Every year in early July a seething throng of humanity from across the planet descends on the Holy City in a surreal, even bizarre, experience. No, this isn’t the hajj to Mecca, it’s the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event – with its expected first prize of US$8 million. The WSOP is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world. Since its inception 46 years ago, it has awarded over US$2 billion (yes, with a “b”) in prize money – most of that in the last decade.
The event sees the world’s best (and worst) poker players brave the oven-like, blistering desert heat that is the Las Vegas midsummer. For the better part of the last decade I have been amongst them each year. 2015 is no different. Here I am again.
Each and every Main Event player stumps up the US$10,000 entry fee to take part in this amazing circus, nicknamed “The Big Dance.” Just seven players contested the first ever Main Event – these days we get close to 7,000! For poker players, winning this event is the ultimate dream, a schoolboy fantasy. The field that will start the event on July 5 is such a teeming mass of humanity that no one, not even the very best players in the world, dares consider themselves a serious chance of being the incredibly lucky winner. Just making the final table of 9 players, known as the “November 9” because they return to find the eventual winner in November, is an incredible feat taking seven long days of grueling poker.
The Rio in Las Vegas – home of the World Series of Poker
But somebody has to win. And every single player, me included, has that “why-not-me” thought nagging away deep down inside. There’s no doubt to win this event you need an extraordinarily lucky run of cards – but you need poker smarts too. Poker donkeys and hometown heroes who “take their shot” usually bust out in the first day or two.
So here I am, representing little old Macau amongst players from almost every other country in the world. My first step is to play a warm up event or two before the Main. I’ll let you know how I go in my next diary entry. I’ll do my best to do Macau proud.
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Andrew W Scott is the CEO of World Gaming Group Limited, a Macau-based gaming services group of companies.
