Now that the summer tennis season is over and the baseball All-Star break is next week, people in the sporting world can finally focus on the biggest prize in all of sports.
The 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event began last Thursday in Las Vegas and runs through July 14. The final nine competitors will return for the final table in November.
Of course, many of you purists in the world still don't consider poker a sport, even though the court system has ruled it a game of skill and not luck.
Anytime you want to play Phil Hellmuth or Johnny Chan head-ups in a game of Texas hold 'em, let them know, I'm sure they won't mind.
As for the WSOP Main Event, the $10,000 buy-in tournament has consistently drawn more players than any other sporting event in the world. Unlike golf with the U.S. Open, competitors don't have to qualify to play against the world's best, they just have to throw down the loot and take the chances.
Sure, they could lose all their chips in one hand and have their hopes and dreams shattered in front of thousands, but that's what makes it fun.
This year's event drew an astounding 6,844 people, the second largest field in tournament history.
And to the skilled player that navigates his way through the world's best: a cool $9,119,517 and a gold bracelet proclaiming you as world champion.
So someone like me could make $30,000 a year in the wonderful world of journalism and equal that total in about 304 years, or take one run at the biggest prize in sports.
See the appeal?
Unfortunately, only one person will walk away with the big money, finishing in the top-8 only guarantees you at least $1.2 million, but it happens. If you are one of the fortunate ones you can still finish in the money starting with just more than $21,000, at 666th place. And what a fitting number since some people considering gambling the devil.
While the upside is obvious, there is always that chance you don't win anything and are out $10,000 plus expenses to get to Vegas and back. But hey, that is why they call it gambling.
Like most of you, I don't have the bankroll to try my luck at one of the world's most lucrative prizes, but it sure is a lot of fun watching other people break down on national television when some idiot hits a four-card flush to cost his or herself thousands of dollars.
Maybe someday when I inherit thousands from a rich uncle I don't know about, you will see me on TV vying for millions of dollars and that pretty little bracelet.
Until then we must all sit around a TV and watch some other schlub win a prize that could be ours.
Kevin Zitzman is a senior majoring in journalism and is The Daily Collegian's sports chief. His e-mail is amz5010@psu.edu.
