No matter how you get there, there is more than one way to enjoy the World Series of Poker. [Image: PokerGO.com]

I just wanted to get to Vegas

It’s 3am and I am in the back of beyond’s in Portugal, heading to Las Vegas. The most efficient way to get the aforementioned back of beyond’s from Dublin is to fly to Lisbon, get a Bolt to Setubal, and then a ferry to Troia. I have a history of getting violently ill on any kind of boat however, so I did the whole route from Lisbon to Tróia on land (a much, much longer drive).

any Bolt driver in his sane mind was going to cancel

Wanting to give myself plenty of time to make my flight, and allowing for the fact that I might not be able to get a cab right away, I set my alarm for 3am, ordered a Bolt, and went back to sleep with a new alarm set for the ETA of the cab. I woke up again to a “Driver Cancelled” message, a message I received over and over again for the next two hours, before I got the message that any Bolt driver in his sane mind was going to cancel when he realized he was going to have to drive all the way round.

At this stage, I went down to reception to see if they could get me a cab, a request that greatly alarmed the night man. He told me the best he could do was get me a cab from Setubal. Getting to Setubal involved catching the first ferry an hour later, so I found myself sitting on the pier for an hour with just my bags, an Englishman telling bad beats, and a lot of bloodthirsty mosquitoes. My fears of getting sick on the boat were allayed by the fact it was a 15-minute catamaran ride across still water, with good company in the form of IPT reg Dan Blake and his son.

Celebrating the success of others

I get to the airport in plenty of time, or so I thought. When I went to check in, I was asked if I had an ETA (the Canadian equivalent of an ESTA). I didn’t know I needed one to pass through Toronto en route to Vegas, a mistaken belief. I frantically got on the website to apply for one, paid the express fee, but if I took the full three hours it guaranteed, that would be far too long. I got a WhatsApp number for the relevant office and quickly got talking to a Canadian rep called Paul, who sorted me out in about five minutes. Quality service!

two of my students made final tables on the same day

The rest of the journey was smooth sailing, or rather flying, and I got into Vegas and checked into my room in Tuscany Suites before midnight. My first week here was unsuccessful at the table as I just ran as bad as I ever have. I’ll spare you the bad beats, but on the plus side, it was a good week on other fronts. Two of my students made final tables on the same day, and one of them hired me for the day as his endgame ICM coach. I started working with Victor Paredes earlier this year on some specific areas and it seems to be paying dividends as he’s having the best year of his career. I also got to meet his lovely girlfriend for the first time on the rail. Victor navigated his stack flawlessly before getting very unlucky to bust in 7th.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s brightest prospect Tom “Boy Wonder” Murphy was closing in on a final table on his sixth day at the series. I pointed out to him that it took me six years to make my first. He was in the hunt for a bracelet down the stretch with a big stack, but his run good evaporated just when he needed it most and he ended up busting in 8th for a new career high live score of $39,593. Tom is part of a new golden generation of emerging talents in Ireland that also includes Simon Wilson, Stephen Kehoe, Johnny McCullagh, Conor Bergin, Conor O’Rourke, and Joe Carey.

Enjoying poker from the sidelines

It was perfect timing for me as I was planning to take the day off. I’d been hired by PokerGO to do commentary the following day on the Seniors High Roller final table alongside the legend that is Lon McEachern, so I couldn’t commit to playing anything that would cause me to miss that if I made a day 2.

Lon is always a blast to commentate alongside, and this particular final table was a particularly fun one, as Mark “Cookie Monster” Checkwicz blasted his way through his opponents to claim his maiden bracelet. He not only won the first ever Seniors High Roller bracelet, but also the hearts of everyone watching with his good-natured convivial wit and joie de vivre. I was treated to breakfast and more of the same when we met in Cafe Bottega a couple of days later, and got a bunch of new stories and anecdotes, but I’ll save those for my next piece.