I was sweating Barry Greenstein in today's $50,000 HORSE event. I will occasionally eavesdrop, but try not to get involved in conversations unless invited in. Nick Schulman handed Barry his phone and Barry shook his head. I figured there was some sort of prop bet in the works when Barry said, "Brad, look at this."

Schulman handed me his phone. He was in the middle of a text message that included the word, "unprecedentedly."

"Unprecedentedly?" I asked.

The debate what over whether it was a word. Schulman used it in a sentence and it sounded bad.

"I think you spelled it right, but..." Greenstein said as he looked up at me.

"It's not a word," I said definitively. That seemed to end it. I mean, these guys can play cards for $50,000 an event, but I'm the word guy, right? I sort of hoped Barry had bet Schulman ten grand or something on it.

Because, for around half the crowd in the big event today, that's how relaxed it is. They are betting on who final tables, betting on who wins, and betting just to bet. John Duthie is getting massaged. Daniel Negreanu is eating his veggie grub, and Isabelle...

Well, walk over to her table. It's the one in the back corner where the rail is cut off by a wall. It's quieter back here. And Isabelle looks, in a word, mean. Her shirt is low cut and she's wearing make-up, but I wouldn't trust her with a sharp object.

It's the end of the Razz round and she's bet out on sixth street. Her opponent looks like he wished he had woken up with a case of pneumonia, because that would surely be more fun. He tosses in his call. The dealer hasn't even begun to deal seventh street when Isabelle's chips leave her hand and land on a table with an "I'm already there, so good luck on catching up" slap.

The young Canadian re-inforces her blind-bet message by refusing to look at her river card. I didn't know if she was there yet or not, but the look on her face says she is. Her now looks like he would gladly give Isabelle a pair of scissors if she promised to stab him in the neck. That, too, would likely be more fun.

Isabelle's man now peeks at his river card and, almost as if he is resigned to his fate, tosses in his call. Isabelle pulls up her hole cards and arranges a 7432A low. Her opponent shuffles his cards three times, but it's clear he's got an eight and no better. Isabelle flicks her upper lip with her tongue and doesn't deign to give her opponent another look. Her eyes, without changing, said, "Silly boy."



It's break time and Isabelle counts her chips In less than five hours, she's increased her stack by more than 50%. She counts them out slowly and looks up at the digital leaderboard on the wall. It's not yet been updated.

"I should be up there," she says. I look down and she's wearing a green pair of socks. She's taking them off and slipping into a pair of gold heels. It's clear, when she's on the move at the table, she's doing it comfort. When she's on the move everywhere else, she's doing it in style.

"Having fun yet?" I ask.

"The most fun of my life," she said.

***

I'm just getting over watching Isabelle eviscerate the guy, when I notice a a man walking away with Bill Chen.

Who is THAT guy? There weren't a ton of people in this event and I recognized everybody wearing a PokerStars shirt. Except that guy. So, I asked. It is Matt Hawrilenko and he's playing this event with...wait for it...PokerStars W$.

'nuff said.



***

And so back to report. Dictionary.com tells me that unprecedently is, in fact, a word. I feel like I've just busted out of a tournament. I can't play poker and I apparently don't have as strong a command on the English language as I thought.

I sure hope I didn't lose Barry any money.

Photos courtesy of Image Masters