WSOP originally took place in the wonderfully named Binions

DENVER -- The Atlanta Braves scored early and often and they needed nearly every one of those runs to beat the Colorado Rockies. Andrelton Simmons hit his first career grand slam as part of a seven-run first inning, and the Braves held on to beat Colorado 13-10 on Tuesday night. Evan Gattis had a home run among his three hits and Freddie Freeman also homered for the Braves, who had season-highs of 16 hits and 13 runs but had to sweat out a win in the late innings. "Nothing surprises me in this ballpark," Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Ive been in this office in the same situation with a loss hanging over your head." The teams combined for 29 hits and neither starter made it out of the fifth inning. Rockies right-hander Juan Nicasio lasted just 3 2-3 innings and Atlantas Mike Minor left after giving up two hits to start the fifth. David Hale (2-0) pitched 2 1-3 innings of relief for the win. "I wasnt making quality pitches early on and later on I felt like I was making better pitches and couldnt get out of a jam," Minor said. "They were scoring all night." The Rockies trailed 13-9 when reliever Jordan Walden walked the bases loaded with no outs in the eighth. One out later Shae Simmons came on and allowed a sacrifice fly by Justin Morneau but then struck out Josh Rutledge to end the threat. Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save in 21 chances. "Kimbrel was great," Gonzalez said. "We score seven in the first inning and we needed a shutdown inning." Nicasio had a scary moment when he deflected a line drive by Justin Upton with his glove in the bottom of the first. Nicasio fractured his neck and sustained a concussion when he was hit in the head by a line drive on Aug. 5, 2011. He missed the rest of his rookie season. "That was scary. You definitely look at his past history and know what happened," shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. "Its something you dont want to see. But Juan is a tough kid. I think hes really over that." The Braves also had a scare when Upton gingerly ran the bases in the first. Gonzalez removed him from the game before Atlanta took the field in the bottom of the inning. Gonzalez and Upton said it wasnt serious and he could play in the next couple of days. "I dont know how its going to feel tomorrow but Im optimistic its not anything too serious," Upton said. Wilin Rosario homered and Rutledge had three hits for Colorado, which has lost 10 of 11 and 15 of 18 to fall six games below .500. The Braves jumped on Nicasio right away. Jayson Heyward doubled then B.J. Upton tripled and scored on a groundout. Four straight singles made it 3-0 and loaded the bases for Simmons, who went deep to centre to make it 7-0. "Its a lot of fun, especially being an offensive player and being able to bat around and score a lot of runs," said Chris Johnson, who had his second straight three-hit game. "Everybodys in a good mood because everyone hit and did well." Atlanta sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning, and Colorado nearly matched it in the bottom of the frame. The Rockies scored three times on Rosarios single, Morneaus sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded walk to DJ LeMahieu Minor walked three batters and hit another and needed 38 pitches to get out of the first with a 7-3 lead. "Me and Gattis, before we walked out we said were going to act like its a 0-0 game," Minor said. "I couldnt throw a curveball for a strike. They eliminated every offspeed pitch and fastballs, I was barely missing the plate." He gave his team an 8-3 lead with an RBI single in the third but then allowed two more runs in the bottom of the inning, including a run-scoring single to Nicasio. It wasnt enough for the right-hander, who left in the fourth after solo homers by Freeman and Gattis, who scored a career-high four runs. Nicasio (5-5) allowed a career-high 10 runs and 11 hits. He has given up at least five runs and nine hits in his last three starts. His ERA has risen from 3.60 to 5.70 in the three outings, all losses. "I didnt worry about that line drive to me. I didnt do my job today," Nicasio said. "I feel bad for my team. They scored 10 runs I need to win this game." Atlanta scored three times off reliever Chad Bettis in the sixth to make it 13-8. NOTES: Gattis extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the first inning. ... Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez had a small tumour removed from his left index finger. The procedure was performed in Cleveland. ... The Braves activated Walden from the 15-day DL and optioned LHP Alex Wood to Triple-A Gwinnett. ... Atlanta RHP Julio Teheran (6-3, 1.89) will face LHP Tyler Matzek, who will make his major league debut for the Rockies on Wednesday night. Nike Vapormax Sale .com) - Jeff Teague finished with a game-high 26 points and eight assists as the Atlanta Hawks held off the Utah Jazz, 98-92, on Friday. Cheap Nike Vapormax Womens . Listen to the Raptors vs. Jazz live tonight on TSN Radio 1050 at 9pm et/6pm pt. The Raptors are 1-1 so far on the five-game junket after defeating Denver and losing to Portland. http://www.cheapvapormax.net/ . Berdych and Stepanek played all five matches when the Czechs beat Spain 3-2 in the final last November in Prague to win the countrys first title as an independent nation. Vapormax For Cheap . "I wouldnt read anything into what happened Saturday at Torrey Pines," Woods said Tuesday after an 18-hole