$2500 NLHE WSOP and The Palms

Well Guys,

Now that all can see that my June really was running well, and help me recover a very large portion of the amount I had been down for 2005 (about 80% recovered at this point), I decide that I should head back out to the WSOP for the $2500 NLHE Event.

I land at 10:50 and get into the taxi line. Once in the cab, the cabbie starts jaberring about poker and how his buddy is the best poker player in the world. Etc, etc.... He wishes me well, I check in and then head to the poker room.

I sit down in a $330 single table. It gets down three handed when this hand comes up. The short stack (was a big stack but just played too many hands - I think he is a novice by his discussion choices) is on the Button, I am in the SB with a decent stack, the chip leader is in the BB has maybe 15% more than me. The BB is the classic aggressive young pro. He and I had tangled twice until now:

Blinds 200-400. Button folds (1,500 in chips), I have AA in the SB (6000 in chips) and call. I knew he would raise with any sign of weakness from me, and he does not disappoint and raises 500 more (7,500). I smooth call. Flop A95. I check, he bets 1,500, I call and say "you don't have any of that!" He says "you don't either." And I say "well I have a nine, but you don't have an Ace." Oops, my foot enters my mouth as another 9 comes on the turn.

Damn it. We are laugh and I check and say, "well maybe I don't have a nine." He chuckles and checks behind me.

The river is a deuce, for a board A9952. I bet out 2,500 of my remaining 4,000. He goes into the tank. After about 45 seconds, he says "all your talking is making me make this call." He tosses in the 2,500 and I announce "aces full." He says "YOU HAVE WHAT?!? Well that explains the coffeehousing." He goes out the next hand with A5 v. My AK. It was fun, and after the short stack doubles up to 2800 or so, I offer him a $500 chip to end it and he accepts. I have my $2500 entry for $330. Woohoo.

Friday, June 23, 2005.

$2500 NLHE Event Day 1.

I attempt to recreate the pre-tournament structure that I had for the $1500 event. I stay at the Rio, eat room service and do not head to the tournament area until 11:40. I chat with Robyn, a dealer at the WSOP from Nashville. I sit down and I am very happy that I do not recognize any famous faces. There was one player at my table that I played with in the $1500 event, but I felt like I had a good read on him, so I was still happy with the line up. To keep this one short, I did not build a stack at all. In fact, it was relatively boring as it was your standard NL table. Boring, boring, boring, exciting, scary, boring, boring, boring.

We (1,056 players) started with 2500 in chips, with one hour rounds and 25-25 blinds. My chip count at the end of the first three levels confirms my description:

Level I 25-25. 2,600 chips
Level II 25-50. 2,200 chips
Level III 50-100. 2,600 chips

Level IV. 100-200 End is Near.

I had not played many hand at all. The occasional steal and pp raises. David Singer gets moved to our table three to my right. He has around 8,500 in chips. He raises for the third time in ten hands in EP to 600. Folded to me in MP. I have QQ. I push for 2,400 total. Folded to him, he thinks for about five seconds and calls with AJs. Flop comes AJ4 and I am out. I finished around 750. No biggie. He made the mistake, but got the cards. Nothing I can do there. I really do not think smooth calling with QQ preflop is best for anyone, especially against an aggressive pro like David was acting like that day. I go grab a beer at the bar, play $40 worth of video poker, go to the room, take a nap and then decide to head over to the Palm to play in the $200 w/one rebuy NL event.

Palms $200 NL Event.

I get to the Palms early and sit in the 5-10 NL game. I buy in for a $1000 and cash out with $840. Nothing big, get really no cards and thus end the session down. BTW, drinking a couple of beers along the way.

Go to the tournament. There are 175 players and I decide to play aggressive with the first stack and if I go broke rebuy and play normal. Note to readers - I am still enjoying barley and hops during this event. I am treating this tournament as stress relief, nothing more. I am in my seat when we start, but the blinds are not there yet.

