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Jason Bollenbaugh
stands next to pictures of former poker tournament champions in
Las Vegas. Bollenbaugh, formerly of Casey, played an online
poker tournament to qualify for the World Series of Poker, held
in Vegas last month. Bollenbaugh, a chiropractor now living in
Breese, didn't win, but he called the experience "thrilling."
The competition will air on ESPN on July 6. Submitted Photo
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Former Casey resident Jason Bollenbaugh was feeling fairly confident as
he played Texas Holdem poker on May 22.
The 27-year-old chiropractor, who now lives in Breese, was leading with
poker chips and was holding a good hand of cards.
However, Bollenbaugh's confidence was tinged
by an extra amount of nervousness and excitement.
After all, he was not playing with spare change at a guys' night out.
Bollenbaugh was playing
Texas Holdem
with a few thousand dollars' worth of chips at
the 2004 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas' Harrahs Horseshoe Casino,
where the grand prize was $5 million.
One of Bollenbaugh's opponents in the game of Texas HoldEm was then able
to draw potent free cards from the table, tipping the game in his favor.
The chiropractor was soon eliminated from the series.
"I made one mistake and a lot of (my chips) disappeared pretty quickly,"
Bollenbaugh said.
Nevertheless, Bollenbaugh said he enjoyed his experience of playing in
the big leagues of
Texas Holdem
poker. Besides the grand prize, the top five
players each won $1 million.
"Just the chance of winning that much money was thrilling," Bollenbaugh
said.
The 2004 World Series of Poker will premiere July 6 on ESPN, but
Bollenbaugh said he probably will not be seen on television.
Bollenbaugh got his start in
Texas Holdem
poker when he moved from Chicago to Breese to
work with chiropractor Clinton M. Smith, who is also a former Casey
resident. He kept in touch with a college friend by playing online poker
with him.
On April 15, Bollenbaugh played in an online tournament sponsored by
PartyPoker.com and finished 11th out of 521 players.
The top 13 received a seat at the World Series of Poker, where their
$10,000 entry fee and lodging were covered by PartyPoker.com. All of
that resulted from Bollenbaugh paying a $39 entry fee to play in the
online tournament.
Chris Moneymaker, the 2003 World Series of Poker champion, also won
admittance to the event through an online tournament. That amateur
Texas Holdem
poker player netted a grand prize of $2.5
million.
Bollenbaugh said he was proud of his performance in the 2004 World
Series of Poker, noting that he made it to the second level and
outperformed Moneymaker in this year's series. More than 2,570 people
played this year.
In addition, he parlayed his participation in the series into a five-day
vacation. Bollenbaugh, who had not been to Las Vegas since he was 18,
visited some of the city's other casinos and played poker alongside
others who had been eliminated from the series.
"It's 24 hours go, go, go. There is no sleep in that city."
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