WSOP Interns

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