| Bellagio Poker Tournament What to expect |
If your wondering how the big tournaments work or
what to expect, this is for you.
Well, I just got back from Vegas and played in my first major
tournament. Playing online at Ultimate Bet, I won a seat in the $2500
buy in Super Satellite event at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. This
satellite was for a seat in the main event which was a $25,000 buy in
event, the big World Poker Tour event. When I first won the seat I
started searching online for info about the tournament. I found
information about last years, as far as who won and such, but no real
information on the tournament structure. Most of the play I did was
online and although I have played in real live tournaments in the past,
they were nothing close to this level of play.
I have created this page so others won't face the same frustration I
had. Trying to search for anything gambling related these days lands
you on a multitude of sites that are nothing more than gateways to
gambling sites. For that reason, if there is any good information, it's
almost impossible to find.
So let me tell you about my adventure. Winning the seat was of
course exciting, and along with the seat included was $1000 in
expense money to get there and get a room for a couple of nights.
Even so I had to make a decision to actually go. It wasn't really to
hard of a decision, how could I pass up an opportunity like this? Since
I had no idea how this tournament works I decided to call the Bellagio
and find out. If your in this situation I would suggest the same. They
put me on with the tournament director and he was pretty informative
and answered any questions I had.
I arrived the night before so I could get a good nights sleep. This is
also something I would suggest. I was pretty wired and only managed
about 5 hours and couldn't sleep a wink on the plane. It was just my
luck to have two small children behind me who must have been fed
sugar intravenously before the flight. After I got settled in my room I
went down to the Casino to see what the poker room looked like.
While I was walking, I passed Freddy Deeb. As I approached the
poker room Tony G. was walking out. I have to admit, at this point I
was already starting to feel the intimidation factor. As I looked around
the poker room it was a bit overwhelming. I decided that I would wait
until the next day before asking any questions.
The next morning I was on a quest to find out more. One thing I
wanted to know was where I would be seated. Now had I actually
read the email that was sent to me completely, I would have known
that Ultimate Bet was going to hand us the seat assignment an hour
before the tournament. Being the typical male who of course has no
need for directions, I didn't. I approached the buy in cage and inquired
as to what I needed to do. They took my name and looked it up on the
computer. I was then given a seat assignment on a sheet of paper.
Just a little tip here, treat this piece of paper like Willy Wonka's golden
ticket, without it you won't be able to take your seat. Later I was given
my seat assignment by the UB people and guess what? It was a
different seat which perplexed them and me more. I was told I should
go clear this problem up, which I eventually did. The moral here is
read any and all correspondence you receive. It will help you avoid
added stress at a time you really don't need any.
When it was close to the start time I went to my table but no one
was there except the dealer. From what I observed, it seems most
players don't approach the table untill a minute or two before the start.
There are TV screens around the room that show how many people
are in the tournament, how much the blinds are, what level it's on and
how much time left in the level. In this tournament, each player begins
with $5000 in chips. The starting blinds were $25-$50 and each level
is 40 minutes long. Every 3 levels you get a 15 minute break. The
blind increments were 25-50 50-100 75-150 100-200 and so on. In
case your wondering, they do serve drinks just like they do in the rest
of the casino
As the tournament began, something became abundantly clear, I
wasn't in the midst of amateurs. Many of these players knew each
other and were on a first name basis.
My tournament life could have easily ended in the first three hands,
had I been confident enough to play them. First hand of the game was
AQ of spades.......wanting to just feel out the table I laid it down.
Turned out there was one guy with an AK hand and another with an
A4 suited hand. AK raised and A4 called. Well you probably know
what flopped... A 8 4. The AK went all in and well the A4 didn't even
hesitate and called. So one man out in the first hand......had I played I
would have called.....2 of the flop cards were spades!
After a few hands I settled in and got some rhythm. Caught a
straight on the flop in one hand and took a nice chunk of someones
stack. About an hour into the tournament I started with a pocket pair
of QQ. A woman 2 seats ahead of me made a pretty hefty raise and I
called. The flop was all low cards but nothing scary, no straights or
flushes. She made a big bet, I think it was about 2/3 pot. I without
hesitating went all in......in retrospect, probably not the smartest
move. She also without hesitation called making me think I was sunk.
I show my QQ she flips KK over. The turn comes and it's a
Queen.........whew!
Next few hours was pretty uneventful and I was moved to another
table. My biggest play of the day was a hand where I had AK and
about an 10K stack. One guy made a good raise.....I called. Flop
came K 10 8. He bet big...2/3 of his stack which if I remember right
was about half of mine. I hesitated a long time.........finally I went all
in......this guy agonized......he tried to read me for so long. I basically
didn't move and frankly I'm not sure I was even breathing. Eventually
he folded.
I didn't show and it really bothered him. At the next break he asked
and I told him. He never said what he had but my gut said he also
was on an AK hand and he probably thought I caught a set.
Well that was about it because I didn't get another good play for the
rest of the tournament. I did well finishing 101 out of 542 people, but
payout wasn't until 52 so I didn't get the prize which was a $25,000
seat in the main event. It was great though and a wonderful
experience.
