By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV
I spotted Tom Sexton just before Day 2A started. He was friends with Stu Ungar and he was at the Rio to take a photo of Madeline Ungar who did the "Shuffle up and deal" honors. We chatted for a bit and he mentioned that Harrah's paying out 666 places is ridiculous.
"Are you religious or something?""Sort of, but I think it's wrong because poker players are more superstitious than they are religious."
"Superstition is their religion," I said.
Jesus freaks and superstitious gamblers will unite in their battle to get Harrah's to change the payouts.
I thought Harrah's should have paid out an extra place... for 667. OK, since they're running a business and don't want to pay any extra money, how about they only pay out 665?
Ah, at any rate, the payout numbers were released. Can you say Top Heavy? Here's the breakdown...
2008 WSOP Main Event Payouts:Thanks to Pokerati. I just cut & past from there. If the numbers are wrong, please blame them.
1: $9,119,517
2: $5,790,024
3: $4,503,352
4: $3,763,515
5: $3,088,012
6: $2,412,510
7: $1,769,174
8: $1,286,672
9: $900,670
10-12: $591,869
13-15: $463,201
16-18: $334,534
19-27: $257,334
28-36: $193,000
37-45: $154,400
46-54: $135,100
55-63: $115,800
64-72: $96,500
73-81: $77,200
82-90: $64,333
91-99: $51,466
100-162: $41,816
163-225: $38,600
226-288: $35,383
289-351: $32,166
352-414: $28,950
415-477: $27,020
478-540: $25,090
541-603: $23,160
604-666: $21,230
The reason everyone was talking about Isadario was that nothing major was happening on Day 2A.
1,252 started Day 2A and around 450+ players advanced to Day 3. As Benjo predicted about 100 players an hour would bust.
A special-ed teacher from Cleveland emerged as the chipleader late in the evening and former PokerWire reporter Jeremiah Smith was in the front pack for most of the day. But it was hard to get very excited about leads on Day 2. Or Day 3 or 4 for that matter.
It's still the early stages of the tournament and stories are still developing. That's why gossip ruled Day 2A.
The big story was not what happened inside the ropes. It's what went down across the street inside the Rain nightclub. Everyone was talking about it. Dealers. Players. Bloggers. Photographers. Floor people. Railbirds. Masseuses.
Dario cockblocked Bill Chen and sucked face with Isabelle. In front of several hundred people.
The worst part? MeanGene had to see his eternal poker crush swapping spit with a scarf-wearing Porsche driving former Magic the Gathering player while a Michael Jackson song boomed over the bong-rattling sound system.
As Otis said, "That's like telling MeanGene there's no Santa Claus."
"Santa Claus?" I protested. "It's like telling MeanGene there's no Chirstmas!"
I was more amused than aroused, despite what my drunken twitter said. I didn't think it was a big deal. Maybe it's because I'm on the tournament trail and I see and hear all sorts of wild and crazy hook up stories... on the WPT, on the EPT, and down in Australia. Amy Calistri should write a book about all the get drunk and get laid stories on the circuit. Some of them are hilarious. Others are hideous. And some are out right embarrassing.
But Dario and Isabelle? It was nice to see two lovebirds go at it. At the bar. Ten feet in front of me and Change100.
So many people in poker are miserable. The rest of the poker world can't stand each other. That's why it was refreshing to see a major public display of affection.
Love. Love. Love.
Ok, maybe it was more like lust. Lust. Lust.
For the parties involved, it was just another night. Isabelle has been very open about her conquests and trysts which she bared in book that was published a couple of months ago. Benjo read it in French and I'm awaiting a translated copy.
But for a lot of sexually repressed Americans, it was a big deal. Huge. 2+2 thread worthy. With bad cellphone pics. After all, we love to hear about who's fucking who. And if people are not having intercourse, they wanna know who's fucking over whom. High school drama. Sex. Lies. Videotape. Online poker. Masturbating to pics of Keeley Hazell via Wicked Chops Poker. It all comes full circle.
We are what we are... a gaggle of sex-crazed degenerate gamblers. But that's what I love about America... is that or founder fathers laid out the groundwork so that we can become what we choose to be without the government interfering in our lives.
Fly to Vegas. Play in the WSOP. Get sucked out by a donkeyfish. Get wasted. Gamble until sunrise. Fuck a hooker. Eat a buffet. Piss next to Johnny Chan. Buy an ashtray. Buy a tube of cream for that rash you picked up. Good bye Vegas. See you next time.
Original content written and provided by Pauly from Tao of Poker at www.taopoker.com. All rights reserved. RSS feeds are for non-commercial use only.
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