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It's always more than a little bittersweet when these awesome trips come to an end, but last night was that time again, with the remaining team members assembling for one last very nice dinner before saying their farewells and scattering to the winds. After such an amazing time being treated like poker royalty, it's always hard to say goodbye to newfound friends and return home to the world of jobs, school, and other day-to-day concerns.
But, like the entire trip, if you've got to say goodbye, you might as well do it in style, which is what the team did last night with an excellent Italian dinner at Rao's in Caesar's Palace and then drinks and dancing at Ghost Bar, before returning to the Baccarat Bar at the Bellagio for one last drink together.
With promises to stay in touch (and hopefully all qualify for another spot on Team PokerRoom.com in the future), it was time to say goodbye, capping an amazing time here in Vegas for everyone involved.
Team PokerRoom.com outside of Rao's for one last dinner.
Guzz06 and retypeNick
Guzz06 telling whassup x for the 10 millionth time the correct way to pronounce Jägermeister.
(Yes, indeed, that's not a headline we'd ever thought we'd be writing, either.)
To give credit where credit is due, Team PokerRoom.com's excellent host Kristian managed to find time a few nights ago in between showing the team the times of their lives here to not only play in a poker tournament himself at Caesar's, but to win the whole dang thing.
Technically speaking, it was the daily 11 PM $120 tournament at Caesar's, but because it was held during their World Series of Poker circuit event they're currently holding, one could argue that winning the tournament counts as a World Series of Poker tournament win.
And believe me, Kristian is definitely considering it as such, so all his co-workers need to be prepared for lots of talk about his big WSOP tournament win. Lots and lots of talk. Probably not much talk about the weigh-in at the helicopters ride on the way to the Grand Canyon or any talk about how he did at the cash game tables, but likely lots of talk about his tournament win.
But, to give credit where credit is due, nice job, Kristian, and congrats on the win.
That's Kristian on the right, interrupting a press conference to tell the world about his big WSOP tournament win.
What with all of the running around and poker action and jetting off on adventure after adventure, it's easy to take for granted just how nice the Bellagio is. It's served as the home base for Team PokerRoom.com for our stay here and what a home base it is, as far as one of the nicest, most luxurious hotels in the world.
Whether relaxing in your room, sunning by the pool, taking a stroll in the conservatory, or playing in the world-famous poker room, everything about the Bellagio oozes of class. Not only does winning a spot on Team PokerRoom.com mean that you're in for some world-class poker action, but the accomodations are nothing to sneeze at, either.
Checking in at the Bellagio.
The Bellagio casino floor.
Th current flower display in the Bellagio conservatory.
Yesterday saw a very sleepy team assemble at the crack of dawn (well, okay, it was technically 9:30 AM but in Vegas that counts for the crack of dawn when you're up late nearly every night having the time of your life) to load up their gear in our fleet of Mustang convertibles and rocket down through the desert to the Grand Canyon.
Loading up at the Bellagio.
Racing side by side on the open road.
Before we made it to the Grand Canyon, though, we couldn't pass up the chance of a helicopter ride above Hoover Dam, and a quick photo excursion on the far side of the dam:
Buckling in for what turned out to be quite the thrill ride in a helicopter high above Hoover Dam.
Still buzzing from all the excitement, the team made its way out to the west rim of the Grad Canyon, and the view that awaited:
Indeed, that's a really big, really pretty hole in the ground.
Team PokerRoom.com at the Grand Canyon.
The team then took a stroll on the Skywalk (a clear glass viewing platform that lets you stand out over the Grand Canyon, with seemingly nothing below you holding you up) and then loaded up once again for a quick dash back through the desert to Las Vegas. Re-fueled by a stop at In-N-Out Burger for some double-doubles, it was back to the Bellagio for a quick of clothes and then off to Caesar's to catch the 11 PM poker tournament action.
A pretty full day, indeed, but it's just a day in the life as part of Team PokerRoom.com, soaking up all the best that Las Vegas has to offer.
Besides, you can always sleep when you're home. Or on a crowded tour bus.
Armed with a few of blair fitz's chips from their Day 1b confrontations, Gus Hansen is the chip leader with 6 players remaining in the 2008 WPT Championships. Today was a day off for the WPT Championships (as the WPT Ladies Championships finals is being held today here at the Bellagio), with the final table scheduled for tomorrow when a new WPT champion will be crowned.
