Day One - Morning

The sun shone brightly through the kitchen and living room windows. It could only do this early in the morning, just after rising above the eastern horizon, for it's entry was blocked by trees. The light was still soft, yet the energy from the sun's rays filled the house. Clio could feel this energy as she awoke. Today was her first day as a professional poker player and she teemed with excitement!

She had gotten a good night's sleep- an easy thing to do on the pillow-top bed left behind by her brother's former lover, James. Every night, she thanked him for this blessing. She was excited. Though she set her alarm for 8am, she didn't need it; by 7:40 she was already wide-awake, and by 9:15 she had already completed her daily routine: wash scalp, condition scalp, shave body, condition hair, wash body, apply deodorant, moisturizer, foundation, liberally apply scented lotion to body, nourish scalp, condition hair again, mousse hair, style hair, fix with hair spray, take medication, apply blush, eye-liner, mascara; first with the left hand covering the inner left and outer right eyes, then switching hands for the inner right and outer left. The only thing left to do was wait for her hair to set, but she wasn't going to wait this time; the diffuser on her hairdryer would save her precious time today.

The tournament didn't start until 12pm, but she had planned on arriving around 10am to signup... no point in waiting around 'till the last minute, she reasoned. It was almost time. She clutched the touchstone loaned by her sister Lisa and put into it all of the joyful energy she knew she would feel when taking her seat at the final table two full days from now.

Bradly was already gone. He was working a double shift today- at the pancake house in the morning and then off to the Palazzo where the more lucrative tips were. Today was a big day for him as well; he was being promoted to a higher station... where the tips really added up to serious dough.

The silence from Clio's meditation was broken by an incoming text message from Lisa. It said, "Just having nice thoughts of you. I got so busy yesterday that the day just slipped away. I prayed for you last night in hopes of achieving your poker dreams..."

Clio responded, "Aw, bless you! I was just visualizing how happy I will be at the final table... Smiling at you and brad in the audience! :)"

She continued visualizing the day: signed up by 10:30, eating sushi lunch by 11- it was all-you-can-eat and she planned on stuffing herself since dinner was far away and snacks were not to her choosing. 12pm, cards fly, 2pm first break, 2:20 play resumes, 4:20 (teehee) second break, 4:40 play resumes, 6:40 break for lunch. 90 minutes... she figured either the burrito joint down the road or maybe just the buffet at Rio. 8:10, play resumes, 10:10, fourth break, 10:30, play resumes, 12:30am break for the night, asleep by 2:30am, then up by 9am to do it all over again.

She was so looking forward to today... today was THE day... she couldn't stop giggling as she drove to the Rio.

The Piano

Clio awoke to the sounds of tiny engines roaring.

The morning landscaping crew had reached her window. She pulled herself out of bed and into the shower; today she was going to visit the local music store and try out a Yamaha digital piano. She was thinking of getting one for the house; life was so exciting and moving that she yearned to capture the feeling in song... it was almost unbearable to be without one!

As if that wasn't motivation enough, it was another gorgeous day in the valley. This Memorial day, the sky once again contained an array of exquisitely air-brushed clouds reflecting all colors of light from the sun, which was itself just returning from a brief vacation.

The trip to the music store took her through the strip, from the West side of Vegas to the East. She passed several local casino resorts and a massive shopping mall before finally reaching the music superstore. The boys on break, smoking cigarettes just outside the entrance stared her down as she sauntered by. She was used to stares but for an altogether different reason. "Boys!" she thought, as she flashed them a smile and made her way to the professional audio department. There was already a young Latino family there and the father was playing a keyboard in an adjoining room within the room. The synthesizer was playing a little song and he was having fun playing along.

Clio found the exact keyboard she was looking for, and, no seeing any staff to help her, plugged it in and started playing. The keyboard from the other room was overpowering her modest little sprinklings of sound, so she jammed away in harmony with it the stranger in the other room. She became bored all too quickly once she realized that the improvised song only contained two chords. She then echoed back the notes being played by the stranger in the other room before finally losing interest and instead started playing some of her own tunes.

Minutes later, satisfied, she returned to her car and phoned Ivan, the nice sounding gentleman who was moving to London who couldn't take with him the same digital piano she just looked at. When she called, blocks away from his residence at Sky Las Vegas, the premiere luxury high-rise condos on the strip, he wasn't there. He did respond in text, however, and after a brief exchange of hellos, said that he wouldn't be home until after 9pm. He also wouldn't budge on the price.

