House of Cards: Day 14 - July 28, 2006

The Main Event Begins. The halls of the Rio were actually considerably uncomfortable. I'm a bit claustrophobic so I didnt venture out of the media room much which was also so full that many of the writers who've been here from the beginning had pitched camp in the outside hall way. I wish I had a picture fo that. We left mid afternoon to go home and change for the series of events throughout the rest of the night.

The Poker Dome opens downtown! I've been a big fan of the Poker Dome since I heard about it, and their vision has finally come true. Tonight will be the first taping in the official Poker Dome down at Neonopolis at the corner of Las Vegas Blvd and Fremont Street. We got a sneak preview and it is a world of difference from the one at the Tropicana. John played in the media tourney and can say that he is, and will always be, the first ever to bust out of the Poker Dome. But he did boldly raise with Jack Six and steal a pot.

Poker Players Alliance. Then we went to the Poker Players Alliance event. Membership costs $20, but I put out $100. That's a lot for me, but I really believe in their cause and they've got an uphill fight. Howard Lederer is really giving it his all. If you haven't heard, online poker is facing prohibition. The House has already passed a bill and the Senate is next. The PPA is making trips to Washington to educate the government about online poker and to encourage them to license and tax it instead of ban it outright and force the banks and ISPs to censor our accounts. Please visit their website and join.

Word Series of Poker Event. Rafe Furst and his girlfriend Laura invited us to what we thought was an exclusive dinner for bracelet winners. But it turned out to be a big party at the Voodoo Lounge in honor of the World Series. There was a ceremony with Tournament of Champions winner Mike Sexton where he formally donated $500,000 to five different charities including the Special Olympics, Disabled Vets, Spinal Cord Research, Barry Greenstein's children's charity, and the Wounded Warriors that Kenna James and the Screaming Eagles is a part of. I'm sorry if I didn't get the names of those charities exactly right.

That was it. After spending some time with Rafe and Laura, and then Change100, we came home, had a swim, and went to bed. We actually got woken up at 6:00 a.m. to three guys swimming outside, but it was the housemate I liked so I tried my best to go back to sleep between bouts of trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Current: Las Vegas, NV
Next: The Rio for 1b of the Main Event.