I have been inspired by the epic trip reports of
MooreMoney19
BMoreTLC
leo doc
If you haven’t read these you must.
PRELUDE:
A little bit of personal background -- as I am not your typical 2+2er (or maybe I am -- can we ever really be sure who lurks behind these clever screen names?). I am a 38 year-old school teacher with four kids (2 of my own and two steps) and a wife. I have been playing poker for 7 years, but seriously for only about 4. I am by no means a professional as will soon be apparent, but I am an enthusiast that can make a little income on the side while pursuing his hobby.
My trip report actually started months ago as I decided to try to win a seat into the WSOP Main Event. This is pretty crazy considering I’ve never played a major live tournament before. My play is almost exclusively online and even then I stick to SNG’s ($26 - $216) or if I play MTTs I try to satellite into any buy-in over $50-$60 dollars. I have the bankroll to buy-in bigger, but I’m just a huge bankroll nit and figure if I’m not good enough to satellite into the $216 buy-in MTTs then I shouldn’t play them.
I played the steps tourneys on FullTilt. I started up the ladder. I went up. I went down. I went out. I started over. The first time I worked a step 2 ($8.70) up to level 7 ($2100). I waited three days until I was in the right mindset to go for it. I was sufficiently rested and ready to go, the kids were in bed, my wife was in bed, I settled in on the couch with my laptop, turned the TV off, registered and it didn’t go well.
First hand I called an early position raise from the button with 89 suited (clubs). The flop came 9 high with one club. 1st position cbets. I call. Turn is a J of clubs. 1st position bets. I shove. He shows two red Aces. River blanks. I lasted one hand. Out in 9th place. I’m stupid.
The way these things work at step 7 is that first place wins a $12K package for the main event. 2nd and 3rd place remain at step 7 and get to try again. 4th – 6th place drop back down to step 6. But places 7 – 9 are SOL. Why was I even playing the first hand? Why didn’t I just call the turn? I didn’t get to level 7 pushing on the first hand. Uhg! Oh well. Lesson learned. Back to the grind with a promise that next time I would be more patient.
The second time was a charm. I quickly worked another step 2 up to step 7. I made sure I was in the right frame of mind (patient) and I registered for the step 7. I think I basically folded until the first two people were knocked out. Then it was game on. We played 7 handed for a long time with no one distancing themselves from the pack as the blinds increased. Then finally number 7 was eliminated. We were all assured of at least staying on the ladder. It felt like 10 hands later we were 3 handed. Now it was serious. My wife walked through the room and I said, “Hey Babe, I am two people away from a Main Event Ticket.”
She replied, “That’s nice.”
Two hands later we are heads up. “I say, Babe, I’m heads up for a Main Event Ticket. You want to come watch?”
Wearily she sighs, “OK.’’ Hand #6 of heads-up I find AA on the button. I raise. My opponent reraises and I decide to only call. Flop comes AKQ rainbow. He bets. I raise. He reraises. I started to shake and my wife says, “I think you have a tell.”
Sweat is beading up on my brow as I say, “Surely he doesn’t have J10.” I close my eyes and go all in. I hear the click of his computerized call and quickly open my eyes to see his KK. Set over set! I try to think of how I can lose this. I know doom is coming. The turn blanks. I feel like time stands still as the dealer pauses and waits for the ESPN cameras to come over to film the carnage (that is called foreshadowing). River blanks and there is no big cheer, not flashing lights or sirens. It was all very anti-climatic. I look at the screen not quite believing it. I turn to my wife and say, “I think we are going to Vegas.”
She says, “Cool.” Then goes to bed. I quickly rushed to Facebook to update my status “I just won my World Series of Poker Main Event Seat!!!!!!!!!!
We're going to Vegas!!!”
But, not so fast. It turns, out the way this works is that you have to withdraw the money from the site and then send it to the WSOP. So the cash is actually in my bank account. I have access to it. $12K represents my biggest win to date. Prior to this were sng’s and some small mtts with a few scores in the $5-7K range. 12K can go a long way in our household. With four kids and a house that needs a bit of work, I all of the sudden felt guilty and a bit irresponsible to put this kind of money at risk. When I thought of it as a ticket, it was a no brainer, but with the cash in bank, I had a very tough decision to make. I thought, no big deal, I’ll just win another seat. Then I will play one and cash the other and do stuff for the family.
