On the Rail

Despite the late hour here in Las Vegas (just ticking past 2:30 a.m.), the rail hasn't lost much of its zeal, thanks in part to a steady influx of cocktails to the respective cheering sections for these two players.

Over on the left side of us, Simon Watt's people are relatively calm for the most part, though certainly enjoying themselves. They're betting on flop colors, chattering with the two players politely, and focused intently on the action.

Across the room to our right, Team Dwan has just gotten another enormous round of drinks, maybe thirty or forty of them on a single tray, delivered by a female cocktail server who was barely five feet tall. Now that's some impressive stuff. Dwan's cheerleaders are jammed into the stands, and a few of them have now spilled over onto the floor space in front of the stage. They're chattering amongst themselves, and they explode into celebration any time their man wins a pot.

There are some oddities as well. We've got a couple people taking power naps around the room. We're hearing some, shall we say, interesting sounds as well, particularly from the "durrrr" corner. While Watt was tanking in one hand, someone let out a gutteral animal sound of some sort. There are also the standard assortment of poker phrases being tossed around after some of the pots.

"Show the bluff! It's good for the game!"

Or "That's right Simon, you don't need that pot!"

Or "What a sick value bet. You're so good!"

Or "You got it, Tom!"

Or "Come on, RED CARD!!!" (for board colors)

Or "Come on, BLACK CARD!!!" (for board colors again)

Dwan's cheering section also has developed a unison chant that goes something like, "ooooooOOOOOOOOHHHHHH-TOM-TOM- TOM!!!"

It's quite a sensory overload inside the featured table arena tonight.