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Poker league champions Vinson Anenson and Joyce Whitmore both made it through their respective Day 1's of the Main Event. 

Vinson was eliminated early on Day 2A with a very short stack while Joyce had a long run on Day 2B but ended up busting out short-stacked to poker pro Bill Edler with 1 hour to go before Day 3.  Congratulations from the entire league on having a great run at this year's Main Event!!

Justin Sellers busted in 216th place for over $51k.

Cody Slabaugh from Fargo made it down to 100th place for $58k. 

Congrats to Justin & Cody for their great showing in the main event!

12:35AM UPDATE 

Down to around 450 in the main event.  Tom McCormick and Randy McKay busted shortly after getting in the money.  At the dinner break Justin Sellers had 280k and Cody Slabaugh is running well with over 500k in chips.    

1:15 PM - JUSTIN SELLERS DOUBLES UP

Justin Sellers from Bismarck has just doubled up to around 290,000 in chips in a set over set situation.

12:00 PM - DAY 3 BEGINS

Tom McCormick from Fargo, ND has been (literally) bouncing around the room, raising his arms in a Rocky pose and pumping his fist and getting himself psyched up. He said that's what he did before he began play at a final table he won in Tunica earlier in the year and he's getting himself ready to go right now. "I only have 40,000 in chips but I'm gonna win this thing!" he said.

11:00 PM - THE DREAM IS OVER, JOYCE BUSTS

With 1 hour of play remaining in Day 2B, Joyce is very shortstacked with less than 20k in chips.  She looks down to find 2 facecards, a King and a Queen and decides its time to make a stand.  She pushes all-in and gets a call from poker pro Bill Edler with pocket 5's.  She was in a coin-flip situation for her WSOP tournament life.  A 5 on the flop quickly decided the outcome and Joyce has been eliminated from the Main Event after a great run.  Congratulations Joyce on making it further than any previous league player in a major buy-in tourney!!

10:20 PM - GETTING SHORT

With blinds of 1000/2000 and a 300 ante and one revolution around the table costing 6000 it is not taking long to eat up Joyce's stack.  She has moved all-in once and ended up chopping the pot, but currently has only around 30k as Level 10 is about to finish.

The tournament will play 1 hour and 20 minutes into the next level before the fields are combined for Day 3.  There are still 558 players remaining today meaning a total of around 900 counting yesterday's field left.  The average is around 120k so Joyce is well below average.  Hang on Joyce!

7:00 PM - DINNER TIME

At the dinner break nears Joyce is still alive with 70,500 in chips.  During Level 2, poker pro Bill Edler (pictured at right) got moved onto her table.  Just over a week ago, Bill won Event #45, a $5,000 No-Limit Short-handed event as he was cheered on by his poker buddies Erick Lindgren and Gavin Smith.  Bill is being tracked by Card Player magazine and his name has appeared throughout the day as a chip leader with as many as 300k in chips.

Joyce did end up calling an all-in bet on the river with QJ vs J8 with both players having 2 pair but Joyce's Q kicker winning the pot.  She has been pretty quiet overall, but has won a nice hand when her Q's held up against 10's with all little cards on the board.  She also got involved in a pot with Bill and he jokingly told her "I will do whatever you do on the flop, but after that I'll have to play poker".  He ended up giving Joyce a free card that she needed to hit her straight, but wouldn't pay her off when she bet 10k on the river. 

The last update that the tournament clock had was 666 players left in the tournament, play will resume at 8:30 after the dinner break.

2:15 PM - JOYCE DOUBLES UP, THEN BACK DOWN

Joyce finally found the hand she was waiting for and moved all-in with pocket Jacks.  Only problem is, someone woke up with pocket Aces.  No help on the flop or the turn and she has 2 outs on the river.....JACK!

After winning a couple smaller pots, she had built her stack up to around 85,000.  Unfortunately, she lost a couple hands where she chased some draws and her stack is back to where she started at around 37k. 

Level 2 is about to begin with blinds of 600/1200 with a 200 ante costing Joyce 3,800 every time around the table.

