World Series of Poker Main Event

Today I'm registering for the World Series of Poker Main Event. This is the one that every poker player in the world wants to win. I wish I felt better about my chances. I've had a streak of bad luck or, possibly, bad playing. I think I'm doing everything right but just getting the wrong cards. I wish I could be sure.

I keep thinking that you have to be an idiot to bust out on day 1 because the levels are two hours each, and you start out with $60,000 in chips. Yet I busted out on Day 1 last year. Here's an interesting calculation I just did. If you fold every hand--not play a single one--my calculation shows you will have exactly $0 at the end of Day 1.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Day 1

First break. I lost 40% of my stack already. I keep getting good hands but beaten by slightly better ones. It's still early but I need tighten up my play.

I’m starting to win big pots. I'm almost back to starting stack!

Second break. I'm almost back to starting stack, which I'm very happy about.

Dinner break. I'm down to $40K, but the blinds (minimum bets) are only $500 so it's not bad.

I just got pocket Qs, flopped top set and turned a full house. I went head-to-head with a player who likes to bluff, so I let him bet big, and I kept calling. I made a lot of chips.

I just won a nice pot with the second nut flush. I'm almost back to starting stack.

Last break of the day. I have about starting stack. In the tournament, that's not bad. You can even buy into Day 2 with the starting stack ($60K). However, it means I've spent 8 hours playing poker and made no progress. Still it's better than being short-stacked or busting out.

I just got pocket As and won a big pot against pocket 4s.

I made it to Day 2 (Thursday)! With a respectable stack of $79,900. It helped that I got lots of aces towards the end, including pocket As twice.

I'm ranked 1173 out of 2630. About average. I'm OK with that. My table draw is good, too. Four players have smaller stacks than me and four players have a little more, but nothing significant.

And I outlasted poker greats Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Greg Raymer, Matt Berkey, Alex Foxen,  and Chance Kornuth, among others.

Day 2

Day 2 starts in 10 minutes.

I just won a big pot with pocket 10s against pocket 9s.

I won two more nice pots after that. Had AJ and a flop of A4A followed by a J-high flush on the turn.

I'm almost at $100K.

I just lost a very big pot. I had pocket 8s. I bet $2500. Everyone folded except the big blind who called. The flop was 742 rainbow. He checked. I bet another $2500. He called. The turn was 6. He checked. I bet another $2500. He raised to $12.5K. I called, figuring I was still good with my over pair. The turn was Q. He shoved. I folded. I'm back down to about $75K.

Lost another big pot when I had A♥Q♥. One player raised. I called. Another player called. The flop was 682. I bet. Both players called. The turn was 9. We all checked. The river was 5. One player bet $7K. I folded. The third player called. Both had 7 10 for straights.

I'm getting good pre-flop cards - A10, pocket 10s, pocket 8s, but some player always does a really big raise and I have to fold. I'm down to $61.5K. Still a good stack, but not great.

I’m folding a lot of hands. My stack is shrinking. Still a decent stack, but I don't like the direction.

First break. I have $51,900. Not bad but going in the wrong direction. Haven't won a hand in an hour. On the other hand, this may be the best I've ever done in the WSOP Main Event. Which is not any consolation, just an arbitrary fact.

Whew! I had A5 off suit. Wasn't sure if I should play I, but one player did a min raise to $2K and another player called, so I called. The flop was K24. Everyone checked. The next card was 8. One player bet $3K. Third player folded. I need a 3, but an A would probably give me the winning hand too. I called and held my breath. The river card was... 3! The other player bet $5K. I hesitated and raised to $10K. He folded. My stack is up to $67.5K.

I got pocket 9s. One player raised to $2500. I reraised to $6K. He called. The flop was 78Q. He checked. I bet $5K. He called. The turn was 9, giving me a set. He bet $3500. I raised to $10K. He shoved with a stack slightly more than mine. I shoved. He turned over 56 off suit for a straight. I needed to pair the board to get a full house to beat him. I didn't, so I busted out. The frustrating thing is that he should never have called my bet pre-flop with such a bad hand.

I was joined  among the fallen on Day 2 by poker greats Phil Hellmuth, Joe Cada, Stephen Chidwick, Justin Bonomo, Andrew Lichtenberger, and Doug Polk.

Well, I’ll probably play in some of the smaller (i.e., cheaper) tournaments this week, but my dream  of being crowned the world’s best poker player will have to wait another year.