I am THE James

Well I have been officially working for two weeks at the World Series of Poker and I must say that this has been a fantastic experience.  I have worked at least parts of 3 events so far.  I first worked Event #2, which was the $1,500 buy-in NL event.  I worked that for days 1a and 1b.  I had a couple interesting posts about Scotty Nguyen on day two in which we talked a little.

Next, I worked Event #6 which is the $1,500 Omaha 8 or Better event.  That was a great event.  I worked it from start to finish.  Saw a couple of people I knew and had a good time.  Got to cover my first final table.  I even got in a couple of media shots and I “may” get to be on TV as a result of that one.  We will see this fall.

Right now, I am working Event #14, which is the $10,000 buy-in Seven Card Stud World Championship.  This one has been the most fun so far.  I am doing a lot of coverage on a living legend of Vegas,  Archie “The Greek” Karas.  He is the man that came out to Vegas with $50, ran it up to $40,000,000 and then lost it all back.  It’s been a lot of fun covering him and all the other pros.  I will be covering the Stud World Championship to its conclusion.

Of course, if you want to follow my stuff, go to www.pokernews.com and click on the live reporting link.  Any of my events, look for the nick of compncards, and you will find my stuff.

Got to go.  I have to be at work in an hour.  (If you want to call it work)

I’m currently covering the World Series of Poker Circuit at Harrah’s in New Orleans as most of you already know.  Day 1 was quite interesting.  TJ Cloutier, Gavin Smith, Ted Lawson, Josh Arieh, Allen Kessler, Steve Bilarakis, and several other pro’s came out for the event.  Right now, the only huge name left is Kessler.

It  has been quite an experience so far.  Very different than playing on the circuit.  If you’re interested in seeing what I have written, head over to Pokernews.com and go to live reporting under the Harrahs New Orleans Event.  All of my postings under Day 1 and today will be listed under my nick of compncards.

Anywho, I’ll update in the next day or so.  Have fun.

The following I found on the front page of Pokernews.com.  It is listed as a rumor, so I don’t know the validity of it, but its still funny as hell.

“This report from an eyewitness at a recent event on the poker circuit. A pretty young woman was having a meltdown of epic proportion at the casino cashiers cage, which was right next to the tournament floor. The woman was screaming at the cashier behind the cage, because the cashier refused to honor the chip the woman had presented for cashing. After some investigation, it turns out the young woman was a “professional” who had been paid for her services….with a tournament chip. When the woman returned to the tournament floor, her “client” was long gone, and she was left with nothing but her dignity. Well, almost.”

I guess thats one use for a tournament buy-in chip. 

It does make me question the woman’s intelligence, or at least her observation skills.  Most tournament buy-in chips are clearly marked “No Cash Value”.   Yes, it is possible it was an ambiguous buy-in chip.  My bet is that she just didn’t look at the chip close enough.

So, for you “working” women out there, or friends of “working” women that work poker venues, pay attention to what you’re receiving for payment.

Wow, I never thought I would be giving hookers advice on how to do their job.  Oh well.  Tally that up to the long list of things I give advice on.

Barbara Enright is a legend of the game of poker. She has 3 bracelets and finished 5^th in the 1995 Main Event, which to this day is the highest finish by a woman in the Main Event. Barbara is also a fantastic person and a true pleasure to play with. I had the pleasure to meet her in April 2006 during an Omaha Hi-Lo event at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. She was very friendly and engaging. We sat there for about 20 minutes discussing things from Fremont Street in Vegas to proper Razz strategy. At this point in my life, I still had not been to Vegas, so she was giving me the lowdown about what to go see and do out there. She also gave me a little of what to expect at the WSOP that year since it would be my first WSOP. (more…)