After work meetings and events were done Thursday I grabbed supper then hopped a cab for the Rio. Signs everywhere pointed to the large convention-sized poker rooms. Upon entering one room I was a little awe-struck at the sea of tables, many of which had players sitting in current games. I was surprised to see so many young guys playing, like 21 or so. I knew that there are rare free ways to get a spot, but most of these guys had to pay several thousand dollars to get in. All of the tables were contained in roped off areas so that large groups of spectators could watch without getting too close.
I wandered around, growing slightly bored until I got to a roped off area of tables loaded with chips, but no players. Dealers were still at the tables guarding the chips. I learned that these were game in progress and were paused for the players to take supper break. The most valuable gem I learned was that Phil Hellmuth would be returning to the table directly in front of me. Players and spectators know he makes rude comments about other players' skills at the table, but he has won 11 WSOP bracelets and I was not about to pass up the chance to at least see him. I looked up at the status monitors which showed a countdown of 40 minutes remaining for the meal break. My already hurting feet cried a little.
I was the lone spectator at “the rail” so could choose where to stand without having to fight masses of other spectators. With about 15 minutes left other spectators started crowding around behind me because everyone knew where the big-name tables were. Most of the players waited until less than 5 minutes to return, and of course Phil Hellmuth waits until the very last seconds. I heard he was actually late to the beginning of the tournament. Maybe he needs to use some of his millions to get a better watch. :)
As game play continued I recognized other faces at the table. Their positions clockwise from dealer were #2: Scotty Nguyen, #3: Phil Ivey, #5: David Pham, #7: Phil Hellmuth, #8: Bertrand Grospellier.
Scotty Nguyen was just to the front-right of where I was standing. He was as vocal as rumors say, often yelling for a beer or arguing with the dealer over a rule. He talks loud and verbally interacts with all the other players. I found him entertaining. He was wearing wife-beater t-shirt, white running suit, numerous gold necklaces, and a fat gold Rolex. He gave signatures to those asking, including a $100 bill. He's won 5 tournament bracelets and his live tournament winnings exceed $10.3M.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotty_Nguyen
I was standing about 3 feet directly behind Phil Ivey. He is regarded as one of the world's best players. Even though he was the closest to me, I barely heard a word from him. He was sat motionless to his seat, except for getting up a couple times to talk on one of his two BlackBerrys. Also texting at the table, I was not going to be rude and try to read it. He gave signatures to those asking, including the $100 bill that Scotty signed. He's won 5 tournament bracelets and his live tournament winnings exceed $10M.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Ivey
David Pham seemed to keep rather quiet, although got up a few times for his phone, and to talk to an apparent relative at the rail to my left. He's won 2 tournament bracelets and his live tournament winnings exceed $7.8M.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pham
Phil Hellmuth competed with Scotty as most vocal, once even arguing with the dealer about a chip count. A very social guy, Hellmuth got up a lot during big hands, and often walked around to greet acquaintances at other tables. He's won 11 tournament bracelets and his live tournament winnings exceed $6M.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Hellmuth
Bertrand Grospellier appeared quiet the whole night, only responding a few times to table humor. He was one of the world's top-ranked Starcraft and Warcraft III players. His live tournament winnings exceed $5.7M.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Grospellier
I watched for five hours and saw some eliminations.
Shortly after Phil Hellmuth was eliminated, Alec Torelli took his seat. I had never heard of Alec. He presented thick stereotypical New Yorker mannerisms that reminded me of Andrew Dice Clay. A latecomer to the table, he immediately began conversing with the other players and appears the most comfortable and least intimidated of them all. His big bets appeared to be specifically targeted at other players chips. I was impressed with his style. Reading the news today I see that he made the final table and finished in 6th place, winning $329k.
Other famous players I saw:
Antonio Esfandiari was at the table to my left. I've seen him several times on TV. He's won 1 tournament bracelet and his live tournament winnings exceed $3M. He was a professional magician.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Esfandiari
Vanessa Rousso was at the table to my right. She's known for her PokerStars commercials, is a GoDaddy girl, and teaches poker classes that compare poker strategy to Sun Tzu's Art of War. She's been in Sports Illustrated and Maxim. She stopped right behind me for a fan to get a photo with her. With zero WSOP bracelets and zero final tables, my guess is that she's known more for her looks than her game, although her winnings do exceed $2.1M.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_Rousso
I did not know Mike Matusow before seeing him, and only gave him any attention because he looks like a coworker. I saw him walk between tables a few times. Apparently he's known as “The Mouth”. He has 3 bracelets and over $6.8M in winnings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Matusow
I didn't have my real camera, so had to settle for extremely crummy cell phone pictures.
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