12:00 PM - JOYCE BEGINS DAY 2B

Joyce begins her quest to make it through Day 2B today along with 1302 other players.  She is under the chip average with 36,500 chips and is sitting at Table 74, Seat 9.  Her table mate from Sunday, Jeff Norman wound up being the overall chip leader heading into Day 2A & 2B.  Play will continue today until about halfway through Round 5 when they will stop and combine with the 350 players that moved on from Day 2A.  That will leave a field of around 700-750 players heading into Day 3 on Thursday hoping to make it down to the money which starts at 621st place. 

Other MN/ND players in today's field:
Randy McKay - Finley, ND - 112,700
John Hayes - St. Paul - 79,000
Bryan Miller - Brainerd, MN - 71,100
Alan Young - Glenville, MN - 67,000
Justin Sellers - Bismarck - 63,300
Cody Slaubaugh - Rugby, ND - 47,400
Lance Bruner - Minneapolis - 42,500
Dick Kath - Stillwater, MN - 27,900
Jason Sell - Minneapolis - 26,400
Tom McCormick - Fargo - 26,100
John Ryan - Grand Forks - 19,600
Everett Carlton - St. Paul - 13,500

Randy McKay is a good online player known as Dakotakid and Brook has chatted with him on many occasions and he has quite a few previous cashes.  Justin Sellers is a good friend of the league's and just recently moved to Vegas to start playing poker professionally.  Tom McCormick from Fargo is well-known in the poker world and has played the biggest tournaments and succeeded for many years now.  Cody Slaubaugh has cashed at several HPT events and recently won a WSOP preliminary event in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

1:15 PM - VINSON BUSTS

Well after one hour of play Vinson was down to around 10k in chips and picked up his first pair of the day, pocket 5's.  He pushed all in and got a call from A8.  The flop was a mix of good and bad news.  8-x-x all hearts and Vinson did hold the 5 of hearts while his opponent did not have one.  So any heart or one of the two remaining 5's gave Vinson 11 outs with two cards to come.  Unfortunately it was not to be and Vinson's Main Event has come to a close.  He will continue to enjoy his vacation as he and his family will be staying in Vegas for another week and he said he has had a great time.  Good job Vinson!

11:30 AM - BEGINNING OF DAY 2A

Vinson is getting ready to begin Day 2A and he will be looking to double up as he is sitting with only 16,100 chips.  Blinds will be starting at 500/1000 with a 100 ante so once around the table will cost Vinson 2,500 chips.  He seems pretty upbeat and knows the odds are against him but hey, one double-up puts him right back in the game.  The official payouts have been announced and the top 621 players will cash with the bottom payout being $20,320 and 1st getting a cool $8.25 million dollars!  Not quite the 12 million from last year but still life-changing money.  Here are several other MN and ND players that I have noticed on the player list:

Soni Penh Lo, Mankato, MN 68,800
Peter Christensen, Northfield, MN, 33,700
Paul Koutzman, Pelican Rapids, MN, 24,500
Scott LaFond, Dickinson, ND, 20,700
Gregory Rahn, Minneapolis, MN 17,400
John Horon, Andover, MN 15,700

Soni won the HPT event in Mahnomen, MN in 2005 and Brook and I were playing cards with him on Sunday night at the Gold Coast.  Two other ND natives, Justin Sellars from Bismarck (64,000?) and Tom McCormick from Fargo (26,100) are still alive and will be playing on Day 2B on Wednesday.

Good Luck Vinson!

3:45 AM - END OF DAY 1C - JOYCE MOVES ON!

2:40 AM - HOUR TO GO

Level 6 is halfway over and Joyce has been fairly active by her standards.  I have seen her involved in at least 4 pots with the last one bringing a big flop of A-K-J.  The Small Blind bets 2200 into a pot of 4200.  Joyce is next to act and raises it up to 4500, prompting folds from 2 other players still in the hand.  The Small Blind ponders, then let's it go. 

