I just returned from Hawaii and am poring through my WSOP notebooks for unmined material. I wrote this on June 19, about June 19. Just another night at the World Series – not even a whole night but a portion of one.
I haven’t disappeared from the face of the Earth, but almost.
I’m with my family this week on the Big Island of Hawaii, renting an oceanside condo on the Kona coast from my friend Marissa. My good friend Marissa. My wonderful friend Marissa.
Have I mentioned how wonderful and terrific Kona and Marissa are?
Because they are. Wonderful and terrific, that is.
As I was finishing out the World Series of Poker in the backwater of “other daily events,” I naturally considered my future in tournament poker and, while playing the Venetian’s “deep stack extravaganza” events, wondered if this was a fertile place for my next move.
Maybe the World Series of Poker was just one big misunderstanding. That would explain a lot of what happened.
I was just finishing dinner with Tony Holden when we stopped by his room at the Palms. I wanted a quick update on the last four tables before heading over to watch the end of tonight’s action.
Tony read the headline from Pokernews.com, which has been doing a tremendous job, covering the Main Event, and I could only say, “Nooooooooo.”
“Mike Matusow Eliminated in 30th Place.”
NUT JOB
The first thing I noticed on my last day as a participant of the World Series of Poker was the disappearance of the Nutmobile, and that bothered me.
Transplanted New Zealander Des Wilson descends the steps of his plane on an English airstrip, clutching and waving the treaty.
“Peace in our time!”
I don’t know if Tony Holden was kidding when he mentioned over breakfast that David “Devilfish” Ulliott had been spotted at the Rio asking about me. I couldn’t afford the luxury of joviality, only of flight. After making (phony) plans to meet Holden at the Mirage Showroom to throw those Englishmen – assuming they are all in league – off my scent, I hightailed it to the Venetian.
I’ve been slightly delayed in my mission to complete my accounts from the World Series of Poker and watch the action as they play to the final table. It seems I’ve been running for my life.
It’s 7:05 PM and I’m out of the Main Event. I chipped up from 50k to over 70k in the first half hour, then every kind of bad thing happened at the poker table. I lost the first pile raising with As-Ks, calling a reraise, then flopping K-Q-7, and folding on the turn when the guy, who had over 100k in chips, moved all-in. I thought about it awhile and folded, which was a good thing because the guy showed me a seven.
