Some call it poker's loneliest walk. It's certainly the game's most disappointing road.
The path of anti-glory is the walk away from the Main Event final table, past rows of fans, to a series of media interviews, down a long barren hallway, out to a waiting area with still more interviews and questions, followed perhaps by a loving embrace from a supporter, and even a few tears on occasion.
While hardly a walk of shame, this is a path no poker player who has come this deep wants to take. Nonetheless, eight of the final nine will make this walk, likely ever to return again to this level of poker accomplishment. Indeed, this was the experience of a lifetime, and the odds are, it's a one-time deal.
So what happens when a player busts out of the Main Event and exits the final table?
In most cases, the player is congratulated by his fellow competitors. Each of these players has formed a special bond in the preceding months, and while there's jubilation at moving one spot up the money ladder, there's also disappointment for what in many cases has become a friend.
The player then marches over to a waiting area, where ESPN cameras are waiting. Kara Scott has been conducting these interviews in recent years, no small feat since she has to peel through the obvious sadness and try and put things into a more positive perspective.
After the ESPN interview, the player removes his wire. Since all players at the final table are miked up for sound, it takes a minute or two to remove the wire and microphone.
Next, the player is escorted by Caesars Interactive Entertainment executive Seth Palansky to a waiting area with media, which is a sort of press conference. Palansky has been doing this for a number of years, and he often gives the players some encouragement while the walk is made down a long corridor from the stage to the lobby area. An interesting side note is that all the players walk by the dressing rooms of Penn and Teller, who regularly perform inside this theater.
Once the player exits into the lobby, this is his first real return to civilian life, after months spent in the poker trenches. During this time, we have seen players break down and cry. Others have pumped their fists in the air and celebrated to cheers. You never know that's going to happen or what a player and his supporters might do.
By this time, the media has gathered around a podium, set up for the player. He comes over and fields questions from media from outlets all over the world. Some of the questions deal with poker strategy. Others are more personal in nature. Most of the time the player says this was the experience of a lifetime.
After several minutes of questions and answers, the player exits and is joined by his friends and family. Here's where the back slaps, hugs, and tears usually happen. This is a time when the player, facing the ultimate disappointment, needs encouragement. History shows that virtually every time he gets it from those who matter the most.
And with that, the players WSOP experience for this year ends. Everything becomes a memory. It's time to celebrate. It's also time to reflect.
Soon, it will be next year and time to dream again.