Here’s another blast from the past. This blog post is about Trine and I visiting the Word Series of Poker at Rio Casino in Las Vegas back in 2010.
Every year in June and July the WSOP (World Series of Poker) poker tournament is held at Rio Casino in Las Vegas. The tournament attracts thousands of players, who either join as buy-ins (paying a fee to enter) or win a seat at a table through a variety of pre-tournaments.
During the WSOP, players have the chance to win really large amounts of money as well as a WSOP bracelet, which is regarded as the most prestigious throughout the poker world. The final table, the Main Event, takes place in November, and the nine finalists are called the November Nine. The winner of the Main Event receives a WSOP Main Event bracelet, several million dollars in prize money and the unofficial title as world champion of poker.
When I was in Las Vegas in June this year, the WSOP had just started. Since Trine and I were at Rio anyway to check out the amazing seafood buffet, we hit the poker rooms looking for some real chip action.
Neither of us knew much about the WSOP except from the fact that the Danish player Peter Eastgate won an enormous amount of money a few years ago, but it was a really great experience to watch all the tables with highly focused players from around the world.
Regarding poker outfits, some of the players went all-in, rocking cowboy hats and pony tails, eyes hidden behind Miami Vice style sunglasses, while others wore comfy-looking track suits and had neck massages at the table.
We were told that the really big sharks played inside the Amazon Room, so went in to see, if we could spot any familiar faces. However, we came in the middle of the dinner break, so besides a table surrounded by video cameras from various TV channels, the Amazon room was a bit dead. After visiting the souvenir shop and filling out a form to enter a draw to win poker lessons, we took a taxi back to The Strip again.
