Millions at stake in huge Vegas poker tournament

[emad]

Online novices take on casino veterans as world's biggest card game gets under way

Jamie Wilson in Las Vegas
Saturday July 9, 2005
The Guardian

For Tony Figliolo the dream ended at 4.59pm when he was dealt a pair of aces. If the other guy hadn't been holding a straight flush it could all have been so different.

But the car parts salesman from Phoenix, Arizona, thought his opponent was bluffing and bet all his remaining chips on the cards lying face down on the table in front of him. As the dealer swept the pretty little pile of multicoloured discs towards his opponent Mr Figliolo's participation in the biggest card game the world has ever seen was well and truly over.

The 48-year-old was among the 6,000 players who have descended on the glass and neon edifice that is the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas this week to play in the World Series of Poker, all of them dreaming that when the final card is dealt next Saturday they will be the one holding all the chips.

With an estimated prize pot of about $60m (£35m), this is - depending on your definition of the word sport - the richest sporting event in the world. And men like Mr Figliolo, who dream of becoming instant millionaires on the turn of a single card, are the living, breathing embodiment of the poker boom sweeping Europe and the US.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1524694,00.html

[Misunderestimator]

1. $60 million!! Holy crap!

I hate pocket Aces... that would have sucked.

[emad]

2. Poker genius or a busted flush - can our man in Vegas make his millions?

July 09, 2005

Poker genius or a busted flush - can our man in Vegas make his millions?
From Adam Fresco in the Mirage Hotel

IT IS 2am and I have just returned from Palms Casino where I have been playing poker for 6½ hours in a freezing, over-air conditioned room full of whooping Americans and a canny semi-professional player from South London.

After playing Texas No Limit Hold ’Em on the internet for six months, my boss thought it a good idea to send me to play live against the best poker players in the universe who have gathered for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas.

The brief was to recount how humiliating it was to pay $200 (£115) to enter a competition and be knocked out in seconds.

That was a very real possibility. Face to face, these people are scary and the rules are complicated. On the internet a button pops up when it is your go, giving you the option to raise, to call or to fold with a click of the mouse.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,175-1686490,00.html