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Despite what many people think, tournament poker did exist before Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 WSOP. I’ll be the first to tell you how important Chris’ win was for the poker world; but with or without the huge TV coverage, tournaments would still be played around the world every day.
Back in 1999, I considered myself one of the best players in the Atlanta area. I was rounding the games about town like Mike McDermott and Worm – well, more like Mike; I never learned how to cheat. I had made numerous trips to Biloxi, MS, to test my skills against better players, but my win-rate was so much better when I stayed home. I was probably playing four days a week and making a respectable living pounding on guys that had been playing poker for years.
Mark Wilds, a long time friend, had been beating up on the poker around the country and was making his annual visit to the WSOP. He talked me into flying out there for a few days and giving it a run at a few tournaments. I had only been to Vegas once before, flying out there with a whopping $1,200. I had dropped my bags off at the Imperial Palace, hopped in the first available cab, and headed down to the infamous Binion’s Horseshoe. I couldn’t believe my eyes – the most prestigious poker tournament in the world is being played in this place? Smoke was everywhere and it was darker than the darkest pool hall I had ever set foot in. I made my way to a $20/$40 game and took my appropriate seat (every player in the game was jockeying for position on this kid that they had never seen). To cut a long and painful story short, I lost $1,000 in that game, and I was scheduled to be there for four more days! Luckily, that was back in the days of $2.99 steak dinners. So instead of making my mark on Vegas, I was stuck playing $1/$2 the rest of my trip.
Now back to 1999. I booked my room and flight and was ready to make my second trip to Vegas. I’d met a few people in Biloxi, so it’s not like I didn’t know anyone: I had a few friends out there. Once there, I tried to get a good first night’s sleep, but as many of you know, that’s virtually impossible. There was way too much action for me to sleep. I played poker, blackjack, video poker. Shit, I think I even tried some roulette. Somewhere along the way I made a date to play golf with a guy at 6am. That way we could make it back to the tournament by noon to play some poker. As you can guess, gambling all night and playing golf all morning don’t equal a winning poker strategy.
I was knocked out of the tournament pretty quickly that day and went straight to my room for some much needed sleep. After grabbing 15 hours, I was ready for war when I made my way from the Golden Nugget over to Binion’s. As I scanned the tournament room, I noticed a final table list on the wall from all of the tournaments that had been played so far. I saw these pictures all over the place of guys that I had never heard of before: John Esposito, Eskimo Clark, David Grey, Tom Franklin. All of them had won tournaments leading up to my event. I had no clue who they were, but I knew I wanted my picture up there.
I was playing the best poker of my life and was showing an amazing amount of aggression that these people had never seen before. With ten players left, the pressure was setting in. I thought to myself, “I can’t believe I’m about to make a final table at the World Series of Poker. DON’T SCREW IT UP.”
We finally finished play and I was going to the final table, fourth in chips. The most money I had ever had at one time in my life was about $20,000, and now I was playing for $200,000. I remember sitting in my room at 2am and calling my best friend (remember he’s in Atlanta and it’s 5am). This was before the days of live updates, and he had no clue what was going on. I told him the news and he was as excited as I was. I tried to get some sleep, but really just lay there staring at the ceiling, wondering what was in store for me.
I arrived for the final table about 30 minutes early and picked up a chip count report to see who I was playing with. Remember, it didn’t really matter; I didn’t know anyone out there. There was some guy named Howard Lederer, one named John Juanda, another guy named Humberto Brenes. And a guy named Farzad Bonyadi. The only name I knew was Tom Franklin. And that was because he was on the friggin’ wall behind me, for winning an event earlier in the month. I sat down without a care in the world and played with the heart that had gotten me to where I am today. I didn’t care about losing; I was on a complete freeroll. I mean, after all, who goes to Vegas and wins money anyway?
I remember it being a Thursday night, because my girlfriend, her name was Angela (yes, the same amazing woman that I am married to now, seven years later), was making her first trip out to Vegas to spend the weekend with me. This was way back in the Stone Age before everyone carried cell phones. We were down to four players and took a break. I called her in the room, hoping she had checked in, because I wanted her to come watch this clinic I was putting on. After all, we had been together less than a year and I wanted to impress her. She finally made her way to the gallery after about an hour of wandering aimlessly and asking unknowing employees where the final table was.
Sparing you guys the boring hand-by-hand details, I put on a clinic. I raised hand after hand and remember the tournament director telling the stands “Well, Josh raises again.” I was having the time of my life and was happy that Angela could come sweat me. I went on to win the tournament and, somewhere along the way, I won the heart of my future wife and love of my life.
For all you guys out there who came along after Binion’s and after the big poker boom, we all owe a debt of gratitude for many different things here in the poker world. I’m not sure if it’s Chris Moneymaker, internet poker, or Steve Lipscomb and the WPT. And hopefully, on your next journey to win a bracelet or a WPT tournament, you won’t have to weed your way through a final table filled with Lederers and Juandas.
Good luck in your journey to win that World Series of Poker bracelet. It’s the trophy that we all want and something that can never be taken away. Play your best and treat the game with respect. We are all extremely lucky to be in such a great poker environment these days. Let’s not blow it.
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