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It’s a weird wonderful little family we have here. It’s been suggested we be filmed for a reality show. We often have puppies running in the office hallways. Rumors of unicorns are untrue, but yet, those rumors pop up often, and how the hell would you know for sure? The ninjas and cupcakes are well documented, and while this is NOT where Todd Todderson was birthed, it certainly is where he multiplied. It’s a very special place, and so are the people.

Now stick with me here, this is not all sappy “OMG I LUV MY JOB AND COWORKERS” mush. I promise. Degeneracy is coming soon. Over Christmas I was catching up on some very important tasks, namely my viewing of The Hills. In one important episode Kristin makes a road trip to Vegas and Justin Bobby surprises her out there when she calls him from Ghost Bar to say she misses him which is totally sappy and what are you doing girl you went to Vegas to pick up ANOTHER GUY and FORGET Justin Bobby!!! JEEZ!

But I digress. Watching that episode with all the pool shots made me think about how I have not been to Vegas in the summer in years, since the WSOP in 2006. We hold the WPBT in winter, which puts me in my most favorite place in the world during the time of the year I hate the most. There’s something wrong here. Seed planted #1.

And then MGM Grand emails with their 96 Hour sale full of discounted rates all year long! Great! Except… booking only until the end of November. Well fuck me. Hell of a lot of good that does someone who makes an annual trip in December. Doesn’t hurt to check the rates though, right? Cause I’m not an addict or anything. And there it sits, the little weekend of June 18th, with the perfect rates and perfect timing with the WSOP and just perfect everything. And I get to thinking about my girls who always tell me that they’ve never been to Vegas and how they want to go and how I have to take them. Hmmm… well ladies, perhaps it’s time to put up or shut up. I decide to sleep on it though. Just a feeling I get.

So the next morning when I get to work and Maggie makes her announcement, I do the perfectly logical thing.

me: sooooooooo
i know you’re like about to quit your job and stuff, but you wanna go to Vegas the weekend of June 18th?

Maggie: YES!

Once that we settled and Maggie and I had our talk, we then moved on to concern over how Brandi would take the news of her departure. We were naturally concerned. Obviously there was only one thing to do.

me: should we take Brandi as a post-wedding trip?

Maggie: YES! THAT IS A GREAT IDEA!
We can tell her that today when she is having a freak out.
Don’t Worry!! WE”RE GOING TO VEGAS!

me: LOL
that is a fantastic idea
it’s like what parents do to kids when the dog dies

I really wish we had video of Brandi’s reaction – a combination of disbelief and suspicion and excitement and sadness but mostly convinced that we were fucking with her.

Fayza rounds out the fourth in our trip, as Maggie put it “like having a toy in Vegas” – tell her to do just about anything and she will. I’m not sure the city is ready for this combination.

Maggie is right now doing for herself what I did a little over a year ago – leaving a fun environment to strike out a new path all her own. I admire the hell out of her for it but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. I will miss her terribly. Lets be honest, a Vegas trip distraction was as much for Brandi as it was for me.

So. June 18th. Who’s with us? Bring bail money.

1. The agenda hasn’t changed… much. Pokerati Dan has added a new event on Friday, a 1/2 NLH/PLO @ the Hard Rock, starting at 7. It’s $100 min, $400 max. We play a round of each and can run-it-twice. There’s also a hammer bonus of $5 from each player for taking down a pot with 2-7. [Which is kinda cool] And free food from Lucky’s 24/7 for any and all bloggers. [Which is kinda awesome]

To give that game a little more breathing room, I’ve moved the MGM Mixed games to 9:30. That start time is somewhat flexible though. I spoke with them today, and the general feel is that it’s not a problem to push it back later if need be based on how things have been this week so far, but if it picks up that night and the tables get really full; well, we know the drill.

IN SHORT: Dude, go to Hard Rock if you like to play PLO because Dan’s game is awesome. Go if you like free food and like watching people play PLO and/or donking off chips because you don’t really understand the game fully (OO! MEMEMEMEMEME!!!!!!) If you don’t understand that four card shit AT ALL and want no part of it and refuse to leave the strip then come to MGM like planned. PLO’ers head on over when you’re ready to add in some R and S.

2. Tournament:

Facebook RSVPs + these degenerates:

1. Jeff Willis
2. Mark Thoennes
3. Chris Peers
4. Naseem Husain
5. Edward Son
6. David Spire
7. Ellen Cincotta
8. Angelo Cincotta
9. Garth (the Aussie)
10. Matt Volk
11. Iggy
12. Lowen Overby
13. DJ Ocean
14. Matt Parvis
15. Mrs. Falstaff
16. Change100
17. Derek
18. Pauly

Get yourselves in the Luckbox Last Longer Challenge too.

