WSOP Interns

In case it's not clear, we love the VIP room. I know that we previously stated that Humberto was our favorite player, but I think we are allowed to have more than one. Right? Right. Flaminio Malaguti and Joe Reitman definitely rank up there with Humberto.

I know they may not be the most famous poker players in the world, but if you don't know them, you should check them out. Flaminio is from Venice, Italy, and is a former professional soccer star in his homeland and also appeared in some movies. I hung out with him (in the VIP room, of course) and he taught me how to play Deuce to Seven, Triple Draw. A very easy game to play, but I would get destroyed in the real world. He is also really charitable. With the Ante up for Africa event coming up, Flaminio, Justin (another intern), Alan (my supervisor), and myself talked about the crisis in Darfur for probably around an hour. He is very passionate about the cause and is going to do a documentary in which ALL proceeds will go to Darfur. Watch him play at the charity event on July 5.

Over the past couple days, Amity and I have been hanging out with Joe Reitman a lot. He is an actor/poker player/director/writer from Boston. Probably one of the coolest guys I've met... ever. (Gary Wise is the coolest, obviously.) He has shown us some of his short films, including one entitled "Leo," which he is entering into one of the film festivals this year, Sundance maybe. Another cool thing he has done is let us read his scripts that he sent to the Craig Ferguson show. He gets word on if they like them sometime after July 4th. Best of luck, Joe. I thought they were funny, hopefully Craig will too. One last thing about Joe, he said Amity and I could be his interns. P.A.s actually. (That's short for Personal Assistants, if you were curious.). So if anyone asks, I'm Joe Reitman's P.A.

Moving from one Ferguson to another, I played Chris Ferguson in pool. Devotees will remember that I beat Johnny Chan in pool earlier in the Series. I was not as fortunate this time. But Chris Ferguson and geometry? Come on, of course he's good. That makes me 1 and 1 against Main Event winners. But wait, since Johnny won the Main Event twice, should I get two wins for beating him? On a side note, while playing, Chris took off his hat and jacket, and he just didn't look like Chris Ferguson anymore.

Now for the coolest media guy I've met... (Okay, 2nd to Gary Wise) Eric Brewstein from No Limit Management. Besides the fact that he wears shirts that are drawn on with a sharpie, he is a really interesting guy. Not only does he keep us entertained, but he got us those awesome Full Tilt patches that I always see Ivey and Lederer wearing. Heck yes! He also said that all his interns get glocks, then he said he'd get me a glock, so ifso-facto, he offered me a job.

Okay, I'm done. No blog from Amity this time. I know, I know, slacker right? Not really though. Contrary to what you may think from all this VIP time, we have been really busy here lately, so if you will excuse me, its time to get back to work...

--H

We get to see things that most do not. This is segment we like to call, "We saw it at the World Series of Poker".

Daniel Negreanu was practicing his golf swing in the back hallway during a break from a tournament. When asked how he was swinging today, he said he hit it so far he didn't see it land, but if we were going that direction, we should look out for his ball.

...

One of our new favorite poker player is Humberto Brenes. Most of you are probably familiar with his sharks. Zero zero six and zero zero seven, as he refers to them. We met him on the first day of the World Series, and every time we have seen him since then, he gives us a big smile, and sometimes gives Amity a kiss on the cheek. Heath is fine with keeping their friendship to hand shakes. The only problem is, he doesn't speak much English, and we don't speak much Spanish, so it makes our conversations pretty basic. If you have a chance, you should check out Gary Wise's interview with El Tiburon (the shark) himself, Humberto.

...

During the final three tables of the $3,000 No Limit Hold'em event, Phil Hellmuth caught his card on the river and bet big. Another player clearly had the best hand until the river came out and pushed hard. Once the cards were flipped, Phil saw that he got very lucky and admitted that the guy outplayed him, and he got lucky. He then called himself an idiot, and then this conversation took place:
Phil (standing up): Where is the tournament director? Can I get a penalty for berating myself?
Perry Friedman: Phil, are you a master-berater?
Phil: Perry, you are way too clever for me. I'm going to just sit down. (He takes a seat and pauses) But my wife has been out of town for a while.

--A & H

I don't watch golf. But on Sunday, watching Tiger try to catch up to Cabrera during the last few holes of the US Open was one of the highlights of my weekend. Why, you may ask? Now I don't like to drop names, but I did watch the match with Doyle Brunson, Barry Greenstein, Shannon Elizabeth, and WSOP Spokesman Gary Thompson (the dude of all dudes).

When I first found out that I would be working so closely with professional poker players, my first thought was that many of them would have heads too big for their bodies. I know, tsk tsk, never judge a book by its cover, and that's exactly what I learned on Sunday in the VIP room

Spending the afternoon in the VIP Room was actually quite surprising. Most of the professional poker players, even celebrities, are very personable and down to earth. For example, Barry (yes, we're on a first name basis now) pleaded with me to share the couch with him so he didn't feel lonely...this was about 5 minutes after I met him. Shannon showed pictures of her dog to Kristen (another one of the interns). And all day as players came in and out of the VIP room, we were amazed to find that most of them were just like us. They joked around with each other, they drank with each other, and they bet on everything around them. Okay, maybe that's not "just like us", but you get what I mean.