First hand (blinds are 10-20): UTG limps, and I decide to steal the blinds with 68s in the co with a raise to 80. UTG comes over the top to 250 total. I call thinking he is just restealing. Flop comes 457 rainbow. He bets 300, I go all in, he calls with KK. Oops. Double up. He does not rebuy and storms away from the table. I continue to dominate the table doubling up again against a player that rebought early during the first orbit with a set of 555. I build my stack up to 8,000 by the first break. I am the chip leader and still drinking. I build my stack up to 20,000 when that table breaks and I get moved. I make it to the final table, but I am short stacked when we get there and I go out 10th for a big $510 (18 got paid). I am happy to make it that deep given my stress relief was free and I enjoyed myself greatly.

I get back to the Rio, go down to the poker room and play a single table PLHE event sitting right next to Marcel Luske. He is singing, I am drinking, the table was in for a hell of a show. I knock out Marcel and another player with my powerful KQs v. JJ and 33. Make it down to the three handed, I have the chip lead. The Button is severely short stacked, the SB has about 80% of my stack and is playing very aggressively. This hand comes up: I am in the BB, Button folds the SB pots it for the uptenth time in a row and I call with 22. Flop comes K82 all spades. He bets a little less than the pot, I reraise all in he calls ands shows the A3 of spades. The board bricks off and he has a large chip lead. I get extremely lucky two hands later when my 77 makes a set against the short stack's AA. Nothing changes the hand, but I did river the 7 to bust him. I work back to even in chips and offer an even chop, but he declines, but we agree on a $300 save. I go out about 20 minutes later when my flopped second pair runs into his top pair on the flop.

Saturday June 25th.

Bellagio.

I get up early enough to get in two $220 single table satellites for the Bellagio $1000 event. I am barely alive late in the second one. Two seats awarded, three of us left and I begin to bully the other players because I really at that point did not care if I played in the main event or not. I really became tired and could not think straight and should not have played in the second single table, but did anyway. Anyway, I get it all in against the other short stack with K9 v. K10 (he called my raise). I am out and head to the room for a much-needed nap.

Palms $200 NL Event

After the fun and crazy event the night before, I get up from my nap and head over SOBER for the Palms $200 event. It starts out weirdly as I never got comfortable during the first 30 minutes. I feel myself playing passively and it really pisses me off. This is not the correctly way to play this stupid game. I stand up, rebuy when I am at 800 (start with 1000) and announce that the tenor of the table is just about to change. I win a nice pot to get to 3,000 and then get it up to 7000 with back to back big hands. I lose 60% of it when a kid that I knew was on a draw got there and I still paid him off with the second nut straight. I tighten down to survival mode, probably a little too tight as people are stealing right and left. We are down 10 4 tables and I am dead last in chips. I double up with A5 in the SB vs. a steal from the CO. I then get lucky with A10 v. AK the next hand on the button vs. the CO's raise pre flop. When our table breaks at 18, I am now second in chips and really playing well. The winner gets $15,000, so I am really gunning for a deep finish.

When we get to the final table, I have about 35% of the chips in play and they are already talking deal. Before I even speak up, a drunk from California says he does not make deals. It makes it easy for me because I am in no mood to deal before we get to at least three handed. That changes. The micro stack goes out and we are at nine when this hand comes up.

I am on the button with AKs. The CO is an average stack and just limps. I raise, the blinds fold and the CO calls. The flop comes AJ9. He checks I bet enough to put him in and he calls. He has 99 and I double him up and now I am average. Next hand I have A10 and have to muck my raise to a reraise and call from the Button and SB. The SB (drunk no deal guy) is eliminated on that hand making ups 8 handed. I am now 7th in chips and the new chip leader says he will make a chip count deal. The Tournament Director does the math (BTW - the tournament staff at the Palms did an excellent job), and I would have to finish third to beat the deal on the table at $3,100. I take the deal along with everyone else and we call it a night.

I head back over to the Rio and play in one last $330 single table. I go out eighth. I sit next to Jennifer Tilley, but I am not too impressed with her play. I guess I need to work on that judgment as she just destroyed the ladies event the very next day.

Sunday, June 26th.

