Success in Vegas!!

Here’s my story on the Montreal Open Poker Tournament finals in Las Vegas

Success!!!

Wow, what a long long day. I guess it's good news if the days are long in Tournament Poker. After getting through 1300 Players at the Montreal Open we were down to the final 20 in Las Vegas.

We each had 10,000 chips and the Levels were 30' apart. I was card dead for the first few hours and had to resort to stealing the blinds with some moves. The first player went out after three hours of play. I had about 11,500 chips at that point and the chip leader was up to about 35,000. There were 200,000 chips in play (20 X 10,000).

At no time did I have more than 14,500 chips. I really had to manage my stack very very carefully. When I made a move with a pair of JJ's the villain had AA's! - oops I was down to 5,600 and worried that I would be out in 17th place or so.

I really  really wanted to get a seat to the World Series of Poker (WSOP). This has been my dream for the last year.

Slowly but surely players dropped out and we were at 13 players, for the longest time. We all had short stacks - 6,000 to 10,000 chips and the large stacks were beating us up. Now were at 11, I am on the bubble. Do I go aggressive with my 13,500 or play super tight and hope somebody else busts? I did a little of each. I shoved all in at least three times on the bubble, when we were playing hand for hand.

Eventually a player with about 14,000 called an all-in from a larger stack - big mistake as he busted out and there I was - in at least tenth place and having won a WSOP seat!! (And some nice $$$).

I eventually busted out in 8th place.  I am very very happy to have achieved my goal after playing Poker for only 14 Months. Now I am planning to come back to Vegas in July, play against 7,000 other players who would have paid the $10,000 entry fee and with a little luck maybe, just maybe I could win it all.

Kelly, Tracy, a big thank you and your Canadian Amateur Poker Tour (C.A.P.T.). I could not  have done it without your Tour and great players.

Rocky thanks for your York Region Poker League. The quality of play has been outstanding and it has helped improve my game so much.

I'll return to Toronto and look forward to seeing you at the YRPL championship on the 14^th.

(The "Montreal Open" TV show will be broadcast this fall – date to be announced in time with the Ticket sales program for next year’s Montreal Open.)

Having a great time in Vegas!

Kevin