Page 1 of 2

First World Series of Poker Tournament – Article

Jandawg666’s profile 

I arrived in Las Vegas, NV on the evening of June 7^th, 2008, on a Saturday, and immediately found myself falling in love with the dry heat of the Nevada desert.  It was a dream comes true, that I was finally going to be playing in a World Series of Poker event on the 14^th and would finally get to take a shot at turning my dream of becoming a poker champion into a reality.  I picked up my luggage and proceeded to take a taxi to Bellagio where I would then take a shuttle bus to my resort at the Cliffs at peace Canyon, 20 minutes from the strip.  I would have to survive in Las Vegas for two weeks (7^th to the 21^st) and if I was to do this safely I felt that being in a place away from the strip and the action would be of great value.  When I arrived at my resort, which I would recommend to any serious poker player who does want to stay at a place of refuge, away from the lights and glamour of the Las Vegas strip, it was like something out of the next James Bond movie, pool side balcony and condo, a full kitchen, washer and dryer, and a bar separating the kitchen and living room.  It was gorgeous.

I spent my first night and couple of days in Las Vegas, taking it easy, relaxing by the pool, working out, getting groceries, and preparing myself, stamina and overall health for the serious grinding I was about to indulge in.  On about my third day I felt that I was ready and felt good to make my first trip to MGM Grand where I would start out slow at a simple $1/$2 NL Hold’em ring game.  This may seem very small to some people who already have large bankrolls compared to mine which was only about $6 000.  Don’t be fooled though by my lack of experience in bigger games and my struggle to grind it out in the world of poker, I do have the ability to put almost any player I’ve come across on exactly the hole cards they hold.  I did make more than my day job, at the time, for about a year playing part time and eventually full time.  The pro(s) say that if you are able to make more than your day job for 4-6 months then there is a good chance that you have what it takes to be a professional.  I did it for about 9 months or more and that would more than qualify me.  So I did well at MGM, won a few hundred, and then returned to my resort.

Unfortunately, around day 5, after still being up a few hundred mostly from MGM, I started to come down with some congestion and some cold like symptoms.  I took it easy for a couple more days after registering for my $1 500 NL Hold’em, WSOP event #27, at the Rio.  A good friend of mine would be flying in on the night of the 12^th to join me in the WSOP event.  I wanted to try and get better as much as possible before then and I did feel a bit better when he arrived.  We played a little at MGM and the Rio before our event and I was still not feeling great but was up a little.  I was kind of worried though because my head was not in the game like it normally is due to my cold.

It was June 14^th, 2008, and we were getting seated at the World Series of Poker, $1 500 NL Hold’em event #27.  There was already a very ironic issue with our seating arrangements, my friend George Metaxakis and I had looked at our tickets and we were supposed to be seated at the exact same table, out of 2 700 entrants, and 270 tables we were put on either side of the dealer at Amazon Blue, table 29, seats 1 and 9.  This was not something we preferred because if one of us was to take the other out, especially