Poker's Three-Ring Circus

Ken Adams Can't Buy A Break At The World Series Of Poker

(CBS)  This report by Ken Adams is part of a series for CBSNews.com about his run at the 2006 World Series of Poker.

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When I walked into the tournament area of the Rio Hotel on Sunday evening, the room was swarming with more than a thousand poker players.

In one section, 1,128 women were competing in the $1,000 Ladies Championship event, which had begun at noon and would continue for three days. In another area, the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em (Rebuy) event was in its second day, as the survivors among the 752 players who had begun the event the previous day battled for one of the nine seats at the final table. And at the back of the room was the "TV table," on a raised dais with television cameras and boom mikes hovering around and above the table. ESPN crew members buzzed about, checking the lighting and sound.

Trying to screen out those distractions were the nine finalists in the $2,500 No Limit Hold'em event — the only survivors from the starting field of 1,290 players who had begun two days earlier. They were battling for $1.84 million in prize money and the coveted gold bracelet that can only be obtained by winning a World Series event. It was truly a three-ring circus.

That scene would continue every single day, as a giant field of competitors competed in Day One of one event, while Day Two of another event continued with those who had survived the first day's competition, and the final table of a third event played out under the klieg lights on the ESPN sound stage.

In addition, for those of us who were not involved in any of those three events, there were cash games of all sizes and types, and dozens of single table satellites in which 10 people play a mini-tournament — with the winner getting anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 depending on the amount of the buy-in.

Ignoring the fact that it was already midnight for me (Eastern time), I sat down at a $525 satellite table in which the last person standing would win $5,120 (the rest goes to the house to cover expenses). I recognized two of the other players. Both were seasoned tournament veterans and tough opponents.

We each started with 2,000 tournament chips. An hour and half later there were five of us left. I only had 1200. With the blinds costing 300 each time around the table, I needed to double up soon. I picked up the ace of clubs and king of clubs, a strong starting hand. I moved all in, hoping to at least steal the blinds and add 25 percent to my stack, or beat someone and double my stack. The lone remaining pro called me with 10-10. He was a slight favorite before the flop. No ace or king came, and I was eliminated.

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I felt so tired when I went back to my hotel at 1 a.m. (4 a.m. my time) that I was concerned I might oversleep and show up late for the next day’s tournament which started at noon. After setting the clock radio for 9, I called the front desk and arranged a wake-up call, just to be safe.

It turned out to be unnecessary. I woke up at 6 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up, unpacked my luggage, showered, had breakfast, and went bowling. Yes, you heard me right — bowling.

The hotel I stayed at used to be a stop on the PBA Tour circuit. They have 70 lanes on the second floor, right above the casino. I rediscovered bowling this year when I learned that my law firm competes against other law firms in a local league. I joined the team in February and fell back in love with the sport of my youth.

Since I still had the bowling ball and shoes my parents gave me when I captained the bowling team in junior high, I thought I was all set. Not surprisingly, the first time I put them on the shoes didn’t fit any more, and when I went into the pro shop at the bowling alley to get new shoes, the pro saw my 50-year-old Manhattanite rubber bowling ball and said to his assistant "Hey Al, come over here and get a look at this. When's the last time you saw one of these?" They were excited to see such a relic. I was annoyed and a bit embarrassed.

Then they explained that the technology has advanced a bit in 50 years, and to use my old ball would be like playing with a 1950's wood tennis racquet against players using powerful lightweight titanium racquets. In short I'd be giving up a huge competitive edge. So of course I had to buy a new ball, too. He was right. Five months later, my average is higher than it was at the peak of my high school career.

Knowing that my hotel had bowling alleys, I decided to bring my ball to Las Vegas and bowl instead of going on the treadmill for exercise in the mornings.