Five Years Later, Just Another Friday

Five years ago today I was in Lima, Peru helping cover the Latin American Poker Tour event there for the PokerStars blog. There we are to the left behind our laptops (the day before, I believe). It was my second trip to Lima, and the first and only time I’d partner up with my friend Dr. Pauly for such an adventure.

That fact alone might have helped make the trip stand out from the many others tourney journeys I’ve taken over the years. But something else happened that caused me to remember those days many times over the years since.

Was just another Friday. We all rolled into the Atlantic City casino late that morning, and had set up shop and were already reporting on Day 2 when the news reached us around 1 p.m. Lima time (if I remember correctly).

I don’t quite remember, actually, when the phrase “Black Friday” began to be used, although looking back through my travel reports here on the blog I can see the phrase already starting to appear in posts by Sunday. That means by the time Pauly, F-Train, Reinaldo, Carlos, and the rest of us left Peru it had already become the shorthand signifier for the end of online poker in U.S. as we knew it. And (so we thought then) the probable end of a lot of other things, too, including such trips to South America.

It turned out not to be quite as catastrophic as it seemed then, thankfully. Those reports from Lima share a kind of rapidly-told story arc reflecting the before, during, and after of the news hitting us and our efforts to absorb and understand it:

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Arrival

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Pregame

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 1

Thunderstruck: The Day It All Changed for Online Poker

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 2

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 3

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 4

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Departure

Another one written about three weeks after getting home is actually my favorite “Black Friday” post, the one describing the game of Big Deuce our group played our final night in Lima, a.k.a. the Last Game:

2011 LAPT Lima Postscript: Plotting in Peru

And for more looking back, earlier this week I wrote up a more clinical, less personal rundown of what poker life was like before April 15, 2011, the events of that day, and the long, frustrating aftermath in an article for PokerNews. If you haven’t seen it you might take a look as it likely will trigger some “oh-yeah-I-forgot-about-that”-type memories:

Black Friday: Reliving Poker’s Darkest Day Five Years Later

Now it all seems oddly unremarkable, as though (in hindsight) there was something inevitable or even predictable about what happened on April 15, 2011 and everything that followed. Of course the DOJ was going to unseal the indictments and civil complaint that day -- it was just a matter of time before they did. And certainly the targeted sites would then depart the U.S. in short order. And surely we could’ve (should’ve?) seen the funds-related troubles following, too. Right?

Even the long, dreary, battle-with-inertia marking individal states’ efforts to reintroduce online poker -- successful so far in only three, and with desperately modest results -- seems from today’s perspective to have been an inexorable consequence of it all. As do the still dim prospects for online poker in this country going forward (if we’re going to be realistic).

You’d think all of that might make it less easy to remember the shock of the day itself, with the dot-coms going offline, Twitter exploding and “#pokerpanic” becoming a favorite hashtag, Two Plus Two crippling and flatlining under the weight of traffic, and so on. But the surprise was so pure and fresh -- even if it shouldn’t have been -- the impression remains lasting, even today.

Five years plus a couple of leap days makes April 15th a Friday once again. The symmetry has an effect, and the time removed now enough to suggest some kind of finality. It’s a period of time once considered adequate to accommodate Soviet planning, or to help illustrate a David Bowie-imagined apocalypse. Like we’re now even more fully sealed off from what it was all like before.

As though finally, we’re all of the way back, and it’s just another Friday.

Photo: courtesy Carlos MontiPokerStars blog.

Leaving for Lima

Still feels like the WSOP has only just concluded, but today I’m heading back out for another long distance trip to go watch people play cards. This time out I’m making a return visit to Lima, Peru for the Latin American Poker Tour Main Event that starts tomorrow.

This makes a third trip to Lima for your humble scribbler. The first was back in June 2010 during Season 3 of the LAPT when Jose “Nacho” Barbero won his second straight title on the tour, for which Brad “Otis” Willis was my blogging partner on the PokerStars blog. Then the following spring I went back for the Season 4 stop, that time with Dr. Pauly.

That second trip coincided with Black Friday, which meant when we left we Americans were all still regular online poker players, but by the time we returned everything had changed. Still seems like such a short time ago, and yet so much has changed since then with regard both to online poker in particular and live tournament poker, too.

Like other tours around the world, the LAPT has been thriving and by now has built up its own tradition with this Lima stop coming midway through Season 6. I’ll be performing solo on the Stars blog this time around, although I look forward to working with my buddies and Reinaldo and Sergio who handle the Spanish and Portuguese blogs for PokerStars, respectively, as well as many others who run the LAPT and whom I’ve gotten to know while reporting from various stops over the years.

Gotta full day of travel ahead and need to ensure I’ve remembered to pack my passport, so I’ll sign off here. I expect to be back, though, to file a few travel reports this week, and to point you to the PokerStars blog for more. See you all on the other side.

Fled Is That Tourney:----Do I Wake or Sleep?

Utterly swamped at the moment with various assignments, and thus without a lot of time for posting here today, I’m afraid. Indeed, after enjoying a day or two of rest upon my return home from the WSOP, I have been just about as busy during the days since as I was while there.

In fact, it looks like I am going to have a few different trips coming up over the next several weeks, including a return voyage to LAPT Lima a few days from now.

I’ll surely be sharing details about all of those trips here as they come up. All of the many different tours are ramping back up now that the WSOP has finished for the summer, and so suddenly after weeks of focusing on Las Vegas the game goes global once again as events play out all over.

I am still occasionally dreaming about watching and reporting hands. Usually we’re talking mundane stuff -- like most hands in poker tournaments, or like most dreams often go -- although occasionally weird, panicky moments will arise in which something strange happens in the hand or with the reporting, and I’ll wake up glad none of it was real.

As a sports fan, I’m realizing I’m kind of glad still to have poker first and foremost on the agenda here during this relative down time for sports. Am waiting on the NFL to start, still my favorite sport to watch and follow. Basketball will also occupy my attention once it comes back around later in the year, too, but baseball simply doesn’t work for me anymore, with the multitude of scandals having seriously damaged the game beyond a point where this fan cares to go.

The whole A-Rod saga has become a kind of emblem for the sport, bringing together all of the problems related to high salaries, PED use and abuse, and absurd attempts to self-legislate into a single pathetic package.

