Hey guys and gals,
Lets get the ball rolling with the Team PokerStrategy.com WSOP 2010 coverage!
I landed in Vegas at around 1 am on Thursday, May 27. So far, i think it hasn't really quite sunk in yet that I've travelled almost 15,000km from home and will be living here for the next two months.
View from my hotel room
The hotel entrance - Palms Place
I will be keeping the live ticker threads for more poker related posts. For other stuff that happens off the tables, do check out the Team PokerStrategy.com blog.
I was walking around the Rio earlier and snapped some photos and a short video. Here are some pictures of the long walkway, as you walk from the Rio Casino entrance to the WSOP area. Posters of the past WSOP Players of the Year are lined up on both sides of the walls.
Things are set to be much bigger this year as the organizers have opened up the Pavilion, which fits a lot more players and tables than the usual venue at the Amazon room. As you reach the end of the walkway, you will be warmly welcomed by the entrance to the Pavilion.
Once you step in to the hall, the scale of the WSOP will really hit you as there are just rows and rows of tables. The room is divided into four sections, with the two front sections (nearer to the entrance) reserved to satellites and cash games. While the two sections at the back are for tournament play.
The room isn't any way near full yet and only Event #1 (for Casino employees) is running at the moment, but it should be filled to the brim once the $1k No Limit Hold'em event starts tomorrow at noon.
At the end of the room, there is a stage and a display with the WSOP 2010 bracelets.
You can also check out a short video of the room at the WSOP Day 1 gallery.
Most of the major events, like the $50k Player's Championship that will start later today, will still be held in the Amazon room. Unfortunately, it was locked when i was there, so I couldn't take any pictures of what's inside.
Right beside the poker rooms, there are also plenty of facilities for players to get food, and relax. There's the Poker Kitchen for food, the Bad Beat bar for drinks, a merchandise store for various WSOP goodies and Full Tilt Poker pros also have special private Pro's Choice Suite.
Finally, this is where I will be posting updates from most of the time. The Media room is set up for quite a large number of people, and will no doubt get much busier as the series progresses.
There's also a separate room set up for conducting interviews, right beside the media room:
That's it for now, but keep coming back frequently for more updates. Will be meeting the Team PokerStrategy.com players tonight for dinner and introductions. So, don't forget to visit the blog for more pictures of that.
