Do you believe me?

[BigSlickAK]

I'm 18. I've been plainyg for 2 years. My name is Shawn. I live in California. I'm going to win the World Series of Poker. Do you believe me?

[Poker_Vendetta]

No. How many entries were there this year? 800 or so? Next year it may reach a 1000! You have a 1/1000 chance in winning if it were a lottery. But no, I'd say 200 of them are serious pros...Well, I really can't guess but A LOT of them are serious pros, that would dominate anyone here. You would need to be insanely lucky PLUS you need to be 21 to enter the World Series of Poker, or a casino for that matter...Right?

[karasz]

Yes, you need to be 21...

And I'm winning it in 2 years there tough guy

[StanSmith]

I'd be impressed to see you lose it, never mind win it. Neither putting up 10 grand nor winning one or more satellites is an easy play.

Myself, I plan to be in Vegas next year during the WSOP just for the atmosphere (and the side games). I'll probably wind up in a couple of super-satellites, but I figure I'll take it all in as a fan of the game and it's trappings, then get a serious plan for entering together for the following year.

I don't have any illusions about my chances, but what's the point of being involved in a game where you can actually compete against the best and never giving it a shot?

Martin

(btw, if you want to get yourself psyched up for a trip to the WSOP, check out http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0811827518/hobgoblin/104-4907228-4353530. Best poker history/story book I've ever read)

[BigSlickAK]

Hey poker vendetta, i got a question? Do you think moneymaker just got really lucky? Anyhow, I don't need to win this year. obviously I can't due to my handicap in age. im in no hurry to win it as long as i do so before thirty. But, hey who knows it's a carzy world maybe ill see one of you guys at the final table.

Good luck!

[StanSmith]

I think anyone who wins the WSOP has to have been lucky at several points during the tourney, and as far as the hands shown on TV, Moneymaker caught his share of miracle cards and then some. That said, I don't think anyone can win a tourney that large on luck alone. I take my hat off to him like I do any champ, but I'm very curious to see how he plays in future events.

Martin

[Poker_Vendetta]

Hey, listen up. Moneymaker is far better than a novice. He could bluff quite excellently and was quite a gambling no doubt. You can NOT say he did not get lucky on a couple of hands. He outplayed some pros in some situations but if a few hands went against him he would have been crippled. I did like some of his moves, some of his calls and so on...He, is, luck or not, a better poker player than most people I AM SURE. But you are absolutely pumping bulls**t if you are saying he didn't get lucky.

To win the WSOP, you have to be atleast a LITTLE bit better than a mediocre player and you must have SOME luck. Believe me, luck plays SOME type of part in a tournament with 800 players. It has to.


EDIT: When I said the whole thing about being insanely lucky in my previous post..I was referring to basically everyone here. Moneymaker obviously had some excellent skill, he won the super-sattelite. And, as it's my understanding, everyone here is still yet to have done that. Well, I don't know. Please, anyone, seriously, tell me if you have won a super-satellite. I would love to hear it.

[BigSlickAK]

Calm down there buddy I wasn't implying wether i thought he had or had not gotten lucky. I just noticed that you have a lot of posts and wondered what you thought. I personally believe that he did along with all former wsop champs get lucky. I also think that a lot of the competition underestimated the "online amatuer" and that helped him a little as well.

Happy hunting!

[Poker_Vendetta]

All right all right. I did go off there for absolutely no reason, my apologizes. A lot of posts means absolutely nothing. I play for PLAY money and I suck at that! I am too young to even go into a casino and yet, like I said. I still suck. So just insult my poker skills and you will have done a lot more. Sorry again.

[BigSlickAK]

I'll give you a bit of advice which you may heed at your will. Read books (hold em poker, then for advanced players, Theory of poker, mike caro writes some good books too). Then start putting steak on the table. Another thing, how old are you?

Good Luck!

[ginpeddler]

Here's the thing cowboys, a pair of aces in the hole won't get you diddly if you jump up and down like you dropped your cigarette in your lap. And 3-7 off suit caqn double you up if you have the skill to play it like it was a pair of bullets. Was it skill? Was it luck? Neither. It was the skill to manage the luck, and the luck to enhance the skill. Always is, and always will be. Hats of to Moneymaker. Yewwwwwww Lucky Dawwwwg. Hats off.

[BigSlickAK]

My god buddy what the hell are you talking about?

[Poker_Vendetta]

^ ^...Yeah I agree with the part about not jumping up and down with bullets or cowboys, but I strongly disagree that you can consistently double up with inferior cards. No matter how good you are you can not win every hand. Can you win with 73o? Sure, but you have to mix it up very, very nicely. But like I said, if you played 73o every time you got it, or almost all of those inferior cards, until the end of time. I DO NOT care how good you are, it is virtually impossible to win moreso than not with those kind of crap cards. It is all about timing though, you are correct. If you get in with 73o against someone who you feel is weak, and reraise all-in you could pull down a big pot, but if your opponent is holding AA you can't win, so in many occasions it would only bite you in the butt.

[PokerGoblin]

Moneymaker got extremely lucky on 3 separate occasions: all of which he caught his card at the river when he was at least a 90% underdog; the most astounding of which was when he caught the ace at the river to eliminate Phil Ivey when Ivey was all-in with nines full of jacks. Then he totally established himself as a tough player by disposing of Sammy Farha in only 30 minutes heads up, culminating with Farha's obvious frustration after folding the sixes to Moneymaker's stone cold bluff.

[highscty]

don't you mean 9's?