Back to the grind with plenty of time to go. I played the steps and some mega satellites to no avail. The stress of the decision and not being able to win a second seat were affecting my play and my general well being. I was pressing and not playing my game. I wasn’t sleeping well. I was not myself. Then with about a month to go before the ME, my wife said, “Just go for it. We didn’t have the money before and we made do, so don’t worry about it. This is something you have always wanted to do, so do it. It’s a once in a lifetime chance.”
To which I reply, “I hope not.” I still felt some guilt over the decision, but I wired the money to the Rio and vowed to spend the next four weeks studying and honing my game so that I was prepared to play my absolute best. I also decided to sell off some of my action as a bit of an insurance policy. I sent out an email to some of my friends offering 1% shares of my buy-in. My wife thought, “no one would do that.” I figured if I sold off 10% then if I didn’t cash at least I would still have a $1K score. It turned out the response from my friends was overwhelming. I quickly had 19% sold and now felt even more pressure to do well. I didn’t want to let down those who so readily believed in me.
As an online guy I don’t get to play deep stacked too often. I knew that if I didn’t spend some time studying deep-stacked situations I would be a true FISH out of water. So I got onto 2+2 and found other resources and read. I also posted a question asking for specific advice for a rookie with almost no live tournament experience. As always the 2+2 community was willing to help.
There were two other things I did specifically to prepare.
1. I made a vow not to let up on my exercise routine. I religiously went to the gym every morning. I figured “sound body = sound mind” (I also had an ulterior motive as my 20th high school reunion was two months out and I had too look good, right?). I wanted to arrive in Vegas in tip-top physical condition, just in case at the last minute they decided to just let us wrestle for the title. (as a former collegiate wrestler I like my chances vs the field – have you seen some of these guys – Poker players get in shape!).
2. I had to get some hours of live play under my belt. The nearest casino to me is about an hour and a quarter away. I made three separate trips up and logged at least 10 hours straight playing cash games. I tried to put myself into some deep-stacked situations, I worked on making moves in position, I forced myself to make some bluffs, and I made sure I could call and fold in marginal spots. I worked on reading live tells and tried to determine what tells I might have. I approached this like training camp. I left nothing to chance. I wanted to be sure I had the stamina and focus to play long sessions. There were times when I hated my table, but instead of changing, I made myself adjust (bc I wouldn’t be able to change from a bad table at the tourney). There were other times when I had my table pretty well figured out and I made a change just to challenge myself to figure out a whole new group of people. I made a little bit of money along the way, but more importantly I wanted to be comfortable at the table.
In the last few days leading up to our flight, I focused on my diet and workout, reread what I had found to be the most helpful articles, posts, and chapters, and just tried to get into a positive mindset. I was nervous. My family and friends were wishing me well and telling me I was going to do great, but in my mind I translated their words into, “Ok, now I’ve given you money, don’t go donk it off.” My wife was saying, “you’ll do fine.” Which I translated into, “we should have used that money to paint the house and take the family on a cruise.”
Also I was listening to the 2+2 Pokercast podcast and ESPN Poker podcast and hearing how in event after event all these top pros were failing to even cash. And I thought, “What was I thinking? If these guys who do this for a living can’t cash playing event after event, what chance do I have.” It even crossed my mind to get out there and withdraw. The wife and I could just turn it into a mini vacation a maybe I could play in a few of the Venetian Deepstacks events or nightly deepstacks at the Rio just to get a bit of the WSOP experience. My friends and family would understand, it would be the more prudent decision, especially from someone who was so conservative with his bankroll. But …but…by this time I had a lot of people excited along with me about it. I wanted to live the dream and have them all come along with me. It was July 6th and we were flying out the next morning to play in Day 1C of the 2010 WSOP Main Event!
If you like this I'll keep posting....
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