That’s not to say poker doesn’t have its share of problems, too. But for the most part the game tends to provide plenty of entertainment for those who play and watch. Can’t say I was overly moved by ESPN’s presentation of the WSOP Asia Pacific final table earlier in the week, but that’s probably more a consequence of my being a little overfed with poker of late than the presentation of Daniel Negreanu’s victory not being compelling.

Anyhow, back next week with more and like I say I’ll be talking further about the LAPT Lima trip and subsequent adventures soon.

Meanwhile, for those with an interest in hearing people talk about reporting on poker tournaments, check out the latest episode of the Thinking Poker podcast on which Gareth Chantler comes on to talk about his upcoming trip to cover UKIPT Galway for the Full Tilt Poker blog. There is also some interesting talk about that unique situation from the WSOP Main Event involving David “Doc” Sands you might have heard about, namely a strange hand Sands played that has evoked the issue of “the ethics of accepting an unsolicited chip dump” (to employ the Thinking Poker guys’ phrasing).

While you do, I’ll see if I can’t get a little more rest before these trips come up. And if I can keep these poker-related dreams from returning me to consciousness.

A Year Later

A year ago today I was in another hemisphere. Seems like another world.

On that day I was in Lima, Peru, helping Dr. Pauly, F-Train, Reinaldo, Sergio, Carlos, Lynn, Will, and others cover the Latin American Poker Tour event.

A couple of nights before we’d attended a pre-tourney party at the Restaurant Huaca Pucllana which included a neat tour of these adobe and clay pyramids that surrounded the restaurant. Built something like 15 centuries or so before, the intricate structures were part of a canal system but also used for various ceremonies, including sacrifices.

Pauly shot a short video during our rumble through the ruins:



The previous day, Thursday, the tourney had started, and we had a super long, 15-hour-plus day running back and forth gathering stories and hands and reporting the action. We all slept well that night before making our way back over to the Atlantic City Casino on Friday for Day 2.

I got there early, around 10:30 a.m. I wanted to take care of some business -- including posting something here about the previous day -- before the noon start. I’m noticing my time stamp on that Day 1 post was 11:58 a.m. That was Eastern time, meaning it was almost 11 a.m. Peru time when I’d posted.

After posting I got a cup of coffee and relaxed. The tourney was set to resume in about an hour. We were also just about an hour away from finding out the U.S. Department of Justice had unsealed its indictment and civil complaint targeting PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/UB. An hour from the onslaught of text messages, DMs, and other panicky back-and-forthing that would continue that afternoon and evening.

We were about an hour or so from realizing the domains had been seized, too, replaced by those mean-looking FBI and DOJ seals. Dr. Pauly and I were there blogging for PokerStars. It even crossed our minds briefly to wonder about our prospects for getting back home. Not that we were ever really worried... but damn. Seemed like something pretty huge was going down.

The tourney started as scheduled, and after an initial, unsuccessful attempt to process what exactly was happening, we set it all aside for several hours as we covered the event. We’d pick it all back up again later that night, of course, by which time we knew everything had changed as far as online poker in the U.S. was concerned.

I’ve written an overview of sorts for the Betfair poker blog, “Black Friday, One Year Later,” where I talk about what has happened over the last twelve months and speculate a little at the end about what’s to come.

At the conclusion I say it could well be the case that when we think about 4/15/11 some years hence we might look at it not as an “end” but as a “beginning.” That is to say, while the day certainly marked the end of one era, it seems pretty clear that we’re edging toward something new as far as online poker in the U.S. is concerned. And depending on how that goes, we might then consider the dramatic field-clearing that happened a year ago to be a first step toward whatever comes next.

But today we can’t help but look back, not forward. Sort of like hiking around those ruins in Lima and imagining what once was. And thinking about all the associated rituals and behaviors, now of the past.

2011 LAPT Lima Postscript: Plotting in Peru

I mentioned at the end of yesterday’s post I had one last story from LAPT Lima I’d been wanting to share. Call it a delayed postscript to what turned out to be an especially memorable tourney trip.

I was thinking this morning about how Dr. Pauly might tell this one. By the way, that picture of the sunset, taken from our hotel, comes from the ones he took while we were in Lima.

Pauly would probably start out in documentary-like fashion, drawing us in with a few easily verifiable details. Then, at some point around the tale’s midpoint -- like a member of the group crossing a street just before the light changed, leaving his less adventurous mates on the corner -- he’d mischievously race over toward the line between fact and fiction, then merrily trip over it. From there he’d carry us all into a wild, Wonderland-like finale perhaps inspired by visions of Machu Picchu or other experiences he’d gathered during those extra days he remained in Peru.

But I’m no Pauly. No, you’ll more likely find me with the others, waiting on the corner for the “Walk” sign to light up. So I’ll tell it straight. (Mostly, anyway.)

The last day of the tournament was on a Sunday. After a final table lasting seven hours or so, a regular at the Atlantic City Casino -- one more apt to be found at the craps tables than in the poker room, we’d learned -- had won the sucker. A boisterous fellow, often smiling and cracking wise even before his victory, he’d apparently played the event on a whim, having been put in by someone else.

Among those at the final table, the runner-up from Panama had struck us as perhaps the most skilled player, yet the Peruvian didn’t appear to have a lot of difficulty taking care of him. Pauly, Reinaldo, and F-Train each had different takes on what had happened, their interpretations perhaps reflecting their personalities. To summarize each, Pauly was conspiratorial about it, Ray saw karma playing a role, while F-Train was more stoic in his assessment.

While the final day was a short one relatively speaking, having concluded by early evening, it had felt like an especially long week, made more so by its having been rudely divided by “Black Friday.” So once all the reporting loose ends had been fully tied, the four of us were more than ready to relax a bit before separately renewing our travels the next day.

We went down to the Larcomar mall and enjoyed a relaxing dinner outdoors, able to hear if not perfectly see the waves crashing along the coast as night descended. Evoking our friend and colleague Mickey -- who somehow manages to inspire tourney reporters from thousands of miles away -- I ordered a vanilla milkshake. Afterwards we went back to the Thunderbird Fiesta hotel. Soon a pack of cards was produced, and as midnight came and went we did what millions of people around the world like to do every day, often online.

