Eugene Katchalov: The greatest poker show on Earth

Former world champ Greg Raymer.

That kind of money was just a dream to me at the time. I played a little back then, but not regularly. I played home games, and some online sit & go’s, but I was in Vegas just for fun — I don’t think I played a single hand of poker while I was in town.

One year later? A very different story. By the end of 2004 I’d managed two five-figure tournament scores, then three more in the first half of 2005. That summer I was back in Vegas, but with a bankroll, playing cash games and tournaments at the Bellagio. I played some WSOP events, and cashed a few. In the space of a year I went from a tourist to feeling right at home. It felt special. And to be honest, 20 years later, it still does.

A close call in 2009

I had a really deep run in the Main Event in 2009. It was exciting; with 50 people left, I was chip leader, and I remember the tournament director made an announcement. He joked that, if we wanted to chop it up, the average stack was worth $800K. I realized my stack must have been worth way over a million dollars.

At that point we were all guaranteed $100K or so, and I remember I was texting back-and-forth with Phil Ivey, who was at another table; we were competing against each other, but also trying to make the final table together. And then things went really, really sour.

I lost a bunch of small pots in a row, then some medium-sized pots, then before I knew it I was out, eliminated in 39th place. It really, really bummed me out.

Phil Ivey would go on to make the final table of the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

I remember I was depressed for two weeks. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and, even though I won $180K or so, the amount of equity that I blew just felt otherworldly. At the time, making the final table of the World Series Main Event meant you could get a lot of money from some online site to wear their branding, and then you would automatically get signed by someone for, like, obscene amounts of money.

In 2009 I was already kind of well-known. To actually win the Main Event would have meant millions in prize money, but I figured it would also be worth the same again in terms of the contracts and endorsements that would follow. It took me a while to get over it. Of course, Phil Ivey went on to make the final table, and Joe Cada won it for $8.5M.

Joe Cada, left, was just 21 when he won the WSOP title.

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Getting the monkey off my back

Eventually, I would win a WSOP bracelet, but it wouldn’t be in the Main Event — or even in Texas hold’em.

I’ve always loved mixed games, and by 2011 I was a very experienced player in pretty much every variation of poker there was. The WSOP was the only time of year you would get relatively large mixed game tournaments, so of course it was something I always looked forward to.

My win came in a $1,500 stud event — one of my favorite games — and I remember when I made it to heads-up I was an 11-to-1 dog in terms of chips, but I pulled it back to win the bracelet.

The prize money wasn’t huge compared to a lot of the other events, but the feeling was something else. There was an element of relief at getting the ‘monkey off my back’, but the bigger feeling was pride. I’ve won main events, a WPT title and various high rollers, and they’re all special, but there’s only one place you can win a bracelet.

Myself, back in 2011, playing at the WPT World Championship.

The center of the poker world

That’s only part of what makes the WSOP special, though. There’s an excitement in the air; you know you’re standing at the center of the poker world. It’s so intense, and also tiring.

Every year, players arrive so excited for the first events, but you need to remember the series is almost two months’ long! Three or four weeks in you can see it in people’s eyes — they’re exhausted. So you maybe take a small break and then get right back to it, and then before you know it, it’s all over. It’s a rollercoaster ride, and it starts again every summer.

What makes it really unique, in my opinion, is the players. Yes, all the big-name pros are there, but when you think about it, they’re a very small part of the poker population.

What you’ll find are poker players from every corner of the world, and every level of experience. I’ve sat down in WSOP events with celebrities, businesspeople, pure recreational players and even someone who lived in a genuine eskimo community. He was from the northernmost part of Alaska, but every summer he’d come down to the desert of Nevada to play his favorite games. Where else are you going to meet someone like that?

The Paris ballroom during the WSOP: a special place.

So if you’re traveling to the WSOP this summer for your first time, remember this: you’re probably in the majority, not the minority. Many, many people at the WSOP will be there for the first time, some won’t even know all the rules!

When you’re on the outside looking in it can seem daunting, but once you take your first steps you’ll realize you’re no different from almost everyone there. Be realistic, be open to learning, make your best decisions and have fun. Everyone gets the same cards and the same chips — everything else is up to you.

If you’re in Vegas this summer, even if you’re not looking to play, I recommend taking a walk over to the Horseshoe and Paris Casinos to take a look for yourself and soak up the magic, just like I did 21 years ago.

You never know where it might lead.

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^{Additional images courtesy of WSOP/WPT.}