Anyways, I'm lifting that veil because I want to share two things here for posterity - the first one (and my full name) you can find by clicking here.
Yes, that's me, dorkus maximus.
I really had the absolute best time playing in a WPT Main Event at Rolling Thunder Casino just outside of Sacramento.
I busted much earlier than I would've liked, squeezing all-in with 40 big blinds with AK and running into KK in the hands of a very active opponent, but the day and evening were about so much more than just a poker tournament.
This is going to sound like I'm doing a commercial for the World Poker Tour, but honestly I'm not. I paid a good amount of money to learn how to better my tournament game - and I received that in very good fashion - I feel my expectations on that front were well exceeded. You can read all of those praises in the previous post or click here.
But then after class was over, I won the satellite to a WPT Main Event, and every step along that journey has been really great thanks to the amazing team and organization that is the World Poker Tour.
The journey started out a bit rocky on my end thanks to my work schedule - I realized that I would not be able to make the Borgata Winter Open as a major tv show that I direct fell on that week. I emailed my WPT liaison Adrian to let him know and apologize, after all this was the second tournament I had to turn down - I was unable to play last September when I was supposed to as well.
Adrian wrote back and gave me two other options! Tampa in April or Sacramento in March, I chose the former because of proximity and the dates were good as well.
A week before my trip I received this in the mail -
A very encouraging note from Nick and his team, and a couple of patches to wear if I should choose to. I was struck that they were asking and that I had the option to decline - why would I say no? LearnWPT was the reason I was in the tournament in the first place! I didn't care that this might tip off 'pros' that I was fresh meat, I know I'm not (well, not fresh, maybe a bit gamey) I wanted to honor the organization that had given me the tools to excel.
On the morning of the tournament I met Keta and her team - what a super friendly and thoughtful bunch of professionals. They made me feel so welcome and I was a bit surprised though delighted at how well they treated me.
I also met two of the Royal Flush crew. One of them, Andrea, mentioned that she was a 'nerd' like me and would be interviewing me later. I laughed, yes Andrea you are just like me lol.
I got through the first two levels and into the first break. A nice young man named Matt interviewed me for the print article that I shared above.
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| Chipped up a bit over the first 2 hours, my biggest chip count was 45K from a starting stack of 30K. |
It was fun but nerve wracking, I'm not used to being on that side of the camera!
Anyways, as the third break approached - I busted out. I made a sad face and informed Keta that I was out, she was very sympathetic and reminded me that I was invited to dinner with them later in the evening. Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that!
The dinner was amazing. It was actually a dinner for the WPT Champions Club, meaning most of the guests were WPT Main Event champs!
I kid you not, I sat in between Pat Lyons and Allen Kessler. The former is a boisterous character who won the WPT legends event a couple of years ago, the latter is not a WPT champ, but a legendary professional player who is also quite the character. He is mostly known for his online forum presence as THE arbiter of what is and what isn't a good tournament structure. He also has made a name for himself as one of the most successful super tight players on the tournament circuit.
While listening to these two chat was fun, it was someone else at the table who made the evening memorable. Andrea, the lovely young lady who had interviewed me on camera earlier, and I commiserated over our shared interests in pop culture before moving on to talking about family (her husband is also on the Royal Flush Crew and I had met him in Atlantic City) and other more important things.
It was a great conversation and I am so glad the evening was made all that much better being in her company. We talked at length about her country of origin, Venezuela. I have been there, and of course these days the country is going through an incredible amount of turmoil. Andrea still has some family there, and they are all working on getting them out. It really put the silly poker thing in perspective.
The food wasn't bad either, filet mignon and assorted other goodies. I had to laugh about Mr. Kessler, it was a set menu, and yet every single item that was delivered to him was either altered or completely different from what was on the menu. That cracks me up for some reason.
And then it was time to say goodnight. I bid Keta and her team farewell, my heart full of gratitude for the amazing day and my seemingly endless amount of good fortune that runs through my life. As I got into my rental car I had to stop and shake my head in disbelief - how did I get here? That was CRAZY in all the best ways.
I had no idea I was going to be treated like a VIP the entire time I was there - it was very humbling and at times overwhelming.
But after I got home I watched something that made it all make sense. My DVR had recorded a WPT event - it was the all amateur ClubWPT King of the Cup tournament, where online qualifiers got to compete for a 10K first place prize.
Every amateur participant was interviewed and throughout the program every single one of them spoke glowingly of the WPT organization, not only about how great the website is but about how well they had all been treated.
I realized, this is just what the WPT company does - they devote a good amount of time and resources to not only cater to pros and lifelong poker regulars, but to amateurs as well. By taking the time to do things right and treating satellite winners from LearnWPT and ClubWPT like royalty, they are simply doing all they can to help the game of poker grow and thrive.
As a business plan, it totally makes sense. But I also couldn't help notice that there was a genuineness to Keta and her team, they all really wanted me to enjoy myself and of course do well in the tournament.
It made this amateur feel great, and was one of the best examples I've ever seen of the philosophy that great customer service also makes for great success in business.
So yes, I love the WPT because they work hard to promote the game and they are full of great people.
I am very much looking forward to the summer and of course the WSOP. I couldn't help but notice that there is an advanced LearnWPT tournament workshop the weekend prior to the opening of the series.
It was not the plan to go back to LearnWPT so soon, but it sure is tempting! This is their first ever advanced tournament class, and who knows if they'll have one again anytime soon. I might just have to take the plunge! We will see...
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