So as you already know, I had a terrific Day 1 at the Main Event on Thursday. For the 4th time in five years, I find myself with a very healthy stack of chips heading into Day 2. In fact, my 88,850 should put me in the top 450 or so of the final 5,000 players, with 7,300 entrants (yes, even better than my original "top 700" estimate). Anyway, in honor of "doing things different" (more pictures and stories as Annie likes to say), I have no crazy poker hands to share (although I played some really exciting hands), rather, I'm not going to discuss poker, and instead, explain to you exactly why the President of the United States owes me $150!
So after three excellent levels of poker, the standard 90-minute dinner break arrives at 6:53 (yes, the exact time is important). Thus play was set to resume at exactly 8:23 (keep this time in mind as you read the timeline below). Why am I so precise? Well, when you miss a hand in tournament poker, they keep blinding off your stack. So each hand you miss costs you "equity" as your chips blind away. How much you might ask? Well the chips don't exactly equate to real dollars, but after some math, it was calculated that it would cost me $750/hr at the post-dinner blind levels to be sitting out. Needless to say, missing a hand at the Main Event is unacceptable (I can proudly say that I've never missed a single hand in any WSOP event that I've ever entered!).
So how does one maximize those 90 minutes for break? With lots of planning of course!! (anyone who knows me is probably not too surprised to hear me say that!). I actually started planning how to spend these crucial 90 minutes a full two weeks in advance! I did some scouting and calculated my "commute" from my room at Caesar's to the parking lot, from the parking lot to the Rio, and from the Rio's parking lot to my table to be precisely 20 minutes (okay, it is actually 16-17, but I say 20 minutes to be safe). Thus that is close to 40 minutes of travel time. That's a big chunk out of your 90 minutes some might point out? Yes... it is... but the lines at all restaurants at the Rio are completely packed, and "getting away" from the crowds is worth every minute. Anyway, Jeff and I (Jeff is staying with me this week at Caesar's) still have 50 minutes to find food options at Caesar's, which is super easy to do. Or so that was my perfect plan... but gosh darn it, did Barack Obama really have to come to Vegas on the night I was playing in the Main Event? Sheesh... how thoughtless! So here's how the 90+ minutes really went:
6:53 - Jeff and I leave the Rio. We both are thrilled with our first few levels thus the car ride back to Caesar's is complete fun as we recount all of our good hands, bluffs, etc.
7:02 - We arrive at Caesar's parking garage to see the place swarming with hundreds of cops. They are literally everywhere! At this point, we are speculating as to if there was a bomb scare or terrorist threat at our hotel? We are very confused.
7:07 - We sit down to dinner. We learn from the waiter that Barack Obama is staying at our hotel. How cool! This alone will make for a great blog post... however, the best (or worst) is yet to come...
7:45 - We head up to the room for a few minutes. Remember, the "commute" is precisely 20 minutes. Thus I tell Jeff that we could leave at 8:03 and be perfectly on time.
7:53 - Realizing that having the President of the United States in town my be a bit disruptive to traffic patterns (what if his motorcade cut off our route back to the Rio?), we wisely head out 10 minutes early.
8:00 - We are at the car and attempting to leave the garage when our hearts sink simultaneously. They are shutting down the exit from the garage completely! Had we only left a few minutes earlier, we might have just gotten out. Instead, complete shutdown. Apparently Mr. Obama's motorcade will be parking on the bottom floor...and from there he'll arrive into the hotel through back entrances. Ugh.
8:04 - After scouting out the situation, we start asking around... apparently we are in total lockdown mode for at least 15-30 minutes until Obama arrives. Oh F$@#!!! At a minimum, we might miss 30 minutes of action at the freaking WSOP Main Event (remember, $750/hr is lost equity...F!@$ again!)
8:06 - Jeff and I make a bold decision. Let's park the car and run to the Rio! Yes, I'm out of shape and wearing flip-flops. Yes, Jeff is in his 50's and wearing jeans... but heck, we are running high on adrenaline and it is only about 1.5 miles. Let's do it!
8:08 - We throw a bunch of crap into my backpack and start sprinting for the stairwell. We descend 4 of the 5 floors and are stopped cold by a cop with just one floor to go, and she says "I'm sorry, no one is allowed passed this point to the ground floor"... I plead with her... can't we get to the street so we can cross over to the Rio?! PLEAAASE!!! She gives me an icy stare that says "get lost"... and I think she starts eyeing my backpack a bit... fearful that she might decide to search my bag and delay us another 5 minutes, Jeff and I quietly leave...
8:12 - We quickly retrace our route back into the casino. We find a second cop to talk to... we again explain our emergency. He too gives a "these guys are crazy" look, but at least (quite helpfully) points out that the other road (Flamingo Rd) that crosses over the interestate highway that separates the Rio from Caesar's is likely open (our usual road, Industrial, was the one that was closed for Mr. President). We decide to try to take a cab over to the Rio via Flamingo... but S%$@, the cab line is located on the far side of the casino from where are at.
