Million Dollar Dream

    We're not talking peanuts,
    We're not talking chickenfeed,
    Let me hear you scream,
    The million dollar dream.                           Headless Chickens

   No matter how sad the reality, we all have our dreams of glory. There are some poker dreams that I cling to, but first, lets take a look at the reality:
   *I've been playing poker seriously for about five years and I'm running at a loss
   *In the last four months my bankroll has plummeted
   *I am currently playing at the micro level; games that require a buy-in of a few dollars
   *I am following a bankroll management plan that requires me to have a bankroll equal to 20 times the buy-in for a ring game and 50 times the buy-in for a tournament
   *I don't play in satellite tournaments
   *I don't know anyone in Hollywood.

 Bearing all this in mind, let me set out my Ten Big Poker Dreams. These are all things I'd love to achieve, but am realistic enough to know that they are extremely unlikely. I start with the least unlikely dream and progress through the list to the most unlikely. The way I see it, item one on my list is about as likely to happen as me hitting a royal flush in Spades. The chances of achieving item ten are about the same as the chances of me hitting a royal flush in Spades, followed by a royal flush in Hearts, followed by one in Diamonds, then in Clubs, in successive hands.
So, here are my poker dreams:

   1. Australian Poker Weekend. Fly to Australia and spend the weekend playing poker. This is based on the assumption that Australian casinos are likely to have a larger range of games available over a longer period of time than Auckland's Sky City. I don't actually know if this is true, but it seems to be a fair assumption. And I like the idea of flying off to another country just to play poker.

   2. Vegas Poker Safari. Fly to Las Vegas and spend a week playing poker. The ideal time to do this would be during the World Series of Poker, but any time would be fine. The idea would be play in ring games rather than tournaments. It would be great just to soak up the atmosphere. I suppose that somewhere like Macau or Hong Kong might be cheaper but the problem is: they're not Vegas.

   3. Play a Big Sky City Tournament. The Auckland Casino has a big tournament on every long weekend. The buy-in is about $1100. Win or lose, it would be great to play in a big live tournament like that.

   4. Play in the Aussie Millions. A bit more expensive to enter this one, but at least it's just ácross the ditch'. This is one of the major tournaments so you might get to rub shoulders with some big-name players. Once again, just being there would be the experience of a lifetime.

   5. Cash in a Major Tournament. If I ever reached the point where I had a bankroll that enabled me to enter the Aussie Millions, then I guess I'd have enough to enter other international tournaments. It would be such a buzz to cash in one of these, even if it was at the lowest level.

   6. Win a Major Tournament. Winning any tournament is great but winning a major puts you in a whole different class. And the prize money is pretty good too. But beyond the cash, you get bragging rights forever.

   7. Play Strip Poker with Jessica Alba. Ok, so I put this one in mainly to illustrate the level of improbability that we are reaching here. But if the opportunity were to come up, I'm pretty sure I could beat her. I don't know what would be in it for her if she won, but that's not my problem.

   8. Win a WSOP Bracelet. This is pretty much the ultimate poker prize. Even though there might be more players to beat and more money to be won in other events, a WSOP bracelet is the equivalent of Olympic gold. It's not about the numbers, it's about the jewellery.

   9. Become a Successful Omaha Player. We are really entering Fantasyland here. I don't honestly believe that this is possible, but if I could figure out how to win at Omaha.... No, that's crazy talk.

   10. Cash in the Main Event. A lot of poker players dream of winning the WSOP Main Event, or at least making the final table. But with afield of 5000 or more, and most poker pros getting eliminated in the early stages, I'd be ecstatic just to burst the bubble and collect some cash. That's something I would never forget.

   So those are my poker dreams. Oh well, back to the micro online games.

   OMG, a thought just occurred to me. What if Jessica agreed to play, but only if it was Omaha? What a nightmare.