At the after tournament party I got to meet and chat with Annie Duke
for about an hour. She was so nice and really down to earth.
what to expect, this is for you.
Well, I just got back from Vegas and played in my first major
tournament. Playing online at Ultimate Bet, I won a seat in the $2500
buy in Super Satellite event at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. This
satellite was for a seat in the main event which was a $25,000 buy in
event, the big World Poker Tour event. When I first won the seat I
started searching online for info about the tournament. I found
information about last years, as far as who won and such, but no real
information on the tournament structure. Most of the play I did was
online and although I have played in real live tournaments in the past,
they were nothing close to this level of play.
I have created this page so others won't face the same frustration I
had. Trying to search for anything gambling related these days lands
you on a multitude of sites that are nothing more than gateways to
gambling sites. For that reason, if there is any good information, it's
almost impossible to find.
So let me tell you about my adventure. Winning the seat was of
course exciting, and along with the seat included was $1000 in
expense money to get there and get a room for a couple of nights.
Even so I had to make a decision to actually go. It wasn't really to
hard of a decision, how could I pass up an opportunity like this? Since
I had no idea how this tournament works I decided to call the Bellagio
and find out. If your in this situation I would suggest the same. They
put me on with the tournament director and he was pretty informative
and answered any questions I had.
I arrived the night before so I could get a good nights sleep. This is
also something I would suggest. I was pretty wired and only managed
about 5 hours and couldn't sleep a wink on the plane. It was just my
luck to have two small children behind me who must have been fed
sugar intravenously before the flight. After I got settled in my room I
went down to the Casino to see what the poker room looked like.
While I was walking, I passed Freddy Deeb. As I approached the
poker room Tony G. was walking out. I have to admit, at this point I
was already starting to feel the intimidation factor. As I looked around
the poker room it was a bit overwhelming. I decided that I would wait
until the next day before asking any questions.
The next morning I was on a quest to find out more. One thing I
wanted to know was where I would be seated. Now had I actually
read the email that was sent to me completely, I would have known
that Ultimate Bet was going to hand us the seat assignment an hour
before the tournament. Being the typical male who of course has no
need for directions, I didn't. I approached the buy in cage and inquired
as to what I needed to do. They took my name and looked it up on the
computer. I was then given a seat assignment on a sheet of paper.
Just a little tip here, treat this piece of paper like Willy Wonka's golden
ticket, without it you won't be able to take your seat. Later I was given
my seat assignment by the UB people and guess what? It was a
different seat which perplexed them and me more. I was told I should
go clear this problem up, which I eventually did. The moral here is
read any and all correspondence you receive. It will help you avoid
added stress at a time you really don't need any.
When it was close to the start time I went to my table but no one
was there except the dealer. From what I observed, it seems most
players don't approach the table untill a minute or two before the start.
There are TV screens around the room that show how many people
are in the tournament, how much the blinds are, what level it's on and
how much time left in the level. In this tournament, each player begins
with $5000 in chips. The starting blinds were $25-$50 and each level
is 40 minutes long. Every 3 levels you get a 15 minute break. The
blind increments were 25-50 50-100 75-150 100-200 and so on. In
case your wondering, they do serve drinks just like they do in the rest
of the casino
As the tournament began, something became abundantly clear, I
wasn't in the midst of amateurs. Many of these players knew each
other and were on a first name basis.
My tournament life could have easily ended in the first three hands,
had I been confident enough to play them. First hand of the game was
AQ of spades.......wanting to just feel out the table I laid it down.
Turned out there was one guy with an AK hand and another with an
A4 suited hand. AK raised and A4 called. Well you probably know
what flopped... A 8 4. The AK went all in and well the A4 didn't even
hesitate and called. So one man out in the first hand......had I played I
would have called.....2 of the flop cards were spades!
After a few hands I settled in and got some rhythm. Caught a
straight on the flop in one hand and took a nice chunk of someones
stack. About an hour into the tournament I started with a pocket pair
of QQ. A woman 2 seats ahead of me made a pretty hefty raise and I
called. The flop was all low cards but nothing scary, no straights or
flushes. She made a big bet, I think it was about 2/3 pot. I without
hesitating went all in......in retrospect, probably not the smartest
move. She also without hesitation called making me think I was sunk.
I show my QQ she flips KK over. The turn comes and it's a
Queen.........whew!
Next few hours was pretty uneventful and I was moved to another
table. My biggest play of the day was a hand where I had AK and
about an 10K stack. One guy made a good raise.....I called. Flop
came K 10 8. He bet big...2/3 of his stack which if I remember right
was about half of mine. I hesitated a long time.........finally I went all
in......this guy agonized......he tried to read me for so long. I basically
didn't move and frankly I'm not sure I was even breathing. Eventually
he folded.
I didn't show and it really bothered him. At the next break he asked
and I told him. He never said what he had but my gut said he also
was on an AK hand and he probably thought I caught a set.
Well that was about it because I didn't get another good play for the
rest of the tournament. I did well finishing 101 out of 542 people, but
payout wasn't until 52 so I didn't get the prize which was a $25,000
seat in the main event. It was great though and a wonderful
experience.
At the after tournament party I got to meet and chat with Annie Duke
for about an hour. She was so nice and really down to earth.