Players are being eliminated pretty quickly in this level, choosing to either double up for Day 2 or go home.  Players have been combined to one-half of the room and there are lots of big names just tables away from Joyce including Ferguson, Varkoni, Cunningham, Bernard Lee, Kenna James, and Phil Gordon. 

Joyce is at 34,500 but the player to her left (see photo at right) is among the chip leaders with around 200k.

1:05 AM - LONG NIGHT

Level 5 was an extremely long level for Joyce, she was not able to catch any cards at all this past level.  With it costing 1650 in chips every time the buttons goes around it doesn't take long for your stack to get eaten up.  Finally with about 30 minutes left in the level she is in the small blind for 300 and she calls the extra 300.  The Big blind uses his option and makes it 2000 to go.  Joyce calls.  The flop comes with an A-K-2.  The King and the 2 are diamonds.  Joyce checks and the Big Blind makes it 1800, she calls.  The turn brings an 8 giving the board two hearts and two diamonds.  Joyce again checks and the Big Blind bets 2000 Joyce calls.  The river pairs the board with a 2 of clubs.  Joyce checks and her opponent makes a bet of 5500.  Joyce goes into the tank and eventually calls.  The big blind shows a K-2 of spades for a full house and Joyce reveals A-4 off suit.  It should be mentioned that the player to her left has over 100,000 in chips and is that table's chip leader.

Joyce now sits with 27000 in chips, the average stack is 39000 with 890 players remaining going into the last level of the night.  The blinds will be 400-800 with an ante of 100. 

10:45 PM - CLIMBING INTO LEVEL 5

With the blinds and antes eating away at Joyce's stack she was able to catch a small rush in the last 30 minutes of the level and eliminate two of the short stacks at her table.  The first elimination took place when the player under the gun moved all in for 2700 and Joyce called from the cut-off, the button and blinds folded.  The initial raiser shows J-10 off suit and Joyce shows an AJ off suit.  The flop brings a Jack and the turn brings the ACE! With the rest of the board bringing no suited cards or connectors Joyce has her first victim.  Two hands later Joyce is again calling an all-in raise.  I look down at a flop of Q-10-8 rainbow and the player in seat 10 moves in for his last 5000 in chips and Joyce calls.  The raiser turns over pocket kings and Joyce reveals big slick.  The turn brings a 3.  The river brings................A JACK!  Joyce has rivered a Broadway straight to crack Kings and eliminate her second opponent.

Shortly after the previous hand I described, her table was broken and she was moved to table 58. This table has at least 4 stacks that are bigger than hers.  Does this intimidate her, no way. Her second hand in she calls a 2,000 pre-flop bet in the cutoff seat. The flop brings all low cards, the initial bettor checks and Joyce fires 2,000 and the gentleman quickly folds.  This brings Joyce's chip stack to 46,000.

She is good shape going into level 5 where the blinds will be 300-600 with an ante of 75.

7:10 PM - DINNER BREAK

Dinner break is here and Joyce has had a roller-coaster hour.  She finally picked up pocket aces and was apparently fortunate enough to flop a set.  Another player hit a straight on her though to crack her aces and she lost around 10k in that hand.

With around 15 minutes to go in the level I walked up to find her facing a tough decision on the river.  She was heads-up with a player who made a pot-sized bet of around 4100 on a board of AQ883.  Joyce pondered for a while before making the call with Q-10.  He mucked his hand and she scooped around 12k. 

On one of the last hands before the break she hit two pair with A5 and picked up another nice sized pot to bring her total to around 37k.  This is above the average and she has already outlasted quit a few pros that have already busted.  Ivey, Matusow, Raymer, Bloch, Laak, Tilly, Tarver, Nelly, Canseco, Men the Master, and Shannon Elizabeth have all taken an early exit.

6:15 PM - HOUR TIL DINNER

With about one hour to go until the 90 minute dinner break, Joyce has increased her stack to around 32,000 chips.  Her table seems pretty tight and I have only noticed one of the original players busting out.

