Diary by player and story-teller
2004 World Series of Poker. Part 2
Day 11- 2/5/04 - $2,000 Limit Hold’em
I lasted a long way down the field and went out around 45th, but for no return. The highlight of the day was sitting next to my mate Phil though. And unsurprisingly enough, it didn’t take long for sparks to fly. I am assured, on good authority, that he is a great guy away from the table, and I have no reason to disbelieve this. At the table though, he just loves to try and belittle everyone. Speech play goes in America, it can add to the fun and the spectacle from a TV point of view. But for some reason Phil insists on talking down to all the players, telling them they are idiots playing a certain way. Surprise, surprise, this has a habit of happening after he loses a pot of course.
Eventually, I couldn’t listen to him any more. After making derogatory comments about the dealer for the second hand in a row, I tried to explain that the dealer had no control over what appears on the flop (none of us would want to play in a game where they had). As usual, my timing was off, and Phil blew his top. The self proclaimed best player in the world, was now proclaiming to the whole room that he was more of a man than I’ll ever be, and that goading someone after losing a pot was totally inexcusable. I hadn’t even realised I was goading him. Well I was speechless (honest guv, I was lost for words). This was one of those times when American and English were completely different languages again. I honestly had no idea what planet he was coming from. There are definitely some major cultural differences here. I went to bed on a little bit of a downer for the first time since I arrived.
Day 12- 3/5/04 - $2,000 Limit Hold’em Final
My close friend and fellow Stokie, Paul Maxfield, somehow made the final of the Limit Hold’em. This was the first time Mad Max had played a Limit Hold’em competition, so it was quite a stunning performance (he also knocked my mate Phil out in the later stages of yesterday evening). Paul had only $7000 in chips with the Big Blind of 3000 just two hands away. Somehow he survived through to a very creditable 4th place and everyone still thinks he can’t play.
The big white board now reads 520 paid entries for the big one. It’s looking like 2000 runners!
Day 13- 4/5/04 - $5,000 No Limit Hold’em
Well I spent the whole day in the big event looking for a hand. Eight hours of survival and the biggest pair that I held was jacks… and they lost! So I wandered over to the Super Satellite, paid my 200 dollar entry, and promptly picked up Kings three times in the first 20 minutes. Oh my, how the poker Gods laughed. Then the geezer next to me asks me “what’s Spiderman play like?” Now is he about to tell me a joke? No. Don’t think so. “Toby. what’s he play like?” “Coby?” “No, Toby. You were sat next to him in the 5000 event, the actor who plays Spiderman.” “What the young kid who doesn’t even look old enough to be in the casino?” “That’s the one.” Geez. I guess I am getting old. Somehow I manage to make good use of the chips I gained from the Kings, and qualify for another seat in the Super Sat., which means I get paid $10,000 in poker chips this time. I guess I’ll let the poker Gods have their little joke at my expense. They ain’t so bad.Now, there are 614 paid up entries for the big one. It surely is going to be the biggest tournament in history.
Day 14- 5/5/04
My girlfriend, Rhowena, has arrived and I take a day off. Just to prove to myself that I am not addicted. Sick… but not addicted. So after sampling the best salad in the world at Hugo’s, we wander down to the Freemont Cinema to see Kill Bill 2. Her choice, not mine. But at least it’s a change from Peter Pan. Then of course, it happened. There was a trailer for the new Spiderman movie. And I was staring at the face I had been chatting about poker to, for eight hours the previous day. Yet, another “it’s a small world” experience.
