Drawing Red Lines in the Desert, or How (Not) to Bluff a Martyr - Part Iby James McManus | Published: Jan 17, 2007 |
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The World Series of Poker is played nowadays in the Rio's Amazon Room. This hangar of a convention hall seats up to 2,431 players and dealers at 213 oval tables, each one lit by a white Noguchi-esque lantern and far above that by scores of spotlights hung from black scaffolding along with surveillance cameras, ad banners, and air ducts. As chips clack and clatter, many thousands of cards are shuffled and pitched, peeked under, fingered and mucked, always clockwise.