Guest Blogger

Every lobby in the Atlantis offers wireless internet access for $10 a day. There is no wireless internet in the rooms. So, every lobby in the Atlantis turned into a personal playground for the 700+ internet players who were there for the PCA. It didn’t matter what time of day or night it was, they were there. It was like a group of furious moths drawn to a lantern that hung off a back porch in the bayou. I wanted to climb up on a table and scream at the top of my lungs, “YOU’RE IN THE BAHAMAS, GO OUTSIDE!”

Mark Newhouse and I were heading back from the casino late one night to meet up with the usual suspects at the water slides when we stumbled upon a surreal situation in the Coral Tower lobby. It was Sunday night, and the big PokerStars tournament was down to the final two tables. The sight before me involved over 70 people and at least two dozen of the top internet players in the world. They were collectively sweating the last two guys in the room who remained in the tournament. Cliff Josephy sat in the middle of the room like a Father Time of the Internet World.

I turned to Newhouse and said, “This is kind of strange.” He agreed, and we joined in the crowd who were watching the action unfold. I didn’t know the two players who remained, but one of them was getting ripped constantly for playing like a donkey. We watched for a few minutes and then tried to recruit some people for the water slides and beach, but I quickly saw it was going nowhere. As I walked away I took one last glance over my shoulder and captured the image of this group of people glued to the computer screens. This was as good a real-life picture of Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” that I would ever hope to find and wanted to commit it to memory.

I could go on here and continue to bash this anti-social band of brothers, but I know that these internet junkies are the heart and soul of the poker industry. So, ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, play to your hearts content. I will definitely join you from time-to-time, but when I’m in the Bahamas you can find me down at the beach.

Ryan "Force" Lucchesi
force@wisehandpoker.com