8:15 - After literally sprinting across one of the biggest casinos in the entire world (mind you, a casino that is FULL of cops that are protecting the President... how no one jumped out to detain us as looking VERY suspicious, I have no clue!!), we arrive at the taxi line to see a relatively long line of guests waiting for cabs. UGH!!
8:16 - I jump in at the back of the line to hold our spot as Jeff claims he can "work some magic". I watch from afar as he runs to the front of the line to "talk" to the folks in front about letting us cut. I could not hear the words he spoke, but I can convey body language. For Jeff: he's waving his arms, anxiously pointing towards the Rio, and seemingly jumping up and down like a complete mad man! As for the people in the front: They looked utterly perplexed and perhaps a bit scared about what the heck is going on! However, Jeff found the winning "communication device"... he slips them a $20 bribe to let us cut, and before they even have a chance to say no, we both jump into the open doors of the arriving taxi... woohoo... we have a chance of making it on time!
8:18 - The cab pulls out onto Las Vegas Blvd into a traffic jam that makes LA traffic look pleasant. For the first time, I start panicking a bit. For those who don't know me well, I'm not too different from my dad, who thinks arriving at the airport 2.5 hours early is "cutting it close". Thus running late to the Main Event... after I planned this break 2 weeks in advance... OH NO!!!
8:23 - After stupidly remaining optimistic that our cab would start making some progress (we travelled less than 50 feet in 5 minutes), I throw the cabbie $10, say I'm sorry, but we are out of here. We decide yet again to make a run for it. This time, we shall travel via Flamingo and pray that it is open...(by the way, play has officially begun back at the Rio and my chips are being blinded out)
8:25 - Jeff and I are weaving in and out of a very, very crowded Las Vegas sidewalk when the zipper to my backpack starts coming wide open... Jeff saves the day by spotting this and he zips my bag up. First good break in quite some time as I had over $2,000 in cash stashed in my bag from a good cash game session the previous night...
8:27 - We round the corner and start our journey up Flamingo Road. We approach a stop light and Jeff makes a bold (and insane?) move. The light is red and Jeff runs up to a car (again, looking pretty darn crazy). Realizing that we are both completely out of breath already, and still have a mile to go, he offers these folks in the first car he spots $30 to drive us 1 mile! The mom, being a bit confused, declines... we turn to leave and begin our run when they honk... the son, who was in the passenger seat, convinced his mom to take us up on the offer... what a saint! (yes, we have now spent $60 in the last 10 minutes in trying to get back to the Rio)
8:29 - We arrive at the Rio shortly thereafter, yet still have 400 yards to go as the drop-off zone is a good distance from the poker room... goodness! Still out of breath, we resume our sprint back the table (yes, at $750/hr, we can run quite fast). As we are sprinting through the Rio, I find it completely ironic that this is now the 2nd time in as many weeks that I've found myself sprinting through the casino (see "Tribute to Doyle" post)! How does security not stop me thinking that I look suspicious? Have I just robbed someone and am trying to get away? Somewhat troubling to know that one can apparently run amuck around the Rio!
8:33 - I arrive back at my table and... WHERE THE HECK ARE MY CHIPS???? WTF!! After briefly panicking, I realize that I have been moved to a whole different side of the poker room... I break out into a sprint... AGAIN!!
8:35 - I finally complete my epic journey and arrive at my new table. I'm drenched in sweat and look completely insane. I nearly collapse into my chair. One heck of a 1st impression, no?
8:36 - After taking minute to compose myself, I shrewdly think: How can I use this "I'm so tired" image to my advantage... hmmm... I have an idea! As I get my first hand, I tell the table "I need just a minute here fellas..." they politely oblige... I take a few breaths and look at my cards... make an easy fold. But I'm thinking one step ahead... I'm clearly "so tired and out of it" that I'm only going to play if I really have a hand as I'm still collecting myself, right? Well, that's what I wanted them to think...
8:38 - The next hand is dealt, and I'm confident in my "table image" that I know I can raise pre-flop...and EVERYONE will put me on a "big hand" as I'm clearly too tired to focus and play anything short of a big hand. Everyone thankfully folds (I had garbage cards) after I raise and steal the blinds... woohoo... small victory!
12:30 a.m. - After a really good Day 1 for both me and Jeff, we celebrate over a beer. We spend some time trying to calculate how much the President cost us in value. Well, I was 12 minutes late... and at $750/hr, that comes out to be $150. Mr. Obama: I am going to support you in 2012, but I'm officially making note that I'm going to take the $150 out of the campaign donation I'd have ordinarily made... haha, got my revenge!
12:35 a.m. - Knowing that Barack is a pretty serious poker player, I convince Jeff to run over to the poker room to see if Obama is playing. I even tell him to offer to bribe the floorman $100 to see if he can sneak us into Obama's game (if, indeed, on a long shot he is actually playing). The floorman just laughs at Jeff. I've lost count, but that is at least a dozen folks who thought we were crazy on this fine evening!
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