Blue Square's non-playing representative Jonathan Raab writes a daily diary of all the goings on at the WSOP. Expect news of how the Blue Square players are getting on plus gossip from off the table. He may even have a go at trying to play himself, but don't hold your breath for him to bring back any jewellery.

Got Back to Where I Once Belonged

It seems like a long time ago since I left the UK, so when I finally put my key in the door of my North London flat it was with some relief that I found everything at home still intact. The WSOP is over for another year and although there was no series glory for any of our players, there were some impressive performances in some of the other events they played in and around Vegas. Most notable was Mickey Wernick’s big cash at the Bellagio, which was cheered on by a host of keenly interested bystanders – most of whom could expect some kind of financial gain from the UK’s Father Christmas of poker. Indeed, when Mickey picked up his $88,000 winnings he told the baying crowd to form thee orderly queues – one for those who had legitimate percentages of his action, another for people he owed money to and a third for people who were simply after a handout.

Although there was no joy for any of the qualifiers in the main event, Steve Holden went on to finish second in a Venetian event a few days later and then made it two final tables in a row by repeating the feat a day later, when he finished in 7th place. Khayam Ezzat spent almost a whole day on the TV table and did OK in the Bellagio cash games so he also has some memorable experiences to take home with him. Richard Rudling-Smith played mainly in the Orleans Cardroom when not involved in the WSOP and together we shared a few rolls of the dice on Binions craps tables, so fun, if not profit was had by all.

Vegas is a strange but highly enjoyable place. I would not be unhappy to settle there at some point in the future. The pace of life is fast, but it is up to the individual to decide just how much they wish to keep up with it. It is a surreal world where the profane rules and nothing is sacred, with the exception of the slogan that the town bases it’s ethos on: ‘What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’. I hope that through these diaries I’ve brought a little insight to what does go on in sin city. It is now time to cleanse myself.

Jonathan Raab

Wednesday 18th July 2007

More Than Holden His Own

Since our last qualifier Steve Holden got knocked out of the WSOP, I have taken a bit of time out, to complete my shopping, laze by the pool, shoot some craps, play some poker and generally have a jolly good time in ole Vegas town. The WSOP however marches on and at the time of writing there are just 110 players left from an original starting field of over 6,300. It pleases me very much to say that amongst their number is 2004 European number one and former bracelet winner Willie Tann. A true gambler and one of the UK’s elder statesmen of the game, he wore Grosvenor Casinos' colours when sponsored into a recent TV event. On that occasion he did not make the money, but my fingers are well and truly crossed for him in this one. He has 900,000 chips and the average stack is just over a million. Other Brits still going are Jon Kalmar and previous WSOP runner up Julian Gardner. Both have above average chips, however Neil Channing, who was doing well after day three, was taken out in 134th place.

Meanwhile, Steve Holden, having double satellited his way into the Bellagio $10,000 WPT event made the second day, but with only 6,500 chips. Not being too confident about getting much further, he entered the $500 daily event at the Venetian, which started at the same time that the Bellagio resumed. I also entered this tournament and sure enough, 30-minutes into play, Steve had been knocked out of the WPT event and was on his way to the Venetian. I started out well, nicking a few pots and increasing my starting stack from 10,000 to 14,500 by the first break. The reason these tournaments have been so successful is because they have afforded a lot of play by giving the players plenty of chips and a reasonable 40-minute clock, along with a fairly good structure. Kevin O’Leary has done well here, cashing for over $28,000 a couple of weeks ago. At this first break, Steve was also doing well, up to 15,000 chips.

I increased my stack further with patient play and was on just under 20,000 by the second break. Steve’s girlfriend Andrea, herself a Walsall regular, was also playing and I was moved to her table during the sixth level, however she was soon eliminated with pocket sevens v pocket jacks. There were 193 players in the tournament and quite a few other Brits were also playing. Robert Garfield, who won a Walsall main event last year was going strong, having tripled up with aces early in the competition. Kevin O’Leary, Julian Thew and recent GUKPT final tablist John Exley were other British contenders, but they all suffered early exits.

