Playing in the WPT World Championships - My Trip Reports

[davejorgens]

First off, I must thank CardsChat for their promotion and also my wonderful amazing wife for winning it. After ~10 times being in Vegas she's had her fill, but being a total degen I'm there every chance I can get and thus I'm off to the WPT World Championship 10.4K buy in event for the second year in a row! Don't feel sorry for her, she gets a trip to Asia, which I think a pretty fair deal.

For those not aware, Cardschat sponsored a freeroll for new signups to WPT Global and it took little effort to convince my wife that this was a huge +EV opportunity which she simply crushed. I had the pleasure of meeting CardsChat reporter Daniel Smyth last year and his article is the best introduction as to who I am: https://www.cardschat.com/news/wpt-world-championship-stories-1-114773/

I'm 1 week away from starting my next adventure and spending a minimum of 15 nights at the WPT festival playing in numerous events, culminating in the $40 million guaranteed World Championship! There will be lots of tournaments, parties, and stories (both true and embellished) that I'll be posting about in this thread. I love all things poker related, Vegas even more, so please comment or ask whatever questions you may have. I'll respond when sober and (or?) not playing, however infrequent that may be.

 

[Debi]

Can't wait to meet you there! I have not had time to send your merchandise so will bring it with me and meet up with you. I arrive on Sat next week so will send you an email with details.

Good luck!

 

[riff_raff312]

Wow first congrats on your opportunity to go and you get to meet the one and only Debi "O" damn you are one luck person .
Good luck to the both of you and i'll be watching for all the stories and photos to come in go make some dreams come true.

 

[davejorgens]

Wow first congrats on your opportunity to go and you get to meet the one and only Debi "O" damn you are one luck person .
Good luck to the both of you and I'll be watching for all the stories and photos to come in go make some dreams come true.

Thanks - I hadn't put meeting @Debi down as one of my trip highlights but based on your comments I'll have to wear my party hat for the occasion

 

[Jillychemung]

Congrats and looking forward to the UCAPs

 

[davejorgens]

Congrats and looking forward to the UCAPs

Thanks for coming along for the ride! Flight is tomorrow, haven't even had time to pack yet, so going to be a stressful start.

 

[davejorgens]

Today was the totally epic and amazing WPT Premier Meet Up Game. I was disappointed to miss the MUG last year, and refused to be denied this time! Players could get a raffle ticket by either 1: winning with the Doyle (ten-deuce), winning with pocket pair 2 through 7, or being in an all-in and a call situation with an ambassador. After four hours, they drew 5 tickets for $1.1K buy in, and 1 ticket for a $10.4K buy in to the main event! I didn't win the raffle despite having 7 tickets but almost quadrupled my buy in. 1st day in Vegas is a success!

 

[davejorgens]

Three months ago WPT asked us who our favorite WPT champion of all time was, and I choose Gus Hansen due to his highly entertaining and varied style of poker. Today, I had the thrill of actually playing against him. Highlight of the trip on day 1. It's all gravy from here.

 

[Jillychemung]

Outstanding!!! What memories you're making thru poker!! Jealous!

 

[OnasOO]

How I wish I was in Las Vegas right now. I can imagine the atmosphere you have there

 

[davejorgens]

It really is a huge thrill! I'm a total fan boy whenever I see a star.

 

[SpanRmonka]

Seems like you're already having an amazing time! How incredible to win a main event ticket 2 years in a row!!!

Looking forward to hearing more about it as trip unfolds, good luck!!!

 

[davejorgens]

Bagged the WPT seniors event. 130 left, 98 get paid!

 

[davejorgens]

I may or may not, but most likely may, have partaked in the complimentary wine all day long

 

[davejorgens]

Seems like you're already having an amazing time! How incredible to win a main event ticket 2 years in a row!!!

Looking forward to hearing more about it as trip unfolds, good luck!!!

It has been a once in a lifetime event... Twice!

 

[davejorgens]

Outstanding!!! What memories you're making thru poker!! Jealous!

Everyone needs to come to Vegas for the WPT! I know that I have exceedingly special circumstances that have allowed me to be here playing in the world championship two years in a row, but for everyone else just coming here and playing in the $1,100 Prime event, trust me you will have the time of your life with the WPT

 

[davejorgens]

Cashed 74th out of 802 in the seniors event! Great result in my first WPT tournament this trip. Cheers to everyone!
Very happy considering I won only two hands today, in 4 hours of playing. thankfully I came in with a big enough stack, and my cards were very very bad, and i was able to fold well past the bubble (98 ppl).

 

[davejorgens]

Why I love Vegas reason #647. Midnight, left my friends and walking through the Linq hotel on the way to my hotel. Group of 4 people call me over. they say a couple words, and I'm "let me grab a beer and come join you". I could tell they were a fun group. Turns out they were playing a game amongst themselves taking turns, where you have 2 minutes to get a stranger walking past to engage in conversation with them. Well heck ya, let me play! Now I'm trying to grab attention of people walking by. I end up getting a guy from Alberta to stop and chat, and his dad lives in Salmon Arm (small BC town I grew up in). They gave me triple points for that! Two hours later, pulled the plug and left.

 

[davejorgens]

Why I love Vegas reason #841. Chatting away with a guy from California and a lady from New York at my poker table, for a couple hours. Having lots of laughs and good conversations. Two hours in, the lady, after breaktime, says to the guy "Dayanna says to say hi to Dave". His name was Dave. I realize that's for me since Dayanna is one of my friends here. I figured she'd come by (I'd posted the table I was playing at online) and left a message with this random lady at my table to pass on to me. She starts checking her phone for the conversation and I'm "wait, you know Dayanna?" turns out they are roomies on this trip, and I've been talking with Dayanna's close friend without either of us realizing the connection!

 

[davejorgens]

I took advantage of a free training session that WPT put on for a group of us - the ClubWPT Stream Team. I had expected more... it was pretty rudimentary, but was a great way to meet this bunch of people and mingle.

 

[davejorgens]

Last evening was the Club WPT sponsored Final Table Challenge, where ClubWPT added an overlay where the entire final table received a $1,100 Prime Championship seat. I was kind of despondent doing the walk of shame back to my hotel at 1AM, having busted out 11 from the money, and checking my mesages. My buddy sends me this - I was on his TV! This was from last year's WPT World Championships where I got to meet and play virtual golf with Phil Ivey! A nice pick-me-up when I needed it.

 

[davejorgens]

Well, another great day in Paradise! Literally - for those that don't know, "the strip" isn't actually in Las Vegas, it's in the township of Paradise. Dinner at a Michelin Star restaurant with new and old friends, hear a voice behind me that I recognized. Dana White, president of the UFC

 

[davejorgens]

I didn't play poker today since we've had the dinner reservation for months, but went to watch the WPT Prime half time show which featured dancing stormtroopers

 

[takinitSLEAZEE]

Awesome man, way to represent. One of these days, man, one of these days.

 

[davejorgens]

Awesome man, way to represent. One of these days, man, one of these days.

Thanks! Live life to the fullest every day. Keep grinding away and you'll get your shot!