Initial Postmortem Analysis

So I left the Rio in a hurry, stopped by the gas station on the way back to pick up some beer, and as I was checking out the cashier asked me how my day was going. Ummmm...

I told him I just lost in the World Series of Poker, but surely this 6 pack of watered down domestic brew would help. He asked how much I lost... I told him $10,000.

He looked at me a little funny, grabbed his chest, and said "Ouch man... that hurts". I don't know if he was talking about me or him. Probably my wife.

In addition to my crappy Miller Lite, I ordered what promises to be terrible pizza from the only place that delivers past midnight on a Sunday in Las Vegas. Ok, well, I'm sure there are other places, but this one looked particularly bad.

At any rate, as I wait for my crappy pizza drinking my crappy beer reflecting on my crappy day, I decided to do some statistical analysis. I mean... what else do you do after 1am in Vegas if not statistical analysis?

Here's what I've got - and I found it somewhat interesting.

For starters, we have to identify what's a good hand... and this is easier than it sounds, a number of different people/books/webpages have differing opinions. For the purposes of consistency, I used Wikipedia. Wikipedia highlight the Sklansky/Malmuth approach and groups starting cards as such:

Tier 1: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs
Tier 2: TT, AQs, AJs, KQs, AKo
Tier 3: 99, ATs, KJs, QJs, JTs, AQo
Tier 4: 88, KTs, QTs, J9s, 89s, AJo, KQo
Tier 5: 77, A9-A2s, Q9s, T8s, 97s, 87s, 76s, KJo, QJo, JTo

Now... I would argue with a lot of this - for example, one other webpage declared 89 suited should get folded consistently. But I need to use something for comparison, so this is it, even if I disagree with many aspects of it.

The point is, I complained about bad cards all day this year... but I do that every year! However, considering this year was the only one where my cards were so bad I basically gave up out of frustration, just how bad were they? Well, I charted the last 4 years against the Wikipedia chart:

Tier	2016	2015	2014	2013
1	4	6	7	5
2	3	9	6	8
3	6	5	4	4
4	4	4	7	4
5	1	3	3	6
Total	18	27	27	27

Evidently tracking all my hands for the last 6 years' worth of world series play can come in handy for something... if you count postmortem statistical analysis at two in the morning as something. 

Ok, so if we say our top 5 tiers are our "playable hands", even thought I might not play some, we can see that I pretty consistently got a playable hand 27 times in the first 5 rounds for the previous 3 years. This year I got 18 in the same amount of time (Minus 4 hands). So, basically, if we take what I had this year... 18... I essentially got 50% more playable hands each of the last 3 years. An extra 9 playable hands may not seem like a lot, but when you only have 18, it is. 

But even more so than that was the dearth of premium hands, Figure tier 1 hands are premium hands. Tier 2 aren't far off. My entire game play is based on maximizing these hands... but while I had 13 in 2013... and 13 in 2014... and 15 in 2015... I had 7 this year. Seven. And I had less truly premium hands this year than any other year. 

So when I lost my mind with my pocket kings in round 4, that's why - I was getting significantly less playable hands than I normally do, less super premium hands than I am used to, and 50% of my four super premium hands went for a loss when that idiot in seat 3 chased my top pair top kicker with second pair second kicker and chopped with a straight on the river and that stupid ace hit the flop against my kings. 

Moreover, of those 18 playable hands from today... 7, almost half, came in round one when I won a lot of blinds with less than a full table. Whereas I averaged 5 - 6 playable hands per round in the last three years, I averaged less than 3 in rounds 2 - 5 this year. 

Even still, I'm going to wake up tomorrow and hate myself for going on tilt so badly, but at least I feel slightly... ever so slightly... vindicated that I was, indeed, truly getting a cold run of cards. But that's part of the problem with not playing poker regularly and only playing in 5 hour tournaments with friends - a cold stretch can seem even worse than it is. 

Any which way, I'm going to wake up tomorrow, read about playing far too many 6 8's and K 3's and be beside myself upset about how I played. I can't believe I'm out on day one... after they raised it to 50,000 in chips no less. 