On my new table I could not find a hand and my stack began to be slowly eaten away. I found only one or two spots to make moves in the next couple of hours but was forced to put down my mediocre holdings with double all-ins behind me on both occasions. Eventually, having moved tables yet again, I was eliminated when J-9 was beaten by A-K. I was so short stacked at this point that it was a better exit than I actually deserved, as I would have been blinded out within a round. So, I finished 48th, but not good enough. Meanwhile, Steve was still very much in the game. He suffered a nasty beat with pocket queens versus pocket sixes. The inevitable third six, fell on the river, to give his opponent the devils hand, on Friday the 13th, of all days. Nevertheless, he bounced back and made the final, going on to finish 2nd for $17,000. It’s a very good result, even more remarkable for the fact that when the tournament started, he was still playing in another tournament elsewhere.

I have one more day to go in Vegas before flying home. Despite enjoying my time out here, I’m now really looking forward to the resumption of the GUKPT in Newcastle next week.

Jonathan Raab

Friday 13th July 2007

Holden His Own

With just one Blue Square player left in the main event of the WSOP, all our hopes were resting on the shoulders of Steve Holden, who returned for Day 2 with approximately 35,000 chips. He was seated next to the spectators’ entrance and unlike during the previous four days, an audience was allowed into the room. He doubled up with pocket kings on the second hand of the day and increased his stack to 75,000. Later during the first level he was pushed off a sizeable pot and shown a bluff afterwards. Still with 50,000 chips, Steve was in OK shape, but with 5 minutes to go until the end of the first level of the day, he got involved in a pot against the same player who had earlier shown him the bluff. There was some action on a flop of 8-7-3, but all the chips went in on the turn, which was a queen. Steve showed A-8, having flopped top pair-top kicker, but his opponent, who was in the big blind held pocket sevens for a set. Steve was drawing dead and being out chipped, he was eliminated from the tournament.

Steve, who often wears his heart on his sleeve, was understandably gutted that his tournament had come to an end so prematurely on day 2. However, he made up for this disappointment by entering a $320 satellite at the Bellagio and winning his way into a $1,500 super satellite for the $10,000 WPT event that was already underway there. He duly won a seat into this as well and will be trying to make up for his WSOP disappointment when he takes his seat on Thursday afternoon.

Notable Brits still going in the main event are Willie Tann, Stuart Fox and EPT supreme John Duthie. Today I finally made it to the swimming pool for the first time in over a week. All these big meals are showing on my waistline, so perhaps I should go a bit more often before we head back to the UK. I also took the missus down to the bottom part of the strip and we ended up in Circus Circus throwing balls at coconuts and such like. We won a huge bag of cuddly toys. Now I just have to find a way to drown them before we fly back home.

Jonathan Raab

Wednesday 11th July 2007

Wham, Bang, Thank You Khyam

After his marathon TV table sting on Saturday, Khayam had a few days off to recover before taking the stage once again for his assault on the biggest prize in poker. Seems like he has really spoiled himself, with expensive spa treatments and a spot of shopping therapy, putting himself in the perfect frame of mind to play a good game of poker. He was amongst a thousand or so of the survivors from days 1a and 1b of the tournament and was returning with a healthy 43,200 chips. When we met during the first break, he was up to 53,000 chips, having hit the giddy heights of 60,000 for a brief spell during the opening session.

Unfortunately things then began to nose dive, as he was on the receiving end of several hands that sapped his chips. He twice ran into trips and by the time he was reduced to 10,000 chips he was all but forced to push it in with QT on a J-K-x flop. He knew his opponent was gambling and this was confirmed when he was shown a pair of pocket sixes. The turn brought a further jack, giving Ky even more outs, but a rag on the river spelled the end for the London based IT specialist.

We met at the dinner break, by which time he was already out and had been playing in a cash game for a couple of hours. We headed for the VooDoo lounge for a leisurely meal and drinks on the rooftop nightspot. More ludicrous priced cocktails were supped and Ky seemed in very good spirits, despite his recent exit. It is his second year at the World Series and on both occasions he has made it to the second day of play. He has taken solace from the fact that he played well and felt much more confident in his abilities this time around. With his game improving all the time, he hopes to be able to spend more time in Vegas next year and play more events. But for now, it’s a bit more shopping a few more sessions in the Bellagio cash games and a Thursday flight home.

With a very congenial nature and a good table presence, Khyam has been an excellent ambassador for Blue Square at the WSOP. A lengthy stint on the TV table will preserve this memory for a long time.