"Ok," texted Clio, "$400 was more than I wanted to spend anyway; I'll play poker with the money instead. Ciao, Clio"

Finding a parking spot at the Rio was difficult, but she eventually found her way into the poker room, looked around, but failed to get a good feeling from the place. Despite hosting the World Series of Poker, Rio's poker room had never made an impression on her; the Series isn't even held in the poker room but instead the convention center downstairs. She checked with the staff to make sure that Wednesday was the first satellite tournament into the main event (it was) and she rounded on her heels to the car. She wanted to play where people were having fun, and even over the din of the slot machines and bowling alley, she could her the call of Mandalay in the distance.

Matt, the poker room maitre'd, seated her immediately. The game looked good; everyone was drinking and some were even smiling! She sat down to the right of Tall, Dark and Handsome, and to the left of a couple who had just moved to Vegas 7 months prior. Mr. TD&A, Dimitric was in the middle of a conversation with the lady to Clio's right: "I even told him it was my fault, but he just got all emotional!"

She replied, "he just hated women, that's all. He couldn't stand it when a woman was talking."

Dimitric smiled at Clio; "welcome to the game! Ain't nothing but love here!"

The first hand she was dealt Queen-Ten offsuit and the aggressive-looking man to her right raises her big blind $10. He didn't know that Clio does not give up her blinds easily. "Call."

The flop comes King-Queen-Four, rainbow. She checks and the man immediately bets $15. She figured that he was going to bet no matter what the flop was, and she judged her pair of queens to be good. "Call."

Cullen, the deals a Six on the turn. She checks and the man bets $25. "Call."

The river is another Four and she checks again. The man bets $30. "Call."

Before she can put her chips into the pot, the man mucks his cards, throwing them right into the dealer's hands.

"Were you trying to bluff me?" Clio said playfully, "I just sat down here!"

Everyone chuckled and the young man blushed. Dimitric says, "Hey there cutie, where you from?"

Clio gave her usual story... London, been there 4 years, homeless, thinking of moving to Vegas.

"I'm from Atlanta, baby, call me D," came his smooth reply.

Unbeknownst to D, Clio lived six years in the ATL.

"Where at in Atlanta?" she asked.

"You know, Atlanta" D answered.

"Deluth, Conyers, Alpharetta, Vinings, downtown...?" Clio was rattling off names as they came to her, hoping he'd catch on. He chuckles.

"Lithonia- I run a music production company. You know the guy behind the guy on the stage? Yeah, we work with the best, baby, TLC, P Diddy, you know what I'm saying?"

Clio's eyes widened as she listened and nodded to confirm that she did, in fact know what he was saying.

As they made conversation, Clio kept track of the game and quickly got up from $200 to $340. A young man and his girlfriend just sat down at the other end and he, she, and Clio soon find themselves involved in a pot. The flop come Ace-Ten-Six and all 5 players check. The turn comes King and Clio bets $20 on her King-Jack. Everyone folds but the man.

The river is a Four; Clio bets $25 and is called; he flips over an Ace.

"You checked your Ace from the button?" Clio teases in amazement. "I thought we were friends!" Again, the table giggles. "You just earned yourself a cross-hair! I'm going to be watching you now!" Clio loved playing with the tourists like that; it was all in good fun.

"I love my ATL boys, D!"

Clio soon learns that D is an investor. He has a couple of beauty salons, "One in Lithonia, one in Buckhead, and one in the Hood." and is thinking of making a new deal in Phoenix, whatever that meant, she didn't know. Clio keeps listening and they make conversation until she finds herself in a hand again with King-Jack. This time the flop is King-King-Ten. She checks her trips and the other five players check too. An Ace comes on the turn and girlfriend of the fellow who just took her money by checking his top pair on the bets all-in but $13. Clio put her all in, showed her the King and all of a sudden was up $200. $180 more to go!

Clio kept stacking chips on the back of a small business card. There was written on it a keyboard with the words, "Ivan's Piano: $400".

"Why are you here Clio?" D wonders.

"I'm trying to win a piano," she replies. D laughs.

"For real?"

"You know it! There's a guy selling a piano for $400. He's leaving for London today, and I'm trying to win the money to buy it from him."

