Garry Gates

Approximately six months ago, my roommate Brian and I sat down to write a list of rules for the home game we were planning to start at our house. In the process, we came up with the idea to afford one lucky player the opportunity to play in a major poker tournament, representing the members of our home game. In order to decide on our representative, we came up with a point system that correlated with our weekly tournament. A 1st place finish is worth 10 points, 2nd = 8, 3rd = 6, 4th = 4 and 5th = 2. Players also earn a point simply by showing up to the game and paying the $5 add on that goes directly into what we call the "challenge pool." Once the pool reaches $2,000, the player with the most points wins $500 cash and the right to represent all players who have earned points in a $1,500 buy-in tournament. In the event that the representative finishes in the money, the amount of points you have acquired over the course of the competition determines your percentage of the rep's winnings.

Fast forward to last Wednesday. With a 1st place finish in our weekly tournament, I am pleased to report that I will be representing the members of my home game at Event #3 at this year's World Series of Poker! The event is a $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament, to be held on June 2, 2007.

It has been a long-standing goal of mine to play in my first World Series of Poker event and I am grateful to have the opportunity that lies ahead. To this point, the biggest buy-in I've ever played for was $1,030 in a series of heads-up matches against Chris Moneymaker on PokerStars, back during my Internet heyday. Shamefully, I admit that he won 3 out of 5.

To everyone who plays in our home game - I hope to see you all there on June 2nd! Moreover, I hope to win us some moolah! This might sound corny, but thanks to all of you for making this possible - it really is a dream come true for me.