Jonathan Raab

Tuesday 10th July 2007

VooDoo No HooDoo for Steve Holden

The last of the Blue Square players finally took his seat along with 1,782 other hopefuls on the last of four starting days of the WSOP $10,000 main event. The total number of players taking part in the tournament as a whole is 6,358 and it has been announced that the winner will take home a not inconsiderable $8.25m in beer tokens. That’s a lot of beer, by anyone’s standards, probably a brewery or two.

The policy at the WSOP is now for no spectators at all, except on the feature TV table. With no television appearance for Steve today, this meant that the only way to follow his chances was to meet during the breaks and get info by text message. So this is what we did. By the first break he had moved up to 25,000 chips and by break number two this had more than doubled to 52,000. Steve, who is joined out here by his partner Andrea seemed very relaxed and confident with his game. Here is a pic of him with jovial Londoner JJ Hazan.

By the dinner break Steve was on 47,000 chips and we had arranged to go to dinner in the Rio’s rooftop steak house – The VooDoo Lounge, where prime cuts are served with huge cocktails and the best view of the Las Vegas strip going. The food was fine, but Steve had to rush off soon after his fillet mignon and seafood entrée was demolished. Myself, Andrea, my own missus and fellow poker consultant Mark Patrick stayed on to savour the experience of the top floor nightspot. The signature cocktail in the VooDoo Lounge is a dry ice bubbling rum based monstrosity called a ‘Witch Doctor.’ It took four of us to finish it. By the time we had taken the hair-raising elevator journey back to ground level, the players were on another break. Steve was still doing OK, but had not seen many hands in the last two hours. He was on 42,000 chips. Two hours later he was still at about the same level and by the end of play he had made it through to day two with 35,300 chips.

Tuesday is a rest day for Mr Holden but Khayam Ezzat will resumes his challenge for the World Championship title, returning with 43,200 chips. Two out of three Blue Square cats into day two aint half bad. It’s just a shame that we can’t get close enough to follow the action properly.

Jonathan Raab

Monday 9th July 2007

No Play Today

Well, not strictly true. Many more players sat down on Day 1c of the WSOP Main event but there were no Blue Square players involved, so it was a day away from the Rio, in theory. My girlfriend, who previously hated anything to do with poker, now couldn’t get enough of it. After a spot of blackjack at the Orleans, where we are staying, we went back to the Rio, specifically so she could buy another cuddly dog teddy. She bought one yesterday but accidentally burned its tail with a cigarette, so wanted a replacement.

The dog in question was on sale at the Gaming Life Expo – the annual poker/gambling fair that takes place in the conference room next door to the WSOP. For the last two years this expo has been choc full of online poker sites exhibiting their products, but with the online ban in America, these are all gone. There are still lots of poker related products on display – magazines, chip sets, table makers and such like but the online sites seem to have been replaced by energy drinks and lap dancing clubs. Unfortunately there were no cuddly dogs left when we got there, so we went to explore the rest of the Rio casino.

We ended up playing blackjack for a few hours and although we ended up with exactly the same amount of money as we started with, the 10 beers we consumed between us were free. If America is meant to be the land of the free, Vegas is at least the land of the free beer. This time it cost us nothing more than a few dollars in tips to the waitress, but for some of the unfortunates who were also on our table, the drinks cost far from nothing. Yesterday, the seventh day of the seventh month in the seventh year of the century, was a popular day for weddings. There were 3,500 of them in taking place in Vegas and everywhere we went we saw wedding parties, people in tops hats and bridesmaids in tow. We weren’t amongst the happy couples this time, but a few less than discrete nudges were directed my way. Maybe one day.

Back at the Orleans, we intended to go ten-pin bowling in the evening, but somehow the blackjack tables and video poker machines were too much of a lure. We never made it out of the pit until it was time to go to bed. I won a few dollars after what started out as a losing session. Steve Holden is the last of the Blue Square qualifiers to play in the main event. We are keeping our fingers crossed that he will join Khayam Ezzat in the second day of the tournament.

Jonathan Raab

Sunday 8th July 2007

TV Table Time

It’s fair to say that with both of Blue Square’s Day 1a players being eliminated, both in rather cutting circumstances, some kind of feel good boost was required today. Amongst the 1,540 players who started today were JP Kelly, Praz Bansi, Karl Mahrenholz, Kevin O’Leary and online qualifier Khayam Ezzat. Once again, spectator access was scant throughout the day and with no access at all during the first level, I agreed to rendezvous with the players during the first break at the smoking zone outside the playing area.

