We get so caught up in the action here at the Rio that we forget it’s not the only game in town. With the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event starting up today, some big names sauntered into the Amazon Room, including Chip Reese and Sam Farha. I had yet to see either of them during my time here, which begs the question: where the heck have they been? Playing in high-stakes cash games, of course, mostly in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

I caught up with Farha briefly before he sat down to play in today’s tournament. Despite big losses playing Brian Townsend heads-up at $1,000/$2,000 pot-limit Omaha, he seemed in good spirits. He told me he’d lost some big pots in bizarre ways, the worst of the bunch coming when he flopped three aces against Townsend’s three kings and lost to a flush. Farha hasn’t been the only one to get victimized by Townsend’s hot streak at the tables. He is reported to have also taken on Brandon Adams, Rafi Amit, David Benyamine, Patrick Antonius, Johnny Chan, and Bobby Baldwin, and in the end he finished up $1.8 million.

During his hot streak Townsend has made very few bad decisions. He’s begged off playing when he has felt tired, opting to get a good’s night’s sleep instead. He stays at the table when he’s playing well and he gets up when he’s running bad. He also took the money and ran, leaving town as soon as he felt burnt out. The only thing he has done wrong is talk a little too much shit about his opponents at the Bellagio on his blog online, including cutting lines like, “Most famous poker players are not very good and overrated.” Some of these players aren’t very happy about this, but at least with Townsend’s departure they’ve started showing up at the Rio again.