4:55 PM - LEVEL 3 BEGINS

Blinds are now up to 200/400 for Level 3 and Joyce says she has 29,700 at the break.  She picked up a nice pot with AQ when the board came with two Queens.  One level left until dinner and then antes begin.

 I have been busy snapping more pictures and have found the players also in today's field; Greg "Fossilman" Raymer (just busted), Jennifer Tilly, Toto Leonidas, Amir Vahedi, and TJ Cloutier.  There are some interesting tables developing as one table now has two previous Main Event champions on it, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and Robert Varkonyi (2002).  Phil Ivey is sitting with Joe Cassidy, Kenna James is sitting with Amnon Filippi, and Phil Gordon is sitting with Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld).

3:25 PM - HOLDING STEADY

Joyce is maintaining a chip stack of between 22k and 24k and looks relaxed after she told me she had been pretty nervous to start.  Today is the first day of the Main Event where they have had to use the outdoor pavilion and they have now moved everyone inside as more players continue to bust. 

My final walk around the rest of the room revealed Allen Cunningham, Gavin Griffin, Humberto Brenes, JC Tran, Kenna James, and Phil "The Unabomber" Laak who has just busted out.

Chad Brown and Phil Ivey are among the early chip leaders with over 50k each.

2:15 PM - FIRST BREAK

I caught Joyce on her way out to break and she is sitting at 22,500 after the first two-hour level completed.  Everyone is now on a 20-minute break.  She's had pocket Q's and J's so far and has won multiple small pots, playing a tight/conservative game.

Walking around her quadrant I have also spotted Phil Gordon, Men The Master, Andy Bloch, Phil Ivey, Chad Brown, and David Skalansky.

1:30 PM - MOVING ON UP

Joyce seems to be having a good time and has increased her chip stack to around 23,000 chips.  As I walked by I heard her telling her amazing story of how she got here for free through the Dakota Poker League. 

There are a ton of big-name players playing today including Chris Moneymaker on the ESPN feature table and Mike Matusow on the Bluff feature table.  Just by glancing around the room I also noticed Todd Brunson and two very attractive famous females, Vanessa Rousso and Shannon Elizabeth.

Today's Day 1C field consisted of 1706 players.  Add that to 1247 on Day 1A and 1545 on Day 1B and we have 4498 players so far.  They are expecting around 1600 tomorrow bringing the total to a little over 6000 players.  This is quite a bit below last year's 8773 but should still produce a very handsome 1st place prize between 9 and 10 million dollars! 

Our Dakota Poker League champion Joyce Whitmore (Pit Stop in Clifford, ND) kicks off play today on Day 1C.  Play got underway with a big round of applause at 12:10 when CEO of Rio Properties kicked off the tournament with the famous "Shuffle Up and Deal".

There is a huge line of spectators to get into the Amazon Room but security is doing a much better job today of managing the crowd.  Because of the crowd, the only spectators allowed in the room are those in the ESPN feature table area.  The room will open up to the public in a few hours.

Joyce looks pretty comfortable as she settles in for what hopes to be a long day of poker.  She's sporting her pink DPL hat and plays her first pot 5 hands into the tournament.  She limps in from middle position (blinds are 50/100) and bets when it is checked to her on a flop of A-K-x.  She gets one caller who checks to her again on the turn when a Q comes.  She bets again and takes down her first pot of the day and adds about 500 to her starting stack of 20,000.

 As I look around the area near her I spot a mass of cameras around Chris "Jesus" Ferguson and Steve Danneman just to name a couple of the big names playing on Day 1C.

After he got moved to his new table, he picked up AQ on the first hand and raised to 2200 (blinds 400/800, 100 ante) and got a call from the 2nd biggest stack on the table.  The flop came all clubs, KJ5 and the caller checked to Vinson.  He fired a 1/2 pot bet with the Ace of clubs in his hand and the other player folded.  He made a big fold right toward the end of the day when he came into the pot with pocket Jacks and got reraised big from a very tight player in the big blind.  Vinson went into the tank for a while before reluctantly giving them up.

