Thinking Back

I've been feeling a little down lately as I reflect on the past year and come to grips with the reality that it is over and I didn't come close to accomplishing anything I had set out to do. This year is going to be different and I have been thinking back to the first tournaments I ever played back in 2003, trying to rekindle the spark that ignited my passion for poker. I still remember my first tourney vividly. I had been playing online alot that summer and starting going down to the Borgata to play in cash games. ESPN was airing the 2003 World Series of Poker over and over and that was getting me into it, too. The Borgata started having nightly live tournaments with small buy-ins and I finally entered my first one on a Thursday night in November. It was a $40 buy-in with unlimited rebuys for the first hour. There were over 100 players and I ended up making the final table and finished in 7th place for a win of about $500. I was so excited and that was really the event that got me started. A few days later I noticed that the Sands was hosting a televised poker tournament with a guaranteed $1 million first prize, the biggest payout in Atlantic City history! I decided I was going to play in that event, which would be televised on Thanksgiving Day on Fox Sports Net. I only had to overcome one obstacle; the $10,200 buy-in.
The Sands was holding satellite tournaments where you could buy in for $225 and try to win a seat in the main event. Hot off my final table finish at the Boragata I figured I'd give it a shot. The big tournament would start the following Saturday so I only had a week to do this, but the first chance I got to go down and play was Thursday, two days before the big one. I drove down to Atlantic City for the 4 pm start and put down my $225 entry. I didn't realize how many professional players enter these satellites for a discount to the bigger events, so I was shocked and very nervous when I sat down with 5 major TV pros at my table. After watching so much of the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour it was strange to see these faces scattered throughout the room. I'll give the details in another post, but I ended up knocking out the 2001 World Champion and winning the $10,200 entry after about 5 hours of play.
As I think back to those first days of play I get goosebumps and get excited all over again at the prospects for this year. I know I have it in me, I just need to commit to the schedule and show up with my "A" game.