3. You old timers will remember how we used to email out spreadsheets with phone numbers and email addresses and track arrival and departures and hotels and all sorts of data points on each other – and there was one summer over 150 of us that made the trip. FREAKING INSANE people. But I remember how we printed out those spreadsheets, and Heather and I would check our purses before leaving the room each day and be sure we had them in case we desperately needed to get a hold of someone randomly.

God Bless technology, right? Oh how you mocked me for the Twitters! And still some of you shun the Facebooks! You’ll see. If you didn’t last year, you will this time round.

To get started, please see the WPBT Twitter list that the lovely and talented Gracie has put together for us. She’s got almost all of the poker bloggers who tweet included. If you’re not on it, please @ her and she’ll add you.

I’d highly recommend you follow Otis. Not only is he witty, charming, and handsome, but oh, at some point during the weekend there will be a castle storming and that’s where the charge will come from. [I've got dibs on blue btw, and G-Rob you're going down.]

Now on to getting said tweets. iPhoners, I’m of two minds here and honestly I can’t decide which at this point. I use Echofon, which I really like, mainly for the push notification whenever someone @ replies me. This can be really helpful, especially when in a situation like oh, say a weekend trip to Vegas with 100 of your closest friends. On the other hand, there’s TweetDeck, which lets you put those you follow into columns – another helpful feature when you’re in a big group. I’m thinking I’ll end up sticking with Echofon for the push [PUSH IS A WIN!] and using the search feature to pull in the #wpbt hashtag. [Which only works if we use it, soooo, let's try and do that. Cause how awesome would it be to have #wpbt as a trending topic?] Then also grabbing from TweetDeck whenever I’m so inclined. [Read: standing around while someone plays blackjack]

**Mr. Speaker points out that the Echofon push notification is only on the Pro version. My bad for not including that earlier. For what it’s worth, it’s totally worth the $4.99 and will make your life so much easier when you’re rolling with Todd Todderson. And no, I’m not getting any kick-backs.

***Monkeyhammer points out Boxcar, another little iPhone app that also works to push notifications for Twitter. I have several friends who use this and love it.

Blackberry folks: I’m told UberTwitter is the new hotness for you. TwitterBerry was always the default client for ages; and I am sure there are other ones out there, but remember I work with social media and web design geeks – we tend to shun your kind. I found out what I could.

Everyone else: I’m shaking my head at you.

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Anything else? I don’t think there’s anything else. Tell me if there is anything else.

So very much looking forward to seeing everyone!!

So, that being said, here’s where we stand with the weekend plans.

Thursday, December 10 –
IP, Geisha Bar. Please pack your H1N1 shot.

Friday, December 11 –
WPBT Golf Shoot-out -12pm – see CK or Bam Bam for details
MGM Grand – Poker Room (mixed games) & Sports Book Bar (mixed drinks) – 9pm
Green Valley Ranch – Steel Panther show – 12:30am

Saturday, December 12 –
Caesars Palace – Poker Room – WPBT Winter Classic & Luckbox Last Longer Challenge – tourney at 1pm

Sunday, December 13 –
The Venetian – Sunday in the Sportsbook @ Legasse’s Stadium – kickoff at 10am

There are other things planned loosely – I know Kat has been organizing a trip through the Neon Graveyard – I have no details on this other than it’s planned for some time Friday; if you’re interested reach out to her and see what’s up.

Now, on to what I do know.

For starters, let me shout out again to F-Train for his help with the tournament, and now let me add Otis and CJ to the list of awesome-and-handsome-bloggers-who-totally-kick-ass-at-event-planning-too. CJ is literally running a tournament of his own with the Luckbox Last Longer Challenge, and is coordinating Sunday’s football fun as well. And Otis… well, he’s Otis. No doubt you’ve heard by now about how PokerStars has generously and AWESOMELY added $2,000 to the prize pool of the Luckbox Last Longer Challenge – how cool is that?? Put your team together and get ready – next week will be here before you know it.

Regarding those teams. Who’s in the tourney, you want to know? So far I’ve got 69 of you (hush) signed up via Facebook and then the following signed up via email, Twitter, or good ole fashioned blog comment.