exhibition for past winners of the Dubai Desert Classic. Cheap Nike Vapormax China . - Jordan Addesis shootout goal helped the Plymouth Whalers to a 3-2 win over the Sault Ste....is the biggest, baddest and best poker festival in the WORLD. It helps if you imagine Jeremy Clarkson saying that, in that deep gravelly voice and elongated WORLDDDDDD. The 2016 WSOP is in town - well it is if Las Vegas is your town - so first up, what is the World Series of Poker, or as it is more usually known, the WSOP?Its the poker equivalent of Wimbledon tennis, The Masters Golf, horse racings Royal Ascot or Cheltenham, snookers World Championship - all of which have a natural home. Same with the WSOP - it belongs in Las Vegas. There are mini-versions and copycat events which feed off the brand and take place in Europe and elsewhere, but they are simply not the real deal. Put simply, its the very pinnacle of poker, where the best meet the best. Its live poker, not online poker, and it takes place in Las Vegas every summer, and has done since way back in 1970.Initially, it was just one tournament, and it cost $10,000 to enter. In 1970, $10,000 was a lot of money. Come to think of it, that is a lot of money in 2016, too.Originally, there was just one tournament - the $10,000 biggie. These days, having expanded and grown over the years, it now comprises of 69 events, but the one that matters is the Main Event, or as it has become known, The Main.The 2016 WSOP commences on Wednesday 1st June, and by tradition, it starts in a very odd way - an event in which entry is restricted to casino employees. You may well wonder how that works, in the same way as we wonder how the snowplough driver gets to work after overnight snow, so youd perhaps be surprised to learn that last years renewal attracted a whopping 688 runners, and if recent trends are anything to go by, that will increase this year.Once that is out of the way, June 2nd sees the start of the well-named Colossus, which last year saw no less than 22,374 hopefuls all stumping up $565. Can you even begin to imagine the logistics of a 22,000 runner live poker event? For starters, how many chairs, tables, packs of cards, dealers and poker chips will they need?Lets look at that another way. When the dust settles, and one player remains, how many chips will he have in front of him or her? The answer is at least 110,000,000. To save you counting those noughts, thats 110 million chips. From there, it moves on, and every known format of poker has its own WSOP event, often several at different price points. You may think that poker is poker, but there is a bewildering array of formats these days. The daddy of them all, and far and away the most popular, is No Limit Holdem, aka Texas, or simply NLH. Add to that Limit Holdem, Omaha, Omaha 8 or better, Razz, 2-7 Tripple Draw Lowball, Seven Card Stud, High Low Stud, Dealers Choice, H.ddddddddddddO.R.S.E., Eight Game Mix, and a few others, and you get the idea. Then add events restricted to Ladies, Seniors, even Super Seniors, 9 handed, 8 handed, 6 handed, 4 handed, Heads Up (2 handed), and you get the picture. This is the business, where poker is defined, where we get to see the real champions.Its truly global, too - in 2015, 111 different nations were represented. Can you even name 111 different countries? In total, 103,512 players played the 2015 WSOP, and we can reasonably expect that number to increase again, as it does every year, in 2016.Quite the occasion then.Whilst the vast majority of players are regular guys like you and I, it also includes the pro players, and celebrities galore, with many stars of stage, screen and sports taking part.Historically, the big names associated with the WSOP are guys like Stu Ungar, Phil Hellmuth, Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, and, fingers crossed, if his ailing health permits, the grand-daddy of them all, Doyle Brunson.Doyle is 82 now, and a little frail, as you may expect, but when he trundles into the Rio cardroom in his mobility scooter, the place erupts. Poker is not known for deference to elders, but Doyle, aka Texas Dolly, is recognized as the most influential man in poker, and the original author of pokers most influential textbook Super System. He has 10 WSOP bracelets to his name - rather oddly, WSOP winners get a bracelet of all things, in addition to a wheelbarrow full of cash. Even more remarkably, he won the WSOP Main in successive years with the same hand, which, arguably, is one of the worst hands in poker, 10-2. On both occasions, in 76 and 77, his 10-2 became a full house, one of the very best hands in poker.The WSOP originally took place in the wonderfully named Binions Gambling Hall, and later moved across to the Rio All-Suite Hotel. Binions is Downtown, on Fremont Street, and exists to this day. Its tired and rundown, almost a health hazard in fact, but if you ever get to Las Vegas, you have to go to Binions and play a little poker, the place reeks of poker tradition and history.So there it is, the WSOP in a nutshell.If any of that tickles your fancy, Ill be there, as always, and during the coming weeks, maybe Ill send back a story or two from what is, in the world of poker, the greatest event on Earth, bar none. So bookmark this page, and the WSOP tales of derring do, or, in my case, not so derring do, will follow. Vicarious Vegas is the next best thing to being there, but really, if you can get there, you should.Remember Clarksons voice, eh? The WSOP - the greatest poker event in the WORLDDDDDD. ' ' '