I hope the cards are not in the air.
They should be flying low, under the radar so to speak, so nobody else can see the hole cards.
When I was bit by poker the bug felt like a dragon.
I read everything I could about the game. I thought about the game the rest of the time I was awake and I dreamed about playing the World Championship of Poker.
I wanted to hear the magic words “Shuffle up and deal!”
No One to Blame But Myself
Around 2003-2004 many people – both players and industry people - believed the WPT final would surpass the Main Event as the premier event.
I think it'd be hard to find one of those persons admitting that today.
I knew they were wrong because you can't compete with history.
I missed my chance to compete in 1997 because I was food poisoned and bed-bound and delirious for many hours.
I sort of lost a whole round of day and night and didn't realize it was the day it should begin when I finally could get out of bed.
I didn't get to try a satellite and I didn't get to hear the magic words “shuffle up and deal."
A pepperoni pizza from a place on the wrong side of 7-11 on Fremont Street was the cause and I guess I have no one to blame but myself.
The next year the pizza parlor was no more.
I Don't Remember Who Spoke the Words
The next year I was ready. I had paid $10,000 and showed up 45 minutes before the starting time at noon.
Lying around in my hotel room was not an option when the buzz was flowing in the veins.
Breathing the atmosphere and feeling for the desperados trying to hustle a buy in was great fun.
But if I knew that the event always started a couple of hours late I probably would have stayed in my room a little longer.
Then, finally, it was time. I got goosebumps when I heard the magic words I had read about, dreamed about and longed for.
I don't remember who spoke the words. Many times I have thought that I should write a daily journal. You probably have as well.
If I had followed my good advice I could have told you about the different announcers through the years.
I had to ask my best friend Google, but got no help, so I can't tell you who has gotten the honor the different years.
I know Doyle Brunson, Michael Buffer and Becky Binion have said the words, but that's about it.
They Will Hardly Even Breathe
Most of the magic is gone for me with 3-4 starting days, but it's still kind of a big deal. Starting Day 1A is the day that counts in my book.
The reigning champion Swede Martin Jacobson was given the honor yesterday but he was sick and Donnacha O'Dea had to stand in.
I knocked Don out of the Main Event in 2000 by the way. I don't think he has forgiven me yet. That's how much the Main Event means to real poker players.
The atmosphere is so full of energy the first hour of play that you can feel it by the dense air.
The “shuffle up and deal” is cool but the serenity afterwards is even cooler.
Take a thousand poker players or so - who have been dreaming of this moment for a year, or in many cases many years – and put them in the same room. Deal them the first hand.
They will not speak. They will hardly even breathe. The calmness and quietness is unparalleled in the poker world.
The Sound of No Sounds
If you live by a motorway there will be a constant buzz that you will forget over time.
If you spend enough time in a casino you will not register the sounds of the slots so apparent to newcomers.
And if you play poker you don't hear the riffles.
Poker players constantly riffle their chips. Every poker room in the world has that familiar sound of chips against chips.
It can get rather loud, as in the Amazon Room when a thousand players are in action at the same time.
Except for the first 20 minutes of the WSOP Main Event. It is dead quiet. The players are worshiping the sacred moment.
There is no better way to describe the magnitude of the greatest show on earth than the sound of no sounds.
About Ken Lennaárd:
Sweden's most controversial poker blogger Ken Lennaárd has been around the professional poker circuit for almost 20 years. Among his numerous accomplishments are Swedish Championships both live and online, three WSOP final tables and over $1.5m in live earnings. He's now bringing his singular poker voice to the English world via PokerListings.com. Look for new posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Note: Opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not represent the views of PokerListings.com.
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