WSOP
2003 Day 29:
It's Not All About Poker
Today
was a strange day. I played a $50 satellite
to get into the $225 Super Sat. Two places
get a seat, third gets yummy prime rib
in the coffee shop after he busts out
with the best hand. While I was sitting
there sipping my coffee, staring into
space and contemplating my bad beats,
bad plays and bad posture, salad devoured,
half a cow on its way, two young guys
came in, laughing hysterically about something
or other, one picking up his friend from
his wheelchair, carefully draping him
over his shoulder, carrying him to his
seat in a booth as they continued to giggle
away. It's hard to get upset about a bad
beat after being humbled by a scene like
that.
After
dinner I headed back to play another $50
but they were done for the day, I'd just
missed the last one. Then I spotted a
$330 no limit satellite about to start,
one seat left, didn't recognize any of
the players so on an impulse decided to
jump in. After my two defeats yesterday
I wasn't sure how smart an idea this was,
especially as $330 is more than I usually
spend on a whole tournament, but I decided
I was going to play my A game with no
mistakes this time. This isn't another
ighn story, I stayed very focused, got
heads up and chopped it for a nice $1100
profit. Now I'm down 'only' 2K for the
trip, which actually doesn't seem too
bad considering I've played in 4 main
events and several nighttime ones.
Big field for yesterday's 7 Stud, and
I expect a very large field for today's
3K No Limit, I almost decided to play,
if there had been another satellite going
when I went back downstairs I probably
would have tried for it. But as it is,
I am now down to just trying to get into
the big dance.
A couple of years ago I wouldn't have
dreamed of staying downtown, for me Vegas
was all about The Strip and the fancy
casino resorts. I still love all of that,
but after spending six weeks at Binion's
last year, and another month so far this
year, I feel pretty qualified to offer
a different opinion from the sentiment
sometimes expressed in rgp. Yes there
have been some less than stellar handling
of situations in the past, yes, Binion's
is old, yes it can get smoky downstairs
(especially if you are playing in the
cash games), yes there are a few things
that could do with a facelift. But nothing
much downtown is in pristine shape except
for maybe Golden Nugget and Main Street
Station. I've stayed at Plaza and 4 Queens,
their hotel and rooms are old too, downtown
is old. But for me Binion's has something
that none of the others have, it has an
old fashioned feel, and I mean that in
a good way; almost without exception the
people who work here, from the front desk
to the security guards to the housekeeping
to the hotel operator to the coffee shop
waiters, have been nothing but genuinely
friendly, helpful and efficient, they
make me feel welcome. My room is actually
in very good condition and maid service
perfect, the tournament area is as good
as it gets, the deli is great, the coffee
shop is good, the steakhouse and Chinese
are top quality, food comps are given
out without question. People talk about
the good old days of how Binion's used
to look after you, in my opinion it still
does. It's very easy to find fault with
anywhere you go, and I absolutely understand
that no one place can be to everyone's
taste, but I can tell you that as a customer
and hotel guest I am having such a great
time here that it is very easy for me
to overlook a few minor problems.
Or
maybe they are pumping drugs through the
air vents.
Paul Westley
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