Dealer’s Choice

Now that I’m a father of two with a wife who works nearly full time I’ve had to cut down on my World Series of Poker appearances. From 2005-2012 I played around 20-25 events per year with mixed results. The WSOP is where stars are born and money is made and I came away from that stretch with some minor amount of profit, but no real boost to my stardom, as I didn’t win any bracelets. Since 2012, I’ve played a small amount each year, including missing the main event for the first time ever as a pro in 2013. Not only do I play significantly fewer tournaments overall, it’s much harder to schedule long stretches at the WSOP with my wife’s work schedule and, let’s face it, a week away from my family is difficult on my mental health as well as my wife’s.

In those years where I was in Las Vegas for six weeks or close to it and playing lots of events, it was easy to find all of the tournaments I wanted to play and not really worry about missing anything interesting. These last few years, with the games I’m interested in being spread out over the summer weeks, I’ve had to be very selective of the time I spend in Vegas. In order to get the most monetary value and utility from my time at the WSOP, it’s important to find games that I’m profitable in and enjoy playing. I sprinkle in some no-limit here and there, but mostly I play non-hold’em games.

In 2015 and 2016 I planned my week of prelims to coincide with the dealer’s choice event. Last year, I was forced to miss the event because I was still in the $3,000 buy-in six-max tournament. Unfortunately, I busted early on day two, so I didn’t even make the money in that to make me feel like missing the dealer’s choice was worth it. On break of day one, I wandered around the event I was missing to get a feel for it. People were having fun and playing some games they hadn’t really been exposed to that much before and they were loving it.

This year, it was in the first week and I could plan on it being my first event of the WSOP, so that’s what I did. I made no significant progress through the tournament, but I sure did have a great time. It was so much fun to be involved in a tournament with a very welcoming atmosphere. I busted in the fifth level of the tournament in no-limit hold’em of all games when I shoved over a squeeze in a super juicy spot with Q-Q and ran into K-K, leaving me with peanuts, and two hands later, I was out. In those five or so hours of play, only one person at my table and one other at the surrounding tables wore headphones, even for a brief amount of time. People were laughing and engaged in the game and, gasp, enjoying each other’s company. I was glad to be a part of such an inclusive environment.

After I busted, I went to play in a mixed cash game, again, where nobody wore headphones, and we got to talking about the dealer’s choice tournament as everyone in the cash game had played in it. Few bad beat stories were exchanged and someone mentioned that their friend had derisively called the dealer’s choice event a “glorified home game.”

I guess I just don’t see the problem with that. It doesn’t say anywhere that playing poker has to be dour and boring, nine slugs inching slowly across a never-ending sidewalk paying no attention to the others except when their trails cross. I have incredibly fond memories of home games that I’ve played in. Sitting around the kitchen table drinking beer and playing games we’ve made up or have learned from other home games, some of which don’t really resemble poker in any way other than that they use the same tools (chips and cards), is a wonderful way to pass the time and enjoy the company of those you’ve chosen to share it with. True, in tournaments you don’t get to pick those that you’ll play with throughout the day, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy their company and the game you’re playing.

I guess what I’m getting at is this: Poker is a business for some and a hobby for others, but this doesn’t mean that it has to be business-like. We get to show up wearing what we want, mostly saying what we want, at whatever time we want, with any attitude we want. Be serious while you’re playing a hand, approach your bankroll and your time studying away from the table in a business-like manner, but try to enjoy your down time at the table socially if you can. Feel free to treat every tournament as though it’s a “glorified home game.” ♠

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