There's Always Next Year
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t prepared to be writing this article. I thought for sure I would be on a whirlwind media tour by now. Flying around the country, getting interviewed, fi guring out ways to spend my $900k, and preparing to knock out the remaining eight players on my way to winning the Main Event. Oddly enough, none of that is happening. Instead, it seems like all anybody wants to talk about is Dennis Phillips and David “Chino” Rheem. Oh, and how could I forget Tiffany Michelle? She stole my thunder as well. I was supposed to be the media member turned poker superstar.
Lets rewind here. It was in May that I was invited to be a part of Team Bodog at this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event. In case you missed it, you can read all about my selection in the June issue of BLUFF. Although I was obviously excited about playing in the world’s most prestigious poker tournament, the WSOP is our busiest time of the year so my job took my mind off of things for most of the time leading up to the Big Dance. It wasn’t until the fi rst of July that reality began to set in – in just a few days, I would be on my way to fulfi lling my dream of winning the Main Event.
The fi ne people at Bodog treated me like royalty. Their WSOP kicked off with a party at the Hardwood Suite, one of the incredible fantasy suites at The Palms. If you’ve never seen or heard of it, you are missing out. The place is huge and I can’t imagine how much coin it would take if I decided to stay for a night or two. Aside from all the standard luxury amenities, the suite features a half basketball court as its centerpiece. Naturally, Charles Barkley was there, although I believe he was invited and not actually included in the nightly room rate.
If you have ever been to a poker party, you know the majority of people that attend are poker players. Now, the majority of poker players are 20- to 30-something guys. Thank goodness Bodog takes this into account while planning these things. They decided to spice up the party with 50’s-style celebrity pinup girls. There were army girls, nurses, movie stars – anything your perverse little heart desired. I think Marilyn Monroe may have even been in attendance, although next to the rest of the girls she was more of an afterthought. The party was a huge success and defi nitely got me ready to start living the Bodog lifestyle once I fi nished winning the Main Event.
Next on tap were the Bodog V.I.P. events. I was given a choice between three amazing retreats. The fi rst event was a Fourth of July spectacular involving racecars. Each person would get the opportunity to drive a Corvette around a racetrack. Since not a lot of us consider ourselves professional drivers, and therefore are probably unable to maximize our trip around the track, everyone also got to drive around the course with a true racing professional. I don’t know how fast 505 horses travel, but my guess is pretty fast.
My mind was racing when I read the fi rst choice, and I thought it was a no-brainer until I read the second choice. Guns, guns, guns was the theme. It featured a trip to a gun range and then an indoor paintball range. Everyone would get the chance to shoot four different machine guns, a twelve-gauge shotgun, and a 9mm handgun. Perfect, I thought, this would prepare me to mow down my competition in the Main Event. I had visions of myself blowing the targets to shreds with my near-perfect accuracy. It didn’t matter that I have never even held a gun, right? Maybe this isn’t such a good idea, I thought as I decided to glance down at my last option.
A V.I.P. Grand Canyon tour was the third option. “A limo takes you to a private airport,” read the fi rst line, and I thought this would be perfect practice for when I win the Main Event. I’m sure I’ll be fl ying in plenty of private jets and helicopters and take limos everywhere, right? The chopper would whiz us around Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, then proceed to take us to the fl oor of the Grand Canyon for lunch.
What a tough selection this was going to be – that is, until I remembered that on top of being a Bodog V.I.P., I was still editor in chief of the world’s largest poker magazine during poker’s busiest time. Since the helicopter tour was on a Sunday, it was my only choice. I wasn’t quite ready to give up my day job for a V.I.P. event, just in case by some freak chance I didn’t make the November Nine and had to stick with the media career.
Onto the Main Event now. Nothing could stop me from poker immortality, right? I ended up with a great Day 1 table draw – that is, if you think having Sorel Mizzi, one of the most feared tournament players in the world, directly to your left is a good table draw. Oh, and to my right was the guy who wrote the book on poker – literally. That’s right, David Sklansky was two seats over. Top that off with a gentleman I didn’t recognize wearing a nice gold accessory on his wrist that I did recognize – one very similar to what I was hoping to win. Nice to meet you, Greg Hopkins, 2007 bracelet winner.
I could get into specifi cs, but I am sure they will bore you. I started off hot and ran my stack up to about 30k before sliding down into mediocrity. I lost a big pot with aces (obviously) and ended the day with a paltry 8,550 in chips. Wow, this was not how I had envisioned things. I thought for sure I would be bagging about 200-300k at this point. Still, the dream was alive. I mean, with blinds at 250/500 I had 17 BBs. That’s plenty, I reminded myself that night.
The next morning the depression set in. I couldn’t think of doing anything but lying in bed and sulking about my lack of chips. So upset I was that I decided to pass on the V.I.P. helicopter tour. Thanks Bodog, it seems that everyone enjoyed all the V.I.P. adventures but yours truly.
My Day 2 started on Wednesday, three whole days from my disastrous start. I had gotten over the funk and was reinvigorated and ready to double and triple back up to stardom. The cards were in the air at noon and at 12:15 p.m. I was in my car on the way home. There would be no miraculous comeback, no double up, no triple up, and most importantly, no Main Event fi nal table. How could this dream have gotten away from me so quickly?
There is a light at the end of the tunnel. After I recovered from my disappointment, I realized that the vision I had of winning the Main Event was still alive and well. Silly me, I didn’t look at the calendar closely enough in my dream and when I went back and checked it out, I noticed it said 2009! No wonder I was so confused. Lets just hope that maybe Bodog understands the slight misunderstanding I had with my dream and invites me back next year. I can taste victory already.
