And so it came down to the eight of us, locked in battle for a solid 8 hours (with a half hour dinner break) for a chance at greatness. The stakes? A seat in The Main Event of The World Series of Poker.
There were ups, there were downs, there were highs and there were lows.
And for starters there was a killer collectable chip.
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Sure to be the rarest of them all. |
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The stage is set.
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Ooooh... pretty.. |
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After a lengthy discussion about taxes, what to do if the representative couldn't make it, and various other housekeeping items - it was on like Donkey Kong!
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Much appreciation to the wife for these stellar pics. |
The structure was almost the same as the actual Main itself, but we had half hour levels instead of 2 hour levels, as we wanted this to be a one day event.
Rather early on we had our first bust, Tony succumbed to the power of Andrew's rockets and we were down to 7.
It would be almost 3 hours later before our next exit, Marc bid adieu and then it was dinner time.
We returned after scrumptious pizza to fight on. The two Eric's were next to bust, though I can't remember in what order.
Finally Jeff G. succumbed, and then Andrew was out in third. The former had been a juggernaut for most of the afternoon and it was only a bit of bad luck that found him out of the winner's circle.
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Who's the luck-box who took this shot? |
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Oh. |
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Heads-up for all the marbles. |
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Final hand - suck-out thy name is poker.
When the dust finally settled it was nearly 8:30 and dark, and somehow yours truly found himself as the last man standing. Jason and I had exchanged the chip lead a few times, yet in the end I caught better cards and that was that.
I was elated, I was thrilled, I was humbled and speechless.
I still have a hard time believing that I am headed to the greatest poker tournament on the face of the earth. This is for sure a bucket list item and I can't believe I'm going to be so young when I get to tick it off.
A huge thanks to Jeff G. for hanging around and shuffling - you made heads-up play a lot more awesome.
I must say I owe a lot to my brothers on the felt - all 7 of you gents who participated in this adventure, I cannot thank each and every one of you enough. I know our late night study sessions and poker battles made my win possible - I will do my best to honor all the work we have put in together in pursuit of this dream.
Can't wait to post here about my massive deep run in the Main! Stay tuned!
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