It is now 9.30pm on the first day of the PartyPoker.com Million V and we’re all aboard! Ft Lauderdale has disappeared and all we can see is dark sea. The card rooms of the ms Westerdam are buzzing and the action is certainly hotting up!
The ms Westerdam in Port Lauderdale, FL.
I was checking in players today and amongst those on-board are four from the final table of last year’s tournament. Defending champ Michael Gracz rocked up late afternoon looking relaxed and confident while I checked in Paul Dardon, who was last to be seen checking out tonight’s satellites for the main events. In one of the cardrooms on the second floor there are currently $1000 +$80 single table qualifiers for tomorrow’s main event going on and $500 +$40 two table qualifiers that are proving very popular.
Last night there was a party at the Embassy Suites in Ft Lauderdale, where PartyPoker.com host Mike Sexton, made a welcoming speech. The town was rocking with hundreds of PartyPoker.com players. I spoke to guys from Norway, Australia, Canada, UK, France, Germany and even China. We saw them all again today, looking relaxed but we could detect a few had hangovers from the free PartyPoker.com champagne dished out!
Mr Sexton was back on speaking duties a few hours after setting sail but this time he had a surprise for two very special guests. Gary Suffir and Jackie Johnson got married in Vegas last week after meeting on PartyPoker.com in 2004. He introduced the happy honeymooning couple to the crowds of players and then surprised them by revealing that we had sneaked Jackie’s parents on-board earlier! They didn’t have a clue and tears flowed to cheers from their fellow players. Parents don’t normally go on honeymoons but this is no ordinary honeymoon!
We had another surprise for Gary and Jackie. Gary is mainly an Omaha player but has been trying to qualify for the main event for months. Tonight we gave him a PartyPoker.com wedding present and bought him into a satellite. Gary is still playing though looked a bit scared when he saw Paul Dardon hanging out around his table. Luckily, Gary doesn’t have to worry about facing him. He just has to worry about the flop on the first night of his honeymoon!
We’ll let you know how he gets on and will keep you posted. We’re heading for Jamaica though there isn’t much sleep going on around here. The casino and cardrooms opened at 7pm and they will still be full at 7am. I’ve heard there’s a good bar to check out on the top floor called the Crow’s Nest so time is pressing. If I have time I’ll fit in a cash game aswell. Until then…
