Bedtime Stories From The WSOP

Hello, it's been a few days...

First, I want to congratulate Sam Barnhart for winning the inaugural WSOP Circuit National Championship. I finished Day One with 40K in chips, and as I exited the tournament area, I walked with Sam Barnhart. He asked me how many chips I had and I asked him also, remembering him saying he had around 20K.

I then told this old cliche I always like to use....

"Do you know how you win a tournament Sam? Survive and get hot late".

And Sam did get hot late. I was due to fly out this past Tuesday, but extended my stay until this Tuesday. I have been concentrating on single table satellites and cash games. The results have been reasonably good. I ran into Jerry Yang today and The Champ always seems glad to see me. I also ran into Phil Hellmuth for a brief moment. I am not positive he recognized me and my new haircut, despite shaking my hand. I do not rank high on his Philly's list of people to remember.

I lost the Jonathan Duhamel interview. Last week I posted about speaking on the phone with the reigning World Champion of Poker for an hour. Fast forward to Friday morning and the National Championship. Thirty minutes before the tournament began, I grabbed my mini recorder to check the batteries. My plan was to take verbal notes about the event and write about it later. When shit like this happens to me, despite how embarrassing it is, I always have to tell someone...

That someone was Alan Fowler of the Media Department at Caesars Entertainment.

Al stopped by my table and congratulated me on making the Finals. He wished me luck, but all I wanted to do is dump the fact I lost the Duhamel interview on him. He said "Wow. You got Jonathan? We have been trying to get him too". He then told me not to let it bother me and concentrate on the task at hand. $300,000

My conversation with The Champ was ERASED. I am not sure how I am going to explain this to Ante Up and PokerStars. I am opting for going with the truth. Later in the tournament, I played versus Bernard Lee, a man I was finally meeting after interviewing him a year ago. Brandon Adams was also at the table. I told the story of the Duhamel interview and both men recommended I write the interview from memory...

These are my thoughts: When doing these interviews, I am very careful with the my subject's image -- precise with the quotes. They are famous and rich, World Champions. They are adored by the poker masses and it is imperative that I get it right. Despite the Bernard's recommendation, I decided not to write the interview.

New friends. I have gotten to know Kevin "Kevmath" Mathers, Jay Newnum, Pete Mavro Adam Hui, Brian Ali, Brandon Adams, Robert Scott and Allie Prescott on this trip. All these guys are good guys and I plan to play the $550 Venetian Deepstack tomorrow.

This tournament is a Omaha High Low 8 or Better, my best game.

RESULTS from the National Championship