In 2 1/2 hours, I'll be sitting in a chair, waiting for some poker celebrity to say "gentleman, start your engines," or whatever it is they say. At that moment, I will cease being a poker player who has never played in The Main Event. It is entirely possible, likely really, that I have paid $10,000 dollars, for what a reasonable person could fairly describe as 'nothing.'
But, we don't do such things for the percentages, do we? By 'we' I mean recreational players who take such shots at Big Things, knowing full well that our place in the food chain is "prize fund," but we try just the same. 'We' are people who know the odds, but choose to do anyway. Do 'we' expect victory? No, we don't. We jump in, clear-eyed and enthusiastic, in the face of imminent demise for many reasons, none of which withstand any amount of objective scrutiny, but all of which matter deeply on some level, and all of which can be distilled to a tired, but so, so wonderfully perfect cliché.
What if?
But first, breakfast.