Back in early June of 2005 my poker buddy Midport called me and asked me if I had seen an advertisement in Cardplayer Magazine about a website offering a fantasy poker game. As a big fan of poker in all forms, I was interested. I went to the website (TheFantasyPokerGame.com) and was impressed by the site content and layout.
The basic idea was for $30 you could draft a team of 10 players to compete in the 6 week long WSOP. Scoring would be based upon the cashes your players had. You needed to balance your picks between pros and semi-pros because you had a budget which would not allow you to take 10 players like Hellmuth and Negreanu. You could also write in any player at all, so if your best buddy was some guy named Jamie Gold, you could have written him in too. The grand prize for winning the points championship would be $50,000. Obviously I had no thoughts of winning this when I logged in and put my credit card in to create my team.
I picked my team by reading about some of the players in various trade magazines, watching them on T.V, and personal knowledge. I did not use a scientific approach, but I did put about 45 minutes or so into choosing my team. My first pick was Phil Ivey for obvious reasons, and Allen Cunnigham was another big pick. But I think my choices of people like Juha Helphi and David Singer really made a lot of difference. I waited until the nite before event #1 to really finalize my picks, mostly because I had to get the picks in before the event started. Once my team was in place, I basically sat back and forgot about them for a while.
For the first several weeks, I didn’t watch my team much, and with only 600 players in the game, I was concerned about the prize pool a little bit. In my head, 600 players at $30 each was only $18,000, and the payouts for 10 places (plus a random $12,000 WSOP package giveaway) added up to over $100,000. I was concerned about whether or not the site was going to pay out on such a large overlay. I was in the middle of the pack at around 300th halfway through the events.
I was headed to Vegas to play in the WSOP NL $1500 event. I had been sponsored by some friends and was focused on that when my friend Lenny called me and asked if I knew what place I was in. I wasn’t sure, and he informed me I was in 5th place, which paid $2,500 or so. I told him that when I made it to the Rio I would pull it up on the laptop.
After a long flight and meeting up with my buddy Bigdogpckt5s, I checked on the site and found myself in 3rd place with a few events left to go. I headed to register for the $1,500 at about 1 AM, and I ran into Juha himself in the lobby. I introduced myself and asked him if he had heard about TFPG.com, and he said he had. He also told me he was at a final table in the morning against Hellmuth and others, which really fired me up. I told him I would be cheering him on as he was on my team. He’s a nice guy.
The next day I played like a Donkey in the $1,500, but wouldn’t you know, I was a table away from the feature table where Juha was playing. I cheered him on to a 2nd place finish, which put me in great shape for the Main event. I kept checking the standings in my room all week, and I slowly crept up to first place, thanks to David Williams and some others. I ran into Victor Ramdin (another nice guy) and wished him luck for my team as well.
I left Vegas on day 1 of the Main Event, and I was in FIRST place!! If I could hold on to the lead, I would win the $50,000. I couldn’t believe it. I sweated the entire 9 days of the Main event until Daniel busted out and sealed my win. Allen Cunningham really put the nail in the coffin with his final table finish too….thanks Allen!!
About the time I arrived home, all sorts of emails were flying around regarding the speculation that the site was not legit. People were not happy about the lack of response to emails and the slow updates on the site. Many people were saying we would not get paid. I have to admit it would really suck to win $50,000 and never see a penny, so I was nervous too. But hell, I only had $30 to lose, so I was not in panic mode. I tried to tell everyone to relax, but I had my subtle doubts too.
About then, I emailed my poker coach Petmonster, and he pointed me to Adam on P5s. I told Adam my concerns, and he said he knew the site owners and felt they were fine. I cannot tell you how much I appreciated that little bit of hope, Adam. I also contacted CardPlayer, but they could not help much, as it was just an Ad they had run. Finally, I heard directly from Nick (N17) on Pocketfives (another reason it is a great forum), and he assured me that I had won, and that I would be paid. He knew he had a large overlay this year, and he would make good on it. He was very reassuring. I tried to let the other players know, but they were still doubting things.
About 3 weeks after my win, I received a check in the mail from England. There was a bit of a fiasco in cashing the check, since it was for such a large amount and from out of the country. I tried to stay calm, remembering what Adam had said, and in the end, I ended up with all of the money, minus a few small fees. What a roller coaster of a ride it has been!!
I want to thank Nick for running the FantasyPokerGame.com site, and all the players who kept in touch throughout. I also want to thank Adam, Eric Napoleon (a good coach if you need one from Pokermentors) and of course the pros who kicked serious butt on my team. I’d also like to thank my buddy Lenny for mentioning the site to me (That was a $50K conversation!!).