D looks skeptical, so she shows him the texts from her earlier conversation with Ivan. He's convinced, but quite amused.

And the afternoon goes on like this, Clio and D making small talk, occasionally bringing in the couple to her right. D didn't realize that in Vegas, the drinks were free. Clio convinced him "for real" that they were, and he quickly learned to order Patronis. The poker bar doesn't normally carry that liquor, but because they were being very nice to the cocktail waitress, he found himself with a new glass every 1/2 hour.

"You are tipping her, right?" Clio asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Here, give her a red chip; she's going out of her way to get you that drink and besides, it's free!"

"You got style, you know that Clio?" D flattered. "You know it's about taking care of people."

"Totally!" she agreed.

Five drinks later, D asks Clio, "How much more do you need?"

"Oh, about $140."

D looks at his tiny stacks. "What if I just give you this and we go smoke that somethin-somethin?"

Earlier, after taking a bathroom and smoke break, D quizzed her about where she was. Having fun, Clio flashed him a joint from her cigarette case and told him that's what she was doing. Now he was horny for weed.

He was offering her about $44. Clio reasoned that since she was up $166 and could walk away with $200 toward the keyboard making the total cost drop from $400 to $200. That was, after all, a good discount. She took the offer, and the very next hand, he went all-in and won. They cashed out, ordered one more Patronis and one more Grand Marnier, and left for the parking garage to get high.

They found a nice spot near the stairs and lit up. D got very philosophical and told Clio that he thought she was money. He wanted her to play music for him in Vegas and he wanted her to have that keyboard. He gave her the winnings: $100; she graciously accepted, laughing to herself because just last night, she told Lisa Marie, her roommate's sister, that it was like some cosmic test for her not to get jealous of people wanting to give Lisa and Bradly money for just hangin out. Bradly and Lisa were gorgeous; they lived in 9 and 10 world. They were fabulous, and fabulously rich people payed for their company. Right now, Clio felt fabulous.

D's gaze intensified. She felt herself growing weak in the knees. He told her that if ever she needed anything, to call him. He said, "don't you ever spread your legs for money, see? If anyone asks you that, you tell them D said you don't have to do that, and then you call me, a'ight?"

Clio hugged him tightly and offered to get him safely back to his friends; he was already late for a bar-b-que and needed to get from Mandalay to Excalibur. In her mind, Clio visualized the path: through Mandalay to the tram to Excalibur and violla!, when suddenly, there's footsteps from all around. A man dressed as a valet and another with a phone are walking toward them. They look offical and out of place. Clio looks around, coming out of a daze, and finds D gone.

The only thing Clio could do was act natural, so she did. She picked up the glass of Patronis with one hand and the Grand Marnier with the other and prepared to stroll right back down to the casino.

One of the men was getting very close and speaking into a phone. Time for plan B.

"Oh, this is the wrong level!" Clio exclaimed and bounced up the stairs to the 3rd floor, over to the elevator, and down to the casino.

Was it all a dream? What just happened? She felt awful for leaving D, but had no idea where he went. The people really freaked her out, and she assumed they did the same to D. She usually didn't get hit with that kind of paranoia, but felt an overwhelming urge to get to a restroom to regroup.

On the way, she composed a peom for D:

D where you be?
When you walk out on me
All I see, before me,
memory of you leavin'.

D, don't you go,
Cos you know,
I am true
To the words,
between you and me.

Clio sat in the stall, texting away. She couldn't stay there long; already there was a long line, and the ladies were overly polite; not even using the full capacity of the small restroom, leaving open the handicapped one. No she had to get in and get out. There were old ladies waiting! Her phone's low battery light came on as she finshed up the poem.

Now she would have to go back to the car and powerup, especially since she had the money to buy Ivan's keyboard, but just lost the ability to contact him.

She walks through the casino, back to the parking garage and stops at a pretty alcove to text D the poem. In the middle of texting D the poem, her phone died. She put the phone away, got ready to head back to the car to recharge, looked up, and said, "OMG, D!" Where did you go?!?!"

He was standing right beside her and didn't even notice she was there. He had become quite a bit more intoxicated since they last saw each other and really needed help. She again offered to get him home when he hands her his phone.

"Hello?"

The lady on the other end wasn't in a good mood and was very worried about where D was. Clio assured him that he was okay, and the should would personally take him to the Tram at Excalibur, if she wanted to meet them there. The lady thought this was a good idea.

