Relapse

Thanks to Iggy the Enabler for pointing out ESPN's Poker Club, with the free WSOP qualifiers. I'm a sucker for these mulit-level entry qualifiers, and the ones at ESPN are just the right price. :)

Despite my resolve to stay clear of even the virtual felt, I registered and downloaded the software and started playing at about 9:00 PST. The SnG tables filled up quick and it was a crapshoot as to whether you could get a seat or not.

Over the course of the next 4 hours (in between watching The Apprentice and Jersey Girl), I managed to get onto enough tables to actually win the 5 of them I needed! You get 6 points per win, and need 30 to enter the Sunday qualifiers. You can get 30 points for winning the MTTs that start every 20 minutes, but those fill up right away as well and I was too busy chasing open seats in the Single Table tab.

Given that these are freebies and a person can play as many as their heart desires, you can just imagine the kind of hands people were going all-in or calling all-ins with. And since the site is sponsored by Degree, there's a cute little "DEGREE ALL-IN MOMENT" pop-up icon on the table when someone pushes.

People were a little more cautious when I first started, when it was harder to get a seat; but roll around midnight my time, multiple tables were open at once and you actually had to WAIT for one to fill up and start.

That's when it got amusing, as half the table would go all-in on the first hand. What the hell, right? Lose and move on to the next table. Win, and you've quintupled up. I mostly tried to stay out of the cluster-fucks and actually play poker, but I did join in on the first-hand-frenzy once with KT and won. T6000 and I demolished the remaining 4 before round 2 even ended. Another table had everyone (but me) going all-in, and I was heads-up on the second hand. I couldn't overcome his 9-1 lead, but hey, at least I didn't end up investing that much time into that one!

Instead of thinking of this as a relapse, I'll consider it good rehab. I'm getting to play, it's not costing me anything, and it could potentially reap some great benefits.

Hmm... I wonder if the all-in first hand tactic will work at the WSOP?