I am heading home at 5:00 PM Vegas time and do not want to deal with selling the entry chips won at the single tables so I sit down at 12:00 pm for a little 2-5 NL fun. Interesting table I work my initial $500 up to $1000 and back down to $550 before the end of the session. Two interesting hands:

Second hand of the day, $495 in chips in the BB. I fold to a late raiser and SB call. Husband and wife both call as well, four to the flop. Husband and wife each have $200 in front of them, with $100 being cash. After the flop of J94, the SB bet, the husband folds, wife calls, other guy folds. Turn comes a K. Check, check. River is a 4. SB checks, the wife asks what can I bet? The dealer says anything from $5 to all in. She sits up proud and says all in and shoves in her chips (about $60) but not the c-note. I speak up (I know shocking isn't it) and say "Madam, all in includes the cash." She clutches the $100 bill and says "Oh no, I am not betting this!" The dealer says, yes madam you did." Anyway the SB was cool about it and folded. The wife starts yelling at the husband: "I didn't know we were playing all-in poker." She yelled it two or three times to him while the dealer dealt the next hand.

Now I know some of you will find this unfair of me, but I did take advantage of this situation. I am on the button two hands later and raise with something with an A after the wife limps. She calls the raise and we are heads up. I miss the flop of 458, she checks and I bet $80. She calls. The turn is another 5. She checks and I do what I have to do.... I go all in. The dealer saw it coming and was already turning to tell her that to call she would have to put it all in to call, including the $100 bill. She starts squirming and very nervously says she can't call and mucks QQ face up. I quietly muck my hand and drag the pot. Pretty unfair of me eh? Fool/money/split issue. She leaves the table.

Hand 2: Last hand of the trip. I am UTG and getting ready to go to the airport. I have $550 and there is a sneaky 65-year old man three to my right. He and I have skirmished, but no major battles. I decide to straddle for $30 for my first and only time of the trip and the summer come to think about it. It is called in two spots and when it gets to the old man he glances at his cards for a nanosecond and starts stacking off. I have to ask him if he is going all in. He says yes. I tell him that this is not my first rodeo and if I have any pair or ace-face I am coming with him. I look down at 1010. I shove behind him and both the previous callers fold. He turns over Q10o. Woohoo! I am a huge favorite to win his $371 bet. I know it is $371 because he spiked a Q on the turn to take it down. Sigh. Bummer ending to an otherwise solid trip.

So that should be a lesson to all of you out in Poker Land. Never straddle an old man in the SB. He may just come up to bite you in the arse. Until the next time.....

Good Luck and See You at the Felt

Summer Trip to Beach June 2005

Okay,

Now that my WSOP adventures are done, my wife drags me kicking and screaming to the gulf coast to spend three days with the in-laws and then seven days on the beach at Ft. Morgan, AL. Now do not get me wrong, I love my in-laws and the beach just as much as the next guy, but I would clearly rather have been at the RIO for the vacation. Anyway, I get a pass to go to the Biloxi Grand on Saturday for their weekly $200 NL event.

I have never been to the Biloxi Casinos, I am more a NOLA fan, so I have never been drawn to these places. Better food and better poker in New Orleans make up for the worse rake. In my opinion, the casinos in Biloxi are depressing, or at least dated. I went through three with the in-laws on Friday, but was not impressed. This includes the Grand in Biloxi.

I get to to the Grand a couple of hours before the tournament starts and get a seat in the 1-2 nl game. I get bad beated with KK for the first $200 and grind out the next $200, but run into the nut flush with my KQ flush and thus I am down $400 before the event begins.

There are 80 players, with the final table getting paid.

First Hand

I am in the SB (25-50), we start with 5,500 in chips and the blind levels last 30 minutes, pretty much doubling every round. I have KJo. Folds to the button, who raises it to 200. I make it 700, BB folds and the button calls. The flop comes J52. I bet 1,000, he raises to 2,500. I think for a second and call. The turn is another J. I check hoping he really bluffs at it hard. He checks behind. The river is the last J. I am hoping upon hope that he has something, but I cannot check. I bet 2,000 and he mucks immediately. I do not show. Cool, chips and a powerful image.

The remaining level, and level 2, is boring as I do not see very playable hands, but steal several blinds given my stack size. I end level 2 with around 9,000.

Fast forward to 3 tables remaining. I am now a short stack (crazy blinds) in the BB with A10. Mid position raises, I push twice as much as his raise. He calls with 109 and I make broadway to double up. I climb from there to be the second chip leader when we hit the final table. I win a huge pot early that knocks out an average stack and criples the then-chip leader to take a prohibitive chip lead 8 handed. I had 130,000 of the 400,000 in play. However, my QQ runs into KK held by an average stack so I am back down to mortal level.

