The 2nd Annual Sony Poker Party - CES 2008
Sony Online Entertainment is one business unit within the Sony Corporation that knows a good idea when it has one, at least when it comes to throwing Press/VIP parties at CES. Last year they threw the first poker party, and some of the other Sony business units were there to boost the launch of the PS3 and some of their newest HDTV sets. The prizes were big, and the party was rather drawn out. Sony gave out too many chips, which made last year’s poker tournament go until 3:00AM. This was rather enjoyable for everyone…except the folks from Sony, who undoubtedly had to be up early the next day to tend to their CES booths.
With lessons learned from last year (make the tournament close-ended, hold it at a better venue) Sony sent out invitations for their 2nd annual poker party. The theme was to be pirates, to boost their new MMO Pirates of the Burning Sea. It was held at The Joint nightclub at the Hard Rock Hotel. I was of course invited, as was pretty well everyone else from the TTZ crew. We also managed to convince the man himself, Fatal1ty, to attend the festivities. Would his god like abilities in the FPS arena translate into some luck at the poker table? Well with the blinds adjusted, an ante implemented, and a timer being used, it wouldn’t take us long to find out. Sony definitely wanted us to have fun this year, but not until 3:00AM.
Now I got knocked out in the first round on a stupid all in bet. I still managed to take out my intended target, Stephen Fung from FutureLooks.com, before being hoisted with my own petard. We then started up a “losers table,” imbibed many fine drinks, and harassed the poor dealer. Needless to say the loser table was rather full, so we had a lot of fun playing “poker” while everyone else was playing poker.
After a couple hours, we arrived at the final round. Our own Greg Morgan made it to the final three, but that’s as far he went. Fatal1ty came in at second place in a final hand that is pretty well THE way to end a poker match. I’m going to take a moment here and geek out on poker. If you don’t know the game just skip to the pretty picture in the next paragraph. Anyhow, Fatal1ty had pocket kings and his opponent had pocket aces. They went all in on the flop, and both had trips. It was heads up, with cards showing. Fatal1ty was up with quads on the turn. He was then screwed on the river when his opponent had the card he needed; his fourth ace. Fatal1ty was beaten, but still in second place. He won a $500 SonyStyle.com gift certificate, while his first place opponent won a PS3. The events leading up this outcome brought out the following exchange between Fatal1ty and myself.
Me: “Hey John!”
Fatal1ty: “What?!”
Me: “Is there anything you loose at?”
Fatal1ty: “If there was I wouldn’t tell you.”
Evidently he may be nigh unbeatable, but as I discoverd the next day he isn’t invincible. After the tournament, there was some party still to go.
During the intermission between the first and second round, we were treated to a performance from a fire dancer, a male fire dancer. The performance was interesting, but I didn’t really take any pictures. Between the second and final round, they once again had a fire dancer perform for the party-goers. This time it was the female side of the pair, and of course flashes were going off all over the place. I caught an few pictures of her in her second performance at the end of the tournament.
Sony kicked us out around 11:00PM, which was ok because Body English next door was letting everyone in from the party without cover. Unfortunately I had too much work to do, and couldn’t go. Overall this was and is my favourite CES party. I’m looking forward to seeing what Sony throws together next year.
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