In a few weeks the World Series of Poker finally begins.
I am so excited, there is no competition that is so fun for me to watch. If it hadn’t been aired I am pretty sure that I would have headed off to Las Vegas to follow the whole ordeal from there. Now I can sit safely in my coach instead with crisps and beer to see the whole tournament from beginning to end. Thank god for cable-tv!
It has been about seven years since I first saw WSOP. Back in those days I wasn’t very interested in poker, it was just a nice way of making the times pass. I wasn’t well aware of the rules and the culture behind it, but after having seen the WSOP final in 2001 my attitude changed a lot! My friends couldn’t believe their ears when I evening after evening suggested poker playing instead of video games or going to the pub. But soon I had made them like poker as much as I do and when the WSOP of 2002 began we were all ready by the biggest television that was available in our posse.
Since then, we (and particularly I) have been following the competition. Every new year you learn something new about the culture, the rules, the strategies and the psychology around poker.
Sometimes I rent or download old poker tournaments from the ‘80s and ‘90s. To watch legends such as Stu Ungar and Jonny Chan deliver the way they did is extraordinary. They were really skilled and disciplined. I barely understand how they keep the kind of poker faces that they did. Even if I by now is a fairly experienced player myself, I still have a hard time hiding triumph or disappointment. There are so many details in your body language to expose your secrets. Even if you are totally still and try not to do anything particular at all – then that in itself is a tell!
Yes, I have a lot to learn from the big poker legends. That is why I am happy that the competition is being aired so that it is available for anyone that has Internet or a video player.
And now it is only a matter of days until the WSOP starts again.
I don’t know how I will be able to wait! I guess I will have to play some poker in the meantime, just to calm myself…