Friday, 29th March 2024 13:41
Home / Poker / Robert Golle living the PokerStars qualifier’s dream in Monte Carlo

Robert Golle pulled up to the Sporting Club, Monte Carlo, in a green Lamborghini and strode into the Salle des Etoiles poker room where hundreds of the world’s elite card players were contesting a tournament with a prize pool of more than €5 million.

It was a Monday lunchtime in early May.

Golle wouldn’t try to convince you that this was normal. This isn’t what this genial 47-year-old German usually does on a Monday lunchtime.

“Normally, I would be working,” Golle said. “I have a health insurance agency, in Saxony. Normally I sit in my office and look at a monitor.”

But one Tuesday night in March, when he was ill and not working, Golle paid €2.20 to enter an online tournament on PokerStars. The tournament awarded a ticket to a €55 tournament, which he played and won three days later. And then on Sunday, he played another, officially with a buy-in of €530, but for which he had still only paid that initial two bucks.

“I was a little bit afraid,” he confessed, but added: “I played and, really, I had some good hands.” By 1 a.m., he had won a package, worth €9,000, to go to Monte Carlo and play the biggest poker event of his life.

Golle arrives in style

ROBERT GOLLE: ‘THE DREAM IS POSSIBLE’

He would use €5,300 to pull up a seat in the EPT Main Event, while the rest would go on travel expenses and a week in a five-star hotel. He could bring the family. Not that they realised the enormity of the achievement at first.

“It was 1 in the morning but I woke my wife, and she was crying, ‘Why do you wake me up?’,” Golle recalled. “I said, ‘We are going to Monaco!” She said, ‘Not my problem. I’m going to sleep.’

“But after she woke up in the morning at 6 o’clock, she realised that we had really won. That we go to Monte Carlo, have a wonderful holiday in a wonderful hotel, and have the chance to win a little bit.”

That, in a nutshell, is the dream story of the PokerStars qualifier. It’s why hundreds of players log on to PokerStars every week and chance their arm in an attempt to visit the most prestigious poker tour in the continent.

“The dream is possible,” Golle said. “I am a normal German, and for €2.20 I got the package. I think every German sees on the TV people playing on the EPT and they think, ‘I’m not good enough.’ But that’s not right. If you have a lucky day, you are able to go. It’s a good way for making dreams come true.”

MAKING THE MOST OF A TRIP OF A LIFETIME

Before we get carried away, it’s probably important to note here that Golle’s spectacular form at the tables did not result in a massive payday for this self-confessed amateur player. He entered the EPT Main Event on Day 1A and was knocked out.

That’s the way poker goes. There’s no guarantee that a seat in the game translates to riches.

However, his elimination from the tournament freed him up to take to the skies of Monaco in a helicopter, thanks to the EPT activities department, and then take a supercar ride around the principality’s famous streets.

READ: STAY ENTERTAINED: THE FULL LIST OF EPT MONTE CARLO ACTIVITIES

“It’s very lovely,” Golle said of his trip. “I’ve travelled a lot. I’ve seen lots of cities and lands. We were in France, Italy, Canada, Russia. But this is very exciting. The people are very friendly. It’s another world for us.”

Golle is here with his wife and 10-year-old daughter, turning this poker spin-up into a family holiday. He’s doing what PokerStars encourages its qualifiers to do: enjoy their time at the tables and take the game seriously, but to not allow the poker alone to dominate the trip.

There are numerous off-the-table activities to keep underemployed players busy, and there are numerous once-in-a-lifetime opportunities on offer.

“We’re visiting the city, going to Nice,” Golle said. “Maybe we will take the train to St Tropez for one night. This is a great place to spend some cool time.”

Robert Golle discusses his game

TRY AND TRY AGAIN

He admitted that he had been disappointed to bust the event on Day 1 — “I was a little bit sad. You want to earn some extra money for your family” — but understood that sometimes that happens in poker, and was now intent on making the most of the trip in other ways.

His daughter had been rewarded for some good performances in school with this holiday, while her father also hopes the experience will help improve his poker game.

“Maybe it’s the beginning of a poker career, I don’t know,” Golle said. “I have to work, I have to play some poker, and I’ll find a way between both worlds. There’s the normal world and there’s this amazing world.

“But now, for me, it’s relaxing. I am really glad to be here, and I can say, ‘Try it. Try it. Try it.’ If you lose, try again. I am realistic. Here there are so many very profitable poker players. I have 1 percent chance. But if you have a good run, you can make that 1 percent. I will try it again.”

More about EPT Monte Carlo

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