Player's Stories

WSOP Trip Report:
My Dance at the Big Dance
By Matthew Hilger
(All Rights Reserved)

I am going to take a break this month from my series of Top 10 Mistakes in Online Poker to write about my first trip to the World Series Main Event. Until the World Series, my biggest tourney accomplishment was winning the 2002 New Zealand Poker Championship. That was quite a thrill at the time but playing in the World Series is an experience like no other and one I will never forget.

The field started with 2576 players and $10,000 in chips each. They divided the field the first two days so I had to wait for Day 2 to hear those infamous words...Shuffle up and deal! I had waited a long time for this opportunity as I had been living in New Zealand and Argentina the last several years during the WSOP. I was finally here...the butterflies were going as I sat there thinking to myself, "Here I am at the World Series of Poker!"

I was all ready to show my skills to the world; except there was one small problem...I didn't win a single hand the first hour and 40 minutes. I was already down to $8200 by the first break. Fortunately, things turned for me at the beginning of the next level. I finally was able to rake in a pot and was quite happy as I turned my $8200 to $30,000 in two consecutive hands having hit sets in both of them AND getting action. I finished the day with a flourish and went into Day 3 with $67,000 in chips which was about 15th highest among the remaining 1100 or so players left.

To say the least, it wasn't very easy getting sleep that night but there was plenty more work to do. I kept thinking, "Boy I had a great day...but I still have to win $25.7 million more in chips!" Every day we started at 12:00 and finished around 1:30 AM so it was quite draining mentally. Each day I managed to double up finishing Day 3 with 110K and Day 4 with 220K. On Day 5, about 80 players were left in the field so I was already guaranteed $20,000. We were going to play down to about 27 players that day to see who could battle it out for the real money.

I am not sure exactly when this occurred but it was a brief moment late in the day that I will remember for a while. My father was watching the action just a few feet away on the rail. I hadn't slept very much in days, I was getting sick, I was mentally worn out...but here I was in the biggest poker tournament in the world. I looked up on the wall and there was a nice size banner that read "2004 World Series of Poker". As I stared at the banner I tried to reflect on the moment.

Sometimes when you are so involved in the action you forget what really is at hand. As I looked around the room I saw a lot of ESPN cameras, spectators, and on the rail were some well-known players who had come back to witness the action. Here I was in the big dance and I was still dancing! That minute of reflection was quite peaceful and one that I will remember for a long time...but there was still work to do!

I managed to survive most of the day until there were about 33 players left. I lost a big $600,000 pot to Al Krux when my aces lost to tens as a ten fell on the river. Al went on to use my...I mean his chips to finish 6th for an $800,000 payday...that is poker---sometimes extremely cruel and unforgiving while at other times extremely exciting and exhilarating. That is what makes poker such a great game.

Meanwhile I was still alive and had to find a way to get myself back into contention. I found myself shortstacked and got myself allin on the button with KQ vs. 22 in the big blind only to see blanks hit the board. My World Series was over but it sure was a fun ride!

Looking back at the Series, it was a fantastic experience. I got to test my skills against some of the best in the world and was able to outlast most of them. It was great going to battle with the likes of Andy Block, Tomer Benvenisti, Erick Lindgren, Marcel Luske, Mike Matusow, and the new world champion, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer. I played with Greg a decent amount of time during the series and think he will make a great champion and representative of poker. So congratulations Greg, but look out for me next year!