(CBS) This report by Ken Adams is part of a series for CBSNews.com about his run at the 2006 World Series of Poker.

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I got up just before 9:00, showered, checked my emails, made some office calls, ate breakfast and headed for the Rio to play in the Seniors $1,000 No Limit Holdem event at noon.

The Seniors tour is the creation of Oklahoma Johnny Hale, an old timer who ran with Amarillo Slim and Johnny Moss and Doyle Brunson in the 1950's when beating the games was the easy part – getting out alive with the money was the main challenge. It's hard to imagine how it must feel to Johnny and Doyle to see how the game has moved from illegal back rooms to lavish casino hotels with thousands of middle class citizens competing for millions of dollars and commercial sponsors competing to market to them all.

Other sports have been through the same transition from amateur and amateurish competitions with little monetary reward to huge commercial enterprises with rock star pros making more from endorsements than from winning on the field of competition. Golf and tennis are the most apt comparisons. As a kid I used to go to Forest Hills each year with my mother, who was an avid tennis player and fan. We would watch the greats of the day – Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Tony Roche, Margaret Court Smith – none of whom earned in a lifetime of great tennis what Anna Kuornikova earns from clothing endorsements today. It was the same in golf. One of my grade school classmates was Doug Ford, Jr. His father was a professional golfer. Doug senior traveled the professional golf circuit in a mobile home, to keep down his transportation and housing costs. He came from 3 strokes behind to beat Sam Snead and win the Masters in 1957. I doubt he earned in his entire career what Tiger Woods gets for just showing up at a charity event these days.

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I used to wonder how it felt to these golf and tennis greats to witness the commercial growth of the game, largely spawned by television coverage, after their careers had ended. I have asked Doyle Brunson that question, and his response is always gracious. He says he is delighted that players today have safe, comfortable environments in which to play the game he loves, and he is grateful to have lived long enough to enjoy being part of a professional that has become "downright respectable."

Every major poker tournament now has a Seniors event. You have to prove that you are at least 50 years old to play. I viewed it as good opportunity, because the field would be smaller and because all the hot young stars would be too young to play.

At the outset Johnny announced this year's inductees into the Seniors Hall of Fame, and read the roll call of great players who have died during the past year. Once the formalities concluded 1,184 of us began the hunt for a World Series bracelet.

I found myself seated next to Dr. Will Noyes, a country doctor and retired surgeon who volunteered to help treat wounded civilians at an understaffed hospital in Kosovo and was so moved by the experience that he spent the next several years raising money from professional poker players and ferrying much needed medical supplies back and forth to the Balkans. He is highly respected in the tournament poker community for his tournament successes, but even more so as a human being. I looked forward to spending the day getting to know him at the table.

By Ken Adams
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