We played poker.

Big Deuce was the game of choice. That picture -- the only one I took during the game -- shows a hand I’d drawn. After a half-dozen hands Ray had jumped out to a lead, though we losers’ spirits remained high, kept up by some hilariously profane trash-talking from Ray.

It was good to laugh. Hell, we needed to laugh. Given the uncertainty caused by Black Friday -- for online poker, for our prospects for future employment as poker scribes, etc. -- you couldn’t blame us too much for feeling a tad apocalyptic about everything.

I mean, Pauly and I had seen a dead body our first day in Lima. We’d visited ruins where sacrifices once occurred (and, apparently, more bodies were still to be found). Websites had vanished entirely, replaced by FBI and DOJ seals and stern statements about “seizures” and “warrants” and “violations” and such. “#pokerpanic” had become a much-used hashtag on Twitter.

So we dealt another round, each of us perhaps thinking privately that, well, maybe (in a way) this really was the Last Game.

Ray sneakily saved a deuce to take down yet another hand, and while I shuffled we chuckled some more as he again described in detail to us his greatness. Meanwhile, laptops and phones kept us connected to the world outside the hotel room. Soon we were further entertained by a tweet sent earlier in the night by the witty and literary-minded Absinthe. Who, coincidentally, wrote an especially good post a couple of days ago which like this story involves finding humor (and meaning) amid grim circumstances.

Wrote Absinthe, “I’d like to think that in an alternate universe, @ftrainpoker, @taopauly and @hardboiledpoker are down in Peru plotting a revolution.”

We didn’t really discuss the tweet directly, but I knew we all appreciated it. And perhaps were inspired by it a little, too, as soon Pauly suggested we begin sending out tweets ourselves, inventing a situation out of whole cloth to baffle and amuse our followers. As I recall, the good doctor didn’t say anything specifically about an “alternate universe” or a “revolution,” but I immediately imagined the scenario he was contemplating to represent both.

The suggestion from Pauly was for us all to start tweeting that Humberto Brenes (who had played and cashed in the tourney) had joined our game. Immediately we all began helping compose the imagined missive, as well as the several follow-up tweets and Twitpics F-Train, Reinaldo, and I might subsequently send to lend the whole story further legitimacy.

“Last night in Lima, playing Big Deuce with Humberto, @ftrainpoker, @hardboiledpoker, @nalgorras” Pauly would send.

Then, a short while later, I would write: “OMG! Did Humberto really just call @ftrainpoker Dumberto? I may never stop laughing.”

Then Reinaldo: “Humberto @ftrainpoker Dumberto!!!! jajajajjajjajjjajja”

Then F-Train: “FML. Playing Big Deuce with Humberto and he just called me Dumberto.”

The story continued from there, though not before several instances of Brenes delivering his line were performed by each of us. “I am Humberto,” he’d say with exaggerated deliberation, thumbs touching the chest. Then, slowly pointing forward with both fingers and looking up, “You... are Dumberto!”

From there the fiction continued forward to include a hungover breakfast followed by still further episodes, our merry band trekking across South America as though we were Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo hurtling across the Nevada desert.

The game finally wound down around 4 a.m., I think. I noticed some time later that Pauly really did send out a tweet about Brenes and Big Deuce. There were no follow-ups, though. The rest of us had stayed on the corner, waiting for the light to change.

So while we didn’t necessarily plot any revolutions, we did create a plot. And there was something utterly liberating about it all. After the drama-filled days that came before, we were more than ready to laugh and laugh and laugh. And at least to imagine an alternate universe in which no one could ever tell us we couldn’t play cards if we wanted to.

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Departure

With my flight not leaving until around 11 p.m. last night, I had most of the day to explore Miraflores some more, something I wasn’t really able to do much of back in June.

Lucky for me F-Train also had a late flight out, and so the two of us spent the afternoon and early evening doing a lot of walking and talking in and around Lima’s most upscale district.

Miraflores means “to watch flowers,” so we did some of that, particularly at the park in the city’s center after having lunch at a sidewalk cafe. We watched other things, too.

We watched dozens of shoe shines being given, while refusing multiple offers to have shoe shines of our own. We watched full service gas stations with long lines. We watched local produce being sold, including outrageously huge corn. We watched meat and fish being sold in an open-air market, swatting the flies to get a better look.

We watched vest-clad figures with stacks of U.S. dollars in one hand and soles in the other handling currency exchanges right on the sidewalk. We watched a performer with a dummy tied to himself dancing about in front of cars at an intersection, looking for all the world like a manic fight had broken out right in the middle of the street. Then we watched as he successfully collected a few soles from the drivers for the show. Or dollars, I suppose.

Eventually we wound our way over to the Inka Market and Indian Market, a couple of large, outdoor shops full of Peruvian wares of varying value where I picked up a few gifts. Then we spent a stretch at another cafe where we had Turkish coffee and talked about the past, the present, and the future. Was a very nice way to end the trip -- seeing more of Lima, and also getting to think further about things with a friend and colleague who knows his stuff.

Near the end of the day, we saw another odd street scene. Mimes as crossing guards, aided by a figure dressed as the Grim Reaper. No shinola!

Again, as was happening to me all weekend, I was unable to avoid drawing analogies, looking upon the caped figure as indicating the sudden “death” of much of online poker in the U.S. Then I thought again of the poor fellow who’d fallen from one of the coastal cliffs to his demise, the one we’d seen on the drive in last Wednesday (mentioned here). Almost seemed like kind of an uncanny bookend, this.

But the shutting out of U.S. players from these sites -- and even all of the other collateral damage and fallout -- is not life-and-death. It’s a big deal, but it’s not that.

Maybe it is more like a big stop sign, representing how a lot of us may well have to stop doing what we’ve been doing for a while. Or do it less or differently or whatever. But we’ll be moving back on down the road again, I think.

Speaking of moving on, thanks for being patient and letting me stubbornly complete my little travelogue of my return trip to the southern hemisphere while the online poker world turned upside down.





Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Arrival
Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Pregame
Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 1
Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 2
Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 3
Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 4

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 4

Woke up this morning with another track from The Last Waltz playing in my weary noggin’. So many great ones on that soundtrack, many with possibly applicable lyrics or titles. But the one I was thinking of was the most obvious: “The Shape I’m In.”