We'll see if I do this again - I am now officially losing money on the World Series of Poker.  And as spelled out in the first post, I have significantly more responsibilities than when I started this endeavor... and no time to play poker during the year. And, actually, I could overcome most of that for 2017, except I didn't even have fun this year. I mean, I had a little fun when I got drunk and won a pot for 3 minutes, but other than that, this was a pretty challenging trip filled with a lot of stress and remorse for ditching my wife and kid.

Anyway, I'm off to bed...

Final Round

Ummm, excuse me.  Yeah,  if I could just squeeze by you to look over there.  You sir,  could you raise your feet a bit? Maybe if you go left a little and I can just get in there to see...

Sigh... has anyone seen my sobriety anywhere?!

Oh well, who needs it - i got in on the action early this round,  no more messing around. 

K 10 off? And after three people there's no action yet? I raise! Oh, the button called.  So did big blind.  And one of them bet a Q 3 6 flop,  more losing.

Not that it's hard when you play king ten off from a middle position.  Raise no less. I raised K 10 off from a middle position... that's going to hurt in the morning. 

Kings! Alright... I know how to play kings! I raise and get one caller.  Flop comes J 7 4 with two clubs and I revert to playing like first three rounds me - I bet it big and he folds. 

Ok... well,  winning. A little. 

Better than all that stupid losing.

A 9 off late... well I can raise that.  Too bad seat 7, aka the big blind,  raised me back.  And while I had position,  something about his shaking hand, posture,  and overall demeanor rubbed me the wrong way,  so I folded... and he showed kings. 

Stupid losing... but that may have been a cheap/good loss,  if there is such a thing. 

Of course,  the problem is that losing becomes contagious...

A 10 off middle position... I rase to 1500. Seat 7 makes it 3500 and he has position.  Seat 8, also with position,  calls...pricing me in.  Flop comes 3 6 7 with a couple spades I don't have.  I check,  seat 7 bets 4,500. Seat 8 calls.  I'm out,  more losing... winning hand on what turned into a monster pot was seat 8 with pocket jacks. 

Well under 30,000 now... not on tilt anymore,  the crown royal saw to that,  but I don't have a healthy chip stack.  And if we're being honest,  I'm probably lacking the wherewithal to,  you know,  play my way back.

Hmmm... well,  let's see what happens...

Big blind,  K Q off... I like it. Early position raises to 1200 plus one caller.  Conservative seat one raises to 6,000... Holy cow! Ugh... and I'm out of playing out of position.  Angry fold.  Original raiser calls... flop came A Q 5. Seat one shoved,  other guy called.  Seat one had top two pair with AQ, other guy had AK.  Runner runner 5s made it a chop, I would have lost to both of them.

Next hand,  4 7 off in the small blind and everyone folds.  Call? Flop comes 6 6 10, we both check.  He bet a third 6 on the turn and I went away... later he would say he had a hand,  just not what it was.

I bet it was better than 4 7 off. 

Sigh... more losing. 

I got Q 10 off in the small blind and while that may not seem like a good hand,  when you've been on a run like I have,  it feels like pocket aces... so I played it with a couple people to a small raise.  Flop came K J 3, an open ended straight draw! Which I checked.  In fact,  all four players checked... free draw! Turn was an 8, just missed.  Seat one bet,  I called.  River was a queen.  Ugh,  give me something I can fold... or a nut straight.  Seat one bet a couple thousand, I called knowing I was beat (Always a good call), and he showed AQ... queens,  like me,  but with a better kicker. Probably why regular me doesn't play Q 10 off out of position.  I mean,  i shouldn't be playing Q 10 off in any position,  but certainly not in the small blind.

And I have to pee. And I only have like 20,000 chips.  And there's still over a half hour left. 

I hate today.

With about twenty minutes left,  I get AQ off under the gun and raise.  New seat 6 calls,  so does seat 3 in the big blind.  Flop comes 8 7 3, rainbow.  How can I miss every flop? So I bet,  a decent amount at 2,500... seat six calls.  Ugh.  Turn was a 4, I check,  he dumps 7,000 on me... about half what I have left.  Do I chase with two overs and one card to come? I did not. 

