How to get to Vegas

Been thinking a little bit about this, but there's plenty of time on our side and that's the best part.

The easy way

Just before I started this blog I made my first trip to Vegas, and it was paid for by a lucky run 5 months before I left with my friends. We weren't sure we'd be able to afford it, and I owed a mate £20, so I told him look, I'll keep the £20 and play with it, we'll see how far we get. One SNG, two MTT's and an important suckout with 88 v KK later and we'd gone from £20 to £900 in 48 hours and were booking our flights.

The hard way

You could satellite into the Sunday Million, or a WCOOP event in October and have all your eggs in that basket, praying that you don’t get unlucky 26 away from the money, like this -

PokerStars Game #6493356249: Tournament #40000018, $2500+$100 Hold'em No Limit - Level XI (1000/2000) - 2006/10/01 - 22:34:10 (ET)
Table '40000018 245' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Joffster (59715 in chips)
Seat 2: 500 SL (82766 in chips)
Seat 3: pokerpoopy (111720 in chips)
Seat 4: TanOrpheus (32837 in chips)
Seat 5: Huskie76 (22566 in chips)
Seat 6: kielbax (66172 in chips)
Seat 7: BMW_Wookie (61951 in chips)
Seat 8: ZULEH (73939 in chips)
Seat 9: 45202Kid (72170 in chips)
Joffster: posts the ante 200
500 SL: posts the ante 200
pokerpoopy: posts the ante 200
TanOrpheus: posts the ante 200
Huskie76: posts the ante 200
kielbax: posts the ante 200
BMW_Wookie: posts the ante 200
ZULEH: posts the ante 200
45202Kid: posts the ante 200
kielbax: posts small blind 1000
BMW_Wookie: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to TanOrpheus [Kc Ac]
ZULEH: folds
45202Kid: folds
Joffster: folds
500 SL: folds
pokerpoopy: folds
TanOrpheus: raises 4000 to 6000
Huskie76: folds
kielbax: folds
BMW_Wookie: raises 12000 to 18000
TanOrpheus: raises 14637 to 32637 and is all-in
BMW_Wookie: calls 14637
*** FLOP *** [4s Kh 8s]
*** TURN *** [4s Kh 8s] [6c]
*** RIVER *** [4s Kh 8s 6c] [Qd]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
BMW_Wookie: shows [Ks Qc] (two pair, Kings and Queens)
TanOrpheus: shows [Kc Ac] (a pair of Kings)
BMW_Wookie collected 68074 from pot
pokerpoopy said, "yowzaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 68074 | Rake 0
Board [4s Kh 8s 6c Qd]
Seat 1: Joffster folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: 500 SL folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: pokerpoopy folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: TanOrpheus showed [Kc Ac] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 5: Huskie76 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: kielbax (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: BMW_Wookie (big blind) showed [Ks Qc] and won (68074) with two pair, Kings and Queens
Seat 8: ZULEH folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: 45202Kid folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Yeah, some days I still think about it.

The fast and loose way

Separate your bankroll, play SNG's which are out of bankroll management guidelines. Eg play a $10, win it, step up to a $30, win it, step up to a $100. This might not go too well since any bad beat could send you back to $10.

The slow way

Make $50 a week playing .25/.50 on your favourite site. With rakeback deals you'll make pocket money for the trip too, this to me seems like the easiest way to make the money needed, but it will take commitment and time time time.

My way

A combination of the above, depending whats running when the mood takes me, mostly though just playing a lot and playing well. I'll use the small cash wins to keep the tourney entries ticking over and occassionally maybe try the "fast and loose" way.

Your way

You know how to win at poker, and you know the game you do best at. The main thing is having a target and putting the hours in. The more hours you play the less chance variance has to kick you in butt and make you want to quit forever.