Vinson told me he played pretty tight most of the day and he seemed to be getting respect whenever he came into a pot since he wasn't splashing around a lot.

3:25 AM - VINSON SURVIVES DAY ONE!

Level 6 has just wrapped up with a big round of applause for the 600 or so remaining players and our MPL champion Vinson Anenson is among them.  His ending chip count is 16,100 so he is short-stacked compared to the chip average of around 50k.

He got moved halfway through the level and wound up with a seat facing the chip leader of Day 1B.  Dag Mikkelsen from Norway(?) is sitting with around 230k in chips and Vinson tangled with him a couple times, once stealing his blind and once calling from the big blind on a raise from Dag.  He stayed out of big pots for most of the level and will now redraw for new seats to start Day 2 on Tuesday. 

The league would like to congratulate Vinson on a great day of card playing and he has now made it further than any other Grand Prize winner in league history!!  More updates to follow after we talk with Vinson.....

1:15 AM - FINAL BREAK OF DAY 1B

His chip count is now at 19,500 after the paying the blinds and antes over the last hour.  He has played only about 2 hands in the last hour; raising pre-flop with 7's and getting the blinds and antes and calling one raise and folding after missing the flop.

Vinson told me he probably saved his tournament life earlier as he laid down pocket 6's to a raise from one of the two giant stacks to his right (both have almost 100k).  The flop came down 6-4-2 all spades.  The big stack and one caller got their money in with the big stack holding A-x with the Ace of spades and the caller flopped a set of 4's.  The river brought another spade and the big stack got bigger.

Level 6 is just beginning with blinds of 400/800, 100 ante and play will stop at the end of this level.  There are approximately 800 players remaining and Vinson said the action has intensified at his table as the short stacks are starting to feel the pressure of making it to Day 2 on Tuesday.

12:20AM  - UPDATE

Vinson is still alive!  He's managed to scoop a 16k pot and now has at least 24k.  The chip average is over 38k so he's going to need more chips to survive tonight.  He appears to be really comfortable now, smiling, laughing with the players on his table, and spitting sunflower seeds.  :)

The press has been hovering over his table quite a bit.  The lady sitting to his left is Deana Dozier, relatively unknown, but her persona is getting attention. 

The end of the 4th level has Vinson's stack sitting at 18,100.  There is more than the usual amount of random press hanging around Vinson's area of the floor.  The reason, several big name pros are nearby, and, the current chip leader Montel Williams from the "Montel Williams" show (pictured right).   The media room is buzzing about this. The table behind him has Patrik Antonius, who has been building his stack with aggressive play the past level.  Between Montel and Patrik the ESPN cameras and boom 'mikes' are creating a hazardous work environment for this amatuer poker correspondant.  I have been hit in the back by two ESPN cameras and nearly decapitated by several boom 'mikes'. Level 5 brings with it blinds of 300-600 and a $75 ante.  There are approximately 1,000 people left and the average stack is around 30,000.  A quick double up and Vinson will be right back to average.

9:20 PM - LEVEL 4

Halfway through level 4 and Vinson's stack is approximately 16,600.  It looks like Vinson hasn't played a hand this level.  The blinds for this level are 200-400 with a $50 ante.  That means every time the button goes around it costs Vinson 1100 in chips to play.  It should be noted that Jennifer Harmon is no longer at Vinson's table.  With that table not scheduled to break until much later, I am going to assume she is out.  YEP, it's comfirmed, Vinson has outlasted Harmon.  Way to go!

The action is really flying this level.  You can't move 10 feet  without hearing  "all-in and a call". 
Miracles and Heartbreaks with almost every flop, turn and river.

Editorial Note: Jennifer Harmon's married name is Traniello.  But for the purposes of this blog we used her maiden name.

7:10 PM - DINNER TIME!

