Losing Your Virginity – In Live Poker

Everyone remembers their first time. The excitement, the anticipation, the nervous jitters about whether you will have a problem with performance. You get to your destination and when the time is right you fumble for your wallet for…your buy-in money. What did you think I was talking about? I am talking about the first time your played poker inside of a casino.

Do you remember your first time? For me, it was Tunica, MS in January 2006. I had played poker in home games and online for years, but had never stepped into a casino. Just driving up to the casino for the first time was a big overwhelming in a way. I drove down to Tunica late at night and after a long drive in perpetual darkness, all of a sudden there was this large casino lighting up the southern sky. There was also music playing in the background. (Why can’t we be friends to be exact.)

My first experience was in the casino hotel. I was early and tried to get a room on a Saturday night. I should have known better. However, this gentleman in a cowboy hat came up to the desk drunk off his rocker. He tried to pull out his wallet and out came a roll of $100 bills that spilled everywhere. There had to be $10,000 in cash lying in the floor. I helped him pick it up and he went on his way. I had to actually leave the casino because there weren’t any rooms available. As a result, I would have to wait until the next day to actually play. (Well, I didn’t HAVE to, but I chose to.)

The next day, I came back and was able to get in my room early and unload my car. I then took a shuttle bus over to the Grand (now known as Harrah’s Tunica). I then asked the security guard where the poker room was. He told me where and when I got to the room, I could see where the WSOP circuit was setup. I had driven down to play in the WSOP Circuit event and I wanted to try my hand at some satellites.

I went over and there was a sea of poker tables as wide as the room and most of them were occupied from the prior day’s tournament. For me, it was quite a site. Then, I saw the satellite line and went over to stand in line. I wanted to play some 7 Card Stud, but I did not know that I was asking for a game that was almost never spread. So, I ended up playing Texas Holdem.

Most of the players at the table were either new or with light experience. Personally, I didn’t care much for Holdem, but I didn’t care. I wanted to play. I had to be reminded a time or two to post my blind because I was looking all around with the “Oh wow, I’m here” look on my face. I was excited to be there, but I really was not serious in playing cards. I didn’t do horribly, but I still did not win. My final hand saw my pocket jacks outdrawn by A-Q and I was eliminated 2nd or 3rd from the game.

Later, I returned to try and find something else to play and a bunch of older gentlemen were waiting for a stud satellite. When I sat down to play, they all gave each other the “Yup, another Holdem player” look. Of course, they changed their tune after I took a few pots off of them. The stud game went much better for me as this was the game I felt the most comfortable playing. I wound up making heads-up against this older gentleman from California, and I offered him $120 to walk away, which he took.
I had my entry for my first major tournament paid for and I felt I was ready to take on the world. I had promised myself that I would not let the nervousness get the best of me and keep me from properly resting for the event. Of course, it didn’t happen but I still managed to sleep some.

My first tournament did not go nearly liked I had hoped. I ran into rolled up aces with kings up and that took a good chunk of my stack. Eventually, I come to find out the guy that beat me was Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri, a protégé of John Bonetti. However, I also developed a friendship with another pro player, Chris “The Armenian Express” Grigorian. Chris is a great guy and a lot of fun to talk to when I see him on the poker circuit.

Overall, I finished up about $3,000 on my first poker trip, but that mainly off of money won in satellites. My tournaments did not go like I had hoped. However, I had a blast and it basically fueled my fire for live tournament play. I have had the fortune to travel around the country and play in and report on a lot of tournaments. All that has been great, but nothing compares to my first time in a casino in Tunica, MS.

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