Of course,  then I realized that there's not much point in me coming back on Tuesday with less than 18,000... which is precisely what is in line to happen in the next 14 minutes... unless I can get knocked out first. 

Of course,  easier said than done... even in my inebriated,  dilapidated state,  I have trouble betting my endless run of 3 5's.

Although,  to be fair,  the last one was suited, so it was a little appealing. 

Then they announced five hands left and dealt me A 9 off. 

Seat 3 raised to 1,300 and I called with position.  So did the big blind,  seat 7. Flop came K J 10 off spades.

I had A diamonds,  9 spades. Seat 3 led out 3,700... whoa,  big bet.  I could fold,  watch my 16k turn into 15.5k and come back Tuesday to shove within 3 rounds,  or...

I shoved for my last 16,000. If I win,  I can play a little on Tuesday.  Otherwise I don't have to come back to shove.  And I've got four to a flush.  Four to a straight.  Four to a straight flush.  And an over... I've got outs.

Well,  i had outs until seat six called my all in... followed by a call from seat 3. Seat 6 had A 3 spades,  he flopped the nut flush.  Seat 3 had 5 7 spades, he flopped a flush.  What were the odds of three players having five spades with 3 spades on the flop? Doesn't matter,  I didn't get my queen of spades for a straight flush and for the first time in six years,  with four more hands to go,  I'm out on day one. 

Debrief coming tomorrow or tonight,  but this may be the last run for me...

Thanks for reading!

Round Four

This will probably be my final round,  I'm on tilt and just playing angry now.  And not really playing so much as calling a bunch of bad hands so I can dump my chips and go home.  Probably shouldn't have even played this year...

Anyway,  folded for the first fifteen minutes,  no shock.  Then... pocket kings.  Finally.  Finally a damn hand.  Finally.

Seat two raises,  I three bet to 2,200. Seat 8 thinks about it on the button and folds... seat 2 calls.  Flop came A 10 4 and my tournament ended.  Right there on that particular flop.  A better player could just play on... not me.  I am so incensed that an ace came against my kings I lose it.  I just... lost it.  So angry. 

He checks to me and i laid out a continuation bet,  which isn't a terrible move there.  He calls.  He checks a 2 on the turn... what do I do? Throw more money away? I have kings and they're not getting any better.  I check,  river is another two and three diamonds on board.  He lays out 4,500 on a 15,000 pot and I can't call... there's almost nothing he could be playing I don't lose to here.

So I called.  Because I could win? No.  Because I wanted to see what he had? Not really.  Mostly,  I was just pissed off.  He had AQ suited and took it down with aces over my kings. 

A couple hands later I played Q9 suited from the button to a raise... and didn't even get to see a flop as the big blind three bet and I folded my hand that should have been folded before I spent the first thousand.

Doesn't matter,  don't want to play more poker,  want to go home.  This sucks.

Under 25,000 for those counting at home. 

We'll see if I can dump it before the next level... maybe I'll just shove.

New seat three,  but I don't care.  I've also decided that instead of shoving on nothing, I'm going to try and have some fun,  which is something I haven't done any of.  I ordered some drinks and now I'm going to play fun hands until I'm out of chips...

J10 suited under the gun... hmm... I normally wouldn't play this in early position... call! Raise.  Damn.  Call! Flop came J 8 6, I led out and won a pot.  Didn't dent my unhappiness.

Then I'm big blind,  everyone folds,  and new seat 3 limps.  K 2... hmmm... raise! He called.  Flop comes 7 6 3, missed it.  I bet big... he figured me out and shoved. 

Not yet,  fold.

Ooohhhh pocket twos out of position - fun! J 10 6 flop... not fun,  folded to a raise.

Almost under 20,000... just giving them away now,  it will all be over soon - but hopefully not too soon,  they haven't even brought my first round of drinks yet.

A4 suited early position... ummm... raise!!! Won me antes and blinds.  And,  actually,  things are looking up... instead of a double,  the bartender accidentally made two drinks... and they taste like doubles!