Vinson's stack has grown since the last time I reported.  He is now sitting at 18,050, a healthy 8,000 chip rush at the expense of none other than Jennifer Harmon.  He told me that right when his stack hit 10,000 he picked up pocket 6's, Jennifer made it 1,100 to go and Vinson called.  The flop brought all low cards and Jennifer bet 1,200 Vinson called, they both checked the turn and Jennifer checked the river and Vinson led out 2,000 and Jennifer folded.  With 5 minutes left until dinner, Harmon makes it 1,100 again and with Vinson on the button he smooth calls.  The flops only meaningful card is an ace.  The flop, turn and river are all checked and Jennifer reveals pocket 9's and Vinson turns over AJ of diamonds bringing his stack to the current total.
The next update will be awhile due to the dinner break, play doesn't start again until 8:30pm Vegas time.  That means the next update will be probably between 11-12 back home.  So all the people watching the blog up at the Rusty Nail in Thief River Falls will just have to hang tight and have a few more.

A swift glance at Vinson's Stack now has him at about 10,000.  With 45 minutes to go until the dinner break Vinson has time to build his stack.  More updates at the dinner break.

5:00 PM - THIS PLACE IS NUTS!

If you have never been to Las Vegas during the WSOP, I highly recommend it!  The atmosphere is electric, there are people swarming around everywhere and if you're not careful, you could get run down by Doyle Brunson on a motorized scooter!  Every time you turn around there is another famous poker player or celebrity with a crowd of people getting pictures or autographs. 

If you love juicy cash games, now is the perfect time as well as there is tons of action from low-limit all the way up to the biggest games in the world. 

The expo has definitely taken on a more risque feel, with lots of scantily clad females handing out products and I even spotted a few dancing on poles! 

4:45 PM - 2ND BREAK - TREADING WATER

 Vinson is sitting at 14,950 chips and holding steady.  Vinson stated that he was able to pick up some small pots with pocket Q's during the last level (100/200).  He played one other hand that level and he called a small raise with A-Q offsuit and blanked on the flop and folded to a bet when the action was on him.  Vinson told me that the action at his table has gotten a little more aggressive and he is feeling a little intimidated but that he is more comfortable now then he was when he started play four hours ago.

4:10 PM - SHINY GOLD BRACELET

I took a shift watching Vinson for a while and watched him take down a pot with a raise pre-flop.  Two seats to his left I noticed a man talking with some TV crew and then noticed the shiny gold WSOP bracelet dangling from his wrist!  After a bit of research, it is pro poker player Michael Keiner, who won WSOP Event # 14, a $1,500 Stud tournament last month.  He has cashed 3 times already this year and 7 times in his career.   During his win in Event #14, his final table consisted of Barry Greenstein and Greg "Fossilman" Raymer.

Not only that, but the attractive female sitting between Vinson and Michael Keiner happens to be staying with Annie Duke and Drake heard she might be something of an Internet pro.  Quite a tough table it turns out he has drawn!  Last update on his chip count had him at 16,200.

2:25 PM - FIRST BREAK

Well, Vinson has made it to the first break while not getting the greatest cards and has only been able to drag one pot in 2 hours.  He is currently sitting on a chip stack of 15,200, about 75% of what he started with but still healthy.  The whole room is on break for 20 minutes and we are waiting to hear the official count for Day 1B as they have just closed registration for the day.

1:40 PM - PLAYER OUT

Unfortunately we have lost a player....league founder Brook Lyter.  He had back-to-back hands that turned what had been a positive day into miserable one.  BUSTED IN THE FIRST LEVEL!!!

He had built his stack up to around 26k when he picks up AJ on the button facing a standard raise.  He calls to see the flop, A-J-3, top two pair!  The raiser leads at the pot with 800 and Brook considers smooth-calling to keep the pot manageable.  Instead, he decides to raise to 2400 and then gets re-raised to 7500.  He went into the tank for a while, then pushed all-in and got insta-called.  Brook's opponent held pocket Jacks and had flopped a set!  He told me he hated the situation because he suspected AK or JJ but came into this tournament with the attitude that he was going to have to be willing to gamble  in order to go deep.  Fortunately, Brook still had around 8500 left and he can play short-stacked poker with the best of them (and this is by no means short-stacked).