We get three handed and the blinds are obscene and I offer a chip deal. It is refused. Next hand, the short stack goes out and we are heads up. It is his first tournament, but the blinds are 20,000-40,000 with 440,000 in play! He wants to play for the title. I offer to chop the money ($4000 each) and play for the "title." He agrees. Next heads up hand my 77 runs into his AA. Damn June was a nice month. I wish it did not have to end!!!!

Beach

After getting to the beach house for our vacation, I realize that the choices for internet access in coastal Alabama is severely limited. It takes me three days to get on line. I then get to a $100 NL final table (7th) on Stars. I then get to a $100 w/rebuys (8th) final table on Stars. Sweet.

I then take down a $30 NL event on UB the next day. Nice.

I end the week up a net $7,100. WooHoo.

I then decide to go back to the WSOP for the $2500 NL event. That and back to back final tables at the Palm in the next post. Until then...

Good luck and see you at the felt.

$1500 WSOP NLHE Event 2 Day 2

Alrighty now. Goal 5 is met, Day 2 has arrived. After a few hours sleep, I get up prepared for battle. BKE and Crazy Tom arise about the same time and we discuss my strategy for the day. We do not talk long as Crazy Tom heads to the single table satellites attempting to win his seat in the PLHE event today. The trip is a success from this point forward even if I get knocked out immediately. It will now be a profitable trip because (1) I cashed and (2) I did not put up $1500 for the PL. AND, I felt I was playing well, so that boded well for my confidence.

I wander down to the poker room around 12:30 (we start at 2) and watch Gyndok, JM and Crazy Tom battle in the PLHE event. JM gets a bad beat with a flopped set, so he is out by the first break. I do not notice when Crazy Tom goes out, but it was somewhere around the first break.

Weirdly enough, I am not nervous. I like our table, my stack and my position from Scott Fischman. If our table does not break, I like my chances of getting very deep in the event. My goal was the final three tables from the beggining of the day, and that goal remained constant.

Level XII 600-1200 200 ante

I start day 2 UTG. I decide that I am going to play very strong early to try and get chips up to Scott Fischman's stack size, if not larger given the opportunity. First hand I see, KK. That is what I like to see. I make it 3,500 and no one calls. Okay, no big deal. Three hands later, a player busts out of my table and they break us. I get moved to the back corner table with none other than Phil Hellmuth, oh and Kevin Bott and An Tran were there also.

A little history about Hellmuth and I. In 2000, I played in my first WPO multi-table, the $1,000 NLHE. Long story short, he knocked me out in the middle of the second level and I had nicknamed him the antichrist ever since. I had been waiting for the opportunity to bust his ass, and now I had the opportunity and the chips to do it, I had him covered x3. Unfortunately he sat across the table from me and I never had the chance to go against him.

I ended the level with 46,000 and we had around 90 players left.

Level XIII 1000-2000 300 ante

The crowd around the remaining tables was five deep. And was at least seven deep around our table as Phil H. was running well and getting deeper from his initial severely short stack. It is amazing how such a loud mouth blow hard can gather so much fan support. Interesting dynamic. The most interesting thing about this table was that the light above the table went out and we played in the dark for at least twenty minutes.

I lost 8,000 of my chips on a stupid button steal against another nice stack in the BB with 65s. He shoved in pre flop and I had to muck. This was the second mistake I noted for the event in my notebook and it really pissed me off that I made such an obvious steal move, something I never do. Anyway, our table breaks due to the lighting issue and I get moved to.....

Mike Matusow's table. Mike is very loud, just as much in person as on TV. He is one of the chip leaders with around 140,000. He is two to my right, and Can Kim Hua is sitting directly to my left with around 120,000. This is nice, Grip. Just get comfortable and pick your spots very carefully.

I end the level with 40,500 and around 65 players remaining.

Level XIV 1500-3000 400 ante - The End is Near

I had been at this table for about an hour, folding, stealing once, and pretty much watching the Mike Matusow show. CK Hua is just focused directly on Matusow, clearly looking for a way to relieve Mike from his chips. Then two very interesting hands come up.