Finally some winning at this tournament.

Seat 9 just won with pocket kings,  even with an ace on board.  I'm just saying...

I'm going to be so mad at myself tomorrow - 20,000 is an M Ratio of 20, and will be 15 next round.  While my chip stack is tiny compared to the other players,  I'm actually ok compared to the blinds and antes,  which is all that matters.  But I don't care,  I'm done with this. 

A 10 suited with a big pre flop raise... I call! Flop was K 2 3 with none of my diamonds,  I folded to a raise from the original raiser, who showed AK. AK wins for him,  I'm just saying...

Got another double round of drinks coming... if I keep double fisting it, I'm going to need an Uber back.

Anyway,  A6 in the big blind,  everyone folds,  seat two raises from the button.  Normally I'd fold,  so I call.  Flop comes 6 3 9... a pair! Normally I would bet,  so I check.  He checks.  Turn was a king,  I lead out,  he folds... take that seat 2, we are nowhere close to even.

AQ off in the small blind... conservative seat 1 bets 2,200 pre flop,  a HUGE raise.  Call.  Got another caller too. Flop comes A Q 2. Top two pair! Oh sure,  NOW,  after I've given up,  I hit a hand.  I check. Seat six checks,  seat one bets 2,200. I really want to raise,  but that's what I'd normally do,  so I call and so does seat six.  Turn was ten... of hearts,  thankfully.  I check.  I know,  right? Who is this guy? It's drinking and not giving a crap Rydz!

Hi there!!!

Seat six checks,  seat one bets 5,000... which would leave me with about 10,000 so I check raise shove.

Remember when I wasn't having any fun? Check raise shoves are a great time!!!

Everyone folds,  winning... back up over 30,000. And I've got more drinks on the way!

Winning everywhere...

Lost seat 5... pity,  he seemed like a good bloke. He asked about my notes and when I told him I was blogging,  he asked for the blog site.  I wonder if he's reading about me blogging about him right now... crazy!

Sidebar: if you're from a Queens English speaking country,  feel free to let me know if I used bloke correctly... my brother has been trying to teach me.

Holy cow,  I'm back up to 36,000... Wish I was still playing,  I could do something with that.

I know what you're thinking - but I am still playing ! No,  I'm drinking at the world's most expensive bar and blogging a stream of consciousness. 

9 4 off from the big blind? Yeah,  I can play that to a raise.  Even caught a piece of A Q 4, but not a 4,000 bet worth of a piece.

Welcome new seat five,  wait till you get a load of me. 

34,275 and a great buzz at the end of round four... my wife is going to kill me. 

Dinner Break

Quick update while I'm at dinner...

Getting dinner worked like a charm - I order PF Changs from the table (PF Changs will now be my dinner for every night I play lest I jinx myself into losing by having something different for dinner on a different night). Anyway, hauled out of the venue, got to PF Changs literally as they were wrapping it up, got an easy left turn onto Paradise, got stuck behind a giant truck when I was in a hurry... but the truck turned out to be driven by someone in a casino heist and my lane moved faster than every other. I got back to the hotel and there was no line to work with the front desk girl - see, they kicked me out of my room and made me change rooms this morning... but my new room wasn't ready.

Not ready because they upgraded me to a suite! I mean, dinner has gone perfectly so far... it's been going so well that I first started to think - wow, maybe my day will turn around and this is the start of it. But then it was going so well I figured - uh oh, I'm going to continue to have terrible luck at the poker table because I'm burning all my good luck at dinner!

Never fear... I got to the suite and it was 80 degrees, someone turned off the air. And they forgot my utensils. And there is now rice melting on the floor. Evidently dinner turned into a challenge, but hey - maybe I'll get better cards out of it?!

Anyway... heading back now, next update in 2 1/2 hours.

Third Round, Day One

I started this post,  but somehow it got lost... which sucks,  I had much to say.

I'll have to do it more briefly now...

