For a player used to playing $20 tournaments, I am definitely at the small stakes level of poker and mainly for fun. I have no aims other than to enjoy the game and I am happy if I make small beer money over the course of the year. So for me to enter a $1500 WSOP event may seem like a moment of madness. But for me it was a tick in the box of things to do before I die (sounds morbid, but you know what I mean) and I could afford it so why not.
Anyway I did as much research as i could think of before heading over and on arrival I went straight to the Rio to complete the registration. This was painless enough in that I obtained a players card from one desk and went to the cashier to register. There was no queue and the whole process took no more than 10 minutes.
I had a stroll round to familiarize myself with the various rooms, rest rooms and dining areas etc and all looked good.
On the day of the event, I took a cab to the Rio and was there an hour early, mainly to see who was around and bumped in to a few familiar faces. I then had a massage from a nice young lady called Torri and then sat down in a quiet area with my ipod and a few relaxing songs. I was ready as I would ever be and looking forward to the day (or days) ahead.
They didn't let the players enter the room until quite close to the start time. I found my table, picked up my freebie drink and sat down and then the fun started.
Me " Good afternoon, here is my entry ticket."
dealer " thank you and I can see your photo ID please"
Me " How do you mean?"
Dealer "You need photo ID to be able to play"
Me "Do I not look old enough?"
Dealer "You need photo ID to be able to prove your identity"
Me "No I have no ID on me, no one told me to bring ID"
He then called over a man in a suit "player has no ID"
Suit "Are you sure you have no photo ID?"
Me "No I only have a passport and this is in the safe at the hotel as I didn't want to risk losing it"
Suit " I am sorry sir, you need photo ID"
Me" But who told me to bring ID?"
Suit" We tell players all the time"
Me" When would you have told me"
Suit" I don't know but we do tell players as you cannot play without ID"
Me " Is there a sign that says I need ID?"
Suit " No, but I am sorry sir you need ID"
Me "Was I given a piece of paper that said I needed to bring ID?"
Suit "I am sorry but whether we made you aware that you need to bring ID or not, you still need to have ID and cannot play without it"
Me "Well that's not fair, you don't tell me that i need ID, you don't have a sign that says ID needed, you do not give me a piece of paper that says I need ID, and yet I now have to go back to my hotel and get ID"
Suit "I am sorry but you need photo ID"
At this point I am steaming mad and came close to doing something that would have resulted in an instaban, but I couldn't risk losing my $1500 so I dash out of the hall and to the taxi rank. I am cursing all the way and have gone from someone relaxed to a 100% tilt position. I manage a round trip by cab and getting my passport within 35 minutes and I was telling the cab driver of this rule and how mad I was. I very rarely get angry, but this was real Basil Fawlty territory. I also told him I would go all in first hand and tell the organizers where to shove it.
I get to my table and show my passport and first hand I am in the Big Blind. I think I had lost in the region of 300 chips by then as I was being blinded away.
I look at my cards and I see
Everyone folds round to the small blind who raises up to 300.
I raise to 600 and SB comments "Oh man, are you doing this because of your cards or are you just pissed"
He then folds a pocket pair and shows to the table.
Despite my absence from the table, my chips are back to where I started.
As to what I would have done if he had reraised? Who knows, but I believe I would have pushed and run the risk of a one hand tournament, now that would have been fun.
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