My WSOP Update
Posted: 2008-06-22 13:15:32By: Shawn Rice
Hello fellow UB'ers
After finishing up on our Cross Canadian Tour with Ho, Debo, Phil, Annie and Alex and I got to spend three weeks at home in Texas with my babies (my two labs) and It was really nice to take a break as I knew I would be very busy in the coming weeks.
On May 29th I flew into LAX and picked up a rental car and picked up Victor Bigio and headed off to a casino outside of San Diego to see Sully Erna from Godsmack play an acoustic show. We were lucky enough to get front row center tickets and really had a great time. Then we headed back to the Hard Rock Hotel for more drinks and an awesome time at their outside club there.
I was hurting from the night before and we headed off to Irvine Ca to hook up with Debo, his wife and their friend Kurt and stayed at the same Hotel as Scott Ian and Pearl and some of the other members of Anthrax. We all rented a limo and Scott hooked us up with some great seats and backstage passes and we got to see the first of two sold out shows as they opened for Iron Maiden. This was the second live show for new lead singer Dan Nelson and he really took controll of the crowd and had everyone on their feet from the very start. It's great watching Scott and his band on stage as they seem to really love rocking everyones ass off. I must admit, I was never an Anthrax fan til I saw them live. Now I am hooked checking out their live shows on Youtube. After the concert we headed back to the hotel and I rented out a monster suite and we stayed up til 3am or so partying with a few of the Anthrax members and 20 or so people til I had to go to bed so I could catch an early flight to Vegas on Saturday.
I get to Vegas and go and pick up my car that I left here for about a month and went to my condo I rented out here in Vegas for about 6 weeks. I love my place right here on the LV Strip and easy to get around and really great security. I flew in so I could make my appointment to get the condo as Debo and the others drove up and we all met up at the Hard Rock in Vegas to watch Sully play another show. Let me tell you, this man is super talented and quite the showman. We all hooked up with a meet and greet after the show and Sully was just Sully. He was super friendly and loved talking about poker and you could really tell he loved seeing us again and he went out of his way to make sure we were all happy as well as Jeff his right hand man. I got to meet Jeff at Phil's party in December and Jeff ROCKS!!! He is super nice and really fun to hang around, I can tell why they have been great friends for so long.
The next day was my first WSOP event on day 2B of the 1500 NL event. I was shocked to see Sully there as he said the night before he didn't think he would play the following day. I was Lucky enough to be the next table over from Sully and this man can attract a croud, They were four or five people deep watching him play. He has gotten alot of ESPN coverage from cashing in the last two WSOP main events. Last time he played in Vegas before Phil's party he got second at the Bellagio for over $300,000 losing to JC Tran. Sully had a super understanding of how to play poker, both cash games and tourneys. I later get desperate and push UTG with AT and get called by John Phan's 99.
So far I am 0 for 5 at the WSOP and a winner in both the cash games and the sit and go's. These are super juicy out here now. I know I am playing better than I have ever played in my life and not once have I gotten my money in bad for all my chips. I don't want to bore you with all my bad beats and I hate even thinking negative but I know I am super happy with my playing and hope the results soon follow. After getting knocked out of Thursdays tourney I went to check out Scott and he also got his chips in really good and got outdrawn when he had QQ in a 8 high board vs A8 and loses.
I scored some really good concert tickets for Stone Temple Pilots at the Palms and 6 of us went to the show and really had a blast and we sat at the bar after the concert and Scott took no less than 30 or 40 pictures as fans of his came by. Even a few wanted some of Debo and myself. The next night we had plans to go see Steal Panther at Green Valley Ranch. They use to be called Metal Skool and rock the place with 80's hair band music and make fun of the whole era. It's an adult show and very good time. We met Scott and Pearl there and they really took care of us, Put us in VIP section and even comped all of our drinks. Even Phil Hellmuth showed up and the best part is when they asked Scott to jump up on stage and jam on a few songs with them. Scott even wearing his UB rock and roll "ac/dc" type shirt. The crowd loved Scott's playing and many came over later to thank him and tell him what a longtime fan they are of his. After the show we all went backstage and meet the band and headed out to a casino club for a few more drinks and was really a good time.
After Scott wearing me and Debo out for 2 days we were again invited to go with Scott and Pearl to the next nights Ted Nugent show as their guest. I have seen Ted many times over the years and have been a fan since I was 11 and I am 41 now. Ted saw Scott and Pearl out in the audience and asking them many questions throughout the show, Like "How does this sound?" and stuff like that. Ted is still the wildman he has always been and really kicks ass on stage. After the show we all go back for the meet and greet and even Chris Angel is there and was really nice to everyone as I talked to him alot about a common friend we have in Sully. Sully gave him an awesome drumset for his last birthday and Chris game him a ring he wears when he plays poker. After the concert we head over to the Forty Deuce and we see Wayne Brady there next to us and after one of the shows on stage. One of our buddies with us got a text from Mike Tyson asking him to come over and we all headed to Pure at Ceasers and had more fun til we closed the place down along with Tyson.
The next day was Sunday, my online poker playing day, and I knew better than to play much that day but everyone hates a quitter so I played and never cashed a tourney.
I did play yesterday at the WSOP for the 1500 NL and played a monster pot with AK vs AJ all in pre and could not survive it, he stalled forever and kept saying he was hoping I had tens or nines, I told him I know you dont have AK or a pair tens or higher of he would of already called, and he said I was right, So I knew he eaither had AQ or AJ and I tried my best to appear a little nervous that he might call and he fell for it and also took a monster pot for about 24,000 chips which would be a great stack for 150 300 w/ 25 ante, Ohhh well, all you can do is try and get your chips in well and hope for the best. I am totally fine with it. Once you have been beat as many times as I have it's not even upseting as weird as it may seem be to some. I did get to beat up my favorite Poker Ho for $500 in our last longer, thats always sweet.
Speaking of Poker Ho, We are still on our weight loss bet for 10k and it's me and Debo vs Ho for total weight lost. This bet ends in September when we all show up in Aruba. Ho also has a bet with Phil for 10k he will lose 50 lbs. I love Ho's end of this bet.
I heard we are suppose to film the next season of The Best Damn Poker Show out west in early September and I get asked on how do to get a shot being on the show. I say make a great video like the last years winners made. You can click here for more information.
On a sad note I just got a call that Keanu a 13 year old boy I helped raise since he was 3 months old was in a car wreck and will be in ICU for a punctured lung in Amarillo with a for about a week, I am up at 3am as I write this and catch the first flight out. Looks like I will miss some WSOP events and hope he gets well soon and will be back in Vegas asap.
It's wierd when you are living your dream and having the time of your life and you get news like this as we all have in our lifes and realize how importand our health is to us.
So stay healthy and best wishes to all of you all and the ones you also love.
Shawn Rice
