I have spent the past 48 hours mostly avoiding poker; with the exceptions of a small winning session of 1/2 at the Venetian and a small losing session of 4/8 Mixed at the Hard Rock. Today was Day 1a of the Main Event and assuming i’m able to get the cash together by tomorrow morning (my options are find a Bank of America branch or transfer Mike the money online for cash) I am fully intending to play Day 1b of the Main Event this year. Failing that (Mike isn’t home and I have no idea where the nearest BoA branch is), i’ll be playing Day 1c most likely.

I spent Day 21 hanging out with James, Michelle, Tim and a bunch of other Aussies from Melbourne. We played some cash at the Venetian and then headed out for dinner at one of the restaurants nearby. Have I mentioned how enormous the food portions are in America? An appetizer or salad is a full meal here. Their beer is also huge, I ordered a Stella and they brought me a 20 oz glass (probably about double the size of a normal beer on tap back home). No wonder this country has an obesity problem, I can’t eat three meals a day here if I try.

I spent today hanging out at the condo before wandering down the road to the Hard Rock for the annual 2+2 meetup. We play some 4/8 mixed games and I drop about 25 bets due to a mixture of playing badly and running badly at a table including 2+2ers ‘Dynasty’ ‘Ashixxx’ ‘Count Chocilic’ (names have probably been misspelled) and a bunch of others whose online names I can’t recall. Famous poker players in attendance include Phil Hellmuth, David Sklansky, Isabelle Mercier, Greg Raymer and probably a few others I missed plus notable online players including Bond18, cking and a bunch of other online players who crush stakes where my bankroll would consist of roughly one buy-in. I decide to leave at about 11pm since i’m planning on playing the Main tomorrow, i’m starting to get drunk and i’ve already lost 25 big bets playing 2-7 Triple Draw, Double Flop Omaha, Badugi and a bunch of other random games.

I’ve signed up for coverage during the Main Event at pocketfiveslive.com and hopefully a few of my hands get covered by PokerNews as well, they might since i’ve met Tim Duckworth (one of their main reporters) at Crown a few times and I think he knows who I am.

I’m still waiting to hear from Ozone, he should be arriving in town pretty soon since he’s playing the Main Event (as far as I know anyway). Seb has disappeared to Los Angeles for a few days so my rail will probably be fairly thin and consisting pretty much exclusively of random Aussies I know who happen to be in town.

It’s been a quiet couple of names but tomorrow it begins; the Main Event. If everything goes to plan, i’ll be celebrating my status as one of the November Nine in two weeks time.