A bucket list item

Our editor Barry Carter is going to live out a poker dream thanks to WPT Global and you can share in some of the action.

For most players, the poker dream will always be playing in the World Series of Poker Main Event. I personally have always had a slightly different 'bucket list' item where big events are concerned. 

Most players of my generation were captured by the WSOP coverage during the poker boom. Most UK players like myself discovered Late Night Poker as our gateway to the game. 

But for me, it was the World Poker Tour that first introduced me to the poker world. A friend showed me online poker at partypoker then soon after I noticed the World Poker Tour show on an obscure UK channel called Challenge TV. I quickly bought the Season 1 DVD and in particular became fascinated by Gus Hansen playing trashy hands and confusing his opponents, and the commentators, alike. 

So whenever I found myself daydreaming of playing a big final table, in my head it was usually a World Poker Tour final table. 

The FOMO event of the year

As I became a part of the poker world to the point where I have now worked in the industry for almost 20 years, those daydreams began to fade. They ramped up again, however, last year after the World Poker Tour Championship. 

As an outsider looking in, it looked like the most well-organised and fun event of the poker year. That is saying something in a time when the WSOP Main Event goes from strength to strength and the PSPC showed that there could be a rival to that event. The FOMO was strong after last year and I believe that the WPT World Championship may one day overtake the WSOP Main Event in terms of size and prestige.  

It wasn't just the luxury of the event and the prize pool, it was the fact that so many players won their tickets to that event with little or no investment. I think if an idea is good, all the other poker operators should steal it. Last year the WPT World Championship took a leaf from the PSPC by awarding full packages to recreational players, often for something as trivial as a social media giveaway. 

What once made the WSOP Main Event so special was the sheer volume of online satellite qualifiers. We are starting to see operators take satellites more seriously. GGPoker has pledged 1,000 qualifiers for their WSOP Paradise event, PokerStars has introduced Power Path, and the WPT is giving away WPT Passports very liberally. 

A bucket list item

This is all to say that I have found myself in the fortunate position of being a recipient of one of those WPT Passports. Next month I will be heading to Las Vegas to play in the WPT World Championship. 

Win, lose, or draw, this is genuinely a poker bucket list item for me. I was going anyway because it really will be the Mecca of the poker world next month, but to be playing in the event itself is an absolute dream. 

Events like the WPT World Championship bring out an excitement in others that is hard to measure. Just look at what it did to my friend David Lappin, a seasoned professional, who put together this video in an attempt to win a $10k package. He regularly plays events like this and can easily sell action to them, but he too is captured by the hype around this event: 

‘Look on my Works, wise Andrew and Brad.
Nothing beside remains. nothing to say
Beyond this video, nothing to add.
Those Vegas sands stretch far away.’ pic.twitter.com/LCOiul5XvS

— 🃏 David Lappin 🃏 (@dklappin) November 6, 2023

I am beyond excited, and inspired by our very own Mantelo I don't want to keep this to myself. So I am going to be giving away 15% of my action in the WPT World Championship to PokerStrategists.

How to win 15% of Barry in the WPT World Championship

Barry is very grateful to WPT Global for this opportunity, so he is giving away 15% of his action in the WPT World Championship. 

If you can do more than one of these things, you will increase your chances of winning a 1% stake.

1. 5% available for all members: 5% will be raffled in 5 x 1% increments to anyone who opts-in to this thread by wishing Barry luck in the WPT World Championship by December 1
2. 10% available for WPT Global Players: An additional 5% will be raffled in 5 x 1% increments to any PokerStrategy.com tracked WPT Global account (New and existing) that earns at least one StrategyPoint between November 9 and December 1. This in addition to the forum opt-in above means 10% of the 15% is available to this group. 
3. 15% available to New WPT Global Players: A final 5% will be raffled in 5 x 1% increments to anyone who creates a PokerStrategy-tracked WPT Global account between November 9 and December 1, and then earns 1 StrategyPoint. If those players also earn a second StrategyPoint they will be eligible for the aforementioned 5% for new and existing accounts. 

The draw will take place on December 4.

Opt-in to win a share of Barry's WPT World Championship

*This is a private initiative by Barry which PokerStrategy.com has helped to organise. Barry will do his best to take care of fast settlement with any winners and find suitable payment methods after any tax has been deducted.