Eric Siegel’s Blog

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This past weekend I played in a great event run by the Borgata. The Ultimate Satellite Package Tournament. They have been doing this for a few years now and I feel that with some new changes , they really perfected the prize package. Here is how it works — you put up 1k , and 1 in 30 players win a 10k seat into the Borgata main event in Sept. (prize pool is generally over 5million!) the package winners also receive 20k in cash along with the seat.

I’m cruising along in the tou rnament, they are paying out 12 packages plus some left over cash due to the 375 player field. When we get down to 30 players, I realize that we have been playing almost 12 hours and the structure is really affecting play, forcing alot of action . I’m friendly with the Borgata staff and ask them if they would be willing to give us a few minutes during the break for me to discuss some sort of a chop with the 30 players. No one wants to go home empty handed at this point so everyone is willing to listen. What I come up with is that 26 players will receive 4k while the other 4 will get 6k (they had larger stacks). We will then continue to play for the 12 seats and remaining cash to be divided equally by the package winners. Everyone agrees and we move on .Once we got down to the remaining 14 players we restructured the deal again . I was fortunate to walk away with the Borgata seat and 14k. This was a great deal for everyone involved . On a 1k investment I was basically able to bankroll my entire fall poker tournament schedule , including the main event. My friends Coldstone and Jeff R. both won packages too.

Im not one for making a deep run and cashing in a big buy in event and still walk away miserable , but this one really stings. I have no one to blame but myself . No excuses like someone else’s bad play, the structure got out of control, or that I was so short stacked and had no other options. Ive played in 4 of the Foxwoods 2k Deep Stacks over the last year, and I have cashed in all 4 of them, including one 1st place win. The structure is a poker players dream. We start with 40k stack, 1 hour levels and they’ve added levels to fill in the gaps that other deep stack events leave out. I finished day 1 with about 84k which was a bit below average but left with me with plenty of play to make a run for the final table day 2.We came back with 34 players left , 15 getting paid. I was able to build my stack to a hefty 340k within the 1st 3 levels without much confrontation. Read the rest of this entry »

I have been playing poker for over 25 years. Through the years, I have tried to evolve with the game from backroom clubs to the cultural phenomenon poker is today. It has always been important to me to share my experiences with others. I find that the communication between players, club owners, dealers, casino tournament directors, family and friends not only has made me a more successful poker player, but also creates a better “Poker Lifestyle” for everyone involved. Through our experiences on and off the felt we are able to improve our game, share resourceful information, follow the success of our peers and convey our voice to the poker establishments around the world.