Am fairly well worn-out at the moment. F-Train, Pauly, Reinaldo, and I stayed up into the early hours, so am once again am going on less than adequate sleep as I write here in my hotel room.

I’ll recover soon enough, though. Not in that bad of shape, all things considered.

First F-Train and I completed our epic, two-day-long Chinese poker match in which the wiry one withstood my many comeback attempts to win 52-46 (scoring 2-4). To be honest, it would’ve been a significant upset if I had beaten him, given how badly I mangled setting at least a couple of my hands along the way. Then came Big Deuce with Pauly and Reinaldo. As the night wore on and dawn approached, the tallying became increasingly less reliable, but I’m going to guess Ray managed to best us there.

Safe to say our decision to keep the games going as long as we did had a couple of causes. We weren’t all that anxious to say our farewells. To each other, of course. And to the whole tourney scene, too, I suppose, which even if we end up back on one of the tours again will probably never be quite the same. Nor are we looking forward to the various new stressors that are going to be associated with our newly affected careers. Or our perhaps starting different ones.

So, yea, deal another, we said. Just one more. And then we said it again.

Yesterday’s final table was entertaining, if not too remarkable. Had the lone remaining woman, Samar Hodali of Peru, managed to win, that might have helped make it more so. But after entering the final table in second, she finished fifth. The leader, Daniel Ospina of Colombia, actually bounced out in eighth, paving the way for Kemal Ferri (pictured above) to win the title for his native Peru.

There was a decent crowd on hand to cheer Ferri on, although not as big or boisterous as the one I saw at the LAPT Lima last June. During the awarding of the trophy, amid the music, lights, and noise, we were startled by a small cannon going off right beside our stage-side location, raining shiny rectangles of confetti all over. Was appropriately festive, though, punctuating a well-run event that many enjoyed.

Took Pauly and I some time to finish up the last of our posts and sign off, then the four of us went for dinner down at the Larcomar again before heading back for the card playing.

Today Pauly begins a journey to Machu Picchu where he’ll be seeking visions of his future. Meanwhile, I’ll be homeward bound. Probably won’t be sleeping on the plane. I never do.

No, l have my eyes wide open, seeking visions of my own.

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 3

Relatively rapid day yesterday at LAPT Lima. As was the case on Friday, we were all mostly glad to have the distraction of covering of poker tournament to keep us from fretting too much about “Black Friday,” the “pokercalypse,” or whatever other scary signifier you might be inspired to hang on this here crisis for online poker with which we’re all still trying to come to grips.

Took a little over six hours yesterday for the field to shrink from 24 down to eight. Several compelling moments along the way, including a dramatic, saving ace on the river to ensure the survival of Peruvian Samar Hodali, the lone woman left in the event, who today is only a few chips behind the leader, Daniel Ospina of Columbia. Would mark the first time a woman won a Main Event on the LAPT should she take it down, and given the local support that should make for a fun scene should it happen.

Dr. Pauly, F-Train, our friends Shirley and Sos, and I headed down to Larcomar, the big shopping center situated on the cliffs along the Lima coastline, where we had an absolutely delightful meal at Restaurant Portofino.

The atmosphere -- with the high-angle view of the waves crashing below -- was especially pleasant, and the food even more so. I started with the ronda caliente (a seafood dish highlighted by some scrumptious calimari), followed by the tournado pisqueno (scallops wrapped in bacon and soaked in lemon, garlic, and red pepper).

We walked back through the mall area, through the streets of Miraflores, and were back at the hotel a little before midnight. A few dozen hands of Chinese poker later we were able to retire for the evening relatively early.

Before hitting the hay, I did spend a little while checking in on all that has been happening, making a quick run through some of what is being written and said. Sort of like the hurried sampling of local sights and cuisine here in Lima -- that is, I’ve only had limited time to sample the reports and commentary thus far, never mind try to digest fully the indictment, the civil complaint, and everything else.

Kevmath is collecting pertinent links in a sticky over on Two Plus Two. Pauly highlighted several as well in his Friday post, “Exile on Main Street Reprise.” They keep updating the story over at PokerNews with ongoing developments. And F-Train took time yesterday morning to be interviewed by our Dutch colleague, Remko, for an enlightening podcast.

Bill Rini, as usual, has done a great job thinking it all through and looking ahead to the possible fates awaiting all of those connected in some fashion to the world of online poker in a post titled “The Fallout From The Full Tilt / PokerStars Pullout.” Along the same lines, Change100 has written a thoughtful piece that well articulates what many of us in the poker media are experiencing. And after perusing all of those items last night, I listened a short while to the live telethon-like show still ongoing over at Quad Jacks, too.

Even if I weren’t in another country covering a poker tournament, it’d be difficult to keep up with it all. I’m sure I’ll be sinking into deep-contemplation mode soon after boarding that plane tomorrow night. I imagine I’ll remain in that mode for some time after I return home, too.

Still amazing to consider, after being out of the U.S. for just a week, how utterly online poker will have changed there during the brief time I was away.

We’re back at it today for the final table, which starts at noon. Yesterday Pauly sent out a tweet comparing us to the band playing aboard the Titanic as it went down. Is this the last gig for us? Who knows? In any event, I’m gonna play it as well as I can.

And I’ll say this, too. Sharing the stage these fellas here -- and getting to jam with all of those others over the last few years, too -- has friggin’ rocked.

Check over at the PokerStars blog (yes, you can still access that site) today to see how Dr. Pauly and I play this one.

Like I say, no ideer if this is the last waltz, but I’m nonetheless inspired to listen to one of my favorite apocalyptic jams as inspiration for today’s show. “It’s not like it used to be,” says Robbie Robertson as the clip begins.

And then the band plays...

Now I don’t mind chopping wood
And I don’t care if the money’s no good
You take what you need and you leave the rest
But they should never have taken the very best...

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 2

After a late night sitting up with Dr. Pauly, F-Train, and Reinaldo contemplating our collective futures in what appears to be a suddenly, sadly crumbling industry, I woke up early this morning, unable to sleep once the first hint of sunlight crept into my suite.

I decided to order myself some coffee. I got out of the bed, wincing a little as the sunlight hit my face. I realized everything is suddenly appearing undesirably metaphorical.

