It was a rollercoaster ride playing against 24 players that you had gotten to know fairly well over the last couple of years. All of you, Ragged Aces, but only one was going to win the biggest prize the group had played for, entry into a World Series of Poker preliminary event. The added pressure of a buy-in five times larger than the normal $20 game made every decision more difficult. Every all-in move made your heart race faster than a triple crown winner in Kentucky. This was a big deal and though you wanted to win, it was just as exciting to know that one of you was going to play in the WSOP and all of you would share in any prizes that may come out of it.
The first two hours of the game, nobody left the three tables as chips were exchanged back and forth with no stack advantage lasting long. Finally some of the more aggressive players started dominating the tables as some bad river calls and bad river beats reduced the field to 18 by the start of the fourth hour. Two hours later as we inched past 11pm the tournament was down to 7 players at the final table and you were in the middle of the pack.
Somehow you managed to stay alive over the next hour and between you and another Ace you eliminated the last five contenders to get it down to heads up. After returning their buy-ins (if you make the WSOP money), everyone else would get 2% of any WSOP winnings. You and your opponent would have a chance at the grand prize of going to the WSOP and a 50% share of the winnings while the other would get to stay home and watch it on the internet for 6%.
Over the next 20 minutes you played some of the best heads up cards in your life and in the end, you won the first trip to the WSOP by any Ragged Aces player. The $2500 from the purse was used to purchase your $1500 entry into the 39th annual WSOP three-day NLHE Event #3 in June of 2008, a round-trip plane ticket from Seattle to Las Vegas, and hotel for 3 nights. Just playing in the WSOP was exciting enough...now if only you could win.
Arriving at the Rio you were amazed at how many people were in Vegas for the WSOP and you couldn't resist taking a picture of the big banner to show everyone you knew that you really were there. 
This was only the beginning, as you stepped into the huge room where the tournament was actually being held, the enormity of the situation, the throng of people, the wall of noise, and the "got to pinch myself" situation hit like a wave of unreality breaking over your consciousness. You were really going to play in the WSOP. You had arrived!
The first day was a haze. You weren't really sure about anything and playing with all these new people with a variety of styles and skill made for some tough decisions during the day. On top of that, you hadn't played much outside of the Ragged Aces tournaments and everything was a lot less casual though it was still very friendly. The guy that started next to you was from Kansas and just kept talking the whole time about how he's always dreamed about being at the World Series of Poker. It was a bit of relief when he was busted out by the grizzled pro sitting across the table from you. Fortunately, you were able to survive the day as the tables broke at 2am and the field was narrowed from the starting 2,998 entries to about 1500. Your goal for tomorrow, to reach the final 270 players where you would turn the $2,500 Ragged Aces investment into $3,478 ($589 for you, $158 for the 2nd place guy, and $120 each for everyone else).
The second day, you were both excited and mortified at your table draw. Sitting to your left (the worst place for you) was one of the best poker players in the world, Phil Ivey. Unfortunately, he's not much of a talker so you didn't get to really pick his brain, but you did get to watch up close and personal (and lose some chips as well) his style, aggressiveness, and ability as he knocked more than his fair share of players to the rail. It was quite a relief when he was moved to the "spotlight" table later in the day.
Somehow you managed to triple your stack during the day and survive until 2am when the tables broke and it was announced that you had made the money. The third and final day would start with 270 players and now you had the goal of reaching the final table worth a minimum of $43,378 while winning the whole thing would net you $727,012. That's a pretty good return on everyone's investment, though you still had a lot of playing to do to get there.
The third day had you starting in the pit but you began to get very good cards and it seemed like everyone was playing with you. Somehow your pairs seemed to catch cards to become trips, you loaded every possible boat, and rivered a couple of flush and straight draws. While on this rush you get a tap on the shoulder and find yourself moved up to the spotlight table where you'll be seen on TV. Exciting but the added pressure caused you to tighten up and the other players were able to take advantage. Phil Ivey pounced on one of your continuation bets with an all-in move. Another player re-raised you all-in pre-flop when you had raised with JJ and when you called he had AK. He hit a King on the river and you lost about half your stack and were sliding the wrong way on the payout ladder.
Fortunately, you seemed to find your balance and stopped noticing the TV cameras. With renewed focus you started rebuilding your stack and before you knew it they announced that the tournament was down to the final 10 players. The best part, you were the one that had busted Phil Ivey earlier in the day and he had congratulated you and complimented your play.
The final table was a blur. Players were pushing huge stacks of chips and though you felt good about your cards, you kept getting into trouble and getting lucky at the right times. Somehow player after player busted out until there were just two players left. You, and a guy named Andreas Krause who had made the final table of this event the previous year.
Heads-up, you had to wait as the casino dropped bricks of cash and the gold WSOP bracelet on the table to ratchet up the stress before the final battle was begun. The two of you played for a long time swapping the chip lead a number of times and then it happend. You raised with AdAh on the button and he moved All-in with the Ace and King of Spades. You insta-called and realized that you had him out-chipped by a couple of thousand. You had the best chance of winning with all the chips in the tournament in the pot. The flop was a Kd5s9s which made things interesting and scary as he now had 11 outs with two cards to come (about 45% chance to draw the win). A 5d on the turn didn't help either of you and it was down to the river and a 24% chance your opponent could draw out on you. The river card slowly flipped over as you held your breath and amazingly, it was a harmless 7 of clubs giving you the win.
Over the next few hours, you were interviewed by ESPN, Bluff magazine, Card Player magazine, and a number of web sites and other publications you had never heard of. Finally, you were able to slip away, collect your winnings, and head up to your hotel room for a much needed rest. Sitting on the bed in your room, you stare at the WSOP Event #3 Winner Bracelet, calculate the payday you and all the Ragged Aces are going to share ($362,356 for you, $43,570 for 2nd place guy, $14,590 for everyone else), and think through the last three days before you pick up the phone and start calling your friends and family to tell them the big news.
Let's talk about it!
~ Clark