A free online poker game has won a big cash prize and entry into the World Series of Poker tournament in the Bahamas, with $15 million up for grabs.
There is no disappointment like receiving a Free Play lottery ticket or a free spin on the slot machine, assuming it is a gift from the universe and visualizing how the Money will be spent, only to be left with nothing when the profit inevitably arrives. I won’t get out of this.
We’ve all been there. Or at least, everyone except West Vancouver performance coach Slava Royale.
Instead, Royale’s $50 free play, a lure by online poker room GGPoker to bring him back to the tables, ended up snatching him a spot at the prestigious World Series of Poker tournament.
Royale’s participation in the Ultra Stepp Satellite game resulted in a $10,000 package that included a 10-night stay at the Atlantis Paradise hotel in the Bahamas, as well as entry into the series’ Main Event, where he There is a prize pool of $15 million.
“It’s a small miracle, it’s a very big victory for me,” Royale said.
Royale was one of 600 players out of an initial 8,000 to turn this $50 Ultra Stepp Satellite free game into a $600 win, qualifying him for the rematch where he would face 1,000 players for the $10,000 packages.
The nine-hour game ended with Royale coming in 11th place and winning one of the highest prizes – the result, he said, of fearless play and help from Lady Luck .
“I’m a casual, casual gamer. I’m taking it lightly,” he said, adding that previous poker playing experience only included local casinos, online games and the tourist trap gambling halls of Vegas.
Royale began playing poker on a small scale when he moved to Canada from Moldova, a country in the Balkan region of Europe, in 2005.
It was in 2009, after becoming a citizen, that Royale played his first tournament at the Coventry Casino in Richmond. It wasn’t natural.
“I was eliminated in less than five minutes,” he said with a laugh. “It was a difficult start, very difficult. I didn’t even realize what was happening because I didn’t know the game and people were telling me I had been eliminated and had to leave. I was still sitting in my chair.
Since then, Royale said he has played other tournaments and his knowledge of the game has certainly improved, but he has never experienced anything on the scale of the WSOP.
The tournament will be held for the first time in the Bahamas – usually the annual event takes place in Paradise, Nevada – from December 3-14.
As for whether he’s nervous for the big match, Royale said he’s not nervous. Instead, after achieving such a victory, he feels “limitless.”
“I feel like I can do anything,” he said.
Mina Kerr-Lazenby is an indigenous and civic affairs reporter for the North Shore News. This pace of reporting is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