First, a player that I had played a few hours with the night before is UTG and opens for 7,500. He had played relatively solid from what I had seen, so I gave him some credit with the open raise. I look down at AKo. I know that I had two options. Raise all in or fold. I think for over a minute and decide that he must have a monster and muck not wanting to go broke with AK. It folds around to the SB who had reraised all in twice already while I was there, reraised again. UTG thinks for 30 seconds and mucks KJs face up. I am shocked. I honestly think the SB was moving and would not have called my reraise preflop. Oh well, bad read, but one I trusted at the time. I fold my UTG and BB, then THE HAND......

For those of you that have heard about it more than once, here it is for the last time in all its glory. I have 34,500 behind my SB of 1500. CK Hua is in the BB, Mike Matusow is in the CO. It folds to Mike in the CO, who makes it 12,000 to go. Button folds. I look down and see the holy grail, the promised land, american airlines, rockets: AA. Woo hoo, lets double up right now. I think for a minute, count out my 12,000 to call, look at my remaining stack and then shove it all in for 36,000 total. Can Kim Hua mucks and Mike instacalls. I say, "rockets." He says "man ain't I running good" and shows QQ. Okay, lets go to the flop....

4Q8. Sigh. Dejection. Dispair. But undeterred and undaunted, I stand up and pack up the Ipod into the backpack.

Turn 7. I give a real smile and acknowledge a player's statement "Its not over." However, I know it is though.

River 10. And I am out.

Mike thrusts his hands in the air and then graciously comes over and shakes my hand. If he had been a jerk, I think that I would have punched him right in the snout. Lucky for him, he really was cool about it.

I was that close to 80,000 in chips and probably one of the top 10 chip leaders, while weakening Mike's ego and stack. I go get my slip from Johnny Grooms and cash out for $6,360 in my first WSOP event. Nothing to shake a stick at or to be ashamed of. I pay my saves to JM and Rachet and go to the 2-5 nl cash game to calm down with Crazy Tom and JM. I make a quick $2,000 having fun with the guys and catching two very big rivers, one a flush and one making a set of 3s against Crazy Tom's TPTK.

BKE and I go over to the Wynn for dinner and drinks. we have a few beers at a few different bars at the Wynn, an amazing resort, and then head back to the Rio. Drink some more. Have some fun. But I cannot get my mind off my chance that was left on the felt.

All in all it was a very successful trip in every sense and I am happy I put the trip together. (1) I brought more money than I took. (2) Having the time of my life and spending some time with BKE. (3) Seeing that my game is in good shape and just getting better.

Next post talks about the middle part of June, including a $200 multi table in Biloxi with a nice finish. Until then...

Good Luck and See You at the Felt.

$1500 NLHE WSOP Event 2 Day 1

I am in the event, not as an alternate, but as a playa. The WSOP Staff eventually let in over 100 alternates to make the final field 2,305 players strong. The winner took home $725,000, with 200 players making the money. This was the second largest WSOP in history behind only the 2004 final event (the 2005 final event had 5,600, so it is now the third largest field in WSOP history).

My Goals for the tournament, in the order of importance:

1. Do not Bluff Off My Chips.

2. Play Strong Tight Aggressive Poker.

3. Make the Dinner Break.

4. Make the Money.

5. Make Day Two.

6. Make the Final Table.

7. Win the Bracelet.

Level I 25-25

I started in seat 11 with a table full of people that I did not recognize. That was a good thing. We all started with 1500 in chips and initial blinds of 25-25 and rounds lasting 60 minutes. I never fell below my starting stack and by the middle of the first round was already over 2,000. The players at the table were bad, worse and absolutely pathetic. I started playing the "can I name his hand" in any hand that went to a showdown before the cards were shown (called one kid's set of 10s perfectly before he turned it over). It was as easy a table as I had sat at in many months. AND IT WAS THE DAMN WSOP! Anyway, I was not complaining, especially since the gentleman in seat 10 was the ring leader of bad players (nice guy, but just a plain bad player) and he tripled up within the first 20 minutes. Yum, yum. Those chips were destined to be mine. Just please Lord, do not allow them to break this table too soon. I ended level one with 2,200 chips.

