First Time at the Big Dance

On May 21, 1998, I wrote a letter to Card Player relating my extraordinary experience of winning a seat in the $10,000 no-limit hold'em championship event at the World Series of Poker. That was six months prior to my actually starting to write a column for Card Player. Since the World Series of Poker is now in full swing, I thought it would be appropriate to make that experience the subject of a column at this time.

On the night of April 29, 1998, my life changed. I finally won a seat in the $10,000 event at the World Series of Poker. I moved to Las Vegas in July 1993 with a specific goal of winning the World Series of Poker. In 1994, '95, '96, and '97, I played in many supersatellites in order to win a seat in this magnificent event. In the first one I entered, I finished 13th. They awarded seven seats. In another one, I finished 13th again. They awarded 10 seats. In 1996, I finished 15th at 3:30 a.m. after eight hours of play, out of a record 270 entrants. They awarded a record 13 seats. In 1998, I finished fifth (two seats awarded), but I won $1,660, ninth (five seats awarded, and I won $800), and finally in the top five for a seat on April 29.

However, something different happened at this particular supersatellite. My wife was there to watch me and to encourage me. She had not been present at any of the other supersatellites. When we got down to the last two tables, she must have been a nervous wreck watching me play. I must have gone all in at least 20 times. Most of the time no one called me, so I picked up the blinds. Whenever someone did call me, I always won the pot. Several times, a player, usually the big blind, showed me his hand before folding, and it was better than the hand with which I was raising. Finally, we got down to the final table. The excitement was really intense at this point. We were down to the last nine players. Five of us would receive a $10,000 seat in the big event. Sixth place paid $6,000, and the other three places also were paid prize money.

After about 30 minutes of play, two players were eliminated, so we were now down to seven. I had $6,000 in chips and the blinds were $500-$1,000. I could not just sit there and wait for two more players to be eliminated. I would be blinded out if I did not act, and act soon. I looked at my cards and found A-9. That was all that I needed. I shoved my stack in and hoped that no one would call. One player did call me, and I knew that his hand had to be better than mine. He also had $6,000 in chips, so one of us would be eliminated. We both turned our cards over, since there would be no further betting (A-9 for me, pocket jacks for him). I was in big trouble. My wife was standing at the rail watching with great anticipation. The dealer started to spread the flop, and the first card I saw was a beautiful ace. I won the pot and had about $14,000 in chips. We were down to six players, and five would get a seat. I said to myself at that point that I would not play another hand unless I had pocket aces or kings. One of the players was very short-stacked, so I assumed he would be eliminated soon. Just three minutes later, he went all in and was eliminated. The five of us jumped up and yelled with excitement, and my wife reached over the rail and hugged me. What a moment! We were all going to the "Big Dance."

I was so excited that I thought I would not be able to sleep until the Big Dance started on May 11. However, I did calm down over the next two weeks until the night before it started. The excitement really started to build then. Monday, May 11 was quite an experience. You cannot quite understand the feeling until you have experienced it for the first time. After the words, "Shuffle up and deal," it all began – the thrill of a lifetime. I was not nervous or scared. I was extremely excited and focused on the task at hand. I wanted to make it through that first day – four rounds and eight hours of play. It was slow most of the day – no big hands and no major encounters. Then, I got pocket queens. There was a raise, and I reraised all in, $6,000. He called. All small cards came until the river, a magic queen. What a relief! What a thrill! Then, the next hand I was dealt pocket kings, another winner. The next hand was pocket queens again, another winner. What a rush! In five minutes, I went from the short stack of $6,000 to the chip leader at the table ($18,000). I finally finished the first day with $11,000.

The excitement that night was tremendous. I could not wait for the tournament to start again on Tuesday. I made it through the night with five hours of sleep. The second day started with 199 players out of the record 350 players who started on Monday. Many players were eliminated rapidly in that first round on Tuesday. I stayed around $10,000-$12,000 in chips most of the day. Once, I was down to $5,000 and went all in with pocket jacks. Two players called. Each had A-K, but they did not hit, so I tripled up to $15,000. That felt great!

Then at 5:30 p.m., I got knocked out in around 75th place when my nut diamond flush was shot down by a full house. What a downer. I felt as if I had been kicked in the stomach. I really thought I had won that hand. It felt great to finally be in the Big Dance, but it was the ultimate low to get knocked out. However, I would not trade the experience for anything. It was the thrill of a lifetime. I am looking forward to playing in and winning the next World Series of Poker. Good luck at your next tournament.