The Watched Pot
perjantai, syyskuu 05 2008
By: Gene Bromberg
I don't have a calendar in my house and I really don't need one. I already know that in three weeks and a day I'll be hopping a flight headed to the Caribbean and the Aruba Poker Classic. Actually, that's not quite accurate--the Classic starts in exactly 21 days, 12 hours, 59 minutes and 11 seconds. This I learned while checking out the Aruba Classic home page, which I've been most of the morning. Getting in the mood, if you will.
Three weeks, 12 hours, 56 minutes, 37 seconds. Really, the second-by-second countdown is just cruel. It seems so long to wait...until you think that after the WSOP it seemed like we had forever and a day to go before Aruba. And now it's just three short weeks away. Well, three weeks, 12 hours, 54 minutes and 22 seconds. Not that I'm obsessing.
That's still plenty of time for you to make arrangements to play in this year's Classic. In fact, you still have over a week before our last 50-Seat Guaranteed Tourney, which will be held on September 13th at 5:30pm. We'll be giving away at least 50 seats to Aruba (it's an $8,500 package that includes your buy-in and travel expenses) and could be an economical way to win your way into the biggest poker party of the year.
Or, if you're not the sort to sit on your hands and watch the Aruba Classic counter tick-tick-tick toward liftoff, you can try to qualify for Aruba on the cheap through the scores of super-satellites and qualifiers we hold every day. The last two years I've spoken to dozens of people who told me they won their trips for a hundred bucks. For twenty bucks. For free. And since SOMEBODY has to win these seats, why shouldn't it be YOUR turn this year?
And if playing in a big poker tournament is a life-long dream, the Aruba Poker Classic would be about the best event you could choose. First of all, it's in ARUBA. Let's say you pony up the buy-in, take your seat and on the very first hand run pocket Aces into pocket Jacks. This happened during Day One of the WSOP Main Event, a guy was dealt pocket Aces and some lunatic with pocket Jacks decided to get all the money in the middle before the flop. A Jack spikes on the turn, and that sad sack with the Aces was done. And what consolation did he find when he left the Amazon Room? The hallway of the Rio, for Pete's sake, and after that a sun-baked parking lot.
Whereas, if you get bad-beated out of the Aruba Poker Classic, you have THIS to look forward to:
And while the vibe at the WSOP tends to be a bit on the "Hello, I'm going to sink my fangs into your jugular" side, in Aruba its much more mellow. Oh sure, everyone plays to win (with a $1 million guaranteed first prize, you better believe it) but how uptight and feral can you really be in a tropical paradise? Not that frustrations don't take their inevitable toll:
But with the Classic bookended by two huge parties and the tournament days enlivened with sushi and champagne buffets, the week is not exactly a grind. And if your significant other isn't exactly thrilled with your poker hobby, what better way to change his/her mind then by inviting them along for the ride. I can't tell you how many couple I've talked to who make the Aruba Classic a yearly ritual. One partner gets to play poker to their heart's (and bankroll's) content, and come September they invest the winnings in a trip to Aruba. Even if you don't do well in the tournament, a few moonlight strolls on the beach should make the trip worthwhile for all concerned.
And it's all just 21 days, 12 hours, 38 minutes and 49 seconds away. Believe it or not, that time is gonna fly. You don't want to be sitting at home on September 27th and suddenly jerk upright in your chair and say, "Aruba! No!!". There's still time to win your seat. But not a lot of time.
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