Apr
19
by Chad Holloway
Jose Conseco may or may not get into a brawl at the 2010 WSOP.
I’m pretty excited. It looks like I will be at this year’s World Series of Poker for its entirety. Although I wish I was playing tournaments that entire time, I’m afraid I’ve been relegated to reporting on the tournaments only. That’s because I’ll be working for Poker News over the summer as a field reporter and blogger. This means I’ll be keeping track of poker’s biggest names, chips counts, and the action throughout the series. I’m really looking forward to being a part of the WSOP and being there during the Player’s Championship, the Tournament of Champions, and of course the Main Event.
Since my schedule won’t allow me to play in any events (maybe one or two if I’m lucky), I’m planning on focusing on the cash game action. When I was out there last year, the $2-$5 No Limit Hold’em tables were action packed and provided a great opportunity to pad the bankroll. One night last year, I was playing after a 13 hour shift and the table decided to play the 2-7 game, meaning if any player won with a 2-7 then each player at the table would pay him or her $20. The action was really heating up when a new player sat down immediately to my left. I told him about our game and asked if he was in. He gave an enthusiastic “of course,” and we had a good time. It wasn’t until about two hours later that I realized this guy sitting next to me was Jose Conseco.
I was surprised at how social and friendly he was. That’s when an interesting situation came up. After we had been playing a few hours, a beverage server brought Canseco an alcoholic drink saying it was from someone at a nearby table. Canseco said, “Thanks but no thank, I don’t drink.” The waitress promptly removed the drink and went on her way. Well this must not have sat too well with the people at the other table who had order the drink. How do I know this? Well, Canseco’s girlfriend (who was quite good-looking) happened to be playing at the other table and informed Canseco when they start badmouthing him behind his back. Too make a long story short, Canseco started to lose his temper and began arguing with the guys at the other table. Pretty soon the situation escalated and swears and “Let’s take this outside” were being shouted by Conseco. The other players tauntingly urged him on and it became a disruptive shouting match. Keep in mind, this was approximately three in the morning, so there weren’t a lot of people in the Amazon Room. As the scene was unfolding, I nonchalantly reached into my bag and got my camera ready. Hell, if a brawl was going to go down at the WSOP between Jose Canseco and some drunken poker players, you’d better believe I was going to get that on camera. Fortunately, of unfortunately, security showed up and managed to escort Conseco out of the room.
That was just one of my many memories of the WSOP and I can’t wait to add to them this year. If you make a trip to Vegas this summer and attend the WSOP, maybe I’ll see you at the Rio. Just look for the Poker News guy who is sporting some UnabomberPoker.net gear. With a little luck, I might be reporting on you.