A stab at the big bucks

Now that I'm getting comfortable here at C.C. let me know your thoughts about my goal. I've been playing poker for almost 25 years, several of them just casual play but the last 5 or so have been geared towards really improving my game. My attempt over the last year was to get my online game good enough ( my idea of good enough anyways) to make a stab at some serious qualifiers to major main events.

I play my money accounts somewhat frequently, and it's always nice to up your bankroll (i've made and kept profit from all of my first deposits-I've never reloaded at any site), but I play a lot of freerolls to get as much experience in multi table tourneys as I can. They have helped enormously. Now in the friendly freerolls ( forum events-etc.) I play a little loose because these events are meant to be fun as well. I concentrate on making a good show to get to the money but winning it isn't my major concern. In other freerolls, say 500 sign ups and up I play my game and lately I rarely finish out of the top 50 -75, with quite a few money finishes. I fare just as well at the smaller buy in events at the sites I play at, and the play at both levels (money vs. freeroll) seems consistent.

I am comfortable at cash games and poker rooms and in my opinion have a very good feel for players and the live game so in that aspect I feel good.

I've read most of the books, belong to several forums where I've taken a good look at most of the advice and game playing sections ( I might not contribute much but I read your posts-they help quite a bit ) and I think I'm about as comfortable as I'm going to get with my knowledge and understanding of the game.

So I am now going to make a serious attempt to qualify for some major events. It's just something that I've always wanted to do and in reality, It's just a good point in my personal life to have the opportunity to actually go to these should I get lucky enough ( scratch that-play well enough) to win a seat.

Your thoughts and comments are welcome,of course, and I will try to keep this updated from time to time on how I'm doing in my "quest". Wish me luck.

I would first look at all the sites you have money in and see where they are at for WPT and wsop events. Almost everyone has WSOP events and games going. Look at them closely and see which has the best options or chances for you to get there. Some have a satellite to satellite.... you need to win like 4 tournaments to get you seat. Others may just have a winner takes all etc. I would research and find the best options and focus on those one or two that give you the best chances.

Second idea is to take all your winnings from what you are doing now and stash it for one of these events. It will take longer but it can give you a prize and focal point for when you play poker. The carrot leading the horse so to speak. This is what I usually do. My home games usually feed my tournament budget, make me play my best all the time.

I've thought along the same lines GF(nice squirrel by the way )

I've looked at alot of sites and tracked their activity in qualifiers (how many stages-how many players, etc.) Quite a few options out there isn't there?

As far as just bankrolling the entry, it's something that I could do with some effort, and I've already given myself "permission" so to speak, if I can't achieve it online. I'm going to try the satellite route for a few months, and have made a few choices which sites I'm going to try it at. (Sounds like maybe you've given this some thought also?) I'm sure we've all thought about playing these at one time or another, especially with all of the media coverage on poker the last few years.

I was ignorant before I got here (LOL). I was doing it the wrong way to get a seat at the WSOP. I only had one site downloaded and was playing there and the odds were really not in my favor so I wasted money. I figured you could learn from my mistakes.

P.S. I think it is a possum. Just found the pic the other day and added it. It still freaks me out alittle.

Im6t4, I just want to wish you gl on the satellite venture to the wsop. I aslo have been thinking of trying some of those satellites. With the sounds of your success in the multi-table tourys you have a good shot. I would just want to say that there are so many sites with satellites to the wsop and you should look around for the best site you think you have a chance at winning. I would suggest watching one of the satellite tournys on some of these sites so that you can see what type of competition you can expect and as well you can see if there are consistent entrants so you can get feel of thier style of play before you even get dealt together. I have personally watched a tourny on partypoker and competition seems fairly average. Again GL im6t4.