Part 3

Towards the middle of the trip we decide to dine at the best buffet in Las Vegas and that is the Seafood Buffet at The Rio. It is an absolutely incredible feast. The choice of entrees include Salmon and Tuna Steaks cooked impecably, Lobster tails, shrimps in all flavors, sushi, etc.. the list goes on and on. If you ever find yourseld in Vegas you do not want to miss this buffet. The buffet also happens to be at the hotel where the WSOP is being held so of course after dinner we stroll over to check out the action. As we are walking over we see Antonio Esfarandi. Lisa says "Hi, I saw you on ESPN" to which he says "thank you" ? Thanx for watching I assume. I had seen him the night before playing the 100/200 NL big game at The Venetian with Phil Laak and Jeniffer Tilly sitting behind him. Lisa greeted Jeniffer at The Venetian with a smile and Jeniffer said "hello" As we continue on our way to the huge floor where the WSOP events are being held we run into Matt Damon, Ray Romano, Don Cheadle, and Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm). They had just finished playing in the $5000 Ante up for Africa charity tournament. As we continue on our way it seems that Esfandiari is a fast walker because he catches up with us after stopping to speak with Damon and co. Again Lisa has words for him, she said. "My husband can take you down". at which point I do not even want to look at him. I say " I don't think I want to play for my house" Esfandiari replies "we can play for the kid". I decline after giving it some thought. : ).

We finally arrive at the massive room that is set-up for the WSOP. It is as large as a football field with poker tables set-up from end to end. More than half of the room is empty at the time, but the other half was filled with poker degenerates playing the highest limit games. There is a waiting list for 100/200NL. The smallest game is 2/5. The screen has an animation that states if you would like to play 1/2NL or 2/4 Limit we suggest that you visit one of the other fine Harrah casinos. Harrah you can kiss my ass. I want some action right here so I sit down with $500 at a 2/5 table. I see a commotion going on a few tables over and someone mentions that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are playing 100/200NL at that table, both sitting with 25K each. At my table I have one guy who busted out of the $5000 charity tourney. 2 guys who are going to play in the 10K main event. A guy to my right who is a pro back home and Mr. Howell who has made the trip after wiping out Dom at the Borgata some months back. He is the live one at this table. One player has already cracked him 3X and is sitting behind a stack of about 2K. I have no such luck but I do get JTs in late position. A raise to $15 in EP, a call, I call. Flop comes J 7 2 rainbow. Raiser bets $25, call, I raise to $75. Raiser folds MP calls, pot is $215. Turn is 9, MP checks, I decide it is time to take it down. I push out a $100 stack of redbirds. He folds and says "nice play". Unfortunately that is the biggest pot I win during my 4 hour session at 2/5 but I did manage a $2 profit, yessssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!

During a bathroom break I decide to see how the famous actors are doing. When I get to their table I see Damon standing up with a large stack of $100 chips in front of him pushed into the middle. His face is a brilliant red and he is using all of his abilities to put forth a smile but it is not working, he is busted. He walks off to the bathroom in front of me with Affleck. I do see him later at the same table and have heard that he finished up for the session. I also heard that they were both hammered and that Affleck was playing like a donkey and had a losing session.

Hopefully if things go right, the next time I am in Vegas during the WSOP I can play in something bigger that a 2/5 game.