Level II 25-50

Midway through the second level, I had a chip count of approximate 2,900 when this hand comes up. I am in the SB and the action folds around to the CO. He limps, as does the button (Mr. bad player). I know they cannot handle any heat and raise to 250. The one factor I forgot about was that the BB was severely short stacked and he announces relatively forcefully and loudly that he is allin for 325. One of the ESPN camera crews was at the next table and swirl around to capture this hand's action and the boom mike goes right over my head. The CO and Button fold as expected. I start laughing and say "I am embarrassingly far behind, but I have to call." I call. Now if you have not noticed, I have not told you my hand. It was real junk, the 25d.

The BB had A9o. The flop comes J48 with one diamond. The turn was the 4 of diamonds. I start laughing knowing that I was likely about to give this guy a really bad beat. The river is the ......

5 of hearts.

The BB jumps out of his seat like a cannon and starts ranting about raising preflop with 52!!!! "What an idiot!!!!" And storms off. Before the camera moves I see out of the corner of my eye a wad of cash coming over my shoulder. It is Gyndok paying off the Last Longer Bet and says for the camera: "Just like on line eh Grip?"

I end the level with 3,250 chips

Level III 50-100

This level went relatively quitely, except for one memorable hand, and it was against Mr. Bad Player, "MBP." MBP had stayed relatively level since his early rush at around 5,000 chips. I was biding my time and I knew he would move when he shouldn't. I had around 5,500 when this came up:

I am on the Button with JJ. Action folds to MBP in CO, he limps. I raise to 500. BB calls as does MBP. The flop comes 10 6 4 rainbow. It is checked to me and I bet 1,200 leaving me 2,800. BB folds and MBP calls. Turn is a 9. He bets 1,000 into me. I turn and look at him like he has lost his mind. I call. Weak I know, but I thought that if it bricks off on the river he will bluff into me. River is a 4, board now reads 10 9 6 4 4. He checks and I stupidly check behind. I show the jacks and he shows a 9 and mucks.

I end the level with 8,125 chips.

Level IV 100-200.

We are losing players right and left and we are down to three original players from our initial group, but MBP is getting short after the JJ hand above. The kid with the set of 10s is in the seven seat and sitting pretty after hitting four sets in Level III with about 12,000. I determined that I would not do anything stupid and let the chips come to me. I lasted 4.5 hours before I made my first big blunder (one of only two that I recognized for the event).

A player with 15,000 in chips gets moved to the table in seat 3 and immediately begins to play a hyper aggressive style. I decide to avoid him until the time was right. I thought it was time about twenty minutes after he sat down. He raised to 400 in early position. It folded around to me and I thought it was a weak raise and I could take it with a good rereaise with my KQs on the button. I make it 1,400 ( I had 9,000 at the time). He calls. The flop comes 10 7 5 with two spades ( I had hearts). He checks, I bet 2,500. He calls immediately. Now I have watched Mike Caro's DVD on tells and even thought, he is on a draw, it must be spades. There is now 8,100 in the pot.

The turn is a off suit 9, giving me a gut shot, but I was for sure it missed him. He checked. Now my heart, gut, brain, soul and everything in my body told me to move in. But my right index finger starts tapping the table. Wait finger, we move in here!!! Damn that finger is gutless. But my index finger looks up and says "Did you forget about rule number one?"

Anyway, the river is another 9 and he checks and the same damn finger checks right behind him. He shows the AJ spades and takes down a really nice pot because of my finger's gutless move. I am considering the correct punishment for the damn digit still. This made me a little mad at myself as the guy says he would not have a put another chip in on the turn. Sigh.....

I end the round with 4,725 chips.

Level V 100-200 25 ante

I play zero hands other than the occasional steal and end the round with 3,000 chips exactly.

Level VI 150-300 50 ante

I play a few hands here and double up late with a set on the flop out of the SB with 33 unraised pot. The flop came A38 and double up through a LP's A4.

Our table finally broke and I moved to a new table and see my buddy Rachet is doing decent. I end the round with 5,600 Chips.

Goal 3 met. Dinner time. 380 remaining runners. Average stack around 10,000.

I went to get Sushi with BKE, not playing, and JM, who is also still in but is shorter than I am and not in good position. We already had a 5% save and I was pulling for him to make the money almost as hard as I was pulling for myself. I enjoyed some Tuna and one Kirin Ichiban, the best beer in the world. Period, bar none. Now back to war.

