Tag Team, Back Again: Somerset Poker Living the Dream
“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”
Legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi may not have had poker in mind when giving that statement, but his words about team dynamics and commitment certainly ring true to action in the WSOP today as the $1,000 Tag Team event kicks off in the Rio. Teams of two to four players will be battling it out for a bracelet and hoping for a nice financial score.
Lombardi’s idea on teamwork still applies and players will have to use some strategy and be mindful of the rules. Many questions come to mind when strategizing for events like this: Who starts out the early stages? How do we divide up play? Should our more experienced team member play if our team makes it deeper into the event?
"We just love poker and this is sort of our annual pilgrimage that we make."
Teams of every type will be looking to cash in from all across the poker spectrum. Larry Spraker and Mike Durand are two of those hoping to use some teamwork on their way to a bracelet.
These New Yorkers are part of a poker club back home called the Somerset Poker Tour. Somerset is located in upstate New York near Albany, and the tour involves a bunch of guys who just love playing poker together and competing.
While Spraker and Durand are here on their own, the teammates are wearing their red, white, and black Somerset League baseball-style jerseys in hopes that it brings them some luck.
“He and I've been coming for 10 years now,” Spraker says. “We started in 2008 and we come every year. We just love poker and this is sort of our annual pilgrimage that we make. We just love this.”
About to start the Tag Team Event @WSOP , and our own Commish @LarrySpraker and Asst Commish @MikeDurand are ready… https://t.co/4ozDqkM0sJ
— Somerset Poker Tour (@sptpoker)
During their annual trips to the WSOP, Spraker and Durand have notched a few cashes here and there. In total, this team has a little over $30,000 in live tournament winnings combined and hoping to add to that total with some tag team skills.
Plenty of players and family are railing the two back home in New York. The tour even has its own Twitter handle (@sptpoker) and its profile offers this description: “Poker league for 38 normal guys (+1) who constantly seek neighborhood bragging rights.”
“We've always talked about how it's the one game that you can show up and play with professionals.”
Spraker and Durand are using social media to update those back home about their play in Vegas. Both like the idea of playing among the best players in the world.
“We've always talked about how it's the one game that you can show up and play with professionals,” Durand says. “You can't just show up at the U.S. Open and play right away. It's the same with the baseball, World Series and we're not going to play in any Super Bowl. Here, we've gotten the chance to sit down with pros and we have. And we have some good stories.”
Playing each summer over the last decade, they’ve been able to live out some poker fantasies and play with some of the players they’ve seen on TV. In 2009, Durand was heading on break when he had a brief encounter with 2001 Main Event winner Carlos Mortensen. As they headed out the door, Mortensen asked Durand how long the break was.
“I said 15 minutes and he said thanks,” Durand remembers. “He said, 'My name is Carlos,' and I'm like, 'Nice to meet you.' About 30 minutes later I got moved randomly to Carlos's table. So as I'm walking up, I see him and he looks up to me and he just says, 'Hello Mike,' and every other head at the table turns to look at me to figure out who the heck I am.
“I won the next six hands just raising free with no action playing back at me. They thought I was some pro. This was in pre-Twitter days so no one could look me up. That was pretty funny.”
Poker Getaway
This year, Team SPT is in town for eight days and hoping to represent Somerset well. They plan on playing the Giant, Crazy Eights, and some of the Daily DeepStacks events.
When not playing cards, Spraker runs an information technology division for an engineering company, and Durand works as an investment portfolio manager. These recreational players both have families back home and are pleased they get a little time away together each summer to live out their poker dreams.
Before the tag team action got underway, PokerNews asked them what their strategy was for such a unique event.
“We're still trying to come up with it,” Spraker said. “We're trying to figure out how do we balance it out and get equal amounts of playing time. We're thinking that we're probably going to do half a level each. Maybe 30 minutes each, and we both get a chance to play each level. Then we'll see where it goes from there.”
Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas. His work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions. He is also the host of the True Gambling Stories podcast, available on iTunes, Google Play, TuneIn Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, PokerNews.com, HoldemRadio.com, and TrueGamblingStories.com.
