#593 – World Series Final Table #6 – Time Keeps on Slipping, Slipping, Slipping

It’s 2:40 PM and we’ve just resumed play. They are now playing level 35, 150k-300k blinds, 40k antes.

I’m already hearing grousing by the media about how long this is going to go, in that we’ve been here 3 3/4 hours and no one has busted. Gawd, do I sound like that? I mean, I avoid the prospect of work like it’s a flesh-eating bacteria, but once I’m actually on site, I put out, right?

On the other hand …

… it’s killing me that I can’t play the $300 + $22 NLHE FTOPS event being hosted by Howard Lederer in 15 minutes. Melissa Hayden, who is part of a group I’m meeting during the dinner break, said I should just play it, watch the tournament on Pokernews.com, and come downstairs during breaks. Considering how little work I actually do when I’m not in the field, I can only conclude that she must have some relative who wants to replace me on the blog. But I haven’t totally discounted it.

I just e-mailed Howard Lederer and asked if he’d sell me some of his action.

The schedule is starting to slip away from its planners. Cards-in-the-air was supposed to be at 10:23. Jerry Yang made the call at 11:11, 48 minutes later. Both breaks have exceeded their allotted time. The schedule originally called for level 35 to begin at 1:20 PM. We started at 2:40.

In a way, this is a good problem for Harrah’s to have. The reason the breaks have been going so long is that the big crowds have taken time getting in and out of the room, and the hugo-gigantico line out in the hall of people who WANT to get in is further slowing things. And it didn’t help that the last hand before break as a titanic all-in showdown between Chino Rheem and Dennis Phillips. Chino made it 800k and Dennis, without even taking long, moved all-in for 4.5 million total. Rheem actually spent a fair amount of time – nearly priced in regardless – before calling.

Phillips had Q-Q, Rheem had J-J.

Funny thing – at least to me though probably few other people. As soon as they turned over the cards, I raced out of the room. It was a heart-pounding moment but it was just a matter of turning over the cards. Not only could I get to the bathroom before anyone else and grab something to eat, but I could find out how it came out when I got back.

In fact, before then. With Phillips’s cheering section having nothing to cheer about so far, I knew I could tell by the roar, even from inside the men’s room, the outcome.

ROARRRRRRRRRRRRR!

My instinct was confirmed when I exited the bathroom and saw the audience pouring out on break. Because all those St. Louis Cardinal hats were walking down, rather than plunging from the balconies, I knew Phillips had, at least for now, righted his ship.

In the next post, during the 55 minutes since I started this:

*Bad day at Tilt Rock – 2 of Full Tilt’s 3 are gone.

*What I learned from Jeffrey Pollack – we talked while Craig Marquis and Kelly Kim were fighting for their tournament life. He was upbeat, of course, though apparently with good reason.

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