The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

I don't think I could ever get tired of it. The sounds of the ruffling of the chips, the announcement of "all-in", the tension as the cards get revealed one by one while your tournament life is at stake (well, maybe not so much if it's my life at stake). The 2008 World Series of Poker started this past Friday, with a total of 55 bracelets up for grabs. Already there is a final table for event #1 as over 400 players anted up $10,000 to play pot-limit hold em, with Andy Bloch, Mike Sexton, Kathy Liebert and lesser-known Canadian pro Nenad Medic remaining as I write this. Awesome!

I guess the elation of winning a major event, sports or otherwise, is what drives many people. If I was told before a tournament, nope, you're not taking any money home, but you are coming in first place with that bracelet, would you still do it? Absolutely. There's nothing more prestigious to a poker player than to say you won at the World Series. I'm nothing more than one amateur amongst a sea of thousands who dream just like I do, but even just thinking about it gets the blood flowing.

The buy-ins are NOT cheap. And that's the reason why it's possible last year's attendance might be my first and only time there. At least I could say gave it a shot once, as there's many players who'd want to be a part of it but will never be able to go. Still, I'm greedy, once isn't enough. I want to go again. Maybe it'll be, ahem, in the cards for me somewhere down the line...