Today PartyPoker player Bobbes22 tells how his Las Vegas poker dream came true for less than $4 in a PartyPoker qualifier.
Also cirneco2000, who is a lawyer, tells of a rollercoaster qualifier ride that brought him to Premier League Poker play-offs.
Bobbes22 (pictured)
It was a long but a cheap way to win the 9k package for The Poker Premier League IV. I went through all German qualifiers.
I played the $2 rebuy qualifier only for Germans. I made no rebuy, only the add-on! In this tournament I qualified for the $52 qualifier.
I went through this too. I was qualified for the $480 satellite with one 9k package to Las Vegas.
In a 6 1/2 hours fight with more ups than downs I won the tournament. The Heads-Up took about 1 1/2 hour and it was a very tight game with the best end for me.
I don’t know what was the last hand. I only remember that I got the 3rd 8 on the turn and the board was death for my opponent.
I took one bad decision and I saw me going out very early. My opponent had quads of queens and I had the full house queens with kings. He went all in on the river, and I called him after a long decision time. So my stack decreased from 24000 to 6000. Thereafter it took a while until I got out of this bad situation.
I played very tight and was always under the top 5 of the stack. Then I took some risk at the final table, because to get the package I had to win, and not place in 3rd or 4th position. At last I got it. And a dream comes true for only $3,6!
I haven’t played any big offline tournaments before. The biggest I played was the Mermaid Challenge 2009 in Vienna with about 1500 people and a prizepool of over 75.000 EURO + a new BMW for the winner. I qualified for this in a 10 EUR buy-in offline tournament.
I won in 2009 5 of 9 tourneys I played. My earnings were TV`s, Notebook, WII, Xbox360 because in our area only sponsored material prizes are allowed.
But now I hope to get a chance in the real world of poker. In Vegas I don`t know what would happen, but in poker a lot of things are possible, why not to win against some pros?
My goals are to go through the playoffs, and play the pros. And I`ll show that I have the skills to get the sponsorship of Partypoker!
I think my greatest skills are, a good read on my opponents and my variable play. So, if the poker god is on my side, maybe a big surprise would happen.
I’d like to play against all the pros but my favourite is Daniel Negreanu. If we’ll sit on the same table, I think we would have a lot of fun.
I like his cheerful character and for sure he is one of the best players in the world. If I will win against the pros or/and get the sponsorship from Partypoker, I think my life could change very much and it would be the stepping stone for my poker career. Then the next step is to play the WSOP-Events and maybe surprise the world.
cirneco2000
I liked the tournament structure, especially the blinds structure and stack size. I initially decided to play tight because of the stack size, progressing with a looser attitude as the blinds were increasing.
My tournament was a kind of rollercoaster, doubling up within the first 2 levels and loosing 60% on a pot that almost make me tilt, reducing my stack to 15k while average was 30k. Blinds increase and an ineffective bluff got me into last position with only 5.5k while average was 33k.
At that point I took a more aggressive attitude, with a lot of blinds stealing, rising up to 14k. A double up got me near the average stack size (30k), entering the final table around 4th or 5th position. A further double up gave me position to dominate the table.
After 1 hour of 5 handed table I killed three players, 2 in the following hand: My stack 180k, opposition 1 stack 53k, opposition 2 stack 49k. I had JJ, opposition 1 A9 off suit, opposition 2 AQ off suit with a blank board.
I started heads up with a stack of 350k versus 90k, choosing a tight strategy due to the stacks difference. Heads-up lasted more than 100 hands, facing a good opponent. This strategy didn’t work, and I found myself with a 160k stack facing a 280k stack.
A double up (9Toff me, opposition T8off, board 35T 9 J) let me control the game and draw me to a pot in which my opponent raised to 24k (blinds 4k/8k) with 115k stack finding me with AA, which I pushed all in, followed by opposition call with JQ off suit. Flop 359, turn 8, river T!
Despite the similar stacks we had, I thought the game was over, but after 15 hands the following hand gave me the leadership, leaving my opponent with only 14k and a sure death:
Blinds 4k/8k, opposition raise to 24k, I called with KJ suited; flop K diamonds, one low diamond and another low blank card. I bet 36k, and opposition pushed all in after taking all the time he had. Snap call by me and opposition shows A2 suited diamonds, turn and river without diamonds gave me the decisive pot.
I played 2008 Irish Open (buy in won online). It was a great experience in which I reached day 2 as a very short stack. I also played 2009 Campione d’Italia, Notte del Poker tournament side event, buy in € 1100, and ended up as a bubble man!
I’m happy to reach Poker World Mecca (so many thanks to Party Poker!). My goal is obviously to win the tournament (no other attitude is permitted in poker), and most of all, to enrich my knowledge facing great players and difficult situations, otherwise unreachable.
I want to meet and play against Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, Annette Obrestad, Doyle Brunson.
This experience will drive me to become a semi pro; in case of a good final position in the tournament and/or a sponsorship I will consider the opportunity of becoming a pro player (I’m actually a lawyer).
We have few more qualifier stories to tell before Premier League Poker kicks off next week. Stay tuned to the Party Poker blog.
