Parking at the Rio is always tight during big events, and I think the Colossus II counts as a big event. But I have my tricks. No, the KISSed-out VW Bug isn’t one of them, but it is one of the first things you’ll see if you park in the Masquerade garage at the Rio. Instead of a long trudge in 115° F. heat across a hot parking lot, it’s a quick pop up to the 4th floor pedestrian bridge, then a long trudge through the air-conditioned halls of the Rio. Things have changed here since the last time I came in this way, with the addition of the KISS Monster Mini Golf feature. I’d hoped there was a way I could win the car for my wife, which is the only reason I got this close, but no luck.
Lots of big names in the Colossus Day 1F. Like with the $150K at the Venetian the other night, it’s sort of odd to spot big poker names playing in a tournament where the buyin is more or less affordable to the average Joe (neglected to mention that I saw Max Pescatori watching soccer with a couple of buddies at the Venetian the other night).
Up at the top of the food chain was 2013 Main Event champ Ryan Riess. I felt a bit proud of myself for being the first person to spot him in the field (at least I think I was), considering how many more faces the more experienced (and let’s face it, everyone’s more experienced than I am at the moment) live reporters are. Our flight (the last of six) had Mike Matusow, Jack Salter, PokerNews Podcast‘s Rich T. Ryan, Loni Harwood, David Pham, and a slew of others.
The day started out slow for me, though. I walked through my assignment area looking for faces I recognized and bricked out, though I felt a bit better when a veteran went though the same group of forty or so tables with me and found only one person he felt was worth mentioning at that stage.
Later in the night/morning, I got to write up a post about Rich Ryan, co-host of the PokerNews Podcast. I picked up a great hand without any “name” players in it just after the money bubble, though my original wordplay title ended up changed to something that just sounds funny. I spent half an hour or more—spread out over a longer period—railing Athanasios Polychronopoulous, who was nursing an ever-dwindling handful—nay, fingerful—of chips through the bubble, watching for a bustout, only to have someone else catch it.
I got the assignment of writing the intro for Day 2, and started working off a previous event’s report, got told that wasn’t a good place to start from, then redid it and eventually brought it into some semblance of acceptability. Got a few hours of sleep, though it doesn’t feel like nearly enough, and it’s already getting to be time to think about heading back over to the Rio, after a short turnaround here at the house.
Tomorrow’s a day off, but I’ve snagged a seat in the Mid-States Poker Tour Media Event from Chad Holloway. The prize is a seat in the MSPT/Venetian $2M event this week!