Getting there was difficult. D was a big man and Clio, in his arms was having difficulty keeping him up. They had a long walk through the casino to the tram and she wasn't sure he'd make it. He had started a cold sweat. It was a miracle she found him there; he would not have made it back on his own.

They arrived before his friend and Clio delivered him to her, saying that he was safe and in good hands the entire time, but that the free Patronis had caught up to him. Clio offered to help get him back to the room, but the lady declined. Clio said her good-byes and walked over to the trash can to sterilize her hands and get some gum. While there, she overheard the lady giving D a hard time. She tried not to listen, but it was clear the lady was pissed. Not wanting to look like she was hanging around, she got back on the tram and headed for Mandalay.

She smelled like man.

She worried that others would smell that she smelled like man. She again rushed to the restroom, this time a much larger one, and proceeded to clean herself off before heading back to the car to charge her phone.

Refreshed, she arrived at the car only to find the phone charger was left at home. Now this presented a difficult situation. The chronic really had taken hold, and mixed with the alcohol was making for a great high. Clio had never been high in a casino before and greatly underestimated the fun, excitement, noises and lights. Clearly, she could not go back and play poker in this state.

Well, she could, she reasoned, if she just played really, really tight. But what would she say? Was she sloppy? It was impossible to tell. She couldn't even call her friends to sober up.

But, if she was in no mood to play cards, what did that say about driving home?

There was no choice. She had to get home to call Ivan. She had to charge the phone.

The road home from Mandalay Bay is a straight shot over a tall bridge crossing the I-15 into West Vegas, turning into a leisurely drive through residential neighborhoods, past a school, then a hospital, and finally to the complex where she lived at the intersection of Rainbow. Clio never enjoyed the ride home as much as she did that night.

Plugging in, she texts Ivan, telling him that it's his lucky day, "I won piano $, so call me when ur ready 4 pickup!"

Ivan replies they would be home in 90 minutes.

Clio heads down to Tiger Sushi on the corner and savors a salmon sashimi plate, loaded with cucumber salad, dikon, and wakame.

"You play poker today?" asks the sushi chef.

"Yes," said Clio, "and I'm going now to buy a piano with the winnings!"

"Weely? Ah, guhd day!"

They share a bottle of sake, but when they start to close up, Clio figures it's showtime and heads down to the strip. Since she has 30 minutes, she figures she'll get to the southern end and cruise up the strip to Sky tower.

Windows down, dance music thumpin' she soaks up the scenery. Lights assault from everywhere with some displays as large as four hundred feet wide and one hundred feet tall! She listens to the conversations of all the people passing by.

Then she arrived at the construction site for the new "City Centre" complex; 6,000 condos under construction in a complex complete with a grocery, Wal-Mart, everything but a school! Daydreaming of life in the yet unfinished towers consumes her. The location couldn't be better; already the place was bustling with people, but in a London kind of way... people were right next to the street- no barriers- and the night clubs were all open-faced welcoming in the passers-by.

Suddenly, cop cars come out of nowhere and settle in front of her. Merging into the left lane she finally comes to the scene of a bizarre, but scary accident; a bus appeared to had driven across the road and rammed head-first into a cafe! Chills ran down her spine. She prayed no one was seriously hurt in the three ambulances there. She wondered what the news would say about it.

A quarter mile later she arrives at Sky. "Where you going?" says the outer-gate security guard.

"I'm here to buy a keyboard off of Ivan; he's from London," Clio replied.

The guard gave her directions for getting to the building; through a gate and up two ramps arriving at the "first" floor of the tower. There was mandatory Valet. Clio informed him that she wouldn't be long, and he said he'd keep her car safe here.

Ivan met her at the door and together they rode up to the 28th floor.

Clio's vision of where she wanted to live in Vegas (before she moved to Vegas) was staring right back at her. She nearly swooned.

She hadn't seen a kitchen this nice since the luxury $1-Million Pound flats in London! They walk down the long corridor to the the living room and Ivan opens up the blinds, revealing an East-facing, 180-degree view of the complete north and south strip views.

Clio was struck by the mile and miles of lights below here, twinkling like stars from the heat from the ground rising into the dark night.

There was a balcony too. He took her on it. High-rise living with a wrap-around corner balcony overlooking the strip... her knees again grew weak. She knew that feeling in her belly... she wanted this place!