THE VERY NEXT HAND, he picks up pocket Queens with multiple limpers already in the pot. He raises to 1200 and everyone folds, except for "one old lady" who re-raises him all-in!  He grudgingly calls (hard to put her on AA because there were 2 limpers in front of her) and finds himself up against Pocket Rockets again (Brook busted out of the $1500 event on QQ vs AA).  He miraculously flops a Queen and just as he is beginning to breathe again the table makes a loud groan, ACE ON THE RIVER!  That's the end of Brook's 2007 Main Event and the shortest major tournament experience ever.

12:45 PM - NEW PLAYER AT VINSONS TABLE

Well, players are still filing in late and Vinson looks up from his cards and finds Jennifer Harmon has just sat down in Seat 2 directly across from him!   Wow!  First Troy Mattson right next to Phil Gordon and now this.  Drake will try to get some good shots of the 2 of them as the day goes on.

12:35 PM - FIRST LEVEL - (updates by Pete Bushey)

The Rio's own Penn & Teller comedian/magical duo kicked off the tournament with the opening announcement at 12:07 and it took all of 5 minutes for one poor soul to be out his $10,000 buy-in and make the inaugural walk of shame.  

A quick check on Vinson and Brook shows them both close to even, with Vinson taking a small 550 chip hit already.  

Jason Drake has walked part of the room and noticed the following players so far; Jeff Lisandro, Scott Fischman, Norm McDonald, Joe Sebok, John Juanda, Tony G, Hennigan, and all the Shulman clan just to name a few.

SATURDAY - DAY 1 (B) - 11:55 AM (PST) - HERE WE GO!!

Our Minnesota Poker League champion, Vinson Anenson (Rusty Nail, Thief River Falls, pictured left) is getting ready to take his seat and he says he's slightly nervous.  He made the comment to me as we were outside the main tournament room that "Now he knows what those kids in Make-A-Wish feel like!  This truly is the poker dream of a lifetime.

Meanwhile, after much deliberation, Brook has decided to play today and we will be watching both Vince and him closely.  Vinson is on Table 10, Seat 4 (the "good-buddy" seat!), and Brook is on Table 153, Seat 9.  They will start with 20,000 chips, 2 hour levels and the blinds start at 50-100.  Today is expected to be much busier than Day 1A when 1,287 players kicked off the Main Event.

 Well, here comes the announcement of "Shuffle Up and Deal", stay tuned!

FRIDAY - DAY 1 (A) 2:00 PM

Boy is it HOT in Vegas.  And I'm not talking about the girls...It was at least 115 degrees on Thursday and it's not much cooler today.  Even though it's "dry" heat it's quite stifling.  It's all they can talk about on the local news.

Pete is running around the booths at the exhibition hall taking pictures and looking for opportunities to meet people etc.  I'm kicking back enjoying a little relaxation after an aggressive night out on the town last night.  Our crew took a limo over to Mandalay Bay and took in the sites and sounds at  the nightclub Rum Jungle.  We have a friend who lives here who got us in VIP style.  That place is amazing - the walls are all glass with silent waterfalls and they have dancers all over the place.  The music is a mix of DJ and live percussion, it's really cool...The night was on me after scoring a huge win on the cash tables, making an $18,000 profit in 6 hours playing 25/50 NL!!!  That's my biggest cash session ever.  Naturally I was buying!  

On a side note, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were playing in the cash games 2 tables from mine.  EVERYONE wanted to be on that table.  It didn't take long and there was a huge crowd gawking at the celebrities. 

Tonight we are going out to dinner at a Brazilian Steakhouse at the Mirage and taking in David Spade's stand-up comedy show.  Tomorrow the work begins and Vinson Anenson gets his shot.   I am undecided at this point which day I want to play but I am leaning toward Sunday and need to make up my mind soon so I don't end up an alternate.  I have no idea how many players are in the main event, but we should get an idea after today.

When Pete gets back I'll upload some pictures etc.