Scott's life as a poker pro

Viva Las Vegas - The Main Event

'Playing 12 hours a day nearly every day in a row can take its toll...'

The final leg of my Vegas adventure was easily the most exciting part of the poker year! It was the World Series of Poker Main Event and thousands of players were about to stump up $10,000 to enter the world championships of the game we love to play! All of them with the same dream, of making it to the last few and playing for the $8,000,000+ first prize!

To fill you in, the WSOP Main Event starts with more than 6,000 players and plays down to the final table of nine people - which usually takes about 10 days from the time the first hand is dealt. Due to the US TV broadcast schedule, once the players are whittled down to the final nine, they go home to recharge and then return in early November to play down to a winner in front of the live TV cameras at the RIO resort and casino!
Not only was this my first attempt at the world championships but this was also the first time I had played a $10K buy-in event, so to say I was excited was an understatement!

I had a nice set-up going for me, I was one of three Team PKR Pro's playing the Main Event and from the start of the week I was sharing the Presidential suite at the Luxor along with Jake and my two team mates. That was brilliant, as we would spend evenings talking about the days play. Hearing the opinion of someone who's game you respect can really help you see things in a different perspective. We would then wind down with a few drinks and some spa sessions! Playing 12 hours a day nearly every day in a row can take its toll on you so these times of relaxation really came in handy!
After playing three full days of poker, all of us comfortably made it through to Day 4 of the championships. The field was down to less than 1000 players and by the end of the day the remaining players would be in the money and guaranteed at least a nice double up of the $10K investment!

Things started to come off track at this point; my team mate, PKR Pro Sascha Walter, was unfortunate to bust just before making the money. Although he was devastated to play for so long and not see a return, he knows he played a good tournament and it just wasn't his day.
Shortly after this, the last player not to win money got knocked out (we call that the Bubble) and everyone left knew they had cashed. Now it was my turn to run badly - I lost a crucial pot and it cost me dearly. I was never able to recover and ended up busting in 618th place for $21,000. 618th doesn't sound great, but out of 6000+ players this was a good result, and it was only my first attempt. Next year!!

Doing the best out of the trio was the team's resident madman, Russian PKR Pro Vladimir 'beyne' Geshkenbein. He stayed in until Day 6, and went out in 106th place, which really is an incredible feat! He made over $50,000 for that spot, but as all poker players are in it to win it, busting out that close to the finals at the world championships is one of the worst feelings ever!

After having to change my flight and extend my stay a few days this left me with a little down time at the end of the trip which was one of the better things I could take out from busting the main event. I used this time to do some more shopping, get back on the grey goose and generally enjoy my final few days before flying home!

Next Week: The last Vegas hurrah, and the bright lights of London

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