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Viva Las Vegas 2015 - that's a wrap.
8pm Las Vegas, Friday 10th July.
Well that's it for 2015, we are done & dusted.
Our last player, Daren, exited the Main Event today, so we are finished, but what a journey it's been, so, with a little time on my hands now, & the UK all safely tucked up in bed, a few thoughts & recollections.
Comments
35 Side Event packages, & 5 Main Event packages won on Sky Poker - who'd have thought?
As far as I am aware, no other online room, none in the world, awarded so many packages, & good packages they were, too, with players billeted in the magnificent Palazzo.
Many of the packages - I've no idea how many, but perhaps a third of them? - were awarded in Freerolls, & for those who took the satellite route, the entry level was just a couple of quid.
Sky Poker seem to attract negativity whatever they do, I guess that's part of the British mentality. In the USA, they celebrate success, in the UK, not so much.
To my mind, they've done a cracking job with Viva Las Vegas, & deserve credit for that.
Viva Las Vegas began, I think, in 2008 or 2009, & I'm honoured to have been part of their Team in Vegas every time they have attended the WSOP.
As you know, of course, they never ran Viva Las Vegas the last year or two, & Team Sarcy said we would never do so again.
It's unbelievably complex these days, with Regulation being what it is, & that was why it could not happen every year.
Not only are there Online Gaming Regulations to follow to the letter, but there are also guidelines. Guidelines are a pain the whatsit, because the onus is on the Business to interpret them as they see fit. SB&G are obsessively squeaky clean, & it's easier to say no than yes, "just in case".
For starters, "promoting overseas gaming" is an immensely awkward thing to interpret correctly. That explains the very careful wording on the T & C's & Satellites. Words have to be weaved with great care. Trying to work with WSOP is a tough gig, too.
Then there are the anti money laundering regulations. SB&G run an extremely tight ship as to how money is handled, they have to, their whole Business a VERY big Business indeed these days. All the SB&G businesses, be it Poker, Bingo, Bet, Vegas, Casino or whatever, are handcuffed by complex legislation as to handling money.
So now you have to imagine the Head of Poker, or Marketing, wandering into the Accountants Office one morning with a Petty Cash Voucher for about $100,000, "err, can you send $100k across to a Casino in Las Vegas please?". This ain't going to get through too easily.
Anyway, a legit way round all these problems took some finding. They so nearly achieved it for the WSOP in 2014, but just ran out of time, but Punta Cana soon followed, that was a sort of test, & it worked. Maybe not ideal in every way, no, but it was the only deal in town. And all the while, people were making negative noises about the lack of Viva Las Vegas, & saying it would never return. It's MUCH more difficult than many realise, & it's a shame people were so negative.
So not only did they do it, they did it well. Hats off to Sky Poker, imo.
The players?
They were great, every one of them. Filled me with pride to see all our players wearing their Sky Poker Hoodies at the Tables.
There are always a few "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" stories, & yes, we had a few of them. Those tales will remain untold.
There was a Welcome Party, a 4th July Party, & one or two meals. For me, personally, these were a challenge. I have not touched alcohol in 47 years, & being the only sober person in a room of well-oiled individuals requires social skills I don't possess. I don't have ANY issues with people drinking, or getting drunk, I just find it an extremely uncomfortable social situation, & I'm not very good at it. All the players seemed to understand that, & were very understanding. Thanks, lads.
I don't do "group" meals in Vegas, either. I must have declined invites, or found feeble excuses, 20 times this trip, in fact I've almost never had group dinners in Vegas, perhaps 5 times tops in 10 years. Not my scene at all. I did take Sam, Neil & Dan for breakfast up on Mt Charlston the day after they arrived as a sort of bonding exercise, & to get us all off on the right foot though. It was excellent.
I'm due to have dinner with Neil, Anne, & Nolna Dalla tomorrow, as a "goodbye Vegas 2015". I'm working on my excuse as we speak.
Dan & Sam flew home this afternoon, as scheduled.
