aces. Can't argue with those cards!

I watched bits and pieces of the remainder of the event. Big names like Miami John Cernuto, Joe Pelton, Dennis Waterman, and Scott Clements - to name a few - were eliminated, as was Barbara Enright when someone else's pocket Aces came back to bite her. Sorry, B, you didn't deserve that! In the end, the last pro standing was James Hoeppner who won a seat into the $10k buy-in Legends main event that begins on Saturday. The last two players were members of the media - Kasey Thompson who owns All In magazine finally beat Brian Hepinstall of PokerPages to win the $2500 cash prize and $2500 donated to the Lakers youth charity. Kasey ended up giving $500 to Brian then donating the other $2000 to his own personal charity. Nice work, guys!

The Jerry Buss/Frank Mariani Charity Poker Open began at 5:30 with a cocktail and buffet reception, which was just yummy all the way around. Several ex-Lakers showed up to sign autographs and support the cause, and a number of pros joined the crowd, i.e. Amir Vahedi, Marsha Waggoner, Jared Hamby, Men the Master, and David "Dragon" Pham. The turnout was great with 155 players ponying up the $1000 to enter the tournament that started at 7pm. I left before it was over, but Marsha Waggoner was one of the chip leaders when I departed. Go Marsha!

An interesting note: One of the players at the Buss/Mariani event was... wait for it... Vinnie Vinh. He was sitting in his chair and everything. I chatted with him, and after comments from him like, "You're pretty," I may have secured an interview with him for the weekend. I've got his phone number, so we'll see how far that gets me. C'mon, Vinnie, talk to me!

I was glad to have met some new people today, enjoyed a long conversation with Katie Lindsay, had lots of drinky/chatty time with Miri, and enjoyed the buffet with Miami John, Dennis Waterman, Tuna Lund, and Kasey Thompson. After the second drink from the open bar, I think I winked and pointed at Johnny Chan - only embarrassing moment of the evening, but he just laughed. Ahhh, good times.

I'll be down at the Legends main event for Day 1A and 1B this weekend, so I'll blog about what I see/hear/smell when I return to my trusty computer each night.

As was the case last Monday, I have no one topic in particular for this week's blog, so you're going to get a mish mash (I'm sure that's proper English) of topics here.

The Legends of Poker is still going on here in L.A. at the Bicycle Casino. The WPT main event will begin this Saturday the 25th. Lots of pros are already here in town trying to gobble up the L.A. fish in the cash games, and the main event always attracts a good crowd. The problem this year will be getting media reports. As many of you know, and as Gary discussed with Lance from PokerBiz on last week's show on Rounders Radio, the WPT has declared Card Player the official provider of live updates for WPT tournaments. What this means is that no other media outlet is allowed to be there for chip counts, on-the-spot interviews, hand analysis, or final table coverage. I've been told that I'll be able to get inside the ropes for a short period of time every once in awhile (ahhh, WSOP memories flooding back), but I'll basically be relegated to the rail. WPT isn't even handing out official media badges anymore, except to themselves and Card Player. While it's true that I'm only going to be there to get the gist of things and write a tournament report for a magazine after it's all said and done, I truly feel for the crews of PokerWire, PocketFives, PokerListings, and the other media who depend on tournament reporting for income. I'll be curious to see who shows up to cover it from the rail.

Dan from Pokerati and others have made a good point about this situation. When Card Player posts their live updates on the internet, they are being given to the public as fact. Is it not true that the rest of us reporters can sit in our living rooms, hit refresh on the screen, take notes from what is posted, and write our own reports based on the facts? Do we even need to give credit to Card Player for the information? It's an interesting debate and one that is sure to ruffle the feathers of WPT officials during Legends. I'm going to be making a few trips down to the Bike since it's here in L.A., so I'll have more to report as soon as things get going on Saturday. Should be interesting!

In other Legends news, the ladies event just wrapped up last night. They only had 125 entries, probably because they raised the price of the tournament from $125 to $1,000. Pam Brunson emerged as the winner, taking home a nice bit of change ($34,435), a seat into the $10k main event, and a spot at the WPT Ladies Night final table to be held on August 31st. Congrats, Pam!

Something else to mention is the new season of High Stakes Poker set to premier on GSN next Monday the 27th. There will be 17 episodes (the most of any season thus far) airing every Monday night at 9pm EST/8pm CST. Set those TIVO's and DVR's. Personally, I have to call my cable company and see how outrageous the price will be to add GSN to my cable lineup. If it's too much, I may be coming to your house to watch it. Please answer the phone when I call.

Enough for today. Have a good week, everyone!

I feel Gary's pain. My plate is rather full these days, and I'm currently trying to figure out how to fit sleep into my schedule.

