Today I played in the Sunday Storm at PokerStars – guaranteed prize pool of $1Million and 200k for 1st place.  Yowzer!  See…I originally thought to title this ‘The Growth of Poker’ but then that would mean I’d have to go into the Cinderella Story of Chris Moneymaker and the hole card cam and the World Poker Tour and 40 other things that have been hashed and bashed until I can’t stand to think of them anymore.  And more appropriately, what this is about is the fact that the prize pools and the pots are super gi-normous now and they just keep growing.

Apparently it’s never going to end until there’s one big pot that will signify who will control the world and everyone else will be broke so the little, teensy 5c/10c games – or better yet, matchsticks – will  start and things will be back like they were years ago when the ordinary poker player could stand the backlash of a losing session.

The Sunday Storm had 113,770 entries, and of course went way the hell over the guarantee to a prize pool of $1,137,700 but who didn’t know that would happen?  A rock in a cave possibly, but everyone else knew that most of us would be there trying to win a piece of something.  I went out within the first hour, no need to tell a poker story so I won’t.  My boy Dan made it into the 2nd payout level, of $34.13 meaning he was in the 4,042nd to 8,325th tier.  Damn!  Wish he’d have gotten way deep with it.

I’ve been watching the tournament lobby and the table with the chip leader off and on as I did some work, they are now down to 25 players where they receive $1,137.70 for sure.  First place is worth $210,531.74…all of that from an $11 buy-in or possibly less if they used FPPs or satellited in.  Totally frigging amazing ain’t it?

What brought all of this to mind – the Growth of Pot-s – is that I have a stack of pictures I’m getting ready to post for the Montana Days where a points tournament ran (for who knows how long) at the OX to get a seat – or rather get dealt into one hand – to win a car back in 1980.  Shake the dice Baby!  I hadn’t started dealing yet when the ‘one hand tournament’ kicked off but I was there to take some pictures.

First to note is the scientific way the draw was done – from a cowboy hat; second to note is the chalk board on the wall, that was how the points score was done – guess no one ever cheated in those days?  The guy with the hat and green, Eddie Johns (who knows if that’s how his last name is spelled?), leather jacket always called himself Fabulous (so did we), drawing the names from the hat, Roy Whitt (poker manager? or assistant manager of the OX? or?).

Lining up to draw from the hat

The ladies waiting to draw, the woman in white was Faye White – wife of Whitey – she didn’t play poker but Whitey did and he couldn’t make it for the ‘one hand tournament’ so she was allowed to take his hand.  And I believe the first woman on the left in the picture was there for the same reason but I’m not sure.  Linda S. , the one in the middle, was a play til you drop player and earned every point she ever won.

The Sunday Storm is down to 10 players, and I’m down to zero in my energy reserve tank.  Laters.