Things Are Different At The 2009 World Series of Poker

Well, I have been in Las Vegas for over a week and yesterday I finally made it down to Rio where the 2009 World Series of Poker has been underway for almost a month. Every year it is a circus and this year is no exception. However, every year Harrah's--the parent company of Rio and owner of the WSOP--is a little more organized. I am seeing a noticeable difference in how the separate tourneys, cash games, and satellites are set up. Two years ago I believe everything was in one big room, the Amazon Room. This year the satellites are in a separate room and the tourneys are ending up in the big room, but they are not all starting there. They are still offering cash games in the big room, but it does not look like they are spreading as many as last year. That might be, because they are still spreading games in their regular poker room, which is downstairs and about a mile away in the actual casino part of Rio. The WSOP is held in the conference area of the hotel.

Last year it seemed like every old, fat, greasy, and hairy guy playing poker had a young, blond woman, molded by plastic surgery and injections sitting behind them at the poker table. It looked like the women were just paid (by the fat slob playing) to sit behind him and watch their particular fat guy play poker. It was hard to say, if the women were all props, because a lot of those gross guys actually marry young, blond women. And when I say young, I mean they are 20 years old and the guys are 45 years old, minimum. However, yesterday I didn't see one couple that fit my usual interpretation of the Beauty and the Beast, which seems different...