Congrats! Holy hell! With a $500 dollar buy-in, you must be sure of your skills.
Do you play that kind of stakes often?
Also, I demand to know your best hand and baddest beat.
Wow. Nice. You are also apparently a master of understatement. How much do they withhold in tax on that?
I actually won a satellite into it, a $22 rebuy multitable satellite. In fact, I found that satellite so easy that I kept playing them even when I won the seat (in which case you get tournament cash, which can be used to buy into any tournament) and ended up winning 4 out of the 6 I played at $530 a pop (average investment of ~$80).
It turns out I have exceptional instincts for tournaments. I played tournaments when I was first learning poker for cheap experience, but gave them up in favor of cash games when I turned semi-pro. I only had $45 on my pokerstars account last sunday left - I decided what the hell and bought into a $20 tournament with 180 people which I then won ($1080). I used that to play a few more… I finished 6/887 on a $10 rebuy tourament ($1400) - I was pretty annoyed about that. I was the best player left, and had the big stack, but small and medium stacks doubled up on me with dominated hands several times and I was weakened pretty easily.
Then I tried the $22 rebuy satellites and played 6 of those, winning 4. So… I rarely played tournaments for the last, oh, 7 or 8 months, and when I come back, in the first week, I win 2 (one big, one small), win 4/6 satellites, and place 6/887 in another. So… I went from rarely playing tournaments to dominating a bunch - it’s apparently what I’m good at. I’ll be playing more in the future.
As for worst beats and best hands, nothing really sticks out. I think I won because no one really sucked out on me for huge amounts of chips, and I only had one major suckout. I gambled with a coin flip at one point and was crippled - 1.5k chips left when the average stack was 115k or so. I managed to win 3 hands in a row with garbage hands, and with the large antes and blinds, that built me up to about 3/5ths the average stack quickly, and from there I recovered to win. It was pretty amazing, actually - I was all but out when we were down to 18 and made an amazing comeback. The big suckout was when I had K6 against 66 when I was basically forced all in preflop - I caught a king. I made some other lucky catches, but all those hands were 3:2 dogs, so it wasn’t a huge deal.
Also, regarding taxes, they don’t withhold any, as they’re not a US-based company. I’m required to report my winnings as income at the end of the year to the IRS though.
And here I was all excited about winning $71.50 the other day…
Congratulations. I’m very happy for you, although I’d probably be quite a bit happier for you if I weren’t on a big losing streak at the moment.
Well, that’s cool. I’ve only been playing for a year, so it wasn’t all that long ago when winning $50 was a big night for me.
Ah, perhaps you’ve inspired me. I actually made some of my lost cash back today. Still down but not bleeding bucks anymore.
Of course I did get pocket KK and AA busted on consecutive hands to get washed out of a tournament today (he called a huge raise with 8-6 os and hit two pair on the flop against the KK, then held on to his K-Q os all the way to running Q-K on the turn and river to bust the Aces) so I haven’t quite turned the corner yet. Oh well, it was a free tournament so no big deal.
Any plans for the WSOP in 2005?
Possibly. Probably not the main event unless I do well at a smaller one.
If you make it on TV you have to wear a Straight Dope t-shirt.
Outstanding, SenorBeef.
Well done! and also thanks. Your thread enspired me to go gamble, and I won £500!
Hey, don’t go blaming me for doing something foolish like gambling.
That’s awesome, just awesome!
Holy k-rap! Ninety thousand smackaroons.
Have you played many “live” (in person) tournaments, or do you mostly stick to the internet? If you’ve played much live, how would you compare the two experiences?
Myself, if I ever want to win more at the home games I play in, I’m going to have to stop drinking so much damn whiskey. But I find it a lot more fun to get drunk and break even than to stay sober and win $20. 
Never played a live tournament, nothing in the area. Plan to now though. I don’t imagine the experiences will be very different - laymen tend to dramatically overestimate the role seeing the other person plays. I suppose it’s because it’s a romantic idea that hollywood has always overemphasized.
Thanks for your reply SenorBeef.
And now my update: Last night I lost forty bucks then got drunk. Ah, good times. Seriously, it sucked though. Everytime I made a hand, no one had a thing to bet on so I didn’t make any money, and everytime my weaker cards ending up hitting, some buttmonkey had bet me out pre-flop.
My world and welcome to it, neuroman. I got sucked out of a tournament Tuesday night with K-Q vs Q-Q with K-J-2 on the flop. Guy hit the 4th Q on the turn to sink me, after calling a T5400 all-in re-raise when he knew I had him beat.
Then about 15 minutes ago online after watching $20 and $30 pots flying around the table at .25-.50 and getting no cards, I finally hit a hand (K in the pocket, 9-9-K on the flop, K on the turn) and got no action. Checks all around the table until I finally bet on 5th street prompting the entire table to fold. My full house netted me exactly $1.65 after the rake.
Congrats Senor BIG SWINGING Beef!
My winnings dropped down to £300, due to more gambling. But I’ve stopped now.
Wow. Just - wow. Congrats!
I assume you have read Positively Fifth Street about how the author, James McManus, was hired by Harper’s to report on the WSOP and the murder of one of the Binion boys, and ended up at the final table in the Top 5 finishers. Great book
Also, minor note: Just as a word to the wise - clearly Senor Beef is a great player, but I have a buddy who is a “rounder” - plays regularly in a few NYC poker clubs (actually, not anymore, but did for years up until a few years ago) and he tells me that some of his friends have been hired by on-line poker sites to act as shills - they lose at the beginning to lure players in, then apply their skills to clean the rubes out. Their chips are fronted by the site, and they split their winnings with the site, but get a nice cut. Forewarned is forearmed…