WSOP Blog

Living Large: The Black Belt Poker WSOP Party

Created By: Sean Lind Posted in: WSOP Blog, PartyListings
2009 Jun 26
Neil Channing

Describing the Black Belt Poker mansion as a mansion is somewhat deceiving; Mexican villa is a closer representation.

After getting buzzed through the front gates of the compound, you walk through the double front doors and step into the landing area to be greeted by a grand piano, water fountain, wide staircase and three different escape routes.

Route one leads to the billiards room, route two to the TV room, and route three will take you to the kitchen, where you'll find three full-sized convection ovens.

Walking through the dining room with a table fit for 30, you walk out to the back yard. The buildings surround the pool in the middle; a pool which includes a waterfall, grotto, volleyball net and jacuzzi.

Now add 30 flats of beer, 6 shifts of grilled food, a crew of English poker pros and you have yourself a party.

You Like to Gamble?

Maybe because it's Las Vegas, or maybe it's because the entire house was filled with poker players, there was some sort of gamble to be found in every room.

Blackjack was being played by the pinball machine, poker in the TV room, 8-ball in the billiards room (including a full on 8-ball tournament), plus the occasional prop bet entered the mix.

The largest prop of the night came in the form of a bucket of ice and water. Two players decided to have a last longer of who could keep their forearm, halfway up to the elbow, submerged the longest.

There was the standard bet between the two players, an overlay laid down by the spectators and side action galore. Just picture fistfuls of bills and people yelling out odds, looking for someone to counter-offer or accept.

One of the runners, at around the three-minute mark, was overcome by full-body violent shivering, while his opposition calmly ate peanuts. This caused a sea of odds-heavy bets in favor of the peanut eater.

Much to everyone's shock, after close to 7 minutes, it was peanut eater who couldn't take the heat and pulled out of the race.

Phil Laak
The real batman would pop that lock in no time.

Moneys were paid and the ice bucket was once again filled with beers.

The Neil Channing Situation

At one point late in the night, Neil Channing realized that he had locked himself out of his bedroom.

Phil "the Unabomber" Laak tried to come to the rescue and pop the lock. Unfortunately, Laak's lock picking skills are not all they needed to be, and the Unabomber failed to blow open the door.

Still unable to get into his room, random drunken partiers decided they should try to climb up the walls to Channing's second-floor balcony. The attempts were fruitless, but thankfully a large thatched straw patio umbrella was the party's only casualty.

Check out more from the Black Belt Poker team here, including blogs from Channing and Luke "FullFlush1" Schwartz.

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