First of all, I'm not a fanboy when it comes to Poker Pros. I don't spot them in the hall, and go Owww and Ahhh. But when Ivey & Hellmuth are deep at Final Tables for bracelets at two different events at the same time, it's pretty fucking huge.
When I finished up at the Imperial Palace $3/$6 Mix game (more on that game later), I headed to the Rio to see history happen. Not just to see each of them win their bracelet, but see the circus that this is causing.
I walked into the Pavilion Room at 11:45pm. On the stage where they do the afternoon Bracelet Ceremony is the Final Table of the $2500 Razz tourney. Phil Hellmuth is in the 5-seat across the Dealer, and his only opponent is in the 10-seat. Hellmuth has a big chip lead, and has dominated this Final Table all day.
The crowd around the stage is around 100 watchers, and is slowly growing. Pros I see watching include Eli Elezra, Layne Flack, Gavin Smith, and Todd Brunson. Hellmuth just got up from the table to say hi to some of them. There are some seats on the stage, but I cant see who is in them.
Midnight - I head over to the Amazon Room to watch the $10k Pot Limit Hold'em Final Table, which is being held on the Main Final Table they use for TV. It's 3-handed, with Ivey in the 3-seat, Andy Frankenberger in the 8-seat, and Ali Eslami in the 1-seat. I'm not sure of chip totals, but Ivey was in the lead when I last checked Poker News.
The crowd for this one is also growing. The seats around the table are about 3/4 full. Lighting is rather dim in this area, and the only recognizable face in the crowd is Dwight Pilgrim.
Frankenberger just doubled up through Ali Eslami, and Ali finished in 3rd a few hands later.
12:20 - The Razz event is on break, and the standing crowd around the Amazon Room is swelling. Ivey seems to have a decent chip lead, but the TVs for us to watch are rather small.
12:30 - There was an All-In and Call on a K-high Flop. However, the both had KQ, and chopped it. Ivey's match is pretty close, and the level just went up. I don't see the Humphrys around, so I'll head back to the Razz.
12:40 - A much smaller crowd in the Pavilion Room now for Hellmuth's Razz tourney. There was only about 20 people hanging around the stage when I walked in, but the crowd is slowly growing. I guess Razz just ain't that popular.
I would love to stay here to bring you the action, but I'm exhausted. I left home early this morning, and I do have a $240 HORSE tourney tomorrow.
I have to admit that I thought the Rio would be rocking a lot more over these events. Maybe the reason is that it's well past midnight, or maybe it's because the two tournaments are spread so far apart in the conventions area. If the two tables were in the same room, then this would be pretty damn cool.
Good luck, Phil(s).
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