An old one I enjoyed looking back over

In the summer of 2009, i made my 10th trip to Las Vegas. I went with a friend, Kerr, who had won the trip from my current employers. It was just as things had turned bad for me in business and the money had run out. I put on a brave face, and escaped from my problems with a now rapidly depleting bankroll. We had fun, and I made a tidy profit on a run of 10 tournamnets and 1 cash session in one week. Although I had been to Vegas so many times before, I had never been when the WSOP was on, or stayed on Fremont street for any length of time. Both experiences are highly recommended




Being a lucky guest of one of the National winners, Kerr Harris, saw me and 19 excited other board our flight to Las Vegas, Nevada on the 6th of June to take part in the Poker in the Pub Final Table, and have a week of fun in the gambling capital of the world.

After a few drinks onboard the flight, several at the Golden Nugget casino bar, and several at the pool bar courtesy of Dave Brannan of @livinglovingit, someone had the bright idea of playing the 8pm NL Holdem tournament at Binions. Not being able to resist a game at the spiritual home of poker and the WSOP, it seemed like a great idea! After an hour it seemed like a terrible idea, when alcohol and jet lag took its toll and most of us crashed out.

Day 2 took us to the PITP final table, which was held at the Golden Nugget in their main convention room which was set up for their own poker tournament. The full report can be read here on the forum.
For all you poker fans, there was no shortage of tournaments at any given time of the day, from $50 up to $10,000 at the World Series (more on that later), and cash games from $1/$2 no limit and upwards. My first cash was at the 9pm $35 re-buy at Fitzgerald’s, pulling down $300 and covering the drinks bill for the first two days!!
Monday stared with breakfast in the hotel, sitting next to Padraig Parkinson and “Mad” Marty Wilson, followed by a whirlwind tour of some of the strip hotels including stops at the Ice Bar at Mandalay Bay, Nine Fine Irishmen at New York New York, the Card Room at Bellagio and finishing with a trip to the World Series of Poker at the Rio.

I had absolutely no idea how accessible the tournament table were, and how friendly everyone would be. There is no hiding from the public and the table are as close to you as this computer is to me. We stood watching the six-handed Holdem with Chris Ferguson on our right, Neil Channing in front of us, and Clonie Gowan on the left. Neil Channing stood up and came over for a chat about poker and Scottish Football. We moved on to the H.O.R.S.E tourney to watch Daniel Negraneu, Mike Matasow and others. As the 7 card stud was down to heads up, we watched until it finished with Jeff Lisandro being presented with his 2nd bracelet in two years.

We made our second visit to the Rio on Wednesday and were spellbound watching the $10,000 lowball draw Championship. Standing as close to the 8 tables as you would be in your own pub, we watched Greg Raymer, Huck Seed, Scotty Nyguen, Andy Black, Johnny Chan, Roland De Wolfe, John Juanda and numerous others fight it out. I even spoke briefly to Daniel Negraneu and Doyle Brunson, while Kerr spoke to Ross Boatman who was watching his brother and Michael Greco battle in the NL Shootout tourney. The days highlight came outside the main entrance having a cigarette with Andy Black telling us wonderful stories about final table blow ups and being beaten by amateurs like us who only play good cards!

All this inspired us to enter event number 19 at the Binions Poker Classic. A field of nearly 200 sat down for NL Holdem which included both Padraig Parkinson and Marty Wilson’s partners Katherine & Veronique and "Oklahoma" Jonny Hale. Kerr lasted until just before the dinner break, and with a bit of skill and some luck, I made it to the money, and held out to reach the final table. I was just starting to realise what I had achieved until my pair of Jacks were cracked by AQ. It was a most surreal experience going “All In” with Padraig Parkinson and Marty Wilson cheering “Scotland, Scotland” from the rail as the cards were dealt out. They also helped to lighten the breaks with Padraig Parkinson tale about his 3rd place finish at the World Series in 1999, or should I say his lack of memory due to after game celebrations, and how they used to sleep 6 to a room back in the day when it was all about getting to Vegas just to play the World Series. Sadly Katherine and Veronique, were knocked out just after me, not a good final table for Europe, but what an amazing experience and a great laugh.

So after 10 poker tournaments, and 4 cashes it was time to go home. Where else can you meet so many Poker people, play so many games and really feel part of the game. Here is to next year and I for one will be doing my very best to make sure I qualify to be on that plane.