"What does that make, 7 posts this year now? Color me impressed."

                           Bobby Bracelet, in response to my last unimaginative post

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He's right, you know; I haven't been posting that much lately, mostly because I haven't had anything to say. Nothing exciting--or even marginally interesting, for that matter--on the poker side of things for me lately. No big pots lost or won, no final tables, no suck-outs to rant about.

That means you all owe me $1 for sparing you the bad beat stories. All 2.3 of you.

This time last year-- not in July, but at the start of the WSOP--I was in Vegas for my very first WPBT event at the Aladdin. I was excited and a little bit nervous. Not that there was anything to worry about. Most, if not all, of the people were very cool. And very drunk. I might be leaving out an asshole or two, but I don't remember meeting anyone that was an out and out cockbite.

My early tournament suckout on Pauly(my 9's walloping his 10's) allowed me to ride my chipstack to the final table, just barely. Just before the last 10 people were about to sit down after a break, Pauly came up to me with some advice.

"Dude. You're the best player in here." he muttered with a truckload of booze on his breath. "Win this fucking thing".

Even though I barely had enough to post the big blind that was rapidly approaching, I believed him. For all of about a nanosecond.

I watched as he stumbled directly over to BG and giving him the exact same pep talk.

Fittingly, I was the first person out when forced to call someone's EP raise with 7's, while they held QQ. Last place at the final table. Lucky for me, though, the rest of the table agreed to a 10th place save and I ended up with more money than the entrance fee, if only by a few dollars.

And that was almost as good as the win, right?

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I signed up early for the IP WPBT event in December, and decided that I was not allowed to play as much poker as I did in June. The Alladin trip was poker, poker, poker, gotta play the poker when I wake up, after lunch, late at night. If I was awake, I was playing poker. The downfall with playing so much poker was that I didn't get to hang out--or even talk to--as many people as I'd liked. One of that few regrets from the June trip, that.

When December rolled around, I kept the promise made after returning from Vegas the first time. I played very little poker and wouldn't you know it, had a much better time. To compare the two trips would not even fair, as June would be left crying in the fetal position, drinking MD 20/20 in order to scour away the hurt deep down inside.

I had some coversations, that I'm sure were incredible, but the amount of booze I consumed are only a slight factor in why I don't remember any of them. And by "slight, I mean "huge".

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You'd think that two times in Vegas would be enough to satiate my live poker jones until the WSOP this year, but there you go thinking again. I took an impromptu trip in January where I extended my stay by an extra day. And then there was the Vegas/Playboy Mansion trip in March where I'm pretty sure I puked so hard my o-ring gave out. That's not quite the same as an extra day, but they're in the same family.

I was burnt out on Vegas in a bad way. For the first time in almost a year I was happy to get on a plane so I could get as far away from Vegas as possible. I didn't want to play poker, didn't want to spend money even. Vegas is the last place you want to be when money becomes an issue. Even Bob didn't want to gamble, and that's saying something. Of course, this was after he decided to learn Pai-gow tiles at 10am in the morning.

So, when the first rumbles of the WPBT:Caeser's Edition started in early spring, I was not excited. I don't even remember looking at any specifics other than where the tournament was being held. Even that didn't excite me that much. Color me nostagic, but the IP held my loyalty for how they treated us the last time through in December. Any place with an open bar gets my vote, even though I end up spending more money than I would normally at a bar because everything is "free".

"$5 tip on one bottle of Miller Lite? Of course I want to do that!"

Come to think of it, that's how I spent $80 for the good(free) redbull/vodka at the Playboy Mansion. I may have to go back to my drinking playbook and re-sketch of few of my plays.

Anyhow, with other impending financial obligations(a possible return to school and a short move away from the 3-messy dudes-for-roommates lifestyle come October) on the horizon, I'd made no plans to attend this installment of the WPBT. I can't say I would've felt like I was missing out, either. But, I wouldn't be writing down all these crazy things called "words" and "sentences" if plans hadn't changed.

A few nights ago I received an offer I simply couldn't refuse, an offer that for which I'll be forever grateful. Even after I'm forced to utility puke in Bellagio's chocolate fountain at 1pm on Saturday afternoon.

So, yes, I will be in Vegas on July 7th at 1pm, but you won't find me in any poker room. I'll most likely be at one of the following three places;

Friday night: Sherwood Forest--or--MGM Sportsbook bar
Saturday: Caeser's sportsbook, watching the World Cup's meaningless 3rd place game.
Saturday night: Swaying down Las Vegas Blvd, on my way to God knows where.

What are the chances that somebody with fall and throw a beer in their own face this time 'round? That would be effing sweet.