Freerollin' to the 2009 WSOP

Ok, I may sound nuts, but here's what I want to do. I want to go to the World Series of Poker in 2009, without putting a penny of my own money towards it. Sounds nuts? Of course it does. Sounds impossible? Well, it's going to be very difficult, but not impossible.

I can't afford to just fly down to Vegas, throw $1500 or more on the table and play in an tournament. I have a full-time job, I have a wife and 2 kids, and I have very little "disposable" income. I put the word disposable in parenthesis because most people that know me and have seen me play poker would argue that all the money I play poker with must be disposable, because it never comes back to me. All this aside, it is a goal of mine to be able to say I played in WSOP event.

Maybe it won't be the main event, maybe it won't even be Hold'em, who knows? But hopefully, at the end of the day, I'll be able to say I sat down and played poker with some of the best players in the world ... and I gave them all my chips.

So my plan is simple, at least, in theory it's simple. I play in some Freerolls on-line where the top players are awarded cash, as opposed to tickets to play in the next level of tournaments. Full-Tilt Poker awards freeroll winners cash, so that's likely where I'll play. With some good luck and decent play, maybe I cash-in a few times, and develop a very small on-line bankroll. It's a start.

Then, I use that cash to play in some small buy-in tournaments. Again, hopefully I manage to cash-in a few times, and increase my bankroll, and so. I think you see where this is going, the idea of starting with absolutely nothing and winding up playing in the World Series of Poker. This strategy involves me playing very well, getting very luck, and most importantly, I'll need to dodge some of the biggest fish in the world of poker. Low buy-in poker is probably the most difficult to make money at, as the quality of poker is often so poor, a good player wouldn't stand a chance.

Internet qualifiers have been littering the WSOP tables since Chris Moneymaker won in 2003 after qualifying through a $39 satellite. He wasn't the first player to use the on-line satellites to qualify, but he was certainly the most famous. In fact, satellite tournaments have been around longer than the Internet, as they were, and still are held live in Vegas and in casinos around the world. All with the dream of the little guy making it big in Vegas.

I could probably put a few dollars into an account at some on-line poker site, make my task a little easier, but this way would make a much better story. And because when all is said and done, likely all I will have left will be a story, I might as well make sure it's a good one.