Pokerpalooza kicks of massive poker weekend

By Steve Silver

Thursday, July 2, 2009 | 11 p.m.

A mechanical bull, a teeth whitening station, several art galleries and plenty of buxom beauties shelling anything from t-shirts to customized poker tables do not often mesh well.

But anything seems possible at the inaugural Pokepalooza inside the Rio Pavilion.

Billed as the world's largest poker expo, Pokerpalooza runs Thursday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. in conjunction with the start of the 40th World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in No Limit Texas Hold 'em Main Event.

Pokerpalooza, which was formerly known as the Gaming Life Expo, is free to the public and features several hundred different vendor booths spread across more than 60,000 square feet.

"This is obviously the biggest and best show," said Phoenix resident and president of Pic-Chip-Photo Dennis Quon, a company that specializes in making personalized photo poker chips. "I've been coming here for five years and it's always a good time for business."

Aside from all of the customized poker paraphernalia including watches, hats, wallets and clothing at the expo, Pokerpalooza also features a "Bad Beat Bar" and cooking showcase.

If a product can be vaguely tied into poker, it's probably on sale at Pokerpalooza.

Expos like this one, however, do provide an outlet for some of the more creative entrepreneurs such as Russel Morgan's Royal Poker Eyewear.

Morgan, a Redbourn, United Kingdom resident, spent two years designing a poker-specific type of sunglass lens. Unlike regular sunglasses, Morgan's lenses are supposed to actually increase brightness in dim light while still shielding a player's eyes from opponents.

"It's quiet right now, but I know it's going to get chaotic this weekend," said Morgan, who sold out of his stock last year. "I'm loving it though. We've had great feedback from pros and amateurs who wear our sunglasses. Vegas is our No. 1 show."

While Morgan's Royal Poker Eyewear has been a hit at the Rio, one local artist was not afraid to voice her displeasure about the small crowds at Thursday's Pokerpalooza.

"You don't want to know what I really think," said Las Vegas resident Athena Manasses who had a poker art display of her own paintings. "I don't think there have been a lot of people walking through here and I think they didn't do enough advertising."

Although the crowd size was underwhelming inside poker expo Thursday, the poker room was bustling with fans trying to catch a glimpse of their favorite celebrities in the Ante-Up for Africa charity poker tournament as well as gold-bracelet hopefuls lining up to register for the Main Event.

One avid poker play admitted he did not have enough money to enter the Main Event yet, but he was preparing for one final $1,000 buy-in satellite Thursday night.

"This is still exciting," said Joe Crowley, 23, of Pittsburgh. "This is the biggest and most prestigious poker event in the world. Just being at the Rio right now truly gives me the feeling of being at the center of the poker universe."

WSOP officials expect more than 6,000 entrants for the Main Event, which begins Friday at the Rio. Last year, 6,844 players competed for the $9.15 million first prize.

Steve Silver can be reached at 948-7822 or steve.silver@lasvegassun.com.