The stakes were high for Dan Schlauch ’06, Brad Swift ’06 and Mike Goodman ’05, with a $10,000 buy-in and a playing field full of celebrities and professional poker players. This summer the three students tried their luck at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament in Las Vegas.
The WSOP boasted a turnout of just over 5,600 participants at Harrah’s Rio Suites this past summer. The competition, now in its thirty-fifth year, is the premier poker competition, with the title of World Champion up for grabs.
“It’s the ultimate poker competition,” Goodman said. “[It’s] [t]hree times as large as any I had played in before.”
The tournament consisted of fourteen-hour days with an elimination rate of about seventy percent each day.
“I was drawn to the event because of the publicity,” Schlauch said. “I thought it would be a great experience and, with luck, I could make some money and be on ESPN.”
Schlauch moved his way up in the beginning of the tournament by taking advantage of novice players who lacked the poise of more experienced competitors. At his peak, Schlauch’s winnings reached $35,000. He lost at an opportunity to win $60,000, which would have placed him in good standings, to a virtual coinflip. He was eliminated for good after losing with ace-king to queen-queen.
Swift spent his first four days playing side games. By participating in games at the Bellagio, Winn, and Rio, he more than doubled the $8,000 he allotted to cash games before the World Series of Poker had even begun. His total side game profit amounted to $12,000.
Swift was knocked out of the World Series of Poker tournament after eight hours of play.
“Failing to make money was not entirely unexpected,” Swift said.
Most participants in the tournament were older than the students, with only a small percentage of players under 30 entered in competition. Still, the three managed to be competitive, displaying many of the skills they acquired while playing poker at Wesleyan. Online poker games also allowed for good experience.
“The core of my poker skills were learned playing for quarters in the Butterfield lounge freshman year,” Schlauch said. “We worked together through reading literature, sharing ideas, and comparing game theories to become successful players.”
Academics, perhaps surprisingly, also give a good player an edge.
“You have to know the math of the game and practice a lot,” Goodman said.
The trio made the decision to go to Las Vegas under the prediction that their winnings from the WSOP and side games would outweigh the entry fee and travel costs. Though the trip was profitable, taking into account the potential winnings, it was not extremely successful.
“The trip was not disappointing but also not very exciting considering the stakes I was playing,” Swift said.
Schlauch and Swift paid the hefty $10,000 buy-in fee by using money they had previously won through poker games. Schlauch earned his $10,000 in a relatively short time while playing online poker. Swift, on the other hand, has been winning consistently over the past few years and felt that he had enough money to gamble $10,000 on the tournament.
Schlauch has found poker to be a profitable pastime and easy way to get quick cash. But, he would prefer not to depend solely on his poker winnings for income. Schlauch hopes his main source of revenue will be something more personally rewarding than playing poker, though the game will continue to be a reliable way of earning money quickly.
“I find long hours of play to be tremendously monotonous and unfulfilling,” Schlauch said. “I intend to do something much more constructive with my life than being a poker pro.”
Goodman plans to continue his poker career with a competition in Aruba next month.
Even without big winnings, Schlauch, Swift, and Goodman were able to experience and be competitive at the World Series of Poker at a relatively young age.
“That’s poker,” Schlauch said. “You have to take the bad luck with the good.”
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