Jon Bryan

OK, well after 5 nights in France, the omens were looking good. Second in the canoeing (see photo above), three gold medals in the Water Polo, but this run of good fortune was about to end. Travelling down to Toulouse on the train was very warm (38C outside) and the air-conditioning was so efficient that during our 2 hour journey we were given a bottle of water each 3 times. We were early so waited at the front of the queue for 45 minutes before check-in began.

Arriving in London and being picked up by Velma, we were one case short - mine - the one with the personalised shirts and t-shirts for Vegas - and the beard and hair clippers!

I was not best pleased with easyJet, as you can imagine, so the 10 hour flight to Las Vegas with the two Kays was made by me in the same clothing - lovely!

Anyway, we eventually got to Vegas and we're staying at the "Aladdin" http://www.aladdincasino.com/ which is very nice so far.

Went down to the "Rio" which is where the World Series is being played, and got my confirmation of start, seat and table. I start on Monday 31st July at 12noon and I am Table 10 Seat 2. Very exciting getting this, but I have no idea who is on my table or even playing on the same day as me. There will be over 200 tables in play every day.

The Poker Room at the Rio is so vast it is unreal. A final table for another event was in progress and we watched it for a bit. A short stack on the button went all in and was called by the big blind who had quite a lot of chips. The button turned over pocket Kings and was up against 10/9 offsuit, but a 9 on the flop and another on the river sent the unlucky sod with Kings out in 4th with prize money close to $200,000. Card Player covered this, so I could also check it up later http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/live_updates/3226/10235?page=2

I picked up a pack of stuff from Paradise Poker - which is who I qualified with - and I got a rucksack, polo shirt, tee-shirt, zipped sweatshirt, and then both the Kay's got a Ladies t-shirt as they described themselves as groupies. To see the free drinks that we enjoyed with Paradise, go to http://pokerblog.paradisepoker.com/index.php and look for a post on 06/07/27 called WSOP Booth Photos posted by ShooterGirl.

By now it was around 2-3 a.m. UK time so we were all feeing it a bit, but a quick dash to another stall got me another free t-shirt :-D

Some food and a Margharita each (Velma's idea) and then some sleep. I had about 7 hours but then couldn't sleep so was on the hotel internet and chatting to Big Dave, little bruv (with Jordan) and Dan.

Will post more later after the start later today.

Best wishes to all - Jon, Kay and Kay