Who let the dogs out ?

I'm not a great one for watching poker ; I have to do enough of it in between folding hands. If I can't see any cards at all I'd usually rather watch paint dry. It's just not a spectator sport. Unless ... you can get some audience participation going !

The $3,000 Pot Limit Hold-em final brought together Phil Hellmuth, Ram Vaswani and Garry Bush. This proved to be very entertaining viewing for a couple of hours, although I have to admit that most of the time we were making our own entertainment. A section of about a dozen English players, on and off, was later described as "rabid" in an official report. The beers were starting to flow and the ESPN guys were giving us a nod and a wink any time they could, they loved it ! Every time Bushy scooped a pot the cries of "Go on the Whacker !" were a little louder. Even Matt Savage (who is a top guy by the way) announced him as "The Whacker" at one point. Highlights included The Camel calling rather loudly for a club on the river which duly arrived to cripple Hellmuth, who shot a fierce look or two in our direction on his exit - it probably didn't help that Dave Colclough was sitting right in the middle grinning back at him :-). Bushy picking up Aces after Ram reraising with Kings - and giving just the slightest little slow roll, you had to look hard to see it, but Ram saw it :-). And after I left the stands to play the second chance, a fine rendition of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" which was led by, of all people, Professor Jeff Duvall. It's always the quiet ones you have to watch.