Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Johnny 100K and More WSOP Photos

I'm blogging from the media room again today, as I can't seem to get a quality internet connection back at the hotel. I tried playing online last night, but kept getting timed out. When I called the front desk to see what was going on, he told me "it's all the Poker Stars people. They're playing on the internet in their rooms and sapping the bandwidth." Here in media row, I've been sitting next to a fifty-something sportswriter from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He's been eating sunflower seeds nonstop for the last five hours. There's an entire 16oz plastic cup between our laptops containing their discarded, saliva-covered shells.

With every passing day, we all get a little more punchy in here. For example, every time Jay Greenspan walks into the room, the Pokerstars Blog Team greets him with a round of applause for absolutely no reason. Well, maybe some reason. He just wrote a helluva book called "Hunting Fish: A Cross-Country Search for America's Worst Poker Players." I'm about halfway through and really enjoying it.

Ryan and Tuscaloosa Johnny are both still going strong on Day 2A of the Main Event. Johnny just topped 100K in chips when he made quad tens. He flopped top set on a T-7-3 board and his opponent bet out. Johnny raised to 5K and his opponent reraised to $12K. Johnny smooth-called. The turn made him quads. He checked, his opponent bet 8K and he smooth called again. A K fell on the river. Johnny bet 9K, his opponent pushed, and he insta-called. He now boasts a $114K stack.

Ryan took a bit of a hit when he tried a check-raise bluff on the river after his opponent inexplicably checked his QQ all the way on a board with four middle straight cards and three diamonds. After showing weakness on every street, the guy called the raise and Ryan was down to $30K. He's still got plenty of chips and took it like the professional he is.

For Snakes on a Plane aficionados: the "Snakes on a Flop" shirt I posted a photo of yesterday is available for $22 at the official WSOP merchandise store at the Rio. Not sure if they're available online.

By popular demand, here's a few more photos I've taken at the World Series:

What 114K in WSOP chips looks like

Like Raymer's, only better

Cyndy Violette

Annie Duke perches on her chair

Offered without comment

Amy Calistri is still trying to get him a date

Kristy Gazes whispers to her opponent

"Aussie Sarah" Bilney

Is it 4:20 yet?

Porn star Ron Jeremy starts Day 1B

Germophobic?

Oh, am I?

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