I wake up around noon feeling like crap from the night before. The combination of draft beer, Captain Morgan, and a burger at 530am has me feeling a little less than 100%. I'm dreading walking outside in the 110 degree heat. Dry as it may be, it's hot as hell hungover. I take my time before emerging out of the dark, cold cave that is my room. I get some writing done, answer many phone/texts about yesterday, and stand in the shower for about an hour. I've been trying to get a haircut for a while, but no one seems to know of a place off the Strip, and I'm not paying $100 to get a trim. I'm pretty sure I tried to bribe the doorman of the IP to get his friend to come cut my hair last night, but I'm not sure. I don't think he's coming anyway. Someone else suggested I go to Chinatown, but I'm not in the mood to go out there. I need to make another underwear run, so I head west on Flamingo (away from the Rio) to Target. The Flamingo and Maryland Ave intersection is strip malls for as far as you can see, so I figure there has to be a reputable place to get a haircut. I drive around for about an hour before finally just walking into the mall and getting it done. While walking into the mall, I realize that I'm having some nervous ticks that I've never had before. I can't help myself from snapping with my left hand when it swings, along with a couple others. I can't figure out if this is the stress of the situation (although I feel good and confident), being alone for as much as I have, or just me somehow developing Turette's in the middle of the WSOP...that probably wouldn't be good at all. Maybe it's just that I'm drinking too much and my body isn't used to it. Either way I've got to get a handle on them, I just don't know how.
Fresh, I head over to the Rio to find the UB.com Pro Room, where I'm to meet John and the representative from UB. He's not there, so I tool around for a little while. He's still not there when I come back, but I explain that I was here to talk about signing a deal for the remainder of the WSOP and they asked what kind of chips I had. When I told them I had 60k, two guys jumped up and introduced themselves to me. They said they had to take me outside to the UB RV, because they weren't allowed to hand out any sponsorship gear on the premisis (don't know why). We had to wait a few minutes for the RV to get back, so I waited in the Pro Room. It's pretty awesome. There's a full bar set up, a food station, table full of every candy you can imagine, a private dressing room, couches, loungers, tables, chairs, pillows, and models everywhere. While waiting, Annie Duke was conducting an interview with her husband. Her kids came over to play and she unloaded on them so she could finish the interview. Mental note...do not bother Annie Duke. We finally head out to the RV, where we discuss what we're doing. If I sign with UB for the WSOP, I won't get paid unless I'm at a feature TV table, make the final table, and/or win. We discuss the money, all of which is good. A big selling point with UB was the fact that they are trying to be different in the clothes/gear they provide. I'm not a big online player, so who I advertise really doesn't mean that much to me. I just don't want to look like all the other players out there. Everyone wears the same stuff and no one is really distinguishable. I talk to one of the reps, Flavio, who tells me about UB's passion to make their clothes stand out from the rest. I explain to him that I wear a hot pink dress shirt, and like the way my hair looks, so I don't really have a desire to wear a black sweatshirt and black and red ballcap like everyone else. He agrees and shows me all the stuff they're giving me. They give me an awesome laptop bag and stuff it with shirts and hats and such. They show me the shirts and they're way different than the rest of the poker company gear. You really wouldn't even know it's poker wear unless you're looking for the logo. Happy with what goes down, I sign the contract and tell them I'll see them tomorrow. Now signed, I also have unlimited access to the Pro Room while I'm in the tournament, which will prove to be a gigantic perk. Happy, I leave the Rio to figure out the rest of my off day.
I decide to sweat out a little more alcohol at the pool for a couple hours, then finish up the day with dinner at Nora's with Chip. He tells me they are a great, old school italian restaurant. They turn out to have good food, but they didn't give us what we ordered, so we left a little disappointed. We came to the conclusion that we'd eat at Batista's Hole in the Wall if I make it past Monday (Day 3). It looks like the kind of spot I love...an old, dark Italian restaurant with undoubtedly huge portions and delicious comfort food.
Chip and I go over some strategy for Day 2 and say our goodbyes. I decide to try to catch up on some writing/work and plan out the next day. I iron a new pink dress shirt that hopefully will bring as much luck as the other has. It's going to be tough to sleep tonight...
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