Just got a great email from Ron from Texas. The news is so great – it had to go here:
*begin email*
Well…….
I’ll. Be. Damned.
I am going to the Show.
Last night, I was playing on Party Poker and at the last second, I decided to join a $215 buy-in tourney giving away WSOP packages. The entry fee was a little steep and with a little under 300 players entered, the tourney was giving away 5 seats to this year’s World Series of Poker.
Party Poker will pay the $10K seat, give the winner’s $1000 for spending money and free hotel (MGM Grand) during one’s stay at the WSOP.
In my usual intellectual manner, I said to myself “Should I do this? Well, what the f***!”
So doing this is exactly what I did.
When the smoke cleared, I was the chipleader when the final 5 players survived and got the package.
How? Well, two pieces of luck:
*
In the first hour, some person raised in front of me. I went all-in with about 2/3 of my starting chips remaining. Raiser calls. Raiser – AA. Me – JJ. Jack on the door on the flop. Ron doubles up.
*
At beginning of 3rd hour, I was middle of the pack with about T30,000, maybe 80 players left. Raiser goes to 2,000. I re-raised to 7,000. 3rd person all-in with 10K or so. Raiser calls, I call. Flop has little cards. Raiser goes all in, I call.
Raiser – KK, Me – AA, 3rd person – QQ. Jack on the turn. Blank on the river. Our Hero becomes the chipleader.
The next two hours, I play solid. I try to get into the pot if I felt I was ahead. When blinds and antes go up, I raise accordingly to steal.
Felt good all the way until the end. Short stacks started making moves on final table. Other tablemates busted them. At the end of the day, I still have 30-40K chip lead on 2nd place.
The weird part is when I am done, when I finally realize a small personal dream that I could go the WSOP on ==somebody’s else dime==, I did not get too crazy.
I did a screenprint when I exited tourney (I went out in the 4th place because after the remaining 5 realized there was nothing else to gain, we went all-in to get it over) and printed it out (attached above).
Then as I turned off the computer and had turn off the light switch, I felt a small smile on my face and a whisper to myself as the room fell to darkness….
” …. I am going to The Show …”
That quiet moment felt pretty good.
Now, that being said, if someone just handed me the $11,000, I would lean towards paying some stuff and order a large pizza.
However, it looks like you get a seat & the package so…..
No cash, no pizza, no excuses.
I hear the faint music of poker at the Rio in July.
Guess I gotta dance….
So from playing 2/4 at the Bellagio with you in March just weeks ago, I will be asking Phil Hellmuth to quit crying at the 2006 WSOP when I bust him.
If he whines about a river catch by our Hero in July and why would I chase some flush to the end, I will look Hellmuth calmly in the eye and say the words that put me in this predicament:
“Hey Phil, sometimes you have to say ‘What the f***'”.
Thanks again immensely for our time together early this month. I got hot again at Caesars on the morning that I left and pulled out a $200 win for the trip (being several hundred down when I walked into the place a few hours before [Thank you drunk frat boys – God love them]).
Saw your photos at Caesars; good job at breaking casino security laws AGAIN!!
Anyhow, hope to hear from you down the road. I will be reading about your adventures as usual.
Hope to start my own adventure in July.
— Ron
*end email*
Get in gear people, there are all kinds of opportunities to go to the show. Check out the links from PokerWorks main page to Online Poker Sites, great deals, and great opportunities.