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Imagine this: The phone rings and I answer. The voice on the other line asks, “May I please speak with Matthew Parvis?” “Speaking,” I say.
To this point there is nothing uncommon — I get a lot of phone calls from people I don’t know. Usually they are looking to write in the magazine, or have a question or some sort of feedback to throw my way. This time I was shocked by the next sentence: “We would like to offer you a spot on Team Bodog for the World Series of Poker Main Event this year. Are you interested?”
“Very funny,” I say. “Who put you up to this?” I thought for sure someone was playing a prank on me or, better yet, maybe I hadn’t awakened from my previous night’s dream state. After prodding and asking numerous questions, I was able to rule out a prank or a dream, and I was even able to negate the possibility of a druginduced hallucination. I was really being offered a shot to play in the World Series of Poker.
I was fortunate enough to play in the Main Event in 2005, after winning a seat through the very magazine at which I am now employed, but that was well before I had a career in poker. After covering the WSOP the past two years and being so close to all the action, you could have bet me a lot of money that I wouldn’t have the chance to play in any of the upcoming WSOP Main Events. I just don’t have the time to dedicate to the vigorous world of satelliting my way to the WSOP. Well, somehow someone up above was looking out for me and sent Bodog my way.
This summer I will be joining the likes of Josh Arieh, David Williams, Jean-Robert Bellande, and Evelyn Ng, as well as a number of internet qualifi ers, in donning the red and black Team Bodog apparel. What does Bodog have in store for us? Well, they haven’t said yet, but if the past few years are an example, I am eagerly looking forward to the experience.
Two years ago, Bodog transformed a conference room in the RIO into a swank nightclub, with food, a stocked bar, and of course the beautiful Bodog girls. There were a number of lounges in the RIO in ’06, but none lived up to the experience of Team Bodog. After Jamie Gold won the bracelet, the crowd streamed into the lounge where, even after hours and hours of play, everyone seemed alive and ready to party. Although we didn’t get a taste of the money, we all got to sip champagne like champions.
Last year, due to some changes in policies, the online sites were unable to have lounges in the RIO, but that didn’t stop Bodog from taking care of their players. Bodog introduced the Bodog Bus, a luxury party bus that was available to Team Bodog at all times. The bus featured fl at-screen TVs, food, drinks, and the incomparable Bodog girls, who on top of being super hot, took care of Team Bodog players with complimentary neck and shoulder massages.
Needless to say I am pretty psyched to be playing in this year’s Main Event. I know that it doesn’t really matter how well I perform at the tables, because Bodog will make me, along with everyone else who qualifi es for the WSOP through Bodog, feel like we have already won the event. I’ll be sure to keep everyone up to date on my blog at www.bluffmagazine.com, as well as recapping my Main Event victory in the September issue of BLUFF.
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