Level VII 200-400 50 ante

I do not recall any key hands. I continued to steal once every two rounds to stay even and chose hands where weak players had limped to increase the bounty. Very passive table and I did not feel comfortable enough to be a big bully as the chip leader was two to my left and was playing very strong. I sat back and bided my time.

I ended the round with 9,500 chips, what I approximately had a few hours earlier before Mr. Finger trumped Mr. Brain.

Level VIII 250-500 75 ante

Each round was costing 1500 in chips, so sitting around was getting to hurt a little. We were now down under 280, with 200 getting paid, so I remembered Rule 4 and tightened down even harder. I am down to 5,200 in chips in the small blind when the following hand came up. It is folded around to the button (7,500 chips) and he raises to 1,500 and I look down at A4 offsuit. I lean back in my chair and decide that it is a clear steal so I go all in. Okay that worked fine until the BB goes into the tank. Crap, I forgot about him. He had us both covered but only by a few thousand chips. He finally folded as did the button in short order. The BB says he laid down AJo because he knew I had a powerhouse hand. I said, yep had you killed. JM got knocked out around this level.

I ended the round with 6,500 in chips. around 270 remained.

Level IX 300-600 75 ante

This was a very quiet and stressful level as we are amazingly close to the money. I remember thinking that it would be awesome if I could find the money in my first WSOP event. I could not get that out of my head. My table was obviously very far down on the break list, so we all got comfortable and the floor kept moving people to our table. The crowd starting gathering around us. I was on a corner table, so we had a large group watching our table. It seemed as though the time just crept by as the floor kept updating the number on the big screen. 260, 250, 240, 230, 225.

Nothing spectacular happened at this level and I ended with 7,000 in chips and around 220 remainded. Damn this was getting close.

Level X 400 800 100 ante

I anticipated that this would be the level that we would make the money. When we got down to 205 players, my most nervous time hit. I was in the SB with 4500 in chips behind my 400 SB (you do the math, I folded everything in this level). A very aggressive player opened for the standard raise in mid position. For the first time in the tournament I peaked at my cards before it was my turn. JJ. Sigh, not what I wanted to see, but I decided that I am going to go against the aggressive guy because I am positive I have him beat. One problem. The button first reraised enough to put me all in. Damn. I think about it for 2 minutes and decide that I have to muck. I do and then the aggressive guy goes into a deep tank. I finally call a clock on him and he mucks 88 face up. The button shows KK and I am glad Mr. Brain was paying attention.

Goal Four Met. Were in the Money. Were in the Money.

I make the money with 3,900 in chips remaining. The average stack is now 16,000 or so. Time to open up this baby and see what she can do. People are dropping like flies when we get out of hand for hand dealing. I decide any Ace or pair and I am pushing. Two hands after we make the money, I am in the UTG +2 and find QQ. Allin. BB is shorter than me calls with A9. I win. 8,000 o so now. Next hand A4s. Shove. Oops. Player to my left pushes immediately behind me. Damn it. He shows AK. Flop comes 454 and now I have 19,000 and I give my clutch a break and slow down. I then break Jennifer Harman's husband, Marco with a flopped set of ducks out of the BB when he shoved preflop for a small raise.

I end the level with 18,600 in chips. Break time. down to 170 or so.

Level XI 500 1000 100 Ante

I am comfortable in chips, probably right on average, but I decide that with the flat payout, I am not going to be complacent even with Goal 5 being met at the end of this hour. The chip leader at the table is two to my right and decides to steal at my SB early in this round. He has around 35,000 in chips (remember this was a passive table). He raises to 3500. I find AQs in the SB. I shove for 16,500 total. He thinks for an eternity and finally calls with 77. I flop a Q and double up.

Scott Fischman then gets moved directly across the table from me in the two seat (I am in the eight seat) with 75,000 in chips. He starts off immediately bullying the table. I really like my seat now. In Fischman's BB, the gentleman I doubled up through earlier goes all in for 14,000 in chips. I have around 33,000 and find JJ. I think on it for a few moments and smooth call. Looking back on it, that was crazy as I was inviting Scott to come over the top with a big reraise to test me. I should have shoved. Anyway, it folds around and the gentleman shows 66 and does not get another one. He is out.

The round ended, and the night. I ended the round with 44,000 in chips good enough for 21st out of 111 remaining.

Goal 5 met. Day Two, with chips.

The outcome of day two in the next post.