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Poker Hobby Into Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity |
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For a man named "Victory,"
winning a $10,000 seat to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas represents
the chance of a lifetime. For 26-year-old, Finnish factory worker, Voitto Rintala, the odyssey began as it does for so many -- in Hollywood. Inspired by the movie, Rounders, Rintala started playing poker in remote Heinola, Finland, never dreaming that he would soon compete against the world's best amidst the glitz of Las Vegas. On March 14, 2004, that inspiration culminated in the most unexpected of windfalls when Rintala outlasted 105 competitors at Pokerworld.com to garner a seat in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament at Binion's Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. The WSOP, an annual event, featuring the world's top poker players facing off in a $3 Million Showdown has garnered substantial media attention of late, much of it due to the exploits of Chris Moneymaker, a 27-year-old Tennessee accountant who lived the ultimate poker fairy tale -- converting a mere $39.00 stake into his $2.5 Million coronation as the 2003 WSOP Champion. Like Moneymaker, Rintala has a name that seems destined for poker celebrity (Voitto literally means "Victory" in English). Although Rintala acknowledges the odds of duplicating Moneymaker's feat remain as unlikely as drawing to an inside straight, he is still readying himself for battle, content in the knowledge that his poker passion is already taking him places he never dreamed of going. "My hands were shaking the whole time I played the last five players. I still remember the hand that I won with. I've played it over and over in my mind. I'd won before, but never anything big like this," said PokerWorld WSOP Giveaway Winner, Voitto Rintala When he takes his seat at the WSOP, Rintala will wear the colors of Pokerworld.com, the site that started the Fin's unlikely journey from the frost of Finland to the Nevada desert. A relative newcomer to the online poker landscape (debuting on 02/20/03), PokerWorld is betting heavy on the burgeoning popularity of the WSOP, offering an additional eight seats to the prestigious tournament over the next seven weeks. "What's truly remarkable about Voitto's victory is that he had to beat only 105 players to grab the grand prize. That's exceptional odds for a prize of this magnitude. We're very excited about the attention our World Series of Poker Giveaway has garnered with poker players around the globe. It's truly the ultimate prize for the ultimate competitors," said Marketing Manager, PokerWorld, Aggie Farinelli. |
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