Hey everyone. I’ve safely touched down in Vegas.

Like last year, half the guys on my flight were reading one of the many recently published poker books. The flight was otherwise uneventful save for the little Dominican boy in front of me who was convinced we were crashing when we were actually just routinely landing at McCarran. He went from apoplectic to ecstatic in the span of three seconds.

Pokerstars is putting me up at the Palms, which has to be the cheesiest property in Vegas. By day, it seems to attract old slot-addicted grandmas. By night, it attracts fat, eager, corn-fed 21-year old midwesterners who used to watch whichever season of the Real World that was filmed here. Sigh. Hey, nine free nights is a good deal.

When I got to the hotel, my room wasn’t ready yet. But just as I began to ponder how I might be able to kill off an hour or two, Mikey walked by. And by Mikey, of course, I mean the chimpanzee that Pokershare.com is allegedly going to enter in the WSOP Main Event. Yes. That Mikey.

I had the honor of attending Mikey’s official press conference, which was co-hosted by Marcel Luske. I’ve now witnessed Mikey’s card playing up close, and I’m quite certain that Harrah’s will not allow the little hairball to participate. He’s prone to frequent bursts of motion that send cards and chips flying. In humans, they call Mikey’s condition “epilepsy.” In baby chimps, I guess it’s pretty normal. Anyway, I took a few shots with my cameraphone, including this beauty. Mikey appears to be contemplating a raise, but it was probably a generic pre-fart pause.

After witenssing Mikey’s genius, I learned that my room was ready, so I took a nap. But not before picking up my Pokerstars goodie bag. This year they’ve given me a duffel bag and four different jerseys (hockey, soccer, baseball, something else). The sports jersey as a fashion statement has gone from funky to ghetto to just plain trashy in the span of about 12 years. But I’ll save that discussion for my other blog: Runway Talk @SuggyBear.blogspot.com.

Tonight, I plan on going out for a few drinks with Matt. The next poker I play will likely be Saturday morning, for all the marbles. That’s all for now.