JP made a late entrance and at this point had played only one hand in the tournament so was still on around about his 20,000 stack. Khayam, who I had not met before was puffing furiously on a ciggie and having not received his Blue Square shirt in time before he left the UK, greeted me with the words:

“You’d better get a shirt on me pretty quickly. I’m on the feature TV table with Joe Hachem”

Luckily I had a spare with me. Although spectators were not really being allowed in today, they were allowed to watch the TV table, so my girlfriend (who has shown a lot more interest in poker during this trip than she normally does) and I found a prime spot in the Milwaukee’s Best Bar, overlooking the stage. From here we were able to follow much of the action and swill beer at the same time. Marvellous.

‘SlyKy’ had not been too comfortable with the TV cameras during the first level of play, but was beginning to settle down and by the second break, although having fewer chips than he started with, he looked much happier, sharing a few jokes with the 2005 champion. He seemed to be playing fairly steadily and unlike some of the less experienced players on the table, was not afraid to get involved in hands, especially against Hachem. He took a confidence boosting 10k pot off the Australian on a 3-2-6-7 board on his big blind. Joe, in early position had raised preflop. Ky called. He checked the flop and let the champ bet out 850. Ky raised to 2,000 and Joe reraised to 4,000. The Blue Square man flat called and bet out 2,000 on the turn. Joe passed, declaring that he had pocket kings. Ky did not show, but later confessed to me that if Joe really did have kings he would be disappointed when he sees the TV coverage, as he had passed the winning hand.

Its interesting watching the TV coverage and as a spectator it is sometimes easy to work out who is holding a big hand, as each cameraman has a screen showing all the current shots from all six TV cameras. These are clearly visible to the audience and when a camera zooms in for a close up of a player, before it is even that player’s turn to act, one can only presume that the producer has instructed this due to the quality of the hand being held. An extreme close up of Khayam after a third seven hit the board on the turn during one particular hand was complete give a way that he was holding the case seven and had hit quads. Indeed he had, as after taking down the pot with a bet on the river, he showed it to the table.

Sadly, most of the Blue Square players did not make it through the day. JP was eliminated at the beginning if level three when he had his queen flush beaten by Justin Bonomo’s Ace flush. Kevin O’Leary, Praz Bansi and Karl Mahrenholz also failed to make it into day two of the tournament, but our TV table hero is through, finishing the day on 43,200 chips. The official chip count has his name hilariously misspelled as Kmayam Fzzat. Although I did not stay until the 3.30am finish of play, he must have a few more interesting tales to recount as he was on about 25,000 when we finally left, at the end of level 4.

After leaving the Rio we headed downtown to witness the Fremont Street Experience and then on to Binions to shoot some craps with Richard Rudling-Smith, who seems to have largely gotten over his Day 1 exit. Today there are no Blue Square players taking their seats but Steve Holden plays on Monday, when I will be back to follow the action, spectating ability allowing.

Jonathan Raab

Saturday 7th July 2007

Shuffle Up and Deal

The big one is underway, but just how big it is going to be this year remains as a question mark. Tournament organisers are giving away very little information about how many players are entered for the $10,000 event that is considered to be the world championship of poker. There is no information about how many players have so far entered the tournament, nor was there information about how many players had started on Day 1a until half way through the day. When the info finally filtered through, it transpired that 1,287 competitors had sat down to contest Day 1a. By the end of the gruelling twelve hours of play plus breaks, approximately 450 of them remained.

Starting today for Blue Square were Richard Rudling-Smith and Mickey Wernick. Also getting underway was Walsall League winner Ben Callinan. For the first level of play spectators were not allowed into the playing arena, however, when an ESPN producer asked for any people who would like to fill up the seats at the TV table, I took this opportunity to get into the room. After ten mins of watching Doyle Brunson playing on the TV table, it was off to try and find the Blue Square players. At the first break, not much had happened. All three players were still hovering at around their 20,000 starting stacks, or not much more.

