The Final Table, At Long Last
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The day dawned gray and rainy in Las Vegas, but that hasn't dampened spirits in the hallway outside the Penn & Teller Theater. Spectators were lining up hours in advance of the official 9:30am opening of the theater to the general public, stretching almost all the way to Buzio's seafood restaurant. Nobody was tailgating in the parking lot outside, but there were people downing a breakfast of barbecued meats; people carrying giant foam hands and thunder-sticks; an army of people dressed as Dennis Phillips (red St. Louis Cardinals caps and white button-down shirts) and the usual assortment of attractive models hawking poker-related products. The Starbucks outside the theater was doing a brisk business.
Inside the theater, the featured table set from the Amazon Room has been re-created on the stage. This will make it difficult for anyone not in the prime spectator seats on the stage around the table to see or hear any of the action, but giant monitors have been set up inside the theater to allow the general-admission audience to follow along. A DJ is currently blasting thumping dance music as spectators file in and take their seats.
The schedule this morning is to try to have the players in their seats by 10am, at which point Jeffrey Pollack will commence the festivities with an opening address. After that is the Michael Wunderman Watch Presentation, the unbagging of the chips, and then individual player introductions by Tournament Director Jack Effel. Theoretically cards will be in the air by 10:23am, but the good money should take the over on that estimation.
The party gets started in about fifteen minutes. See you then.