We agreed between us that one of us would remain here as long as we had players or a player still in the Main Event.
So as Sam & Dan flew out of McCarron this afternoon, whilst Neil & I stayed behind to look after Daren. He promptly bust. Sam will give me us so much grief. I'll blame Mr Ambo.
Neil & Anne fly home tomorrow (Saturday) evening.
I fly home on Sunday (arrive Gatters Monday morning after an all-night flight). I may try & move my flight forward 24 hours, but that's unlikely. An extra 24 hours at home wold be handy, as I'm due to do the Show on Tuesday.
Anyway, that's Viva Las Vegas 2015.
I hope most of you enjoyed following it, & those who won packages had a ball.
Will there be a VLV in 2016? I've no idea, the Business rarely discuss stuff like that with me these days. I would not bet against it though, & I reckon if they can, they will.
We shall see.
Till the next time, then, Viva Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, in Vegas, the Main Event bubble approaches. This is usually a huge moment, though it's been a bit diluted this year, with so many (1,000) receiving $15,000.
All the play now is in Amazon & Brasilia, plus a few Tables in Miranda, which is actually the Poker Kitchen.
The Poker Kitchen closes for good (for 2015) at midnight tonight.
Pavilion closed last night, I was playing cash, Big O, & they threw us all out at 2am.
At 9am this morning, all the poker tables chairs & paraphernalia were being removed & dismantled.
Why the haste to get rid of the poker tables?
Pool. The USA Pool Championship starts here next week. Can you imagine, hundreds of pool tables in The Rio?
"vast majority", yes.
It quite surprised me - & I've been round the block a few times more than most - that even the Mayhem Freerolls attracted some grumbles, but it only proves that it's not possible to please everyone. We live in toasty times, I guess, when people complain about freerolls where you can win a Vegas package. How extraordinary.
Roll on next year please.
for a great read and a peek behind the scenes at metropolis Sky.
the coverage from Vegas was GREEEEEEEEEEEEEAT
The Videos were GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAT. it really felt like we were there
Tikay, Neil Sam and Dan were GREEEEEEEEAT
in fact whole thing was GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAT
Thank you everyone and ignore the moaners.
Roll on VLV next year
Nannypat66
Had dinner, or "brunch" I think it's called, with Neil & Anne this afternoon.
We dined at The Wynn's Country Club, which overlooks the 18th hole on the Wynn Golf Course. Most pleasant.
Saw a heron at close quarters, which was grey, & surmised it was a grey heron. I mean, it seems logical, yes?
Anyway, looked it up when I got back, & there are no Grey Herons in the USA, so a further piece of detective work was needed, & it turned out to be a Great Blue Heron.
Neil & Anne flew home this evening on the 9pm (?) BA flight to Heathrow, so there's just me here now, & I fly home tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, arriving Gatters on Monday morning.
Am doing the Show on Tuesday, though I have THE most dreadful chest cold, which will need to improve if I'm to do the Show. I've not missed a single Show due to illness or anything else since they began, back in February 2007, so I'm really hoping it improves rapidly.
Stu Rutter busted earlier this afternoon, them my very special friend, Alex Goulder got busted by Brian Hastings, the latter not being someone I have much regard for thanks to his recent antics.
Fantastic updates and coverage from the team, much appreciated by us all I'm sure.
Really hope it runs next year, will actually try and qualify this time!
Excellent thread from yourself and Mr Channing.
Did you manage to ask Mr Ivey, if he can play the £2.20 @2.20 DEEPSTACK.
All the best.
Rainman397
Although I had a pretty miserable WSOP in terms of my ability to win showdowns, I did have plenty of fun at the tables and met some nice people but what I will particularly remember is having fun with both the qualifiers and the Sky team. I can honestly say that Dan, Sam and Tikay worked flat out the whole time they were there and they probably could do with a real holiday now. I was pretty proud of the content we produced and hopefully it was a fair reflection of what the WSOP is like, it encouraged a few people to try and qualify next year and it got a few people to check out Sky Poker when they may never have even heard of it before.