I won my seat to my first Main Event in a PokerStars $650 multi-table satellite a couple of weeks ago. I actually parlayed some of my Frequent Player Points into the tournament dollars I used to enter the satellite, so I’m on a giant freeroll. Did I mention ?
My father thought I should have just pocketed the $11K instead of playing in the tournament, and strictly speaking that’s probably the smart thing to do, what with my not having a regular job and my impending move to my own place. Couldn’t do it, though. I don’t want to look back 10 years from now and regrest that I didn’t take a shot when I had the chance, and it’s not like I’m dead money in the tournament – I really am pretty good at this poker thing. (Also, my mother bragged to the whole family that I was playing in the championship, so I feel like I’d be stuck with the decision even if I didn’t want to go).
So, any other dopers going this year? (I’ll be staying at the Flamingo from 5/5 through 5/13 if anyone wants to meet up, or even split the room). Anyone else been there in previous years? If so, what was it like? Anyone have any questions about the process, or what it’s like to be a semi-pro poker player? I’ll be here all week.
5/5 to 5/13? I think you missed it Even 6/5 to 6/13, I guess, too…
Anywho, a doper Aholibah won a seat last year (PokerStars.com) and a few of us went out to experience that (Thanks for the hat and shirts, A!). Capa84 was there as well, but we never met up with him.
Good luck, Aholibah went out in day 1 and Capa84 went a bit deeper, maybe day 3. Aholibah started a blog to document her WSOP experience, I don’t have the bookmark anymore.
Yeah, they purposefully moved it up so that it would be a few degrees cooler for the ME. Also, there’s a big poker tent at the Rio for the WSOP, and they’ve been having air conditioning issues – some players had to play in 100 degree heat the other day, apparently.
I’ve always been aware that people played poker, but when you say a “world series”, that implies to me a typical spectator-sport setup, with champions and sponsors and all that. Am I misinterpreting things?
Ahh, I see now. World Series of Poker. It’s just an annual series of high stakes poker tournaments. There are spectators when the tournaments get down to the end, and of course it’s aired on ESPN, so in those regards it’s like a sport. In every other regard, not so much.
Well, i wish you all the best, but just remember, there’s going to be about 5,000 other people at the tournament who are also convinced that they aren’t dead money, and that they are “pretty good at this poker thing.”
Personally, despite the fact that i could really do with 10 grand right now, if someone offered me a seat in the main event i’d still take it over the money because, like you, i’d always wonder what might have been.
ETA:
By the way, what’s happened to online Poker in the US? I thought that some legislation last year had effectively shut it down, or at least closed it off to US players, but you seem to have won your entry online.
I’ve never played poker, so why would I have? I did see a televised poker game one night while I was on a treadmill at the gym, so I was aware that some people valued it enough to televise it, and I guess that’s where I got the idea that poker was becoming a spectator sport.
:: reads link ::
It goes back a lot further than I thought! Thanks! That’s another corner of the world that I didn’t know existed.
Of course, and I know I’ll hardly be one of the best players there. In fact, between the world-class players and all the other experienced online grinders, I may well be (barely) on the ugly side of the median. That’s ok.
Playing poker online is still legal. The recently passed legislation (tacked on to the Port Security bill by Frist) essentially mandated a set of banking regulations that make it illegal for U.S. financial institutions to transfer funds to online gambling sites. Some poker sites (they’re all located off-shore) have responded by voluntarily pulling out of the U.S. market (including PartyPoker, formerly the largest). Neteller also stopped serving the U.S., but the Justice Department nevertheless seized, IIRC, $70M from Neteller, including about $3K of my own money. In theory that money will eventualy get back to it’s rightful owners, but I’m not holding my breath.
Got off on a bit of a tangent there. Long story short, online poker is hardly dead in the U.S. – it’s just a little bit tougher to tranfer funds into and out of the sites.
I have to warn you, though, I’ve heard nothing but complaints about how the tourneys are being run this year. Evidently they decided to open registration for all the tournaments at the same time this year. I have a bunch of friends that played in the Casino Employees event (best finisher was 199) and they said they had to turn a couple HUNDRED players away from that tourney. The lines were so huge some couldn’t make the registration deadline for the Employees event.
And they’re not gaining any points with the new cards fiasco and the problems they’ve had with tables in alternate rooms.
Yeah, I’ve heard a lot of complaints as well. I don’t forsee a problem with registration – I’m arriving the day before the tourney, and registration is open 24/7, so I’ll just go at four in the morning. (Their preregristration system is all messed up, so I guess I’m carrying ~$16K in my pocket all the way to Vegas.)
On the other hand, I have no doubt that I’m getting stuck at the crappiest alternate table imaginable. Like, say, a barely air conditioned tent on a 110 degree day.
So, in a compromise with common sense, I decided to move up my trip by one week and play in several smaller events instead of the $10K main event. This gives me a much better chance of turning some kind of profit in Vegas, and even if I crap out of every tournament I enter, it will still (probably) be cheaper than crapping out of just the ME. And if I happen to score a considerable cash in one of the smaller tournaments (say, $30K-$40K), I can always stick around for the big one.
Anyway, I was supposed to leave this morning on a 6:55 AM flight. I was going to leave here at 4:45 and, despite being seriously sleep deprived, I was literally too excited to sleep – first time that’s happened to me in years, possibly since the Christmas Eves of my childhood.
So I’m in the kitchen at 3:00 AM making a hearty snack, intended to tide me over until I get to Vegas, when (of course) my cell phone rings. It’s an automated message from JetBlue, informing me that my flight has been cancelled. FUCK!!! I’ve now been on hold for almost an hour with their reservations desk. If I can’t get out some time today, I’m going to be royally fucking pissed the fuck off (moreso, I mean), since the event I’m most interested in playing is at noon on Friday.
And we’re now crossing the 80 minute mark on hold. I’m slowly but surely losing my mind.
I’m sorry for the double post, but I just wanted it on record: if my posts in the near future betray the fact that I’m suddenly and profoundly insane, would someone here please do me a solid and get the ball rolling on a lawsuit against JetBlue to cover my asylum-related medical expenses? (Remember, I’m a poker player: the money’s good, but the health plan leaves a lot to be desired.)
ETA: Some sample lyrics from the music while on hold with JetBlue. . .
Even 6/5 to 6/13, I guess, too…