Full Tilt's Global Poker Challenge II

It would probably be easier to list the notables who were not in attendance than the poker professionals who were there. The tournament had roughly 64 players representing the USA and 64 players representing the rest of the world. It was relatively painless to deal and there were some funny moments. Who knew that Kenna James had a voice of gold? While I was dealing at his table, the cameras were focused on my table and Kenna took off with singing the National Anthem. He was seated in the 1s and when he finished his rendition, I quietly apologized to him for not being able to stand up while he was singing. He laughed and said that he had forgotten to take off his cowboy hat. He broke out in song at least one other time, again singing the national anthem. Before the first hand was dealt, Robert Thompson was making some introductions and going over the rules/structure. When he stated that cursing/abusive language would not be tolerated, I looked at Mike Matasow and said "Mike, did you catch that part?" I don't think he appreciated it, but I made myself giggle.
The structure was a shootout. I think that there were 17 tables with most of them being 8 handed, some being 7 handed. The winner of each table advanced to round two with them then playing down to the final table. During the initial round, the teams scored points when someone was knocked out. If the player taking a bow and hitting stage left was from the other team, your team scored 1 point. During round 2 each knockout was worth 2 points.
I guess you'll have to watch it on TV to see who won.

When the shootout portion of event was finished, most of the dealers were released. A bunch of us went to eat dinner at Garduno's at the Palms. After dinner, another dealer-dominated $4-8 limit poker game broke out. By dominated, I don't mean that the dealers were winning every pot, I just mean that more than half the players were also dealers. The game was, as expected, a wild one. Several non-dealing players changed tables. They left our table. Why? Sigh. Some just can't handle the ramming and jamming. Who wouldn't want to be in a game where $12 extra dollars were going into the pot with $4 live and dead $8 before anyone looked at their cards? One non-dealing player stated that he liked the game because dealers knew not to waste their money by trying to chase him down. I looked him in the eye and stated that he needed to pay attention. We were trying to give our money away. We just know him well enough to know that when he bets or raises, he has the nuts or very close to them.

I only have 4 more days of work before I head back East to brave the snow and ice. I look forward to spending the holidays with the family........especially my 4.5 year old nephew.
Whatever holiday you are celebrating this time of year, I wish you the best.