By the second break the situation was the same and when the dinner break finally arrived, six hours into play, Richard was still breaking even while Mickey had moved up to the 30,000 mark. Unfortunately, Ben was knocked out shortly after the second break. He had moved up to 35,000 chips before this and was nowhere to be seen by the time I got to his table a few minutes after play had resumed. It eventually transpired that he had pocket aces cracked on a K-9-8 flop. He was up against pocket nines.

The organisers have increased the breaks between levels to 30-minutes, so it was going to be a very late night for those who made it through the day. By 1am I was flagging and said my goodbyes to the players, resolving to find out how they got on the following morning. At 3am Richard texted me – he had been knocked out half way through level 6. He held J-7 on a J-7-3 flop. The chips went in and his opponent held A-J. The turn was a J, giving Richard a full house, but an ace on the river, out-housed the Cardiff man and sent him cruelly to the rail. Indeed, poker is a nasty game sometimes and players have to expect this kind of thing, but it always hurts, especially when the stakes are so high.

Mickey’s fate was equally horrible. When I left he was up to 45,000 chips and was running well, but suffering from a chesty cough and sore throat. He said that if he got through the day he would need a couple of days to sleep it off and recover. However, it was not to be. He lost a few pots and then put down pocket queens and was shown aces. Having dwindled to 15,000 chips, he raised with AQ and was called. The flop was A-3-4 and all the chips went in. His female opponent had called his preflop raise with 5-2 and had hit a straight.

Day 1a was therefore not a good day for the Blue Square players. JP Kelly and Khayam Ezssat start on Day 1b. Lets hope things work out better for them.

Jonathan Raab

Friday 6th July 2007

Return To Sender

With one day to go before the poker starts in earnest, today was a chance to do a bit of shopping with my other half. We went to the Fashion Show mall so she could return some of the copious pairs of shoes that she had stocked up on a few days earlier. Having realised she had spent too much of her cash on these items, it was time for her to take advantage of Macy’s policy of giving cash refunds. Needless to say, the money she got back was spent on other things before we managed to get out of the shop.

Then it was time to pop into the Bellagio to see how Karl was getting on in the final of the $5,000 no limit event, but we were too late. Short stacked going into it, he was taken out in 9th place and was nowhere to be seen. Still, another final table from one of the Blue Square boys and it seems more and more people in Las Vegas are becoming aware of our company. Two days ago, when Mickey was in the final, the updater from Cardplayer magazine told me he kept seeing people wearing the Blue Square logo. Given that there are only a handful of people wearing it, this must be a testament to how often our sponsored players are going deep in events.

Barry Neville has once again taken down a tournament – this time a $1,000 event at the Bellagio. He and GUKPT regular Paul Gourlay were amongst the last four when a deal was brokered. With the largest chip stack at the time, Barry picked up $30,000 while Paul took down $17,000. In WSOP news, a Brit has finally won a bracelet this year. Hendon Mobster Ram Vaswani won the Limit Shootout event.

Before heading back to the hotel for a relatively early night, we popped into the Imperial Palace casino and played a spot of blackjack in the Dealertainer Pit – where the croupiers are dressed as celebrities and sing to you while you are playing. I do believe I have now me the most annoying person in Las Vegas. His badge said ‘Gary as Elvis’, but this guy was a gurning clown. Overacting when he busted your hand and whistling like a steam train when you won one became grating within minutes. In this pit there is a mini stage and every 20 minutes or so, when the dealers rotate, one of them takes the stage to ‘perform.’ The performance of Rawhide by the Blue Brothers croups was hilarious. After five minutes of being dealt to by Elvis and having not won a hand yet, we had the following exchange as he was dealing.

Me: When are you going to be singing?
Gary as Elvis: In about 40 minutes, but I guess the way the cards are running it’s not because of the singing, you don’t look like much of an Elvis fan, here’s an ace, that’s good, lets see if we got a ten for you as well.
Me: Actually, I do really like Elvis…
Gary as Elvis: Uh huh, a fan, yeah, I dig you, I really dig you. Oh, a five to go with your ace. That’s not so good, but its still OK, you could have had a hard sixteen, like this guy next to you. Uh oh, I got a blackjack. That is bad. Heartbreaker.
Me: …but he’d be turning in his grave if he saw this.

I eventually won a few dollars at his table and got out of there pretty quickly.

