I just got back from winning a $100 one table satellite into the $1000 buy in NL tourney tomorrow at Harrah's in AC.

I'd say it was 40% skill and 60% luck... mostly a crap shoot. I got real lucky a rivered an 8 for a set of 8's against another guys pocket Kings after my first all in and tripled up.

Anyway, after thinking about it, I've decided not to play in the tournament tomorrow because I can't justify that much of my bankroll going to one tournament quite yet. I wish they hadn't given me the choice and forced me to play, but it's probably not the best idea to play my first tournament of more than 50 players in a WSOP event. I sold my voucher already and I'll most likely be hanging around AC playing lower limit poker and Bally's and/or the Taj.

The staff at Harrah's gets 2 thumbs up for being enthusiastic about the event. They get three thumbs down for having any clue how to run an event or a group of poker tables. The paperwork line was 6 people deep at all times and just took forever (even for just a $125 buyin to a satellite). Our dealer for our tournament had NEVER had to make a side pot before (but claimed to have been dealing hold 'em for over a year). There were more blunders in the 2 hour satellite than I've seen in a LONG time. They missed moving the button at least twice... etc. I guess I'm spoiled by online poker.

See ya at the tables tomorrow...

how much did you get for the vocher???

$950

Card. how was the tourney setup? Did they make a new pokeroom at harrahs because the one they have is pretty small? Im going down to the 10K event and plan to chill out and watch. Can anyone watch also?

Thanks a lot

again.. it is the worst tournament structure ever... 125 satelitte starts with 500 chips ... blinds start at 10 25 and then 25 50... we were able to play 5 hands the first 15 min.. and 6 hands the 2nd 15... I got lucky and tripled up with AK vs A9 vs A9... dealers in the cash game (2/5 NL were dealing about 19 to 22 hands per HOUR.... hilarious...

man i would definitely play. How often would you get the chance. Where did you play the satellite?

Where are the best satellites for the wsop online. Waht site

I would have played as well. You can't look at it as dropping 950 to play. I would look at it as dropping 100 to play. The experience and chance to win some big bucks would be worth it to me.

I also won a $1000 voucher. I'm going back tonight to try to beat a table for $10k. I'll take 10-1 odds to win 10K versus 300-1 odds to win the $1000 event anyday.

Anybody else from here that's going?

And how did you sell yours? If I win $10k voucher and sell it for cash, I'll be scared as hell to make that transaction.

The guy I was sitting next to at my table was the one who offered as soon as I had won it. He was real nice about it and had the cash, so it didn't seem shady or anything.

Like somebody else said, it was $500 in cheap ass chips (same plastic quality they have a Target in the Michael Graves poker set if anyone has those). We generally played between 5 and 7 hands per blind round (15 minutes). Ridiculous. I got lucky and got queens, tens, and aces once each in the first 30 hands or so and managed to stay in it. When the blinds got to 100-200, it was just an all-in fest with the last 7 people because 5 of us had under 500 in chips left and would be blinded out anyway. It was just a horrible tournament and it had very little to do with poker skill.

The room that they had the tables in was a converted ballroom. They had an entrance for players and an entrance for the "gallery", but no seats if you were watching. I think they probably had 15-20 tables in that room, but I didn't count. No food or drink station and I think we saw a drink lady once during our 2 hour tournament.

I wish I had competed in the $1000 buy in, but I guess I'll have to wait to take on the big boys. Maybe next year. At least I can move up from $.50-$1 now since I have a slightly larger bankroll now. Though I may stick around there a little while longer since I'm still about a break even poker player at $.50-$1 when 4 tabling and I'd really like to be making money. I think I'd just get rivered less playing my good hands at $1-$2 or $2-$4. We'll see!

See you all on Tuesday in the forum tournament!

I sure hope they get the dealers trained better for the $10k event. I can't count the number of times I had to help a dealer split a pot. A couple of times a dealer dealt the flop before betting was done. Just unbelievable stuff. One time, a new dealer came to the table and sat down. First words out of her mouth were, "This is my first time dealing, so don't get mad if a screw up."

I can't imagine the pros putting up with the crap we saw.