If you're looking to spin an online satellite win into a real-world tournament deep run, you need to hear from a guy that's done just that — more than once.
Josh Guindon, of Massachusetts, who works as a medical doctor, signed up for ClubWPT on a whim. After playing cash games for years, he wanted a convenient place to play after work but wasn't sure where to start and, at the time, the live options in the Northeast US were limited.
Enter: ClubWPT. When Guindon joined the site, he immediately knew he had found what he was looking for.
PokerOrg spoke with Guindon to hear about his experience playing on ClubWPT and how his online success translated to a live score.
How did you get your start on ClubWPT?
Josh Guindon: My background is as a cash player. I grew up playing cash in casinos for probably 15 years. And then, about two years ago, I got into ClubWPT. It was a kind of stress relief. At the end of a shift, I'd pick it up -- the convenience is so great.
I just picked it up on a whim. I think I saw a commercial and decided I'd give it a try.
How did your deep run at Venetian come about?
JG: The story was kind of wild, actually. I was supposed to work a shift, but at the last minute, my colleague asked, 'Hey, can you trade shifts?' It was the best trade I've ever made.
So, I'm sitting on ClubWPT with no expectations. There's like 1,100 people in the tournament, and first place is a $7,000 Venetian package.
I got down to about 45 people left and I'm making a pretty good run. We get down to the final two tables and I'm in second place with 18 left. I have kings, win a pretty big hand, and get to the final table as chip leader.
I knock three people out and get down to the final two, and I remember the final hand. I had 
offsuit. I raised and the guy called to see the 
flop. So I've got top pair and the gut-shot. I bet, he raised, I went all in, and held.
Then up pops, 'You won a $7,000 package to WPT Venetian' and I'm like, 'All right, not bad.'
Front-row seats and a five-figure score
So, ClubWPT flew me out there, and that first night I met up with Matt Savage and Jeremy Clemens, the head of ClubWPT, and went to the Cirque du Soleil show. My family was in town and they gave me a guest ticket. My grandma couldn't make it, so one of the ClubWPT players, Raji Smith – shout out to Raji – he was my grandma and filled in the spot. We sat in the first row at the Cirque du Soleil show.
Then the next day, they bought me into the $5,000 Venetian Main Event.
Tell us about that experience.
JG: It's a big tournament, right? I think before that the biggest tournament I'd ever played was a $500 buy-in. I have way more experience in cash, but not too much in tournaments.
Raji Smith gave me a little bit of motivation. Hee said, 'You know, the most important thing is you just got to have confidence. You've done well in ClubWPT up to this point, you've got to realize that you can compete with these guys.'
And so I kind of took that to heart, you know, for a good, deep run.
Around 80 people left, I had this mountain of chips in front of me. I was eighth in chips with about $125,000 in equity. Anyway, I ran into a cooler with 
that went sideways, and I ended up in 48th for about $20,000. Pretty good score for my first big tournament.
Did that colleague of yours get a 1% sweat at least?
JG: I didn't give him any money, but it's a running joke at work now where I thank him every single day. Best shift trade ever.
Are you still firing on ClubWPT these days?
JG: Yeah, I'm playing on ClubWPT quite a bit. I've only been on there for two years and a couple of months, and I've had some pretty good success. I've won three packages now.
I just went on the WPT Voyage, which was great. Very good vibes, I was impressed. All the WPT staff were there, and, I mean, just first-rate people. Everyone who works at WPT that I've gotten to know is just incredible. And you can't beat playing poker in the Caribbean.
How do you think your game translates from online to live?
JG: Yeah, fortunately, in that tournament, I doubled up really early on. We started at a short-handed table where there were six people. I think we started with probably 50,000 chips, and I doubled up quickly to 100,000 chips.
I just shook the cobwebs out, and it was pretty smooth sailing from there. The thing I realized from that tournament was that when it comes to pros, on average, if you're a competent amateur, especially playing on ClubWPT, you can compete with them. They're certainly better than us in a lot of ways, but you can still compete.
With its subscription model, ClubWPT has unlocked completely legal real-money online poker for millions of players who otherwise would struggle to find a game. It’s currently available online and as a standalone mobile app in the UK, Australia, France and Canada, as well as in 43 US states. A full list of eligible states and territories, as well as Terms & Conditions, can be found at the WPT site.
Images courtesy of the WPT/Joe Giron