Speaking of Gary, I have to thank him for giving me some props here yesterday. It's always nice to be appreciated. Thanks, G!

I'm sending positive internet vibes to Ryan Schmelzer (fellow Wise Hand blogger) and his family, hoping the chemo and radiation work wonders for his dad. Please keep us informed, Ryan, and know that lots of people are wishing him well.

The Legends of Poker is going on here in L.A., and lots of players are hanging out in Southern Cali this month - catching some rays, eating at some fine L.A. restaurants, and playing a little poker at the Bike. I've been watching some of the results, though I have yet to make the trek out to the casino. I want to give a quick congrats to Danny Wong, a fantastic young player who has had a great year and won the $2500 no-limit hold'em event last week for $124,040, as well as Rick Fuller who took third in the event. I'll definitely be heading over there when the main event starts on Saturday, August 25th for the first of two Day 1's. If you're in L.A., check out the schedule of a month's worth of Legends tournaments at www.TheBike.com.

I hope some of you have had the chance to see the film No Limit: A Search for the American Dream on the Poker Tournament Trail since it's been available on DVD for awhile. It's a good documentary about Susie Genard and her quest for a tournament win while her ex-boyfriend and their mutual son came along for the ride. It's interesting and includes quite a few wise words from pro poker players. Well, it's now available at Netflix, so put it in your queue!

More next time... Have a great week, everyone!

In my last post, I was a little hard on Harrah's for their treatment of women during this year's WSOP. Even so, I felt it was justifiable and stand by my opinions. Today, I'm going to give some of my impressions of how Harrah's dealt with the media.

The 2007 WSOP was my first experience as a full-time reporter who was there from beginning to end, with the exception of a few days off here and there. I was reporting for PokerPages, and I quickly learned that since I was not affiliated with Bluff, PokerNews, or ESPN, I was nudged (shoved) down on the totem pole. I understand that those media outlets paid big money for their exclusive rights to the action, and those of us from other magazines or websites immediately knew that our access was limited.

Gary Thompson from Harrah's, Nick Geber from Bluff, and others had no problem clarifying the media rules right from the beginning, and most of us had no problem understanding them. I will say that I don't begrudge anyone for the rights that they have bought and/or earned. That's the way of the corporate world, and the WSOP is a part of that. But I will also say that I felt a bit like a freshman in high school being told that the seniors rule and will kick my ass if I think otherwise. The good thing was that I didn't get shoved into my locker, so I guess that's the glass half full, right?

Although there was definitely a clear-cut line that non-Bluff/PokerNews/ESPN reporters shouldn't cross, I will admit that as the weeks went on, the rules became mostly a set of guidelines rather than strictly enforced law. The PokerNews crew was always friendly to other media, mostly because they're experienced and know the rest of us and what we were trying to accomplish. Bluff seemed to do their own thing and not be too concerned with everyone else. And Harrah's seemed to realize that we were all simply trying to do our jobs, and most of us could be granted a little leeway when things weren't too crazy.

It was the ESPN camera crews that gave me a problem, especially when the main event was underway. As I came to understand it, the crews were told that they had unlimited access to the players and tables, and the rest of the media were to see it, respect it, love it, and jump through hoops (or over tables) to get out of their way. Though I understood the rules, I wrongly assumed that there would be some common courtesy involved.

The day came that I was watching a table to see Todd Brunson move all-in during the main event, and the ESPN crews stumbled over like vultures who detected a dying player. I was pushed, which led to a heated discussion between one of the associate producers and me. Without getting into the nasty details, I was later approached by an ESPN producer who accused me of doing the pushing and threatened to remove my press pass if I didn't abide by the rules to the letter. Side note: Many other members of the media, even PokerNews reporters, had told of being pushed and shoved by the ESPN crews.

Eventually, Gary Thompson caught wind of the situation and came to chat with me privately. He knew that I wouldn't shove anyone, and he understood that I was uncomfortable being a "marked" reporter whose every move was now being watched by ESPN. Gary assured me that this would not happen again, and though I wasn't involved in any further discussions, I soon noticed that the ESPN crews were shouting, "Excuse me!" when coming to a table, and they were being careful not to be too rude to reporters in the tournament area.

My point is that Gary and other Harrah's employees saw that such rigid rules aren't always the best policy, and though they are necessary to set a standard, the enforcement of those rules doesn't need to be so rigid that people are alienated and angry. Toward the end of the series, people and media outlets seemed to be treated as their behavior thus far had warranted, and fairness became the overall goal.

In the end, I feel that most of the media ended up feeling positive about their treatment by Harrah's, and I, for one, didn't leave with negative feeling about the experience. I met so many great people during my weeks of coverage, and I only wish that I had time to get to know more of them. But there's always next year...