#843 – 2009 WSOP Revisited #6 – Ante Up for Africa … and Chaos, Part I

I was overwhelmed by the experience of playing in Annie Duke’s and Don Cheatle’s Ante up for Africa tournament on July 2. One of the great rewards from finishing second in Razz was having the money to buy into this event. Unfortunately, I didn’t take good notes. I don’t know if I was stars-truck or just nervous with anticipation about playing the Main Event the next day. But I’ll give you what I’ve got, which are some hastily-composed notes (taken on the sly) and my jumbled recollections. Still, I think it provides a fair idea, in advance of the tournament’s broadcast on ESPN, of what it was like.

1:50 PM – The Rio Convention Center is an unrecognizable madhouse. Poker Palooza is here. It’s mobbed but I don’t even have time to check it out because the tournament is supposed to start in ten minutes.

Just outside and past the entrance to Poker Palooza, there is a traffic snarl in the hallway. Dozens of people are simultaneously taking somebody’s picture. I start to push my way through and then recognize that it is Mike Tyson at the center of the crowd, so I gently edge my way around by hugging the wall.

There is another mob scene at the intersection by the Amazon room. There are messy lines in every direction: the red carpet, Total Rewards, Main Event registration.

After a couple of ID checkpoints, I finally make it into the Undisclosed Location. The suite has also changed dramatically. What used to be my work table now houses a DJ’s mix-board and an ice sculpture. This room has become the hospitality suite for the celebrities playing the tournament. I immediately see Montel Williams, Charles Barkley, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon. I try not to stare but it’s hard to look anywhere without spotting a famous face. It seems like there are a million celebs here, mostly with their handlers. In the middle of all this craziness, Don Cheadle walks into the room unnoticed.

It’s clear the tournament will not be starting at 2 PM. At approximately 2:30, I work my way through the crowd to the door so I can get to the Amazon Room and my table when they actually do start the tournament. When I make it near the door – the most congested part of the room – I wave hello to Mike Matusow, who is having an animated conversation with Charles Barkley. I am once again stalled by the phalanx surrounding Mike Tyson as he chooses this moment to walk into the suite and shake hands with Barkley. Tyson nudges me on the way by. I turn to Barry Greenstein, who was walking behind me, and whisper “Tyson bumped me but I am going to let it slide this time.”

Cards are in the air (finally) at 2:49 PM. This tournament is designed to move FAST. We start with 10,000 in chips, blinds start at $100-$200, and they go up rapidly. This event is supposed to last a maximum of six hours.

At 3:57 PM, I am up to 27,000 chips. I beat Dean “Superman” Cain out of big a pot by, frankly, getting lucky. I raised his blind in late position with an Ace. He bet out after the king-high flop and I bluff-raised him. After he called and we both checked the turn, I hit an ace on the river to beat his K-Q. He was good-natured about it and we joked about how I “outplayed” him. His biggest concern seemed to be Annie Duke’s wrath if she found out he wasn’t more aggressive after flopping top-pair. I told him I would keep his secret. (I hope Annie isn’t reading this). I saw Dean later in the suite and offered to send him my books. I thought that was a nice gesture, though I haven’t followed up on it yet. But I got Superman’s address out of it.
 
Just before the break at 4:10, I bust out the old codger sitting at the opposite end of the table. I have such a bad record at saying the wrong thing to and about people before I know who they are that I usually try to keep my mouth shut. For all I know, this guy played Dumbledore in the Harry Potter movies or is the President of Universal Studios. But he was wearing a hat and a T-shirt bearing inspirational messages, so I automatically dismissed him as some crackpot who hitchhiked cross-country and used his last $5,000 in an attempt to get on ESPN, which is broadcasting this event.

Even though it was the first hand he played in ninety minutes, I re-raised him all-in with my pocket sixes. He insta-called and slammed down pocket kings. I just shrugged and said, “Okay, so it’s a race.” Before I even finished this lame joke, the dealer turned over a six in the door and I busted the hitchhiker. I felt oddly elated – yet simultaneously ashamed and small (but mostly elated) – about sending grandpa home as we went on break.

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