Dave's WSOP Adventure May 4
I will be posting updates here over the next three and one half weeks. This is the first instalment.
May 4, 2004
As of today, my $10,000 entry has been wire transferred to Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas. I have been preparing to lose $10K “in the blink of an eye†for over a year. Recently, however, I became concerned that the Championship might actually sell out. They will accommodate 2000 players for sure and maybe as many as 2200. So far, however, the WSOP has been generating record size fields and there is a very real possibility that the main event will actually sell out. Pokerstars.com alone is sending 250 players! Add to that all of the other online entries plus the huge interest that has been generated by television this year’s WSOP will be beyond what any of us dreamed even as recently as two years ago.
Not to worry. I am in. My seat is reserved. I cannot be bumped.
The other perk is that the WSOP office takes care of all the grunt work in advance of my arrival. Rather than standing in the registration line I will go straight to the “pre-registered†line upon arrival. I am told by people in LV that the lines can be LONG so this will be a significant saving of time. That means, of course, more time at the tables!
In a great stroke of luck I have just had the best ever weekend of online poker I have ever had. I took 2nd in a $100 buy-in 150 player tournament on Pokerstars. As that tournament wrapped up I was the chip leader in a Pokerstars WSOP satellite but I busted before the seat was given away (paid $650 though). On top of these modest tournament wins I have been KILLING the 5-10 short handed games on PartyPoker. I mean KILLING. I have made $5000 in the last three weeks.
I have one remaining more “major†tournament test with which to prepare. On Sunday morning I will be getting up early and driving to Edmonton for the Yellowhead Casino tournament. I drive home on Monday.
My flight to Las Vegas is booked for May 20. I am booked to return home on May 25. Luck of the laughing Buddha be with me and I will be forced to revise my travel plans to come home on May 29 or 30 (since the event doesn’t actually end until the 28th). If I have to change my flight it means I am in the money. That will be OK. I was planning on taking a bankroll (in addition to the WSOP buy-in) of $3K. I have upped that amount to $5K because of recent success. That still leaves my with enough at home to keep me well in the game and tooling up for the 2005 WSOP.
Driving to work this morning I was reflecting on all of this. I will be taking $15K USD to Vegas with me. That’s $20,500 Canadian. I am perfectly prepared to come home COMPLETELY busted. Weird. Only poker players, it seems to me, understand it when I say: “It’s not money.†Because it’s not money, it’s poker chips. It is an artificial tool that I use to gamble. “Money†is the stuff that I earn at work and use to pay my bills and support my children. “Poker bankroll†is not money in that sense. If I wasn’t putting it into action it would simply sit in a bank account. It’s not for food and other trivialities of life. It’s for poker. It’s the challenge and the adrenalin rush of playing in the biggest game I’ve got the guts to climb into.
May 4, 2004
As of today, my $10,000 entry has been wire transferred to Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas. I have been preparing to lose $10K “in the blink of an eye†for over a year. Recently, however, I became concerned that the Championship might actually sell out. They will accommodate 2000 players for sure and maybe as many as 2200. So far, however, the WSOP has been generating record size fields and there is a very real possibility that the main event will actually sell out. Pokerstars.com alone is sending 250 players! Add to that all of the other online entries plus the huge interest that has been generated by television this year’s WSOP will be beyond what any of us dreamed even as recently as two years ago.
Not to worry. I am in. My seat is reserved. I cannot be bumped.
The other perk is that the WSOP office takes care of all the grunt work in advance of my arrival. Rather than standing in the registration line I will go straight to the “pre-registered†line upon arrival. I am told by people in LV that the lines can be LONG so this will be a significant saving of time. That means, of course, more time at the tables!
In a great stroke of luck I have just had the best ever weekend of online poker I have ever had. I took 2nd in a $100 buy-in 150 player tournament on Pokerstars. As that tournament wrapped up I was the chip leader in a Pokerstars WSOP satellite but I busted before the seat was given away (paid $650 though). On top of these modest tournament wins I have been KILLING the 5-10 short handed games on PartyPoker. I mean KILLING. I have made $5000 in the last three weeks.
I have one remaining more “major†tournament test with which to prepare. On Sunday morning I will be getting up early and driving to Edmonton for the Yellowhead Casino tournament. I drive home on Monday.
My flight to Las Vegas is booked for May 20. I am booked to return home on May 25. Luck of the laughing Buddha be with me and I will be forced to revise my travel plans to come home on May 29 or 30 (since the event doesn’t actually end until the 28th). If I have to change my flight it means I am in the money. That will be OK. I was planning on taking a bankroll (in addition to the WSOP buy-in) of $3K. I have upped that amount to $5K because of recent success. That still leaves my with enough at home to keep me well in the game and tooling up for the 2005 WSOP.
Driving to work this morning I was reflecting on all of this. I will be taking $15K USD to Vegas with me. That’s $20,500 Canadian. I am perfectly prepared to come home COMPLETELY busted. Weird. Only poker players, it seems to me, understand it when I say: “It’s not money.†Because it’s not money, it’s poker chips. It is an artificial tool that I use to gamble. “Money†is the stuff that I earn at work and use to pay my bills and support my children. “Poker bankroll†is not money in that sense. If I wasn’t putting it into action it would simply sit in a bank account. It’s not for food and other trivialities of life. It’s for poker. It’s the challenge and the adrenalin rush of playing in the biggest game I’ve got the guts to climb into.
Comments
ScottyZ
Look forward to seeing you play in Edmonton...although I won't be playing I will be there watching...and working
Best of Luck
Play your game, think straight, and get us all signed Shana Hiatt posters.
Seriously though, have an awesome time, take some pictures, write a diary and good luck Dave.
sounds good
i look fwd to hearing more about Dave's tourney experience
and Good Luck Dave
Having just returned from Vegas, I completely understand what you mean about being totally prepared to lose great sums of 'cash', without a second thought. I think you need to keep your poker money out of your 'real' money, and you obviously think so too. If the two started to mix (I'd imagine) I wouldn't be able to play my best game.
Poker is strange.
What games do you plan on playing in besides the Main Event? (If you have time). With a bankroll like the one you're bringing, will you be playing in any of the 30/60 or 40/80 games? Or do you plan to use some of that for smaller tourneys, if the opportunity presents itself?
Congrats on your recent online success...
Regards,
all_aces
Tournament as well...
Course, plan "A" is still to be deep in the main event and have no time.
A million bucks would be a nice infusion to the Canadian game.
lol
Go Dave Go!
Kev