Our digs here in Peru are quite nice. Check out this short video Pauly shot soon after we arrived for an idea of what my room -- or, really, rooms -- look like. Two floors, actually, although if you watch that vid you’ll see how up top there’s an uncarpeted catwalk one has to traverse to get to the bed and back. It’s a bit treacherous, something you don’t want to move too quickly across in just socks or you could wind up falling 15 feet onto the kitchen table below.

Ah, I thought. Bountiful, but hazardous. Makes me think of online poker....

I decided to phone room service to see if I could just get a pot of coffee, and three minutes later I was drinking my first cup of the day. I remembered being in Atlantic City last month for the WSOP-Circuit event, where at Caesars I had tried to order just coffee but was told I couldn’t do that. Had to get a full meal for them to come up to the room. Here in Peru, there were no such restrictions.

Ah, I thought. Certain things are more difficult in America. Makes me think of online poker....

I drank another sip and decided I wasn’t going to let myself continue with such applesauce. We had found ourselves doing something similar last night. Oceans 12 was playing on the television, subtitled in Spanish, and a montage of arrests on screen made us think of the “Dirty 11” who’d been indicted. At one point Reinaldo had put The Cure on the music player while we played Big Deuce, and when “Boys Don’t Cry” came on Pauly had us all in stitches as he added lyrics to the chorus (“unless they have fifty grand on Full Tilt,” etc.).

Even though it had been more than 12 hours since the news first broke, I suppose you could say we were still in an initial phase of response, using humor to deflect the unkind reality we all instinctively understand lies ahead. After just three hours of sleep, though, I’m feeling a lot less like laughing.

I’m also not wanting to let all of the metaphor-making take over my existence. Not just now, anyway. It was an interesting day of poker yesterday at LAPT Lima, one from which I’d come away with an intention to tell one story in particular. And I’m going to go ahead and do just that.

We learned the news of the indictments shortly after play began at noon local time yesterday, and reports of the subsequent fallout understandably provided further distractions as the day wore on and the tourney played down to the final 24. (Here is my initial, late night reaction to all of that.) The day, however, had already begun on a sad note when we learned just before the first hands were dealt that Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari would not be returning to play his 118,000-plus chip stack (good for the top 20 of the remaining 116). His father had passed away the night before, and he was traveling home to be with his family.

Akkari is very well liked among the PokerStars folks and by many of the players here on the LAPT. All were saddened by the sight of his empty chair and unopened bag of chips. Soon after play began, João Neto was moved to Akkari’s table to the seat to the absent player’s right. Hailing from Brazil (like Akkari), Neto was in the top five in chips at the time, and I commented on the PokerStars blog that he’d likely be able to be more aggressive given that Akkari wouldn’t be on his left.

Neto had brought a Brazilian flag to the casino yesterday, and he draped it over Akkari’s chair where it remained all afternoon and into the evening while antes and blinds were taken from his slowly dwindling stack.

The top 48 players made the money in this event, and when the field had gotten down to 52 we noticed Akkari had 20,000 chips left. The blinds were 3,000/6,000 with a 500 ante, meaning he was good for no more than a couple of orbits. Suddenly three players were eliminated in rapid succession and hand-for-hand play commenced. Now it was looking like Akkari may actually cash despite not being here to play a single hand on Day 2!

But his stack was down to 12,000, and it appeared the next-lowest stack in the room was at 35,000 or so. All the short stacks had to do was fold and they were guaranteed to outlast Akkari. Then something remarkable happened.

A hand arose in which Neto, who’d been opening nearly every hand on the cash bubble, raised again from late position. Then Roberto Brenes -- Humberto’s son -- reraised from the blinds, committing over half his remaining stack of 90,000 or so. Neto pushed all in, and “Robertito” called with his . Neto had pocket jacks, and despite two spades coming on the flop and a nine on the turn, Neto’s hand held up.

Neto’s excitement at winning was a little bit uncomfortable, as Roberto -- and the whole Brenes clan -- is well liked and no one much enjoyed seeing him go out in 49th. I know I didn’t, although I wondered if perhaps Neto’s outburst was related in some fashion to his having ensured Akkari had made the money. (Akkari would ultimately wind up in 43rd place.)

It was an odd, kind of eerie moment, and I’ll say at that instant I wasn’t thinking much at all about the U.S. Department of Justice. As much as everyone felt sympathy for Roberto for not cashing, all were equally glad Akkari did, even though we knew it would matter little to him.

There are more important things than poker. We all knew that before yesterday, although sometimes we managed to distract ourselves enough with the game to forget it for lengthy stretches.

Poker can do that. Something both good and bad about the game, I guess.

Day 3 begins this afternoon. Check back at the PokerStars blog where we’ll keep covering it all until the last card falls on Sunday.

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Day 1

Long, long day hustling back and forth on the second floor of the Atlantic City Casino, helping cover the first day of the LAPT Lima Main Event. Began mid-morning with various setting-up-shop type preliminaries, and it wasn’t until 3 a.m. that the last of the tasks had been completed and we could put the “closed” sign up for the night.

All of which is to say, there ain’t a lot of time this morning for your humble gumshoe to sit back and meditate on the meaning of it all. So it goes. Much like playing in a poker tournament, you find yourself making decisions all day, constantly faced with puzzles to solve or situations to analyze. When it’s over, you might reflect on what it all meant, but there isn’t time for that as it’s happening. ’Cos there’s something else you gotta deal with. Like right now.

I will say that I’m especially fortunate to be working with Dr. Pauly, alongside F-Train (who is here for PokerNews), and Reinaldo (the PokerStars.la blogger). That picture above is of the four of us, taken by Carlos, our photographer from Argentina.

Between them, Otis helping us from afar from back in the States, and the always excellent LAPT staff, there’s a fantastic network of support here to help a jingle-brained sap get along. That they’re also a buncha cool, funny, smart cats helps a lot, too.

Total field yesterday was 350, and after 10 hours of play it had been trimmed to 116. Playing down to 24 today, then down to the final eight-handed table tomorrow.