Jonathan Raab,
Thursday 5th July, 2007

Nosh Up

I had originally intended to take our online qualifiers and sponsored players for a pre-main event night out in the VooDoo Steak Lounge on the 50th floor of the Rio, but having left it rather late to make a booking there I opted for the Palm restaurant at Caesars Palace. The Palm is a steak and seafood place, originally in New York and now with outposts across the USA. It is high quality fare. As today is Independence Day, I expected to not even be able to get a big enough table there but was pleasantly surprised when they said they could easily accommodate the 10 of us who would be coming. This then notched up to 12 people and then 14 and as more and more people got wind of the fact that Blue Square were paying for a night out, it ended up as a party of 18. I just didn’t have it in me to say no to any of them.

Mickey Wernick and his Midlands entourage were there, still glowing from Tuesday’s victory. Gambling legend Phil Peters and his wife Niamh, Chris ‘SOXY’ Sokrati and his girlfriend Francesca, Pete Haslam, Tom Nightingale and almost all of the Blue Square qualifiers/sponsored pros were in attendance. James Atkin was not, as he had returned to the UK early, having had a good trip but essentially beginning to find Vegas on his own quite lonely. Only Karl and Praz were not there, as they were still battling it out in tournaments at the Bellagio and the Rio.

The food was exceptional – seafood appetisers followed by superb cuts of beef and finished off with the biggest piece of cake you have ever seen as a single portion. It took ten of us to finish two slices. Here’s a pic of Richard Rudling-Smith and Kevin O’Leary getting their just desserts.

So what else is happening in Vegas? The WSOP have added a fourth starting day, which seems strange as at present there are only 3,000 players registered for the main event. It looks possible that there will be less than 5,000 players this year, which would be a significant drop from last year, when almost 9,000 players either qualified or ponied up the $10,000 buy-in. On Friday Mickey Wernick, Richard Rudling-Smith and Grosvenor Walsall League winner Ben Callinan will be playing, so I will be there, with binoculars, to try and see what they are doing from the sidelines. It’s the reason we are all here; so let the games commence.

Jonathan Raab,
Wednesday 4th July, 2007

Late Birthday Present for Mr Wernick

Shortly after checking into the Orleans hotel this morning I received a phone call from Mickey:

“I’m in the final of the $1,500 at the Bellagio Cup and I’m chip leader on 170,000. Play recommences at 4pm, don’t be late.”

The tournament had started on Wernick’s birthday and the poker gods must have known this as he steadily built his stack throughout the day with almost no setbacks. With 241 runners, this was the biggest field in the festival so far and first prize would be a whopping $120,000 plus a free seat in the $25,000 WPT Championship next April.

When I got there, shortly before 4pm, Mickey was finishing off a preparatory cigarette and seemed extremely relaxed for what was going to prove to be the longest final table of the festival so far. Three players were taken out within half an hour of the start of play and by the first break; Mickey had increased his stack to 200,000. Here is pic taken during this break of The Legend with another poker legend –tournament director Roy Houghton.

Play then inevitably slowed down and it was quite some time before there were any further casualties, but Mickey was dominating the table and putting on a masterful display – winning most of his pots without having to show a hand. It was highly effective small pot poker, with the occasional bigger one every now and then. He is usually known for his short stack playing abilities, but when given the chance to play a big stack, the Legend is just as comfortable.

With three players left, Mickey was still in command, but they decided to do a deal, in which the Blue Square man took the biggest slice of the not inconsiderable cake. His late birthday present to himself amounted to $87,000 and although not all of this was his to keep (he had swapped percentages with several other players) it was the best result he has had on a long time. A few weeks ago Mickey said to me that he had a good feeling about this Vegas trip and after the disappointment of getting so near but yet so far in the Seniors event at the WSOP, this has more than made up for it. He had at least half a dozen supporters cheering him on throughout the final and really rose to the occasion, disproving the theory that poker is now a young man’s game. He has more stamina for these long events than most of the players who are half his age. Long may this continue.

Jonathan Raab,
Tuesday 3rd July, 2007

Happy Birthday Mr Wernick, Happy Birthday to you

Been in Vegas for 4 days already and have engaged in a variety of different activities so far. The Tropicana, where I’m staying for the first few nights is not one of Vegas’s most plush resorts, in fact it’s a bit old and threadbare, but it is a relic of Vegas’s past and may not be here in a few years, so I decided I had to stay here to sample a bit of history before it disappears into the ground. It’s celebrating it’s 50th year in operation and still has one of the best swimming pool complexes in Vegas – 5 acres of pools and palm trees, including a couple of swim up blackjack tables.

