If there is one thing that we need in the current climate, it is a moment to laugh. At this time of the year, the World Series of Poker – heck, the Championship Event of the World Series of Poker – would be in full swing at this time, working its way to the final table. Leave it to cash game specialist/tournament pro Melissa Burr to put a comedic spin on the situation on the virtual pages of CardPlayer.com with what she called the “#WouldBeWSOP.”
A Daily Trek Through What Could Have Been
Through the medium of Twitter, Burr – under her handle @burrrrrberry – walks the reader through what would have been her eight week stay at the Rio for the 2020 WSOP. “Today would have been the 3rd day of the WSOP,” Burr wrote on Twitter. “Today I would have found a GREAT cash game. It’s a “little bigger” than I usually play but FUCK IT it’s the WSOP.” She concludes that day’s post with “I would have lost half of my WSOP money on Day 3 but that’s OK I’m gonna ship my first bracelet this week.”
One of the things that everyone can count on at the Rio, even if they are the picture of health, is contracting the “Rio flu.” This is a rite of passage at the WSOP in Vegas, and Burr made sure that she noted it accordingly. “Today would have been the 6th day of the WSOP. Today I would focus on health. Id go with the $7 Starbucks banana. Id also sign up for an @AllAmericanDave meal plan. Cant play great if we don’t feel great. Later that day I would sneeze…the Rio flu.”
Burr continues on with some of the regular occurrences that would pop up around the Rio, the WSOP and Las Vegas during what is affectionately (?) called “summer camp.” She especially notes how she would crack around “Day 23 of the WSOP,” lamenting how a rookie player in the Ladies’ Event would be taking a picture of her stack after taking a large pot from Burr and how she would deal with a too-cool-for-the-room player who would know what the bet is if he wasn’t lost in his headphones.
What We’re Missing and What’s Important
Burr continues on, poking fun at the things that go on in Las Vegas during the WSOP. But she also remembers how it was all new back in 2014 on her first visit to poker’s Mecca. “In 2014 I took for granted the things that I would dearly miss in 2020. I remember walking down that long-ass hallway feeling the excitement grow as I would hear the chips shuffling louder as I approached,” she writes. “I will always remember taking that cheesy selfie underneath the bit “World Series of Poker” banner right before I would step into the cash game arena.”
And she’s right. The poker world is missing out on not only the preeminent poker tournament during the calendar year – after 50 years, it is still THE ONE – but it is also missing out on those touchstones that every poker player wants to achieve. It is on the “bucket list” for every poker player to play a hand at Binion’s (even today), to play at the World Series of Poker and to win a hand in either of those settings.
There are those that have waited their entire lives for this experience who were going to do this in 2020 and, unfortunately, those dreams have been dashed. Burr realizes that this is important, noting, “In 2020, I realized I was living a dream that so many chase.” With hope, we will still have this opportunity in 2020, but for now we can live vicariously and comically through Burr’s Twitter and our own memories of the experience.