Was a fairly typical first-day vibe yesterday, with mostly patient play early on, then many all-ins once the antes had begun to increase. And as was the case last June when I was here before, the atmosphere was mostly jovial with a lot of laughter and people appearing to enjoy themselves -- as I’ve noted before, a bit different than what you typically encounter at the WSOP.

Might have ourselves a somewhat shorter day today. Actually, after the 15-plus hour marathon of yesterday, it’ll just about have to be shorter. In any case, do check out the LAPT Lima posts over on the PokerStars blog to see what we’re up to. And see also Pauly’s Tao of Poker and Tao of Pauly for more scribblin’ on our Peruvian adventure.

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Pregame

Great fun last night at the welcome party thrown by PokerStars to kick off LAPT Lima. While there was much food and drink to be sampled and lots of socializing to do as well with players and staff, the highlight was getting to learn a little more about Lima culture, circa 400 A.D.

No, we weren’t given lectures or made to watch educational films. Rather, the party took place at the Restaurant Huaca Pucllana, located amid some truly stunning adobe and clay pyramids built by the area’s inhabitants some 15 or so centuries ago. Part ceremonial, part functional, the structures were built by the clergy both to further their authority as well as part of an extensive canal system drawing on the nearby Rimac river.

The entire series of pyramids was apparently buried underneath hills until discovered relatively recently. Dr. Pauly, Reinaldo, Shirley, Sos, and I took a brief tour of the ruins, and our guide explained how excavation only began in 1981 and is still ongoing.

“Pucllana” or “pucllay” means “game,” actually, and so “Huaca Pucllana” means a place for games or rituals. Like I say, the place apparently had both a kind of symbolic value, with various ceremonies (including sacrifices) helping further the religious authority of the clergymen who had the pyramids built, and was functional, too, by drawing on hydrological resources from the river. Was a place of trade, too, so the Huaca Pucllana was kind of an administrative center, too.

Was an eerie scene, the quiet and dark contrasting with the lights, music, and voices emanating from the restaurant. We took our time, snapping pictures while marveling to each other about at the sheer magnitude of the structures.

The pyramids are closely surrounded by modern apartment buildings -- indeed, we were told a good portion of the Huaca Pucllana were destroyed by developers. Made for another weird bit of discontinuity to see those buildings rising up beyond the borders of the (now government-protected) site, although there was a strange peace to be had amid the old being foregrounded and the new held off at a distance.

Pauly took a short video of the scene. Take a look:



Got back to the hotel at a reasonable hour and finally got some much needed snooze time. Have a few things to take care of this morning as we prepare for Day 1 of the event. Sounds like they’re hoping for as many as 400 this time around. I imagine much of our focus early on will be upon the returning champ, Jose “Nacho” Barbero, who came here last June and won his second straight LAPT title. I saw some references to that achievement among those reports that the amazing Vanessa Selbst had won the NAPT Mohegan Sun event last night -- a back-to-back for her, too!

Head over to the PokerStars blog later today where Pauly (pictured at left) and I will be reporting on all of the action from Lima.

Travel Report: 2011 LAPT Lima, Arrival

Good afternoon, peoples. I have safely wound my way back to the bottom half of the globe, returning once again to Lima, Peru where I’ll be helping cover the Latin American Poker Tour Lima Main Event over the next four days for the PokerStars blog.

Was looking back a little today at the last time we were here, when Jose “Nacho” Barbero bested a field of 384 to win. While doing so I was reminded of a big hand that took place involving Barbero near the final table bubble when just 11 players remained.

The Argentinian had opened with a raise, was reraised by the American Chris Conrad, then four-bet shoved all-in. Conrad tanked, then called with , forcing a sheepish Barbero to reveal the hand with which he’d gotten so randy -- and with which he’d now had put his tourney life on the line -- !

Sound familiar? Sort of resembles a hand from earlier this week that got some attention from the NAPT Mohegan Sun (at which the final table is ongoing right now). You’ve heard about that one? In which Vanessa Selbst five-bet shoved with 8-4 against an opponent who called with pocket aces, then fortunately rivered a straight to win what I assume was a largish pot. Same hand as Barbero’s, although Selbst was the one putting the other player all in. (Her hand was also suited).

Like Selbst, luck was on Barbero’s side, too, as he spiked an eight on the river to double-up and then eventually go on to win the sucker, a back-to-back for Barbero as he had just won the previous LAPT event at Punta del Este, Uruguay. Interestingly, Selbst, too, is gunning for a back-to-back after her victory at the NAPT Mohegan Sun last year. (As I type, Selbst is still in with just three players left.)

Speaking of coincidences, the trip to the hotel this morning featured a somewhat grim one.

Last year we arrived in Lima shortly after news had broken that Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway in Aruba, was suspected of killing another woman, Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramírez, here in Lima. He was caught over in Chile shortly after our arrival, and I believe is presently in a Lima prison. That murder took place on May 30th, the fifth-year anniversary of Holloway’s disappearance.

On the cab ride in from the airport this morning, Dr. Pauly and I discovered death had preceded our arrival once again. As we drove along the western coast we saw some police tape and a dozen or so law-enforcement types circling a scene over on the left-hand side on the road. Some poor soul had fallen the 300 feet or so to his death, and the cabbie (whom we guessed might have been by the scene more than once already) noted that in fact two people had fallen.

That picture above (which I took last June) shows how the steep cliffs run right up against the coastline. We aren’t that far from the ocean, but don’t worry... we have no plans to do any running around up there!

Spent the afternoon hanging out with the always cool Reinaldo (of PokerStarsblog.la) and Pauly at the sportsbook at the Atlantic City casino. The three of us put a few soles apiece on underdog Tottenham Hotspur, then watched ‘em fight gamely but ultimately lose 1-0 to Real Madrid. The afternoon wasn‘t a total loss, however, as Reinaldo and I both learned a lot from this helpful Spanish phrase book Pauly brought.

We stuck around the Atlantic City a little longer to reunite with several LAPT and PokerStars folks before heading back to our hotel to rest up a little. Indeed, I’m going on about 36 hours here without any real snoozin’ to speak of, so I think I might rest my peepers for a while before we head over to the welcoming party. More to come!

Travel Report: LAPT Lima, Departure

Back in Vegas I am. Broiling. Up around 105˚ today, with the hot, hot winds making it feel as though you’re walking into a hair dryer. Quite a change from Lima, where it was overcast all week with temps in the upper 60˚s for most of our time there.