1. Jeff Willis
2. Mark Thoennes
3. Chris Peers
4. Naseem Husain
5. Edward Son
6. David Spire
7. Ellen Cincotta
8. Angelo Cincotta
9. Garth (the Aussie)
10. Matt Volk
11. Iggy
12. Lowen Overby
13. DJ Ocean
14. Matt Parvis

That gives us a grand total of… 83 [Note that number is inflated because I know the Facebook RSVP is inflated because oh, for instance, Todd Todderson is NOT going to play in the tournament. Unless someone wants to back him. I mean he can't do any worse than Waffles, right?]

So there’s the big stuff. Please also see F-Train’s post about the Caesar’s Bad Beat Jackpot. Definitely worth checking out while you’re in town. Also, Bam-Bam has set up a WPBT Warm-Up tournament at Full Tilt on December 4th at 10pm ET. It’s a HORSE Deep Stack $10+$1. I love this idea. Several of us having been hitting the $2 SnGs late night lately and having a ton of fun slinging chips around just like the old days and it has really gotten the spirit up. Cannot wait to get back to Vegas and see you all again.

And on that note, just a little over a week left! Any questions? Need anything? Aside from a loan, plane ticket, room to crash in, rack of whites, or anything else along those lines… ?

And an oldie from Otis to make you get all misty too:

I will make no such goal for myself. I mean good Lord. I don’t know where 2009 went. I am blessed that I have fantastic friends and an awesome job that keeps me so busy the days fly by, so don’t get me wrong; I’m not exactly complaining – it’s just that I’ve never quite had time go so quickly. I’ve been remiss in not sharing how some of it went.

Again, can’t promise a picture a day, and heck, with Mobypicture some of these already posted here albeit without a story. But I think I can get close. And for starters, how about a few at once to catch up, hmm?

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You may be familiar with Alan and his annoying fun month jetting all over the country hopping from ballpark to ballpark taking in baseball game after baseball game just living it up and have a grand ole time while his friends were left behind to read about it via blog and Twitter. At the end of September, one Friday I suppose, I was at the office with my friend Brandi surfing the interwebs when we hit Alan’s Twitter feed and then Flickr stream and the pictures of Landshark stadium came up. Much laughter ensued. The Landshark website was next, with its cheesy marketing copy. Which we mocked mercilessly, because we are snarky smartasses and that is what we do. And this is coming from a girl who loves sharks. But that Landshark bit – gets me every. time.

Fast forward … 6 hours. Long time readers know what happens when April gets restless. Bonus points if you pay attention enough to know it typically happens during a certain time of year. So when Alan IM’d later that night lamenting that dugout seats like the ones he had that Friday night were only available in pairs for Saturday’s game; the idea of him just buying a pair of tickets and just not using the second never crossed our minds. No no – instead, me getting on a plane the next morning and flying to Miami to go to the game was PERFECTLY REASONABLE.

Aside from the person picking me up at the airport, only Betty knew exactly where I was going. So she kept me company as I waited for my plane, which meant testing out the new MMS iPhone capabilites with hot dude picture texts.

(This really isn’t integral to the story, but it’s a picture, and it’s hot dudes. Some people call this is a win-win.)

Brandi was the second person to find out where I was, once I made arrival at the stadium. It’s kinda our thing.
I mean not going to stadiums for each other. The Landshark thing. Sharks in general really. And in a totally platonic way. Anywhoo… The stadium is interesting. Tailgating and cheerleaders at a baseball game? Odd. I’m glad I got to go to the park, especially given the name – I mean COME ON that’s like 99% of the draw right there – but when the baseball feels like an afterthought it bugs me. Oh sure, it’ll be fixed in 2012 but then the world ends!

I totally get why Alan wanted dugout seats for another game, and these were easily the best seats I’ve had for any game. I snapped this pic and texted it to my friend Metsgrrl, who replied with my favorite text of the night “WTF are you doing in Miami? I won’t go to Flushing and they’re not even your team.”

To be fair, I had tickets for my team that weekend and they clearly warranted getting the hell out of town for. There was a little Marlins fan down the row from us that I adored for his heckling skills. Good heckling so hard to find these days. Random stuff, like asking Castillo for his batting glove and then my personal favorite – “Hey Beltran! Beltran! You remember me? Remember me from Houston? You gave me your autograph once.” I announced I would adopt him and make him mine. It was pointed out to me though that he was a Marlins fan, so there he stayed with his kind.

The next day, I spent my hours pre-flight home on the beach, next to a French guy reading a poker book. Because there is no escape. Absolutely beautiful beach. Could sit there for hours (and pretty much did).

LANDSHARK!

[Seriously. It never gets old. Ask Alan.]