2009 World Series of Poker preview – First-timer Guide to the Rio

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You’ve finally realized one of your poker goals and qualified to play in a World Series of Poker event. You battled your way through a Bracelet Race or Main Event satellite, maybe decided to dedicate part of your bankroll for a shot at a big payday, you hit the Powerball. Whatever the reason, you are now ready for your first trip to play in one of the many WSOP tournaments being offered.

But you’ve read the stories about the huge crowds, warehouse sized poker room and the miles long walk from the casino to the Amazon room. This has you a bit nervous and that’s an added pressure you don’t need heading into your first monster event.

“Tropical” Steve brings us a guest post with a Beginner’s Guide to the Rio and WSOP. Enjoy and good luck in Vegas.

Beginner’s Guide to the Rio and the WSOP
By Steve Horton

You’re new to Vegas, or you’ve been a few times but stuck to the Strip or downtown. You’re playing in your first World Series of Poker and you’re about to head up to the gigantic blue monstrosity that is the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. I’m going to walk you through a few shortcuts and a few things to keep in mind.

Let’s assume you’re planning to show up a few hours early for Event #3, the $1,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event, on Day 1A.

WHAT TO BRING

First, make sure to take an extra shirt or hoodie with you, as the Amazon Room gets extremely cold once players start to bust out. You know you’re doing pretty well for the day when you have to put on that shirt, as it means you’ve outlasted a lot of players. Also, bring registration cash (unless you’ve previously wired money to the Rio; the only other forms of payment are cashier’s or certified check), some snacks, and some water or caffeinated beverages. It’s going to be a long day, and you don’t want to get hungry or tired at the wrong time.

Finally, bring a standalone MP3 player and headphones, if you wish. Don’t count on being able to listen to the tracks on your mobile phone, as anything with wireless or Internet access is going to get you penalized if you mess with it during a hand. Dig out your old iPod instead.

ARRIVING AT THE RIO

Many new players make the mistake of driving up to the wrong side of the Rio, parking in the garage, and then walking clear across the casino floor to the Amazon Room. Don’t do this. Approach the Rio on Twain Ave, drive past the employee entrance, then turn right on Rio Drive, at the huge parking lot. You’ll have to park way in the back even if you show up early, as the parking lot will be packed on any of the low buy-in, No Limit days. Don’t worry about Valet as it’s reserved for VIPs.

Walk through the sweltering heat, up the stairs and across the carpet and mist sprays (which don’t really help much) and inside. You’ll immediately be assaulted by a crush of players, media, staff and railbirds.

REGISTRATION

The first thing you’ll need to do, before anything else, is get a Total Rewards card. You won’t be able to register for anything without one. Once you’ve obtained a card, which is a painless process, make your way to registration. There will probably be a line, but in 2008 the lines were never too bad as the computers and staff were swift. (Still, you can register anytime you want, so feel free to come by a day or two early, depending on when you fly in, to save time.)

When you get to the front of registration, you’ll be asked for your Total Rewards card and picture ID. Then, throw down your hard-earned cash and you’ll get a white ticket. Don’t lose this ticket, as not only does it say where you’re sitting, but it also guarantees that you bought in to the event.

FINDING YOUR LOCATION

Since this particular event will be massive, it will spill over into other locations besides the Amazon Room, so read your ticket carefully, and as you get closer to the noon start time, you’ll want to head over to the proper location. In 2008, spillover tables were even placed near the restaurants on the casino floor, which is about a 10 or 15 minute walk from the convention center area, so plan ahead.

SHUFFLE UP AND DEAL

The rest is pretty self-explanatory. When they let you in the room, find your table location (it will be number or color coded, or both). Sit down at the correct seat with your ticket in front of you, and the event will kick off near noon or five p.m., depending. If you’re not used to playing live, don’t forget your blinds and antes and always tip the servers.

WHO’S LOOKING OVER MY SHOULDER?

From time to time you might see someone with a notepad looking closely at your chip stack or the community cards, or player’s hands if there’s an all-in call or showdown. These people are the poker media, and are responsible for relaying what’s going on to the outside world. Be courteous to the media and even consider giving them your name. If you’re nice, you might make it into the blog with an update for your friends and family back home.

THE DINNER BREAK

Congrats, you made it to dinner break. It’s probably around 7 or 8 in the evening. Not bad for a first timer. Now, you don’t have a whole lot of time (90 minutes goes by fast) and there will be thousands of players competing for the same food, so it helps to be aware of the different options ahead of time.

The closest option will be the Poker Kitchen. The location of the Poker Kitchen seems to change every year, so look for the signs. The kitchen itself has hamburgers, sub sandwiches, nachos and the usual convenience store snacks. Last year the Rio had a sushi place and pizza down the hall as well.

Further away are the actual Rio restaurants. If you’re a fast walker or skip the last hand or two before the break, you can make it down the hall, past the Penn & Teller Theater, and to the first couple of restaurants. First up is the Sao Paulo Cafe and Starbucks. The Sao Paulo is the breakfast place and will always be closed when you pass by it. Starbucks has cold sandwiches and lots of salads and drink choices; they’re good in a pinch.

Next will be Buzio’s Seafood on your left, the first real restaurant you’ll come to. They’re open till 11 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and you’ll spend between $25 and $40 for an entree.

Past that is the casino floor. You can either go left or right for different choices.

Turn right and head down past the masquerade show and you’ll hit McFadden’s, which has plenty of beer, but stops serving bar food before you get there. (The late, lamented Tilted Kilt at that location served food later, and it was quite good.) The new Hamada’s Asiana Restaurant is next door, and there’s a Java Coast coffee shop there.

If you head up the escalator here, you’ll hit the RUB BBQ place, which offers a decent BBQ sandwich but slow service. There are a few other new restaurants up here like Martorano’s.

If you headed left upon hitting the casino, there’s the All-American, which has good burgers, the Mah Jong Chinese place, and past that is the buffet. The buffet is always packed, but if you’re speedy, you can try that option.

KEEP A CLOCK

Whenever you choose to eat, keep an eye on time. One thing that casinos don’t have in general are clocks, so wear a watch or set the correct time zone on your phone. If you’re at the Poker Kitchen, you can head back with several minutes to spare, but a meal out on the other side of the Rio will require about 20 minutes lead time. Feel free to ask for a box and bring your food back, but don’t get greasy fingers on the cards.

END OF DAY 1

You made it to the end of the day. You’re slowly shrugging off that donk status, aren’t you? Be sure and turn off the iPod and follow staff instructions carefully. Whatever they say to write or bag, you do it. Also, be sure and come back on the right day; there may be multiple day 1s. In the case of Event #3, there’s a day 1A and a day 1B, so you won’t be back until the following day. Also, note the day 2 start time.

OOPS, YOU BUSTED

Say you didn’t make it to dinner, or you made it past dinner but couldn’t quite make it on the end of day chip counts. You might be kind of upset, but this might be a good opportunity to register for the next event. Once you’ve cooled off a little, think about playing a few cash games. You can play either in the Amazon Room (if they’ve made enough room yet) or head to the casino floor and turn right to find the poker room.

There are also satellites (in the dedicated satellite room) or sit-n-gos (in the same general area as the cash games in the Amazon Room). Finally, there’s the evening tournament. In the case of Event #3, Day 1A, there isn’t one, but most of the other WSOP days have a 12:00 and 5:00 day 1 event.

THAT’S THE RIO

That sums up the Rio experience for first-timers. Hopefully, some of the tips above will save you a lot of headaches and allow you to focus on what you came for, the most important thing of all: poker.

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