A week or two back, I was jetted off to Las Vegas courtesy of Mansion Poker, to play in the amazing Poker Dome Event for a chance to win $1,000,000!!
The Poker Dome is being covered by Fox TV and held at the Tropicana Casino. It is a one-table satellite affair, with six players, 15 seconds to act and pot limit pre-flop. Quite a different game to what I am used to playing.
Mansion flew three European players out of Gatwick on Virgin flights Friday morning, to arrive at Caesars Palace, with a VIP check-in to the most amazing hotel room I have ever had the pleasure of staying in. We were all given suites, welcome bags, Champagne (aka fizzy wine), a posh dinner in the evening, and $500 spending money. What a package! Mansion Poker really did push the boat out and looked after us all very well indeed.
I had an hour to settle in and freshen up before going for an interview. Then, it was off to dinner to meet the organisers and other players. I was soon to find that two notable players were scheduled to be on my table the next day - John Sullivan and WSOP Bracelet Winner, Brian Wilson.
We were treated like real stars; Limo pick-up, high tech light show, and cameras following our every move. On the way, Brian (right) saw a little charm on one of the stalls, a flashing reclining lady very like the blondepoker logo. This has since become my lucky charm and will be worn at all times on the poker table from now on.
Sitting down at the table and about to begin I was a cool cucumber according to my heart rate monitor. So while everyone else had sweaty palms and racing hearts mine rarely ventured above the low 60’s. So off we went, stopping what seemed like every two mins for commercial breaks, my God the Americans don’t half love advertising! So I’m sitting there trying to remember all the advice Dave had been giving me, and trying to be brave and not call too much. But I failed in the early stages, getting quite low playing tight but wasting chips in mediocre hands I should have either folded or raised to semi-bluff. But while I was slapping myself on the wrists and thinking about how I needed to move up a gear or two, we had lost three players, one of which was Brian Wilson!
It was then I started to play good poker, or at least that’s what everyone tells me. Whatever I did seemed to work though, I managed to build my stack up a bit but it was John Sullivan who eventually knocked out the third player. I was now heads up with John while he had rather a large chip lead on me. I was just so exhilarated to even be in this position but I knew I would have to double up several times in order to stand any chance of winning.
The Poker Gods obviously thought the Colclough’s had been having a bit of a rough time with Dave in Barcelona losing not just in poker but any other money making opportunity that came his way. I was shocked and stunned to find the deck slapping me hard in the chops. I soon found myself with a chip lead over John. Every time John had an Ace I had a higher one, or if he had hit his flop, I had hit it better. It really was just incredible. Then to the death I plunged my Ace King onto the table with mighty force, and victory was achieved.
The whole experience was quite overwhelming, I even felt guilty for a moment, knocking my friend out, but only for a moment. And so after an hour or so of dazed interviews and photos, and wishes of congratulations, we retired to the hotel for a smallish nightcap with Don’ and $25,000 in the bank.
But the story does not end there, I am to return to the city of sin in July for another round and a chance to win $50,000 and entry to the final level, where the winner takes all $1,000,000.
Wish me Luck!!
Rhowena Colclough