Former Casey resident Jason Bollenbaugh was feeling fairly confident as he played poker on May 22.
The 27 year-old chiropractor, who now lives in Breese, was leading with poker chips and was holding a good hand of cards.
However, Bollenbaugh’s confidence was tinged Judi Online24jam Deposit Uang by an extra amount of nervousness and excitement.
After all, he was not playing with spare change at a guys’ night out. Bollenbaugh was playing with a few thousand dollars’ worth of chips at the 2004 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas’ Harrahs Horseshoe Casino, where the grand prize was $5 million.
One of Bollenbaugh’s opponents in the game of Texas Hold ‘Em was then able to draw potent free cards from the table, tipping the game in his favor. The chiropractor was soon eliminated from the series.
“I made one mistake and a lot of (my chips) disappeared pretty quickly,” Bollenbaugh said.
Nevertheless, Bollenbaugh said he enjoyed his experience of playing in the big leagues of poker. Besides the grand prize, the top five players each won $1 million.
“Just the chance of winning that much money was Judi Online24jam Deposit Uang thrilling,” Bollenbaugh said.
The 2004 World Series of Poker will premiere July 6 on ESPN, but Bollenbaugh said he probably will not be seen on television.
Bollenbaugh got his start in poker when he moved from Chicago to Breese to work with chiropractor Clinton M. Smith, who is also a former Casey resident. He kept in touch with a college friend by playing online poker with him.
On April 15, Bollenbaugh played in an onlineJudi Online24jam Deposit Uang tournament sponsored by PartyPoker.com and finished 11th out of 521 players.
The top 13 received a seat at the World Series of Poker, where their $10,000 entry fee and lodging were covered by PartyPoker.com. All of that resulted from Bollenbaugh paying a $39 entry fee to play in the online tournament.
Chris Moneymaker, the 2003 World Series of Poker champion, also won admittance to the event through an online tournament. That amateur poker player netted a grand prize of $2.5 million.
Bollenbaugh said he was proud of his performance in the 2004 World Series of Poker, noting that he made it to the second level and outperformed Moneymaker in this year’s series. More than 2,570 people played this year.
In addition, he parlayed his participation in the series into a five-day vacation. Bollenbaugh, who had not been to Las Vegas since he was Judi Online24jam Deposit Uang 18, visited some of the city’s other casinos and played poker alongside others who had been eliminated from the series.
“It’s 24 hours go, go, go. There is no sleep in that city.”
