I’m back in Vegas for the biggest day on the tounament poker calendar.  Time to play the Main Event.

This will be my fourth time in “the big one,” and many of my wide-eyed observations from my 2005 debut remain the same three years later.  My flight out here was once again filled with hopeful rounders.  Much of the airport chit-chat was poker related, and in an interesting twist, no fewer than three New Yorkers on my flight  remarked that I looked familiar to them.  I’m not sure if this is good or bad.  I didn’t recognize any of them.

Over at the Rio, the mob scene that is the WSOP prelims has grown into the rammed-to-the-gills freakshow otherwise known as the Main Event.  So in addition to the standard throng of degenerates, now thoughtfully added are a huge gambling trade show, long queues for autographs from the most famous of the degenerates, various celebrities holding court, and the general commotion of many thousand people hoping to either become or at least witness the coronation of the latest luckbox of the year.

I’m being a tad disparaging, but I truthfully love the Main Event.  I love it because it’s the best value of the year.  I love it because I’ve had a lot of success in this tournament in years past.  I love it because 2005’s version of this tournament made me believe.  And I love it because I feel poised to do something good again.

Here we go!