What's on your poker 'Bucket List'?
Warner Bros.
This month's box office blockbuster (well, at least until Cloverfield landed) is The Bucket List, in which Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play two terminally ill guys who set out to fulfill all those things they had hoped to accomplish before they "kick the bucket."
Despite my lofty respect for both of these fine actors, not on my "Bucket List" is dropping 9 clams at the Woodlands AMC 20 to see whether Red and Code Red have anything poker-related on their lists (I'm guessing not). But it didn't stop me from pondering what would be on my "Poker Bucket List."
Turns out, it's not all that easy of an exercise.
The list can't have squishy, hard-to-define stuff (such as "learn to read opponents" better), nor can it have things that there's no guarantee of success (such as "win the World Series of Poker Main Event." I'll pause here to say winning that event may indeed be a worthy "goal" for all poker players, but a more appropriate "Bucket List" item would be to "play in the World Series of Poker Main Event," since anyone who's 21 years or older with $10,000 and is not a PokerShare.com chimpanzee can enter, even if they're smelly.)
After a couple of days' thought, I ended up with a rather sad list. Maybe it's because I haven't spent enough time contemplating my mortality, or maybe it's because "poker" just doesn't provide enough material for such an endeavor.
But here's my list, and perhaps I'll add more as the days turn into weeks:
1. Play in the World Series of Poker Main Event
2. Play in the $50,000 World Series of Poker HORSE event
3. Play in a World Poker Tour main event (sensing a weak trend here?)
4. Play an entire lineup of events at a tournament. Doesn't have to be a BIG tournament, like the WSOP, but maybe a smaller event, like the Scotty Nguyen Poker Challenge or one of the L.A. casinos' events. I'd like to see how I fare in a relentless day-in and day-out tournament frenzy.
5. Visit and play in as many world casinos as possible. Aviation Club is Paris is at the top of that list, and I think it would be cool to skip from European country to European country, sizing up how the play is different each time I cross a border.
That's it. Sad, I know. But it is what it is.
What's on your "Poker Bucket List"?
- SCOTT
Christopher Cosenza is co-host of the longest running poker podcast on the planet, Ante Up! He started playing poker seriously in 2003 and his favorite players are Phil Ivey and Kenna James, though he tends to act like Phil Hellmuth if you make a bad play against him.
Scott Long, Ante Up!'s other co-host, is the author of the monthly Bet on It column in tbt*. He began gambling way too young (don't tell the fuzz!) and in the seventh grade, named his state "Gambleland" for a school project (State Animal? Loan shark, of course).
Play poker on every continent, sans Antartica
Posted by: Erik | January 23, 2008 at 08:18 AM
I'd love to sit in "The Big Game." Try to load it up with Doyle, Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harmon and play poker till the fingers bleed...or I run out of cash...which ever comes first. (I'd put money on the cash disappearing first - call it a hedge bet)
Posted by: OhCaptain | January 23, 2008 at 09:41 AM
1. Convince one of the great players to co-author a book on the metapsychology of poker.
2. Play in at least one bracelet event at WSOP.
3. Write an article demonstrating that most of what is taught about "tells" is unscientific, largely mythical, and often misunderstood.
4. Develop a "boot camp" based on the value of understanding one's own psychological profile, which is even more important than focusing on analyzing opponent's styles or profiles.
5. Teach an accredited university seminar on poker as a powerful way to understand risk, strategy development, and interpersonal dynamics.
Posted by: Doc John | January 23, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Hey Scott, thanks for spoiling the movie for me.
Posted by: Chris Cosenza | January 23, 2008 at 12:08 PM
1. Win a Banana
2. Play in a WSOP Event
3. Go out drinking with Antonio and Phil
4. Meet a member of the 2007 Best Poker Podcast crew! (Gonna cross that one out soon)
5. Make out with Shannon, Clonie, or Vanessa.
BRF
Posted by: Chi-Guy | January 23, 2008 at 02:23 PM
1. Spend a weekend playing poker with Daniel Negreanu at night and discussing poker during the day.
2. Doing the same with Doyle.
3. Playing in a casino that uses plates in lieu of chips.
4. Play in Monte Carlo.
5. Play in an underground game.
6. Kick Phil Hellmuth in the nuts while saying, "Try and dodge that bullet, baby."
Posted by: NickG | January 23, 2008 at 03:46 PM
Good list Scott!!
In addittion to many of the ones mentioned above, I would like to pull off at least a 24 hour session.
Posted by: JLBSox | January 23, 2008 at 04:31 PM
Play a few hands of live poker with my hero....
wait for it....
Scott Long!!
-Blaz
Posted by: Blazman | January 23, 2008 at 06:41 PM
I retired a few years ago to the prettiest spot in the world (Black Hills of South Dakota). I live walking distance to the casino's in Deadwood. They have a nightly $40 tourney that I am the perpetual bridesmaid. Last year, I entered 78 times, I was second 4 different times, but never made the dance.
But on the up side, I do have a fist full of free breakfast coupons (only perk they give).
So, heading my bucket list is to finally take one of my local tourneys.
Posted by: aces88ss | January 23, 2008 at 07:14 PM
I do want to play for 24 hours straight at HardRock in Tampa; Chris, Scott, you in?
Posted by: Erik | January 24, 2008 at 08:15 AM
Poker related...
1. Play the WSOP Main Event.
2. Final Table a WSOP Circuit Event.
3. Final Table one of the Sunday Million MTT's online.
4. Win a seat to the PCA in Nassau, Bahamas.
5. Ditto Scott, stay and play as many WPT or WSOPC events as possible at one particular stop.
Posted by: ReedMoney | January 24, 2008 at 09:56 AM
tempting erik, tempting :)
Posted by: Scott Long | January 24, 2008 at 10:54 AM
Find a podcast that knows how to modulate the sound properly so I don't have to turn up the volume to hear a host that doesn't know how to talk loud enough and then get my eardrums blown out when the other hosts laughs his @$$ off.
Posted by: whiner | January 24, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Talk about high aspirations!
Posted by: Chris Cosenza | January 24, 2008 at 12:57 PM
1. WSOP PLO
2. WSOP-E PLO
3. Play PL Courchevel (5 card PLO - also in other Omaha variations and low only) in Paris (Aviation Club)
4. Play PLO in Vienna
5. Play PLO in Monaco
6. Play PLO in Amsterdam
7. Plau PLO in Macau
8. Win an AIPS PLO banana
9. Play PLO on any other continent I missed
10. Extreme Poker Challenge playing PLO
11. Play PLO on PAD
and......
12. Play PLO with TJ Cloutier, Rolf Slotboom, Devilfish, Marcel Luske, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen and Phil Ivey.
Posted by: Erwin Blonk | January 24, 2008 at 03:26 PM
Scott, lets make a 24 hour session happen.
Posted by: Erik | January 25, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Scott, if you have never been to Paris, there are much better things to do than ACF. If you have been there before, then ACF is a unique, can't-miss experience to say the least.
Posted by: ungarop | January 25, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Go to Tampa Bay and play in the Ante Up Home game, Check-raising Fasso, Hitting a one outer vs Chris and sharing some Ante Up beer with Scott.
Posted by: Boil | January 26, 2008 at 09:30 AM