There are downsides to being a Team PokerStars Pro. Like, you have to do constant media interviews, be nice to fans, or show up early to tournaments for press conferences. There are probably more bad things, but you get the gist. Being a Team PokerStars Pro means a lot of the personal time you might normally spend counting your money is spent doing stuff that can get tiresome.
But for all that mundane stuff, there is stuff like this:
Not only do you get free buy-ins to poker tournaments, not only do you get all kinds of great travel experiences and fantastic hotels, not only do you get the admiration and love of poker players around the world, but you also get to do fun stuff a lot of regular Joes don't get to do.
To wit, this:
That's what the Team PokerStars Pros here in Brazil did last night. Because PokerStars is nice, and because the Team Pros are Team Pros, these folks got some really high-dollar tickets to the Sombodromo. Sitting in the Brahama Beer box last night would've normally cost them almost as much as the buy-in to this tournament.
Tickets to the Sombodromo are not only really expensive, but they are also hard to come by. They're not really the type of things you just go and pick up from the box office.
"It's like trying to get a ticket for the Super Bowl on the day of the Super Bowl," one friend told me last night.
But PokerStars got it done, and for the Team Pros, it was just another night on the town.
Well, that's not exactly true. Even Daniel Negreanu--a man who can pretty much buy whatever he wants whenever he wants it--described his chance to see the Carnival parades as "amazing" and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
This little trip down to Brazil seems to have answered an oft-asked question: "What do you get the Team Pro who has everything?"
Answer: A seat in the Sambodromo.
