By Holly Bedard
Editor

Travis Paquette knows a good hand when he sees one. The Manchester native started playing poker with his friends during his senior year of high school. He may have started playing young, but it wasn’t until after he graduated from college that he started to take it seriously.

“At first, it was just another form of gambling, and my friends and I were action junkies and would bet on anything. When we started playing, it was new and wasn’t yet popularized by television,” he said. “Today I don’t view it as gambling; it’s more of an investment in myself.”

That investment is paying off. Paquette recently returned from The World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Not only did he win the $10,000 entry, but also airfare, accommodations, the works.

Paquette, who now works as a portfolio accountant, said it would be his dream job to play poker professionally. Looks like he’ll have to wait a little longer on that.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t win the $12 million first-place prize this year, so it’s back to my 9 to 5 job,” Paquette said. “But there’s always next year!”

You started playing poker on the Internet. What advice would you give someone just beginning to play online?

Start off playing for free. On every major site, you can play for free. Once you learn the game, you can work your way up in limits. The Internet is much different than live poker, and it can take awhile to learn how to adjust to it. The best way to do this is to experiment at the lower levels. Some sites even offer tables where you can play for pennies.

What do you think of the recent popularity of “Celebrity Poker” shows?

I think “Celebrity Poker” has to be the worst poker show of all time. I stopped watching after the first season because the players are just too awful. It’s actually painful to watch them play. The poker show I really enjoy is GSN’s “High Stakes Poker.” It’s a cash game with the top pros who put up their own money to play.

What’s the biggest prize you’ve won playing poker?

I’m not sure what the biggest prize I’ve won was, but I’ll tell you about my favorite. This is how I turned $10 into more than $50,000. I played and won a $10 satellite (a satellite is a tournament where instead of the winner receiving a cash prize they receive a free entry into a more expensive tournament), which gave me a free entry into a $300 tournament. I played and won that tournament, and the first place price was a free entry into the World Series of Poker ($10,000) plus $2,000 spending money. The first 150 people to win the same prize I did at Ultimatebet.com were entered into another free tournament. That tournament, which I won, gave me:

• First-class round-trip airfare to Las Vegas for the main event (over $2,000).

• 15 free nights in a suite at the Bellagio ($9,375).

• A $25,000 allowance to play in smaller tournaments in Vegas before the main event. (The World Series of Poker is 39 events with entry fees ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. The 39th event is the $10,000 Main Event.)

• $5,000 spending money.

You recently returned from the World Series of Poker tournament. What was that like?

Vegas was great, and I wish I was still there. I had a couple of friends fly down and stay with me. Our suite was amazing. We had a private elevator, four TVs, three bathrooms and the best view of Vegas you could imagine. Our room was so big it had a doorbell. The tournament, which was held at the Rio Hotel and Casino, was great even though I didn’t cash in it. It was a great experience, one that I’ll probably never have again. Having my friends there with me definitely made the trip unforgettable. Although I didn’t cash in the main event (only 873 players did out of 8,773), I still came back home with a net gain thanks to a few cash game sessions at the Bellagio.

I heard you were pulled from a table to play a hand with some big shots. Is that true? What can you tell me about that?

During day one of the main event, there were about 2,000 players playing at the same time on about 200 tables. One of these tables is called “ESPN’s Featured Table” and is built up on a platform surrounded by bleachers. There are countless cameras filming every angle of the action. Day one starts at noon and runs until 3 a.m. Around 7 p.m., I was moved from table 64 to table 190, and 190 just happened to be the featured table. As soon as I got to this table, I was given instructions about placing my chips and cards, and was given a microphone taped to the inside of my shirt. ESPN films just this table for the whole day and edits it down to a one-hour show (airing Tuesday, Aug. 29, 9 p.m., ESPN). At the table was Joe Hachem, the reigning champion who won $7.5 million dollars last year. I played at that table until 1:15 a.m. when I busted out of the tournament. It was so much fun. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that you’ll see me on ESPN.