Ivan showed her the rest of the flat; two bedrooms, three baths, built in washer/dryer, jacuzzi, the place was luxury. The building itself came with his-and-her saunas, steam rooms, and showers, a 24-hour fitness room, an amazing pool, theatre room, billiards room, conference room, and more!

"Only strippers and gamblers live here," he broke the silence and Clio far-off stare, "the workers on the strip can't afford this place, can they?"

"How much is it?" she asked.

Well, you could probably get this one for $2300; I know the landlord is keen to rent after I'm gone.

More chills. The flat even came furnished.

Ivan helped her pack up the keyboard and the moved it down to the valet.

"I'll have the landlord get in touch with you," Ivan said as he waved her good-bye.

Until the addresses at Harmon and Las Vegas opened up, this was THE address on the strip to have. She wanted it.

She took a new route home and found herself in the Asian part of Las Vegas; miles and miles of every kind of Asian cuisine imaginable; Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Phillipino, Indian, Vietnamese, Thai... Clio felt her eyes, wide open since D, open even wider.

It had been 14 hours since she originally awoke, but now she had a musical instrument in her room. If she closed her eyes, it felt like a real piano, and it only cost her $120. The first song she wrote was for D.

A Woman In The Desert

Clio lived in the middle of the North American deserts, more precisely in the Mojave desert. But that's not to say it was a rough life; far from it, for this particular part of the desert was filled with nearly every possible consumable found in America. She called it home, but most people called it Las Vegas.

Now if you asked Clio, she would say she lived in a small oasis within this desert. She had a yard, and unlike most residents of that great city, her yard contained a great variety of bushes, grass and trees whereas most yards contained sand and rocks. It was a desert, after all.

She didn't have to tend the lawn; a team of hard-working immigrants were paid to do that for her, and this suited her just fine, even if she risked an occasional glance through an open window catching her half-dressed, asleep on the bed. Residential hazzard or occupational perk, she wasn't sure, but it was well worth it.

What was most amazing about this oasis were the trees. Oh, how she loved all the trees. Maple trees, Pine trees, Ash trees, and of course, palm trees were everywhere. Clio reckoned there was more shade on the ground than actual sunlight and this impressed her even more for most places she saw were fully exposed to the sun's onslaught of energy. "After all," she would say, "it is a desert!"

Now some experts do not consider the Mojave to be a desert in its own right, but that was just fine with Clio, for some experts did not consider her to be a woman in her own right! But there was no mistaking her femininity or beauty, and like the star for which she was named, it was here in the desert where she would shine the brightest.

The Beginning of the Beginning

These are the adventures of Miss Clio Soleil, the first female to win the main event of the World Series of Poker. She out-lasted over 6,000 players each paying $10,000 to enter a no-limit hold'em tournament where the champion of poker is crowned.

The main event is often described as 'The Cadillac of Poker' but the phrase seemed outdated to Clio. If pressed on this issue, she probably would have mused merely that a more modern phrase might be 'The Hummer Stretch-Limo of Poker,' for where Cadillac brought to mind images of quality, sophistication, and style (a good description of the tournament in the 20th century), the main event lately seemed full of hype, bling, and egos.

As it was, she never considered in any conscious way these insights because to her, the WSOP was simply what it said it was- the World Series of Poker- the one game on the planet held to determine who would wear the crown of World Poker Champion.

The title came with a not inconsiderable pile of money. Literally! The tournament organizers laid out a huge pile of money in the middle of the poker table! Alluring as this might be to most people, what was even more so to most players was the bracelet that came with it, for many people became millionaires each year, but there is only one bracelet per year, and therefore, one chamption.

But it was not ego that led Clio down this path, oh no, it was selflessnes. She played for the money. She had none came to the conclusion that a huge pile of it was just what she needed so that she could help others. The fact that the bracelet came with a good deal of fame only meant that she could help more people, and as that fit perfectly within her plan, she began to embrace it. This was harder for her to do this than it might seem because Clio had become quite comfortable in a rather seclusive, independent, and anonymous lifestyle. Yes, all of that would change, but as she had discovered... it's hard to help people if no-one knows you!

So it was that deep down, more than anything, she just wanted to give. She wanted to give back to those who had helped her become the woman she was, she wanted to provide ladders of opportunity to those marginalized by society (as she once was), and she wanted to help her people.

This is her story.