I arrived at McCarran early this morning after flying all night, then slept away most of the day here at the home away from home. I’ll be back on the floor at the Rio soon, but thankfully have a little space first to recover and regroup before rejoining my colleagues at PokerNews to help cover the WSOP.

Was a lazy day in Lima yesterday. I managed to do some walking around, heading back down to the Larcomar mall area and its immediate environs. Aside from a few places selling crafts, the mall is essentially made up of stores and restaurants that aren’t any different from what you find in yr average U.S. mall.


Still, it was fun to get out and be among the families and others enjoying a weekend afternoon. (Click pics for enlarged view.)

When walking around the mall area, I did experience what seemed like it must have been a pick-pocketing attempt. A woman ran into me from behind and basically hugged me before moving away with a “lo siento.” If it were a theft attempt, it came up empty as in such situations I tend to go front-pockets-only with whatever items I might be carrying.

As Otis noted over on Rapid Eye Reality, the police presence was significant everywhere I went, with at least a couple on each corner and often more. So if it were a try for my wallet, it was perhaps a bit bold.

Then again, I am quite huggable.

Walked around for perhaps an hour or so, stopping frequently to gaze out on the west coast of South America.






































I shopped a bit for gifts, then made my way back to the hotel. By early evening Otis and I were in a cab to the Jorge Chávez International Airport.

We parted once we got inside, as he was on a different airline with a different destination. I made it all the way through to the gate without incident, other than having unexpectedly to pay $31 for an “airport fee.” That’s the charge for international flights (it is less for domestic, I think), and it must be paid in cash. Was there a couple of hours early and so grabbed a sandwich and hopped on the free wi-fi to follow the end of the Celts-Lakers as well as Tom “durrrr” Dwan’s final table.

Then I went over to my gate and waited with Lynn of PokerNews and Jacob Baumgartner, the end-of-day-1 chip leader at LAPT Lima Peru and eventual 19th-place finisher. He and I talked about his career thus far, including his huge score in the $530 buy-in no-limit hold’em heads up WCOOP event last fall. Baumgartner took second in that one to Eugene “Myrabbifoo” Katchalov, earning a cool $120,000 after an end-of-event chop.

The three of us chatted with a few other travelers as well, including a friendly woman whom I eventually found out -- after the others had been called to board the plane -- was a novelist, about to embark on a publicity tour for her most recent book. She asked lots of questions of each of us about the whole poker thing, expressing incredulity (partially feigned, I decided later) at the idea that Baumgartner was making a living playing.

“Does your mother know what you’re doing?” she asked Baumgartner, who laughed in response. He did a good job explaining his own story and how it is indeed possible for some -- not many -- to be poker pros.

“When is the next tournament?” was her next question. “Tomorrow,” was his reply, and it was Lynn and me laughing this time. Indeed, his plan was to sleep on the plane, then enter that $1,500 short-handed NLHE event (No. 16) that began at noon today.

My next tournament won’t be until Wednesday. Should be good one, the $10,000 buy-in Event No. 19, the 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship (No-Limit), attracting a lot of big names. Meanwhile, I’ll be catching up on the last week of WSOP action, including reviewing Tom “durrrr” Dwan’s near-miss last night at a bracelet -- and cashing in on side bets that sounded like they exceeded what the Main Event winner is going to get.

All in all a fun, interesting week.

Travel Report: LAPT Lima, Arrival
Travel Report: LAPT Lima, Pregame
Travel Report: LAPT Lima, Day 1
Travel Report: LAPT Lima, Day 2
Travel Report: LAPT Lima, Day 3
Travel Report: LAPT Lima, Day 4

Thanks for your patience during my detour below the equator. WSOP reports return tomorrow!

Travel Report: LAPT Lima, Day 4

“That was the most exciting final table ever!”

So said Reinaldo last night about seven o’clock, just after Jose “Nacho” Barbero had won his second straight Latin American Poker Tour title at Lima. Reinaldo reported on the event for PokerStars.la, the Spanish-language blog.

“You always say that!” responded Sergio with a grin, and we laughed on media row. Sergio was writing this week for PokerStars’ Portuguese site.

It had been a wild, at times electrifying final table, made more so by the large, vocal group of spectators that had amassed in the Atlantic City Casino poker room on Saturday afternoon. The final table had been set up on a stage at one end of the room, we were set up over on the side, and most of the space was filled with seats for those interested in watching the action up front and on the several big screens.

Of course, most didn’t bother using those seats, standing instead as they primarily cheered on Erick Cabrera, the lone Peruvian of the final eight. Cabrera grabbed the chip lead with four players left and appeared primed to take it down, but ended up getting pushed out of a few pots, then going out in third.

In Cabrera’s bustout hand, it had been a limped pot (blind-vs.-blind) between him and Barbero, and “Nacho” ended up flopping a ten-high straight while Cabrera had top pair-top kicker. Barbero played it well, checking the blank turn card and letting Cabrera shove all in drawing dead. “Very Erik Seidel-Johnny Channish,” was LAPT media coordinator Thomas Koo’s comment on the hand.

At that point Barbero had a commanding lead -- more than 5-to-1 -- over the American, young Ben Barrows who had made this event via a qualifier on Stars.

Two other U.S. players -- Martin Mathis and Chris Conrad -- had shown up an hour or so earlier dressed as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger to cheer on Barrows. Both Mathis and Conrad had played LAPT Lima, with Mathis making the money in 42nd and Conrad just missing the final table and ending in 11th. Both played well, and Conrad in particular probably deserved better, having endured some unfortunate hands late on Day 3. Very funny stuff, and it actually fit right into the festive atmosphere of the place. Eventually a third fellow (I’m not sure whom) joined the pair dressed as Mickey Mouse.

Barrows had too steep of a hill to climb against Barbero, though, and was out in just a few hands. Click here to see Barbero's post-tourney interview. A really likable, humble guy, although he doesn’t deny he played well, and makes a reasonable point that winning back-to-back titles like this indeed helps make the case that poker involves skill. (Of course, there was that one hand on Day 3 where a little bit of luck was involved!) Barbero now definitely becomes another player to watch at the WSOP this summer, where he is soon headed.

