FULL TILT POKER BLOG

#429 – WSOP Notebook #2 – Scenes from the Struggle of the Poker Class, Part I

Posted by Editor | Filed under Ted Forrest, WSOP 2008

[written June 2, 2008 a.m.]

As Jo Anne and I leave the Amazon Room on Saturday afternoon, I see Ted Forrest walking away in the distance.

“I’ll stop him so I can introduce you,” and I run after him.

Ted and I shake hands and I comment, as Jo Anne arrives, how good he looks, fit and healthy. He had that early-Series stubble (also known as the Ted-Forrest-who-knows-how-long-he’s-been-in-the-poker-room stubble) but looked green. He has reformed his eating habits and lost 20 pounds.

My friend Theresa, who won the “Michael Craig is Giving it Away” contest and who operates a Ted Forrest fan site, is coming to Vegas later this month with her husband and has promised a cookie delivery when I introduce them to Ted. I almost don’t have the heart to tell her that Ted probably won’t want the cookies now. Almost – we know whose gullet those cookies will end up in.

When we complimented Ted on his appearance, he thrust his hands in his sweatshirt pockets. “Oh, I probably look better than you think,” pulling up at the pockets to reveal that a fair amount of his bulk was inside the pockets. (I’m guessing it was some outrageous amount of money.)

As Jo Anne and I walked back to the Amazon Room, she said, “Ted really looks better in person than in pictures or on TV.”

We saw Jennifer Harman (“Wow, she’s tiny!”, though we were rushing in opposite directions so I couldn’t introduce Jo Anne. I assume Jennifer doesn’t believe anyone is actually married to me.

And, of course, David Levi was suddenly omnipresent on our visits to the Amazon Room.

My overwhelming impression, and I have to emphasize this to give proper credit, was how orderly the World Series of Poker is operating. All credit to Jeffrey Pollack, Ty Stewart, Jack Effel, and all the people like Angele Marshall who are working so hard. And some credit to the Players Advisory Committee, which provides criticism and input, especially because they are starting to get blamed by other players when things don’t work out.

One thing I have to say about Caesars (my general name for the operating entity of the World Series of Poker, because the parent company is in the process of changing it’s name from Harrah’s Entertainment to Caesars Entertainment, though it’s the same entity): they learn. They listen to criticism. They make mistakes but they adapt. They are trying to make money – a lot of money – but they are also trying to satisfy their customers.

I’ve written at length the last two years about the long lines at the beginning of the Series. No long lines here. There is a separate cashier’s cage across from the Amazon Room. There is a separate satellite room. I haven’t really checked out the food but I saw kiosks for Pizza Hut and a sign for a noodle kitchen. The Amazon Room looks like it’s lit better and there’s more space between tables.

For whatever criticisms people level – and I’ll be making some, and soon – credit Pollack & Co. with figuring out how to get the machinery operating correctly and then following through and doing it.

There’s a VIP Suite called the Aces club that I joined last year. It’s a place to relax on breaks and meet up with other “regulars,” as it makes sense to join only if you’re going to be spending a ridiculous amount of time on the premises between now and July 14.

When I joined up and took Jo Anne inside on Saturday, it was nearly empty because the tournaments were going on. (It fills up during breaks, obviously, though it’s also a place to mope after busting.) Jeffrey Pollack walked in and I introduced him to Jo Anne.

“Jeffrey,” I asked, “What the hell is going on? Where are the lines? I expected to write at least three blogs about the strange characters I was stuck in line with for two hours and then another blog about the indignity of being stuck in line for two hours. But it took me about two minutes to get my Rewards card, register, sign up for an event with 4,000 people, and get my media credentials.”

He smiled. Pollack doesn’t hide from criticism so who can begrudge him lingering a bit for credit? “You know, now that we have things running so smoothly, no one’s writing about it. There’s no story.”

So I had to let you know that much, because they got it right this time. And even though that is not as amusing as when I get to expose waste, overreaching, shortsightedness, error, and inefficiency, it is, from the players’ perspective, much appreciated.

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