Around the WSOP with Lynn Gilmartin: Week #6
Happy Main Event! Today is the first of many days ahead in the world's most anticipated poker tournament at the 42nd Annual World Series of Poker. There was plenty of skepticism about the health of the WSOP after Black Friday. After witnessing the thousands upon thousands of poker enthusiasts packing the hallways and filling every one of the 400 or so tables at the Rio, whether it be for official bracelet events, satellites, or daily deep-stack tournaments, it's safe to say that the Main Event is in amazing shape to improve for yet another year. Cheers to that!
The last $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event had 4,576 entrants creating a prize pool of well over $4 million. The prestigious $50,000 Poker Player's Championship had 128 entrants, 12 more of the world's biggest names in poker than attended last year, and a prize pool of over $6 million. As you can imagine, it's been an exciting, busy week here at the Rio! Of course, the videos kept up with the intensity of the Rio. Here are my top four for this week, starting with a sneak peek at the kickoff of the Poker Player's Championship.
If you've never caught the Weekly Turbo, you're missing out on pure entertainment. Because it comes out on Fridays, and this piece publishes on Thursdays, the news might be a little outdated, but you don't want to miss it. Check it out to see Kristy Arnett and Sarah Grant attempt to create their own signature sign-offs in the last minute of this week's edition, or perhaps Kristy's fangirl tattoo.
Once again, the comedy comes from Kristy this week when she decided to do some planking around the WSOP. Shawn Marion was playing the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event on Tuesday and I was lucky enough to interview him. To be honest, being the Aussie that I am, I know nothing about the NBA, so I knew nothing about this guy. I still don't know much more except that he won the NBA Championship last month and he has a bizarre fetish for socks. All while being a super-nice guy.
Following the interview, the Twitpic-obsessed Marion expressed his eagerness to plank at the World Series of Poker. After having the first attempt halted by operations staff, with the help of a certain legendary WSOP staff member we managed to make it happen on a break. That night, Kristy got to do some "investigative work" about the concept. Do yourself a favor and stick around until the last minute — that's where the gold is.
Last, in case you wonder what I think about in the shower, then you should know it's deuce to seven. Well, on one particular morning it was anyway. It's times like these that ideas like this come to fruition. I'd like to introduce you to A Scale of 2-7 featuring Scott Seiver.
For everyone playing the Main Event I wish you the very best of luck, and I will see you at the Rio! As for everyone else, be sure to stay glued to PokerNews for your one-stop-shop in live reporting.
Head on over to the PokerNews video page to see the rest of our continuous coverage of the 42nd Annual World Series of Poker.
