PokerWorks Blogs

This was written on Tuesday, July 11, three days ago. Of course, I’m back in Las Vegas now.
Today is getaway day. I’m driving back to Scottsdale for a few days with my family before coming back for a long weekend. I’ll play at least one of the events this weekend, maybe more. Then I’ll go back home for a couple of days and be back in Vegas for the duration unless I can find a couple of pockets of time where I can fly back to Scottsdale.

Don’t go looking for my progress in the $1,000 NLHE event. I was eliminated before the first break; (slightly) more details to follow … maybe.

I’m spending a fair amount of time in the Series – probably more than I’m spending playing – in Full Tilt’s suite.

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I wrote this on Sunday, July 9, as Mike was preparing to play the final table of the $2,500 No-Limit Hold ‘Em event. He had a medium chip stack, but the player with the huge chip lead was to his immediate left. He went out later that day in seventh place. This entry is based on a series of notes I wrote that morning.

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Pirates of Las Vegas

It’s now 1:15 PM on Friday. I’ve gotten four hours of sleep, though probably little perspective on the events of last night. What follows are a combination of notes taken in the hours before dawn, hazy recollections, murmured hearsay from reliable sources, and a steady dose of my own two cents.

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I drove my family to the airport last night at 6:15 p.m. with mixed feelings. We had a great time together and I feel bad about committing so much time to poker and Las Vegas over the next month. But poker is no place for a family, unless your name is Lederer.

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I was in the hot tub with several players from the Ladies event when the fire alarm went off. No, wait, I was dreaming that I was doing that when the fire alarm went off. Regardless, it was 9:37 a.m. when the fire alarm at my hotel went off. I don’t know what set it off, but I do know what the prostitute two doors down wears for pajamas. (Not much.)

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1:55 a.m. – The Smoke & Disinfectant Inn has some problems (such as smelling like smoke and disinfectant) but I left Andy Bloch in the main casino of the Rio at 1:37 and I was back at my room 8 minutes 15 seconds later. And the lights were against me.

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Poker Buffet

10:15 p.m., last night – I got into town at 1:30 a.m. on Friday. Except for some mid-week trips back to Scottsdale for a couple days each, I’ll be here for the next 35 days. For now, I’m staying until Tuesday and my itinerary is more than full: speaking at the Blogger’s Convention on Saturday morning, working on my book, writing some blog entries (like this one), and playing in the $1,000 NLHE on Monday. I spent Friday with Jo Anne and the kids and will do the same Sunday. But Saturday is for the bloggers. A man’s gotta have his priorities straight.

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This is the first entry for my new blog, Michael Craig’s Journal. I’ve actually written several entries about my background; the identity of the suicide king in my book The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King; winning $100 from Clonie Gowen (though she was drunk when it happened so alcohol gets some of the credit); and my other adventures during the first week of the World Series of Poker.

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