FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

On Saturday, I won a Full Tilt Winners Choice satellite, so I get to choose one of five 10k buyin donkaments. So, here's a thinly-veiled brag post in which you see if I have my thinking straight about where I should play. The choices are:

9/15-18: Borgata Poker Open
Pros: Only like a 5 hour drive away, and the Borg is my favorite place to play in AC. It's in AC, so the field should be big and soft. A group of my friends might be planning a trip to AC that weekend anyway, so I could hang out with them then.
Cons: It's WPT (this applies for all but one event, I guess) and thus there's that whole waiver issue. Playing the event might make me inaccesible to hang out with said friends during the duration of the weekend.

10/3-10/7: United States Poker Championship
Pros: Driving distance again. Soft field again. Not WPT, so the waiver issue is moot.
Cons: I've never liked the Taj, but after I bust I can go gamble at the Borg anyway.

10/15-10/19: Festa Al Lago
Pros: Probably will be very well-run, as the Bellagio is a classy joint all around. It's hard not to have fun in Vegas. The weather should be nicer, as opposed to unbearably hot like it was during the WSOP.
Cons: Tougher field. I'd actually have to fly to Vegas, which would cost money and involve all the lines and [censored] that flying entails.

10/25-10/29: North American Poker Championship
Pros: I'd get to hang out with all the cool under-21 people who play poker and wouldn't get to play other events.
Cons: Crossing the border is a bitch. This is also probably like a 10 hour drive. Who knows if the casino will run the tournament competently?

11/11-11/16: Foxwoods World Poker Finals
Pros: Huge field, thus huge prize pool. Probably also a very soft field because they run tons of sats for it (I think; maybe "Jackpot Jay" Lovinger was trying to get into some other donkament). Also, I've never been to Foxwoods and should visit it at some point. Oh, and since it's the latest tournament on this list, I'd have more time to practice playing live and perhaps stop being a damned tellbox.
Cons: Longish drive (8-9 hours or so). WPT waiver stuff.

As of now, I'm leaning towards the Borgata tournament, but I could possibly be persuaded otherwise by good arguments.

Anyway, feel free point out stuff I'm overlooking (such as cost of hotel and any other factors regarding the individual casinos, how the tournaments are run, and how the fields are). I probably missed a bunch of stuff.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

[censored] the wpt i voted uspc

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

USPC. The TV coverage is a nice added plus, and considering the size of it, lots of folks get on TV.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

uspc if its televised again this year. very good strucuture too. 20k with 25/50 to start i think

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

If an enjoyable vacation is your top priority, then go with Festa Al Lago (I assume they put you up in the Bellagio for this)?

If TV coverage is your top priority, then go with the USPC, obviously.

If having a beer with me is your top priority, then go with the Borgata Poker Open.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

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[censored] the wpt i voted uspc

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Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

bellagio and borgata are clearly the nicest places on the list.

the USPC is probably the best structure on the list.

foxwoods will have the biggest prize.

the NAPC might really, really suck.


IMO it depends what your priorities are. The NAPC is right out for anybody who either 1) is 21 or older or 2) doesn't live in the area. Other than that, though, any of the choices make sense depending on your criteria.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

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USPC. The TV coverage is a nice added plus, and considering the size of it, lots of folks get on TV.

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Meh, getting on TV isn't really a goal of mine; it's actually more of a necessary evil of going deep. Both times I was on TV it ended in embarrassment and deep psychological trauma. If anything, the possibility of being on TV without already having won a bunch of money is a disincentive.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

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uspc if its televised again this year. very good strucuture too. 20k with 25/50 to start i think

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I didn't think about structure at all; I'll have to look into it. I'm sure that they all start out with at least 150 BBs and 90 minute levels, right?

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

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Both times I was on TV it ended in embarrassment and deep psychological trauma.

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Trip report?

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

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Both times I was on TV it ended in embarrassment and deep psychological trauma.

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Trip report?

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These'll be brief.

Trip 1: Noted DC area high school quiz show tournament "It's Academic." My team was the odds-on favorite. We choked in the first round.

Trip 2: Went on Jeopardy and lost very, very badly to Ken Jennings and some other dude.

Trip 3: Operated boom mic for David Williams foot fetish porn. Maybe I wasn't on camera, but my god the images are burned into my retinas.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

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Trip 2: Went on Jeopardy and lost very, very badly to Ken Jennings and some other dude.

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Uh, we will be needing to track down a video of this. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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Trip 3: Operated boom mic for David Williams foot fetish porn. Maybe I wasn't on camera, but my god the images are burned into my retinas.

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lol

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

I'm torn between Bellagio and Foxwoods.

Bellagio: probably the most fun, the best experience, but also expensive since you'd have to fly + Vegas will be expensive in general.

Foxwoods: biggest pool, softest field and more time to practice or whatever are huge pros. Also you should check it out since you haven't been there before. Con is the drive.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

Sorry to thread-hijack, but are any sites running sats to the USPC yet? If not, can we start to expect sats popping up on the majors (Stars, PP, etc) in the next few weeks?

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

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Sorry to thread-hijack, but are any sites running sats to the USPC yet?

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Full Tilt is.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

You lost to ken jennings...so did 1000000 other people, don't feel bad. I would think it would be pretty hard just to get on that show. Well done.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

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Trip 2: Went on Jeopardy and lost very, very badly to Ken Jennings and some other dude.

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Uh, we will be needing to track down a video of this. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]



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Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

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[censored] the wpt i voted uspc

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Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

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You lost to ken jennings...so did 1000000 other people, don't feel bad. I would think it would be pretty hard just to get on that show. Well done.

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Thanks, but it was still very crushing at the time. It's like if you're a really good golfer and you get an offer to play two random "good golfers" for several thousand dollars on national TV.

Now, you know that among random "good golfers" (i.e. golfers good enough to qualify for this event) you're still good enough to have a significant edge over the field, and you're a favorite to win against a random pair. So, you're expecting to a) look good on national tv and b) win a bunch of money.

Now, imagine you get to the course and you find it's set up so that it plays to pretty much none of your strengths and exploits all your weaknesses. Say, maybe you don't bomb it off the tee, and the course is absurdly long, like 9000 yards. And say you're a great putter, but the greens are really easy to read/they're really slow, so that you don't have a very big edge, if at all, over someone who is less talented at putting.

OK, now imagine Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh show up to play you.

I've spent too much time thinking up this analogy, but needless to say, it was disappointing.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

Pics/vids?

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

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Pics/vids?

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There's probably a generic pic of me from the episode (I look like I'm about to hurl; also, the top button of my shirt is buttoned but I'm not wearing a tie; all the ties I brought "strobed" in HD or something).

My parents have the episode on VHS. Remind me to destroy it next time I go visit them.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

I absolutely must find that episode of Jeopardy, I watched like every Ken Jennings episode, so I've probably seen it already.

That said, I voted for USPC, and I think Foxwoods would be my second choice.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

For Niagara, crossing the border is not a bitch. It is very easy. 5 minutes. Hell you can walk across if you want. Dont even need a passport if you were born in the US.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

Voted USPC for the short drive, the better structure, and the lack of WPT issues (waiver, FT structure, etc.).

EDIT:Also, since it's been televised for a few years now, and with what seems like increasing air time each year, I imagine the field gets softer every year.

P.S. Getting killed by you in quiz bowl is somehow cooler knowing you lost to Ken Jennings.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

I'd go with Foxwoods, as it looks like the field will be bigger and softer.

Re: FTP Winners Choice Sat: Which would you choose?
 

The Taj is a dreadful place to play tournaments...after I played a $300 tourney there in February I swore I'd never play a tourney there again.