The Colossus

Wow, what an amazing tournament this was. Everyone knew it was going to be big, but I don’t know if anyone expected 22,374 entries with 14,284 unique entries. It was really incredible stuff and kudos to the WSOP for having the vision and logistic capability to pull it off. With so much going on all at once, it would have been easy for the tournament to be an utter disaster, but by all accounts it went off as smoothly as could be expected. Perhaps you can tell by my tone that I did not play this tournament. The reason I’m writing this column is to tell you why, but with no intention of stopping anyone from coming out for it next year, because there will be another one next year.

Before I get into those reasons, I have to take a second to pump myself up a little bit. While I didn’t make it for the Colossus, I had some students who did. Two of them ran really deep in the event, finishing 40th and tenth. My student who finished tenth, Bradley Burns, was the victim of some pretty awful luck on the final day, losing with A-A to Q-Q early in the day and then busting with A K vs A K when the A K made a flush. Obviously he had to have some fortunate situations come up in order to make it as far as he did, and I haven’t heard him complain about the beats yet, so I’m doing it for him. What a spectacular accomplishment in his first-ever World Series of Poker event and I couldn’t possibly be more proud of the way he played and the way he handled himself.

I’m glad I had such a wonderful sideline experience with the tournament because I’m almost certain I would have had an awful one had I gone to the event. My default state at the poker table is quiet and reserved, though not unfriendly. I’m not sure, however, that I could have managed a friendly face during the whole tournament with all the throngs of people there. I don’t particularly like huge crowds even though I don’t get claustrophobic in them. I deal with them at the WSOP because I have to in order to participate, but I’m happy to play in smaller tournaments with smaller prize pools if it means I don’t have to deal with 5,000 people going on break at the same time to use the 100 or so bathroom stalls within walking distance of the World Series of Poker floor. I think poker should be as much fun as it can be, and I don’t think I would have had a good time at this tournament. In fact, when they announced it, I groaned to myself pretty hard and therefore, since I thought it wouldn’t satisfy the “poker is fun” part of my philosophy, I decided I might skip it.

As the tournament was drawing closer, I decided to take a closer look at what I might be interested in doing for the WSOP and I looked a little harder at the Colossus. This time I decided to estimate what my hourly rate might be in it. In doing so, some assumptions have to be made. Let’s posit that the best players in the world might be worth 300 percent or more ROI in this tournament. In most tournaments these days, I would balk at that number, but this one is special in that many people will be playing their first-ever WSOP event, making the play considerably weaker in this than in other events. I don’t consider myself one of the best tournament players in the world right now, but I would say I’m still considerably profitable, especially in a field like this. So, let’s say I’m worth 200 percent ROI. That means that for every dollar I put into the prizepool, I get three dollars back. Since only $500 of the buyin goes to the prize pool, I’m worth $1,500 in this tournament. $1,500 – $565 = $935. This tournament is worth $935 to me. Let’s presume that my average time spent playing this tournament is something like 13 or 14 hours (lots of mid to early bustouts combined with some deep runs and this seems about right). So, $935/13 = $71.92 per hour. That rate is pretty darn good. But when you take into account that I have a backer and makeup, I’m probably only seeing about $20 of that hourly, perhaps less. My estimated hourly in $5-$5 no-limit hold’em is more than double that, and even higher if I have the option to game select as well as I could in Vegas. Then, factor in the variance of a 22,000-entry tournament as compared to a nice cash game and my choice becomes pretty clear.

Not every decision in poker should be so data-driven. It might not be worth it from an hourly rate standpoint for you to play in a tournament over a cash game or over working, but if playing in that tournament means a lot to you, you should probably do it. I was not prepared to give up extra time with my family and sacrifice my hourly rate to be part of the Colossus, but 14,284 people found it to be a worthwile use of their time and I’m happy they got to be a part of the largest-field live tournament in the history of poker. ♠

Gavin Griffin was the first poker player to capture a World Series of Poker, European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour title and has amassed nearly $5 million in lifetime tournament winnings. Griffin is sponsored by HeroPoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @NHGG