This week with the conclusion of the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event, PocketFives had the opportunity to talk with member Josh Reynolds. He won a Main Event entry on WSOP.comin Nevada and finished in the money, but unfortunately did not make it to the final nine this year. He tells us about his experience leading up to and during the event. Visit PocketFives’ Nevada poker community for the latest news and discussion from Nevada players.

PocketFives: 2014 was the first year that a regulated US poker site ran satellites to the WSOP. You won a Main Event entry by playing a satellite on WSOP.com. What was the reason you chose to play satellites to get into the WSOP?

Josh Reynolds: As a poker player, this is what you live for and dream about. Going deep in a WSOP event and winning a bracelet is one of the ultimate goals for a player. Any time you have an opportunity to be able to play in these WSOP events for such small amounts of money, it is an awesome feeling and a great opportunity.

PocketFives: Did you feel the satellites offered real value?

Josh Reynolds: Yes. These satellites offer real value in that you have an opportunity to win an entry into the biggest and best $10,000 buy-in tournament in the world for only $1 to $215, depending on which route you choose to qualify through. Without these satellites, many of us without the bankroll to withstand a $10,000 hit would have otherwise been unable to play this prestigious event.

PocketFives: Once you won your entry, what did you do to prepare yourself for it?

Josh Reynolds: I did a few things that helped prepare myself for the Main Event. I had never played an event anywhere near this big and this is my first year in Vegas, so I had never played any WSOP before. So, I put together a small package of a few of the preliminary bracelet events I felt I had good value in to help me get more familiar and better acclimated with the whole WSOP setting at the Rio. Playing these events really helped prepare me, as I was able to learn from mistakes I was making and improve my game a great deal prior to the Main Event.

Also, the night before the Main Event, there was a 25-seat satellite on WSOP.com I played, which for an online tournament had an amazing structure similar to the real Main Event. That unexpectedly ended up really helping prepare me for the structure of the Main Event. It lasted almost 12 hours late into the morning and really changed my outlook on how to approach an event like this.

The days were very long and grueling, but even though your body feels exhausted, your adrenaline skyrockets, so I definitely was having more and more trouble trying to get to sleep each night. I’d be awake all hours of the night into the morning, so my friends and I were constantly researching my next day opponents and trying to prepare for the following day.

I also got a room at the Rio for the entire length of the Main Event where I was able to keep my dog and it undoubtedly helped me to be able to stay in the casino throughout the event, as I was able to keep all my focus on the tournament and not have any outside worries and distractions.

I owe a lot of credit to my friend Zee, who gave me a lot of confidence on my rail and selflessly helped me in numerous ways throughout the WSOP and this event to make a lot of this possible. Without his help, I don’t know if this would have been possible or if I would have been able to have the same success I did, so I want to give him a huge shout out, as I truly appreciated it.

Overall, my game was really sharp before the Main Event, so I was extremely confident and prepared going in. I felt comfortable throughout the entire tournament except for maybe on the bubble a little bit, as I was not really taking advantage of it to try and accumulate chips like I normally would.

I have never played like this in any tournament before, but I really wanted to cash in my first Main Event and get at least the $18,000 min-cash before opening my game back up, as the money meant a great deal to me. Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this event and had a great time being able to live out my dream, but unfortunately it was not my time.

PocketFives: You had a remarkable run and finished 302nd out of 6,683 entries for a payout of $33,374. Did you have 100% of yourself?

Josh Reynolds: Thank you! Obviously after going so deep, I would have liked to be able to go further, so I was a little disappointed about that, but I feel fortunate and just thank god to have been blessed enough to have had this opportunity. And no, I did not have 100% of myself; I ended up swapping 1% each with three good friends of mine who are all exceptional players themselves and were also already playing in this event.

I also chose to open up a small amount of myself to some of my prior investors of my preliminary event package, but as much of that action as I was willing to sell off sold out fairly quickly. It’s unfortunate to not have all of yourself when you have a large score; however, swapping and selling action can help to reduce variance and allow you to be able to play more of the bigger buy-in events while staying within your bankroll. I’m very pleased with the end result.

PocketFives: Do you have any plans for the 2015 WSOP?

Josh Reynolds: Absolutely I would, and I’m already planning to in 2015 actually. I won a second seat to the Main Event at about 4:00am the morning my Main Event flight was to begin via the 25-seat scramble. They gave me a couple options on what I would be able to use that seat for and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it at first, but once I cashed in the Main Event it definitely helped make my decision easier. So, I chose the option to use the other seat in next year’s WSOP Main Event.

PocketFives: What are your future live tournament plans?

Josh Reynolds: I would like to be able to play even more WSOP events next year. I’m really hoping that WSOP.com keeps running satellites to WSOP events more often. I feel these are really popular and draw new players to the site and I would like to have more opportunities to be able to satellite into some more of these events. I also plan on traveling to a few of the WSOP Circuit stops in this upcoming season. The ones I am considering are Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.