Re: Better learning experience???
OK, I'm a little lost.
You want to play the $1,500 WSOP circuit event to bust your cherry before playing "an event or two" in the Borgata Winter Open event?
And you're asking if you'd be better off playing a $200 home game with 30 players?
My experience with casino tournaments (in addition to smallish <$500 weekly AC & Vegas tournaments) comes from playing a couple of Bellagio weekly events ($500 & $1,000), a USPC $500 event, and a WSOP $1,000 event.
I can't image a homegame that would have prepared me for that. At least not a home-home game (this is, not raked, not in a club setting). No comparison at all.
If you have no problems affording the $1,500 WSOP circuit (and why would you, if you plan on spending $10k on the BWO ME?) this is the one to go.
People are so much more formal, scared, crazy, pretentious, blatantly incompetent, nasty, preposterous and intimidatable in the casino events than I've ever experienced in a home game. And the range of skills and professionalism among the dealers much bigger than I'd ever expect. It just takes a while to recognize these factor, to figure out that you can trust your reads that the idiots are really idiots playing it up to the crowd, and to believe what you see: that some dealers make so bad mistakes that you have to be on them all through their down - and speak up when they **** up not to get stiffed. Man, dealers can be scary. At the Borg I had one trying to impress a pretty female player a couple of weeks ago by fishing "my" folded (winning) hands out of the much and showing them to her and others sitting close. When I confronted him he claimed that "it's just a joke, everybody knows these were not your cards etc.". I had to threathen to call the floor to stop the idiot.
I believe it would be a major advantage for you to give yourself a chance to accomodate to the "public" tournament experience - being a tough internet player you will probably find yourself at a major advantage there when you reach a point where you feel comfortable.
Best,
McMelchior (Johan)
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