I spent the first two days out of my element. I don’t mind covering the early days of a tournament, but I’m not used to spending my time managing and training other people -- I prefer to do things myself. I wanted to be out on the floor, taking photos, recording hands, and counting chips. I spent far too much time in front of the computer, entering data and providing guidance to the junior reporters.

 

But today I was right where I belonged -- at the final table. (In the photo above, I was reporting from the table on the left.) It was very stressful, as I had to set up working relationships with ESPN’s crew, Harrah’s, and the tournament director, while balancing the expectations of my bosses at PokerNews and training a final table assistant. To make matters worse, I hadn’t been getting much sleep and I had picked up the poker flu that seems to permeate major tournaments -- physically I was feeling horrible. (The poker flu is just a name for what happens when you put 2,000 people into a room and have them all handle the same poker chips for 12 hours -- viruses spread quickly.)

 

 

I don’t think I could have done it without Leanne Gaumont, who was assisting me (and ESPN) with chip counts and other final table duties. It was her first final table, but we had worked together at the WPT World Championship, and I knew I could count on her. I spent some time training her in the early going, but it wasn’t long before she was doing things before I even realized they needed to be done. Now that she’s got one table under her belt, I expect she’ll get even better -- which will allow me to improve my coverage.

 

 

One last thing. Our production coordinator Jennifer Winter picked up my package from Kinko’s this morning, and I finally got my hands on the finished version of “BJ’s Pocket Guide to the 2007 WSOP.” It’s something I started out making for myself, but quickly realized that other people might find it useful too. I had Jennifer print me up some extra copies to give to other people in the media and a few friends, and most people seemed to love them. I gave a few to WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack, and while I was too busy to talk to him, the reports are that he loves it. Several people suggested that I sell them, but I’m a little too busy at the moment to run a side business. Perhaps I could license the design to Harrah’s or Bluff.

 

As for me, I’ve already noticed several things that I’d like to change in the Pocket Guide. I’m keeping notes to improve the design for next year.