OK, I admit it, the swim up blackjack tables were indeed the main reason I decided to stay here – the novelty of swigging an oversized cocktail while immersed in the pool in 100 degree weather was too much to resist. So, having waded out the two meters or so from the edge of the pool to the submerged gaming area, I peeled a soggy $100 bill from my trunks and handed it over. I was rather disappointed to see that the maximum bet was $10, while the minimum was $5, which prevented me from playing my usual press it up when I’m winning strategy. Not that it made much difference, because I failed to win a single hand before the $100 had dissolved away. I did win some of it back during a second attempt, but overall, it wasn’t as fun an experience as I’d hoped it would be.

Altogether much more fun was the Circque du Soliel show 'Ka', which takes place twice nightly at the MGM Grand. It is easily the most impressive show I have ever seen in terms of production values. The stage revolves, twists, turns and transforms itself while the acrobats play out a string of highly choreographed routines that apparently have a storyline involving two twins who were separated at an early age, only to be reunited later in life. I wasn’t really aware of the storyline as I was more fascinated by the visual display and sheer decadence of the production. It is a spectacular show and one that I’d recommend it to anyone who fancies a break from the poker or gaming tables. Vegas is about so much more than watching your money disappear on blackjack or poker tables – there are loads of other ways to watch it disappear as well.

Have managed to catch up with a few of the Blue Square players so far. Today is Mickey Wernick’s 63rd birthday and I helped him cheer it in at midnight last night with a few drinks in the Bellagio along with Blue Square WSOP qualifier Steve Holden, GUKPT finalist Des Jonas and Ben Callinan, who won himself a seat in the Main Event by taking down Walsall Grosvenor’s latest poker league. Mickey hasn’t cashed in any events since the ‘Old-timers’ seniors event, as he calls it, but has had a great time so far, having been to several shows, including ‘Love’, the latest Beatles themes offering from Cirque du Soleil.

Kevin O’Leary has done well by winning a Venetian Deep Stack Tournament, taking away $28,000 in the process and GUKPT runner up Barry Neville has hit big as well with a $40,000 win in one of the Bellagio Cup events. Tomorrow I move hotels, to the Orleans, where I hope to meet up with another online qualifier - Richard Rudling-Smith, or Khazi, as he is known as on Blue Square Poker. I also intend to have another hangover.

Jonathan Raab,
Monday 2nd July, 2007

Off To Vegas Soon

It's Tuesday 26th June and in a couple of days I'll be boarding a Virgin Atlantic flight from Gatwick on the start of an 18-day trip to the gambling capital of the world. Its' my third year at the Series, but the excitement of going there is as fresh as it was on my first trip. This year I've persuaded my girlfriend to accompany me, so for the first few days I will be having a bit of a vacation before my Blue Square duties commence. The next railbird report will be on Tuesday 3rd July, but diary entries will be daily from then on.

The online qualifiers have yet to arrive but the core team of Blue Square sponsored pros have been there for a while and have already notched up some impressive results. No bracelets yet for any of them, but with several money finishes between them, it has by no means been a barren trip. Praz and JP have just missed out on making final tables, both suffering some nasty beats in the process. Karl has made the money twice in WSOP events, but has finalled in two other events at the Bellagio and Venetian casinos. James Atkin has yet to taste any WSOP cash, but has chopped two tournaments at the Bellagio.

Mickey Wernick, barely off the plane has sailed into day two and a guaranteed money finish in the $1,000 No Limit Holdem Seniors event. There were over 1800 entrants and at the time of writing there were 122 players left with Mickey slap bang in the middle of the field on 26,000 chips. It's been a relatively poor year so far for the ex-boxer from Sutton Coldfield, but a couple of final tables at the recent Midlands Meltdown festival in Walsall have restored confidence to the 62-year old, who will celebrate his birthday during this trip. In honour of his birthday and as a good luck send off for all the Blue Square players, I will be hosting a pre-main event dinner on Wednesday 4th July in the Voodoo Lounge at the Rio. Now its time to pack my bag and dig out my passport.

Jonathan Raab
Tuesday 26th June, 2007