What should one do when an unexpected opportunity knocks? The answer for me was to seize it --- even though it left me in a precarious situation. Due to an odd commingling of circumstances, I stayed in Las Vegas for an extra eight days, pulling together a few back stories for John and Damon at pokernews.com. One thing pokernews.com had going for them throughout the tourney was the best chip-count information that the fans could see and access, displayed on a giant-screen plasma monitor suspended at the top of the pokernews.com booth. Card Player may have had exclusivity for real-time chip-count reporting, but they did squat with it, not offering it to the players or fans in any visible manner, so a few minutes after the fact the information popped up elsewhere at other spots.
I was given relatively free reign to chip in content as I found it --- and there's a truism of the WSOP: there are stories everywhere early on, and all you need to watch out for is not repeating someone else's efforts. When Day Three arrives, and growing worse thereafter, the media net is drawn so tight that new angles are a precious commodity. Not only do ESPN and Card Player have the inside-the-rails stuff sealed up, but the other big sites are also guarding their own, such as the Stars and Party crews, who are mostly nice folks but who need to track their herds. No hu-hu; it's just that in the jet wash, the tag-end scraps grow mighty thin, a collection of well-gnawed bones with not much worth the time to explore and type. So how's that for metaphors mashed and merged?
As it was, John Caldwell ran fifteen of my pieces in the eight days I was on the floor, turning down perhaps three others. My favorites are the Luske piece and the two I wrote on the first "off day," one of which has that in the title, the other the "Feel Good Stories" item nearby. I also made a point of making friends with a few of the tournament directors as I worked the floor, and that'll let me uncover more good items the next time I have the chance to cover the event. This time was a learning experience, but 15 pieces published isn't bad output for a first-timer under these conditions, and that doesn't count the normal week's load over at the Kick Ass blog and that major piece --- nearly 6,000 words --- that I've sent off to Mickey Wilson at Pokermagazine.com, although she might run it over at pokertv.com if she accepts it. (Maybe she'll have to serialize it.) In essence, I did my job, even if I did sneak in a little poker and other stuff on the side. More tales to come, of course, as promised.
Here are some links to pieces of mine that you can see on the pokernews.com site:
Away from the Spotlights, the WSOP Marches On
WSOP Updates - Day Four a Wild Ride for Team PokerNews' Per Erik Loeff
WSOP Updates - Miracle Run Over for Diamond, Chiu Plays Big-Stack Poker
WSOP Miracle - From 1,100 to 97,000 – The Story of Day 3 – Jonathan Diamond (w/ John Caldwell, who wrote the piece's published lead-in)
An Exit With Class: Ferguson to the Rail at the Main Event
WSOP Bubble Boys to Enjoy Chance at 2007 Seat With Milwaukee's Best Light (press-release pap, no biggee)
WSOP Updates: A Day of Rest
The Day Off: Feel Good Stories Another Side of the WSOP Experience
For Kathy Liebert, a Tough Second Day's Task
WSOP Updates - Phil Ivey Survives, Annie Duke Grinds Forward
Team PokerNews' Per Erik Loeff Knocks Out Scotty Nguyen, Builds Sizable Stack
WSOP Updates – Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson Doubles Through at Start of Day Two
For WSOP Vendors, it's the Same ol' Story - Location, Location, Location
WSOP Updates – The Tale of a Mismarked Chip
WSOP Updates - The Flying Dutchman and the Splendid Start: Marcel Luske
Older, wiser... and not a bit richer. I came, I saw, I wrote and I survived. A good two weeks at that.
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