WSOP Main Event Qualifier

Yes, it's me. I won a $30 Pokerstars satellite tournament and beat out 172 other players to win a $10,000 entry fee to the World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas starting on July 28th, 2006.

On www.pokerstars.com I am Fireball36.






Here is the winning tournament final standing.

It hasn't sunk in yet and I don't think it will until I get to Vegas and see all the other players. I told my brother and he said: "It's hard to believe, but then it's you, so I can believe it."

here is what happened... if you want to play in the World Series of Poker Main Event, it's a $10,000 entry fee. So some people pay it directly. the big increase is from people like me. Last year they had about 5700 players, about 10% cashed and the first one to lose on final table got $1,000,000 and the big winner got $7.5 Million. The online poker sites, like the one I play have satellite tournaments daily several months before the WSOP event and so do card rooms and casinos. I played in a few earlier and didn't make it, but this time I played in a game that had 1 guaranteed entry - $10,000 entry fee, $1000 spending money & a free hotel room in Vegas for 9 days. it took 4 hours & 53 minutes to get to the final hand and I won beating 172 people. In Vegas it will be 12 hours a day for many days, so I've got to get into mental & physical shape.

No Limit Texas Hold Em Poker takes a massive amount of patience, knowlege, observation, acting skill, & luck. Hopefully I will have enough of all that and a bag of chips, poker chips that is.

If I meet Phil Hellmuth in person, I will say: Click Here

I have confidence that I'm as good or better than 90% of the players, so I just need 10% luck.

Here is some details on the satellite tournament I won:

1. There were 173 players competing for 1 WSOP Main Event entry
2. 2nd - 4th place was $650 and 5th place was $72
3. It was a $30 game with re-buys & add-ons and $3 house fee
4. After 1 hour, I was 14th out of 106 players with 11,005 chips
5. After 2 hours, I was 5th out of 39 players with 30,040 chips
6. After 3 hours, I was 8th out of 8 players with 34, 387 chips
7. After 4 hours, I was 3rd out of 3 with 189,000 chips
8. For most of the fourth hour, I was low chips
9. I knocked out Windough with 11 hands to go. She went all in for 86,692 chips with a K-3 offsuit and I had pocket Q's. I won with Q's & 10's to his 10's.
10. I had about twice as many chips as Bluewave
11. I had 5-2 of diamonds and got check raised on the turn to 36,000 chips on a flop of 7h Qc Td and a turn card of 8d, but then I got 9d on the river which gave me a flush and also put a straight on the board. I don't think he thought I had a flush, but he was afraid I had a K and he probably already had a straight with a 9. I bet 96,000 and Bluewave folded, but he was crippled.
12. I had Bluewave 3-1 in chips
13. Bluewave went all in with 9h Kd, I had 6h 6d and called his 170679 chips and the board ended up as Td 2d 7h Qs 6s, so I won with trip 6's.
14. Game over, Man.

374 hands played and saw flop:

- 30 times out of 74 while in small blind (40%)
- 37 times out of 74 while in big blind (50%)
- 50 times out of 226 in other positions (22%)
- a total of 117 times out of 374 (31%)

Pots won at showdown - 23 out of 31 (74%)
Pots won without showdown - 57

For those who don't know much about Texas Hold Em Poker, click here.