People who talk in Metaphors oughta shampoo my crotch

Back to the office and it actually feels like a vacation. The last three days spent covering the Borgata Guarantee was fun, no doubt. It was interesting, intriguing, compelling and exciting all at the same time. It was also however, a grind.

The worst thing was that I was in a poker room for three days and never actually played one hand of poker myself. Very Surreal, as most days we didn't finish up until well after 3 or 4. Then I had to go do my own stuff from other ventures and by the time I slept it was 5-6am. Then up again by 9 to get ready for the next days broadcast.

Live blogging was fun but difficult. To even do it was a last minute revelation, and I was going in blind and not really sure what or how to post it. I didn't have a feel for how much detail people wanted, or really, if I could even get it, of course until it got down to the final tables.

Overall, I think we did a good job for our first time. Logistically I had some concerns about content provisions, access, both to technology and to players, and just the overall protocol of getting what was needed back to the boys in the bunker. As a business person, I tend to think of things in terms of things that need to be done, just getting done. You know, Do it.

I was amazed at the complexities of getting interviews and commercials, and just the access to the show itself and how difficult it would be to be in sinc with everyone else. All of that aside I think we pulled it off, it was a good show, with very few issues, and we pulled it off. I would give us about a B+.

Some highlights while we were there...

-The sheer amount of numbers that showed up to play this event was purely retarded. 775 played and they turned away 150. Just stupid numbers really. This was a $500k guarantee, so only 250 would be needed to cover the guarantee, and I think they only expected about 400. To see the poker room in such a frenzy was just amazing. I can't say enough about the Borgata Staff and how they managed it. Completely and undoubtedly the best staff in the business. Some guys were really getting salty and they were handled with the utmost professionalism, and courtesy.

-The amount of players that come by representing themselves as "pros". It really is funny. A pokerpages profile does not make one a pro. Especially if your only cash is from 2007 for $1900. I've won (and lost) cash pots bigger than that.

-The amount of real pros that made this event. I believe the count was 75 players from Vegas that had showed up. Most being very succesful online and live players with total lifetime earnings of 900k +

-Cheryl Hines!!!! mmmmmmm

- How funny Steve Danneman is and how relaxed he is as a person. I mean he took second in one of the largest purses ever, had all sorts of media attention, went through a divorce, and still manages to stay centered, and continues to play a game he loves and does well at. I know him from the other business, and he has never changed

-The stalkers at these things. I mean, some of these guys are very good players, but also not very well known as in relation to other players who you would think would have a following of fans. But people from nowhere were stalking guys like John Racener, and BodogAri like they were Tom Cruise, or Will Ferrel. They had their friends there of course, but other nobodies... Very wierd

-The listenership we recieved from the players family and friends alone. In retrospect it makes sense, as we were the only media outlet that covered the event live, but for all who came over and asked how to get to us, it was really cool to hear the questions and requests from players to let their families know how they were doing.

-The inquiries I got from other folk about the next event we were covering, and the interest in following the show. I had some comments from people like.. "oh yeah, I listen to you guys all the time!"... Uh, no you don't, but I hope you will

-The retarded amount of suckouts during the tournament seemed just more than normal. It really was amazing to see so many people get it in so bad, even within the first hour of day one, in a deepstack tourny for such a huge prize. Live poker is sooo rigged.

-The fact that there was no issues with players getting into fights or altercations. I mean honestly, with that much going on, that much up for grabs, and that many players, I expected to see at least one fight, yet there were zero. Not one player got into it with another to the extent that someone was issued a penalty or escorted from the building.

As a team, we have a big week ahead of us. Perticelli will be uploading certain interviews into podcasts so that they can be downloadable from the site and others, Buddy will be editing the show for rebroadcast or future broadcastings, and working on the site, and other stuff, Sean will have more interviews to conduct as follow up and just more show conent for future shows, and I will be chasing down leads and setting up our next gig with other live events to bring you more coverage of the larger tournaments...

Time will tell how big this will get, but I think our coverage is unique, and entertaining enough to bring a more pleasurable, and less boring experience to the listener.

Thanks to all who listened in and supported the show! It was much appreciated!

Tomorrow I will write a detailed post about the chop that took place. It really was a wierd situation, and I think deserves discussion or at least analysis from some of you regular live MTT players. Your thoughts would be appreciated. I have chopped the last 3 MTT's I played in and the deal was always down to 4 players and settled in a matter of 14 seconds. This one lasted close to 2 hours with very complicated issues... Look for it tomorrow and leave your comments