The reporting went well yesterday, although at first it appeared it was going to be a challenge given that we were too far from the table to see chip stacks, the suits of the cards weren’t that clear on the TV monitors, and the announcing of the action was in Spanish. But Melina, the announcer, started adding English to her calls early on, and was very good throughout. Indeed, I thought she added some excitement to the proceedings when she would sometimes turn to the audience to announce a player was all in.

Carlos, our photographer, got some great pics along the way which you can see on the Day 4 live blog and in Otis’ end wrap.

After the event we ended up hanging out with the PokerNews guys and a couple of fellows from the television production crew, Mark and Seamus. That’s right -- Seamus! I did a double-take when he introduced himself to me, and of course had to explain my nick.

While we chatted, the server came over to tell us a gentleman in a red hat was buying a round for everyone. A little confused, we looked over and saw Dennis Phillips chatting with a group nearby. All got Pisco Sours (the new fave which Otis tells about here) while I just got a Coke. We thanked Dennis after, and he shrugged and noted how he knows we work hard reporting on him and everything else and it was the least he could do.

Afterwards some among us shared a couple of other anecdotes about Phillips’ support of those who cover him. I know it’s becoming an increasingly unoriginal observation to say Phillips is a good guy, but he is. So are a great many of the poker players we cover, actually -- even those who don’t buy us drinks.

As those stories about Phillips were being passed back and forth, I couldn’t help but think some afterwards about that recent blog post of Daniel Negreanu’s in which he complains about the WSOP coverage. I could obviously write a long response to what Kid Poker is saying there, but I’m going to refrain. For now, anyway.

I ended up calling it a night around midnight. Went back to the room and slept like a rock for ten hours. Don’t think I even turned over once.

Gonna do a little exploring of Lima today, but time is limited. There is actually more poker happening at the Atlantic City Casino today -- the final of the America’s Cup of Poker. We aren’t covering the event, but I might just stick my head in one last time to see what is happening with that.

Like I say, though, I won’t be messing around too much today, as I will be heading back over to Jorge Chávez International Airport in the early evening to catch the red-eye back to Vegas.

Was definitely a good week and, as Reinaldo proclaimed, an especially exciting final table.

Back in the northern hemisphere soon. Y’all keep holding up yr end of things until I return.

Travel Report: LAPT Lima, Day 3

We’ve made it to Saturday morning, our last full day here in Lima, Peru to cover the Latin American Poker Tour Main Event. The final table starts at noon today. My flight back to Las Vegas is late tomorrow, meaning I’ll be returning Sin City early Monday morning, and will be back on the floor there in the Rio to help cover the WSOP soon thereafter.

I’ve definitely enjoyed the week thus far, and am grateful for having had the opportunity to explore another part of the world like this, even in a limited way. But I have had this weird “twice removed” kind of feeling this week. Am not in Vegas, where part of me feels like I should be just now. But of course that’s not really home either. Will probably be a little strange to go back to LV from here rather than really going home.

Last night Day 3 of the event finished relatively early. Play began around 12:30 p.m. and even with frequent breaks (per the video crew) the tourney had played down from 24 to eight players by a little after six o’clock. Spent a couple of hours afterwards taking care of various things, including writing up a wrap post of Day 3, then a little later a group of us went out in search of some local eats.

We rambled it over to the Larcomar Mall, an extensive, three-level pedestrian shopping area a few blocks from the casino with many restaurants, shops, arcades, a bowling alley, and more. I think there’s a big movie theater down in there somewhere, too. Not unlike what you’d encounter in some American big cities, made more familiar by the presence of Chili’s, Starbucks, and even a KFC (no shinola). We wandered around a bit before settling on Vista Al Mar, a restaurant that offered a large menu of options from which we all found dishes to our liking. I had a plate full of yummy seafood paella, greatly enjoying the food, the conversation, and the oceanside view.

When it came time to pay the bill, a couple of us had Peruvian sol, while others have continued to stick with U.S. dollars (which are accepted most everywhere, it seems). We had the waiter tell us what we would owe in both currencies, and it was clear the restaurant’s not-necessarily-on-the-up-and-up exchange rate meant paying with the American moneys would mean a much larger expense. So the guys with sol paid, and the ones without paid them.

Walked around a little afterwards, and some of our conversation revolved around what was easily the hand of the day on Friday, a huge pot won by Jose “Nacho” Barbero that propelled him into the chip lead to start today’s final table.

The hand was played up on the feature table, located on a stage at the far end of the poker room. A little difficult to follow stack sizes up there, given the access, but we’d eventually learn Barbero had 713,000 to start the hand, while his opponent, the American Chris Conrad, had something like a million or more. There were 11 players left, and the blinds were 12,000/24,000 with a 3,000 ante.

Barbero and Conrad had been involved in a lot of back-and-forthing up to this point, and so there was some history when Barbero opened with a raise, then Conrad three-bet him. “Nacho” shoved all in, and Conrad made the call with his . Barbero then showed his hand -- !

“Nacho” walked around a bit as we waited for the community cards to come. All eyes were on him as people expressed incredulity to one another about his hand. Barbero continued to make a slow circle, collar popped, hands in jeans pockets, and a mischievous-looking grin on his face conveying how he’d been caught doing something that perhaps he shouldn’t have.

But it all worked out -- in most dramatic fashion. Down to the river where only an eight or four would save him, the fell, and Barbero was the chip leader. And the crowd went loco.

That’s been another fun part of LAPT Lima, the highly festive atmosphere created by the fans cheering on the action. Probably something like 120 or more there yesterday, and I expect we’ll see a similar crowd today. There is one Peruvian left in the final eight -- Erick Cabrera -- who was getting a lot of support on Friday. Six other countries are represented as well, including one American, the young Ben Barrows who began Day 2 with less than the starting stack.

As you follow the WSOP coverage over on PokerNews, you can check over at the PokerStars blog to see how it all plays out. Barbero won the last LAPT event at Punta del Este, besting a field of 307 to do so. There were 384 for LAPT Lima, so to make another final table is something in itself.

Should be fun today. We’ll see how things go after that. Might get a chance to explore Lima a little more on Sunday. Then it will be time to leave this home away from home away from home.