All that leads me to another golf-related story. In my two-and-a-half weeks in Poker Heaven, I've picked up on one thing about poker players...most of them will bet on anything. Bets ranging from how many reds or blacks are flopped to how many hole-in-ones Phil Ivey can putt in a row are made not only in the VIP lounge but also at final tables. During one of Ivey's final table 15 minute breaks, Doyle challenged him ($1,000 for every hole-in-one, $10,000 for five in a row) to a putt-off. Spectators in the lounge watched in awe as Ivey gracefully sank every putt. Heath and I watched as other players got in on the action and bet $500 on a putt. My favorite part of all this was hearing Doyle and Ivey talk smack to each other. They exchanged words and money and then Ivey hurried back to finish up his final table.

So all in all, I was reminded that first impressions are not always true and that poker players are real people too. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go work on my putting.

--A

We watched the US Open with Doyle and Barry Greenstein. Then we watched Phil Ivey put ridiculous amounts of money on the putting green. Whatever event was happening in the outside world (outside of the VIP room that is) resumed and the room cleared out. The only people left in the room were myself, Amity, Kristen, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, and Eli Elezra.

Doyle was putting, Eli was watching TV, and Johnny was shooting pool. I walked towards the pool table and Johnny asked me if I was looking for a game. Of course I couldn't say no to that. He racked them up and broke. I couldn't believe how good he was. He hit in a couple balls but accidentally hit in the 8-ball. Victory! I offered to rack them up again, but Johnny said to just place the ball so we could keep playing. I was skeptical at first, because, hell, I just beat Johnny Chan. Sure, it was a technicality, but that doesn't mean I didn't win.

But I didn't want to say that to him, for obvious reasons, so I placed the ball and continued. Apparently, about 35 years ago, he used to play for money. You could definitely tell. Amity was watching us play and all the while the three of us were just chatting away. I found out some interesting stuff about Johnny Chan. Did you know he has six kids? Neither did I. The oldest is 26 and the youngest 13. Then Amity asked him if he was married and all he said about it was, "I have 6 kids, what do you think?" Do I think he was avoiding the question? Who am I to say? But I thought it was funny he didn"t answer.

In the end, he blew the shot on the 8-ball and I sank my last ball to perfectly set myself up for the 8-ball, which I never do. So, after I sank the 8-ball, Johnny sulked a bit, and said good game and he had to go. Five minutes later he came back, but didn't ask for another game. I think he was afraid, but we won't share that with him.

When Johnny got back, he, Doyle, and Eli started playing Chinese Poker. I will admit now, I do not understand it. Thirteen cards, three hands, a strange point system. I won't even pretend that I knew what was going on. They wanted new cards so I grabbed some and they handed me their old deck. Doyle said to me, "Keep these, they will be a collector's item some day." Needless to say, I kept them. I didn't know much about Eli until now, but he is a really funny guy. All three of them were joking around and having a good time. It was neat to see. Only damper on the evening was that Doyle got so into the game with his friends, he missed the registration of Razz. There goes his chance for the 11th bracelet, at least in that event. I had $50 bucks on him winning too. Guess I shouldn't have made that bet.

All in all, it was a great time. Watching golf with Doyle, watching Ivey make bets with some of the biggest names in poker, playing pool with Johnny, and TRYING to learn Chinese Poker. Not a bad day.

--H

"Over the next 47 days, the global poker community will gather at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to compete for the richest prize pool in sports, showcase their talents and rub elbows with some of the biggest names in poker, sports and show business" - Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the World Series of Poker

Although it took us a while to get the approval, we are excited to be posting our first blog. Who are we? Interns for the 2007 World Series of Poker. Much like how the World Series brings in talent from all over the world, Harrah's Entertainment recruited the most talented and intelligent (not to mention best looking) students to be this years interns.

The World Series of Poker is the richest sporting event on the planet. With over 48,350 entrants from over 56 countries, it's hard not to be excited about going into work every morning (or night). As interns we have the opportunity to work closely with players, media outlets, and the Harrah's corporate staff which makes for very interesting workdays.

Now, who are we, and why are we blogging? First let's start with why we are blogging. (I know what you are thinking. Who are these mystery interns? But let's get this out of the way first.) The obvious reason for blogging is for us to document our time as interns so that we can remember it for years to come. Secondly, as interns, we get to see and hear things that most of the general public, that being you, the dedicated reader of our blog, don't get the opportunity to experience. Also, this is our first time in Las Vegas, and finally being the appropriate age to do...well...anything, so we are going to have a lot of stories.

Okay, now the moment you have all been waiting for. (Drum roll please!) The unveiling of the talent. Please put your hands together for Amity Dharia and Heath Shanahan. ::Applause::

Amity Dharia: I am a 21-year-old Scorpio from Michigan State University. I am an Advertising/P.R. senior and look forward to an amazing summer in the city of Sin.

Heath Shanahan: I am a 21-year-old male from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. This will be my senior year and my major is Sales and Promotions. I enjoy long walks on the beach and candle light dinners. Holler.

We want to thank Gary Wise and WiseHandPoker.com for this incredible opportunity to blog our experiences from this year's World Series. We hope that our posts are something that our committed fan base will find fun and interesting. Basically, we hope to bring you something that other bloggers can't bring you...and that something being an inside look of the 2007 World Series of Poker.

--A & H (Amity and Heath)