Guest Blogger

For the second time, I landed at my destination, and reported straight to the tournament area. Who needs a hotel room when there is a poker tournament to report on? Two things struck me right away about the Borgata. The first was how nice it was, there were sculptures everywhere that reminded me of the Temple of the Sun from the Atlantis. The second was the large and luxurious nature of the poker room. It has to be the Bellagio of Atlantic City, and I look forward to the next time my travels take me there. Oh, I almost forgot the best part, the showers! There was a temperature gauge in these things to the exact degree. It gave a nice sense of balance to the fact that the Gold Strike in Tunica probably had the worst showers in the world.

I grabbed mt trusty steno pad pitched in for the last few hours of day one tournament reporting with Gary, Tony Berns, and our newest partner in crime, Tom Bostic. I am very excited to have Tom on the tour with us, he is a great no-limit player, and I know he will take our World Poker Tour coverage to the next level. I went up to my room exhausted and ready to sleep. I did take a quick peek out my window before I hit the sack, though. What I saw was the Atlantic Ocean casting a vast backdrop for the Atlantic City casinos, which lit up the coast. I couldn’t help but stare down at the Taj Mahal and (I know how cliché this may sound) think of the scene from “Rounders.”

The week at Borgata was a good one, featuring great food (the buffet had an all-you-can-eat gelato bar), great poker, and awesome bars. I also valued the camaraderie that ten straight days on the road built between the media, players, and WPT crew. We were all struggling to make it through the exhaustive process together.

I ran into snow for the second time on my WPT travels. I was in the parking garage one night, to run the stairs and jump rope, when I noticed the downfall. Guess what the California boy was wearing when he made this discovery? Basketball shorts and a t-shirt, you gotta love it.

I know this has turned into a rambling jumble of thoughts, but it’s now 1:45 in the morning. So I will take my leave and catch you in a few days with more tales from the Borgata.

Ryan “Force” Lucchesi
force@wisehandpoker.com