Incidentally, the clarinet player did not know how many bracelets Phil Hellmuth had. He was dressed in full white and gold marching band regalia, with a silver helmet and a chin strap. I peered over his shoulder to the sheet music attached to his front. “Lady Gaga – Poker Face” it read.
Phil Hellmuth had arrived
And then the clarinet player was off, marching in line with a septuagenarian cymbal player on his left as they travelled back and forth between a London double decker bus and the entrance to the Empire Casino smack dab in the center of Leicester Square.
Eleven Lady Gaga lookalikes stood facing the other way, shimmying their wares and swivelling their hips. Phil Hellmuth had arrived to the World Series of Poker Europe.
Show 16 (September 28) is online now! Click the play button to listen:
[podcast]http://www.thepokershowlive.com/media/mp3/202.mp3[/podcast]
Prefer to download? Right click here and Save As.
Viktor Blom is not that small. He’s tall and lanky, even while seated. The blonde hair cascades down both sides of his face and it’ll be some years before he can shave, if ever. He’s on the stage at a table in the two seat and just about every eye in the room is upon him, because he might be Isildur. He’s the chipleader in the main event of the WSOPE with 83 left, or so they say.
Viktor Blom is being watched
Tall towers of red five thousand chips are stacked awkwardly, haphazardly, unevenly, as Viktor shifts a bit uncomfortably in his chair. No hat, no sunglasses, and you wonder about what he cares. I get the feeling that when he’s playing poker, that’s his fun. He leans over and asks a question to the man sitting three seats to his left, Irish Open Champion James Mitchell, then puts in a reraise from the small blind.
Mitchell quickly passes. He ain’t messing with Isildur. A guy with a camera has sat down in the eight seat. I mean actually taken a seat at the table with a huge damn television camera and pointed it straight at Viktor Blom.
Three guys carrying point and shoots are jostling around behind the dealer. One man with a walkie talkie is standing behind Blom and shouting nonsense into it. Blom just sits there, smiling with a half smirk that bears no malice, idly shuffling seven chips not very well. I guess he better get used to being watched. Apparently, he is already.
Show 16 (September 28) is online now! Click the play button to listen:
[podcast]http://www.thepokershowlive.com/media/mp3/202.mp3[/podcast]
Prefer to download? Right click here and Save As.