Here are the chip stacks and seating assignments heading into the final tv table:
Seat 1 – John Roveto – 2,720,000
Seat 2 – Gus Hansen – 8,570,000
Seat 3 – David Chiu – 6,050,000
Seat 4 – Tommy Le – 1,950,000
Seat 5 – Cory Carroll – 6,670,000
Seat 6 – Jeff King – 1,305,000
Last night the team was heading over for excellent seats to see the Blue Men group when lo and behold, it was suddenly celebrity central on the strip, and assorted stars were gracious enough to stop for a few photos with Team PokerRoom.com members:
Everyone wants a piece of Nicholas Cage
Okay, so maybe we we really at Madame Tussaud's wax museum, and weren't REALLY hanging out with any celebrities.
Some Rounders action
Sigh. It seems we can't take Guzz06 out anywhere in public.
After the wax museum it was off to nearly front row seats at the Blue Man group, where we were so close we had to don plastic ponchos due to splatter from the show:
Getting ready at the Blue Man show.
As always, a pretty amazing night enjoying all of the sights and sounds that Las Vegas has to offer.
When played ended at the finish of Day 4 of the 2008 WPT Championships, Amir Vahedi was sitting atop the field of 18 remaining players, with 3,907,000 chips. He's trailed by Gus Hansen (2,929,000) and Tom "Durrrr" Dwan (2,874,000).
Here are the full chip counts and seating assignments for Day 5:
TABLE 53
1. Kenny Tran - 1,442,000
2. Amir Vahedi - 3,907,000
3. Bryan Devonshire - 984,000
4. Jeff King - 1,903,000
5. Tommy Le - 1,950,000
6. Cory Carroll - 1,346,000
7. John Roveto - 556,000
8. Jeff Shulman - 473,000
TABLE 54
1. Karga Holt - 1,500,000
2. David Chiu - 1,742,000
3. Tom "Durrrr" Dwan - 2,874,000
4. Andrew Black - 411,000
5. Gus Hansen - 2,929,000
6. David Tran - 2,543,000
7. Nick Binger - 701,000
8. Robert Mizrachi - 1,079,000
9. Michael Gracz - 1,674,000
Play starts at noon today and they'll play down to the final tv table of 6 players, who will get a day off on Friday and then return for the final table on Saturday.
Gus Hansen was sitting pretty with 2,246,000 chips after action was wrapped up on Day 3 of the 2008 WPT Championships. Quite a run considering he was down to around 18,000 chips in early Day 1 action and all-in at one point versus blair fitz (who held 99 versus Gus' QQ). Gus dodged any two-outer suckout there and managed to put blair fitz's chips to good use so far, winning some huge hands late in Day 3 to vault into the chip lead.
Carlos Mortensen has just exited in 38th place in Day 4 action, so there'll be no repeat winner this year. Notable pros still in the hunt include Hansen, Robert Mizrachi, David Chiu, Michael Gracz, Men "the Master" Nguyen, TJ Cloutier, and Andy Black.
The last few days here in Vegas have been pretty poker heavy after much of the earlier days of the trip were spent on the touristy, sightseeing side of Vegas. The original plans last night were to hit up the bowling lanes at the Rio and then possibly the Gameworks arcade but those plans were scrapped when the siren's call of the poker tables proved too seductive to ignore.
With monze1 and gabrielsan69 already headed back home to Austria and Italy, the remaining team all turned out for the 6 PM Deep Stack tournament at the Venetian last night. And, once again, it was blair fitz leading the way as the last man standing, making the final table and finishing 10th in the early morning hours. He's been pretty unstoppable at just about any table he sits at this trip, and hopefully that hot run will continue as he continues to sling cards over the next few days.
As much as we strive for perfection on the blogging front, we occasionally screw things up, and it was pointed out to his by whassup x and his crew that he had in fact cashed at the WSOP Main Event. So many apologies to whassup x for earlier not giving him credit for a cash in a big event, as it was entirely our fault when we said he was chasing his first cash. Our apologies, sir.
'Ooooh, that's cruel, man, robbing me of my glory as a Main Event money winner!'
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