From: greatbrit Newsgroups: rec.gambling.poker Subject: WSOP 2003, Day 0: Close encounter with a rock Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 04:39:54 -0700 I knew I'd be seeing plenty of rocks at The Orleans, but I didn't expect to see one falling to earth, it was quite spectacular. I have just arrived in Vegas for the WSOP, I'm staying here at Binions for over 5 weeks, they are running my tournament clock all over the place (main event, final table, super sats, 11pm nightly $225 No limit tourney) and I'll be helping to set up the events. I drove as I want a car while I'm here, I was about 100 miles from Vegas in the midle of the desert when an extremely bright ball of light shot past on my right, very low to the ground, it lasted about three seconds then exploded into two large pieces with a few tiny fragments, the large pieces lasted about a second, then it was all over. It was of course a sign, I expect to win two bracelets. I've read all the stuff on rgp about the demise of Binions, but being here now it just doesn't seem like doom and gloom, even Nolan just drove up in a fancy car so how bad can it be. As others have pointed out, say what you will about the problems, but the tournament itself last year was an amazing success, all events started on time, no missing chips, tons of play and huge fields, I don't see any reason why we won't have a repeat this year. As for the hotel, I have a very nice room and all the staff I've encountered so far have been very friendly and helpful, I wouldn't expect that if they were unhappy with their work conditions. My room is on the 'mountain view' side, what this means is it isn't on the Fremont Street Experience (FSE) side. The FSE is an advanced noise system specifically developed to prevent anyone sleeping before midnight, forcing them into the casinos, the light show is just a clever distraction. It's 4:30am, later on I'll be helping them get all the computers set up, but for now, sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep... Paul