15 minutes in,  AK suited late position.  Finally! Seat 3 raises,  I three bet, everyone  else folds,  he calls.  5,000 in the pot.  Flop comes A Q 6... top pair,  top kicker.  Oh the glory.  So I bet 5,000... he calls.  15,000 in the pot.  Turn was a J and I bet 10,000... he calls.  35,000 in the pot.  River was a 10, I hit the nut straight,  he insta-shoved,  and I knew we were chopping.  Yep,  he had KQ, was behind the whole time,  and the river gave him a chop... I won 350, my half of blinds and antes.

I hate this game.

I mean,  i really hate this game.

Shortly thereafter I had 2s on the button and called a small raise from seat 8, which priced in the big blind.  Flop came 8 10 3 and they both checked to me.  I thought about betting, but checked it.  Got a 2 on the turn,  but it was also a third heart.  Seat 8 bet,  I called,  so did big blind.  Ace in the river,  they checked to me,  I bet 2,000, big blind dropped,  seat 8 agonized and called... And I won a pot with a set of twos. A real pot.  Not blinds and antes.  Not a chop.  A real pot.  Didn't do a ton for my stack,  I'm still under 40k, but mentally, wining a pot was much needed relief.

More winning! Not really,  but I changed someone else's chip...

I had 8s in a middle position and raised to 750, but seat 7 three bet me to 2,800. 2,800?! Fold.

I got to see a free flop from the big blind with 10 6 off,  which was nice,  but the flop missed me J 8 3. I folded to a small bet and watched the turn and river as sixes... I know Greg,  I know.

We lost seat 3 to seat 2 about an hour twenty into the level.  Then seat 7 a short while later... Hey,  at least I'm not the first to go.

So I get K J off on the button and call a small raise with two other players... we head to the flop four handed with about 3,000 in the pot.  Flop comes 6 9 10 and seat 7 bets 5,000. 5,000?! King of the overbet seat 7? Anyway,  I wasn't chasing for 5,000 and folded.  But I should have - turn was a Q, would have given me a straight,  and gave seat 7 a set of queens.  That's the hand he put seat six out on too.  That was a big one Greg... that was a big one.  And yes,  the straight would have held up... but do you chase a gut shot with two overs for 5,000 on a 3,000 pot? I guess I should have...

Sigh... losing,  had to break an orange one.  And then folded pocket twos under the gun... after they were so good to me earlier! Of course,  I never play twos and it's probably for a reason... would have missed J J Q flop that got bet hard. 

I keep limping to free flops in the big blind,  which I'm not going to complain about... this time I got to play  8 9 suited.  Flop came A 4 5 with only one of my diamonds and four players checked.  Turn was 10 of diamonds, giving me four to a flush (closest I've been to a flush all day), so I bet it good and got 3 folds.  I may have only won blinds and antes,  but at least it was winning.

Heading to dinner with 36,375 and coming back with a M Ratio about 35... and still fuming about that AK, literally the only good starting hand I've had in over 4 hours.

Second Round

Not a good start... seat 7 tried to raise,  but didn't put in enough and it was ruled a call.  I limped from the button with Q 9 off because I liked the odds and position,  and figured the blinds would limp and I'd get good pot odds on position.  And I hit a A A 9 flop! Seat 7 led out,  I called,  everyone else folded.  Turn was a 2, seat 7 bet again... I called.  River was another 2, and a third heart.  He bet big,  I agonized,  and sick of constantly folding,  I called... he hit his hearts.  I should have raised the turn.  Or not called the river.  Lots of bad things I did,  starting with playing Q 9 off.  Lost about 4,000 that hand... if I wasn't tilting before,  I am now.

Got a free flop with 8 3 off from the big blind with FOUR limpers, but I couldn't even hit a 9 6 4 flop,  it went right around me.

Still stewing about misplaying that hand... endless folding doesn't help. 

Losing! That's what we call breaking big chips into small chips with other players at the table.  Just above 40k forty minutes into the level.

Seat five finally got here... he's from the UK, I wonder if he wants me to ask him about Brexit and cratering their currency? Probably not,  he appears to be streaming soccer while he plays. Maybe later.

I wish I had his 50,000 in starting chips though...

Well,  that did it... i think I may officially be on tilt.  6 8 off in the big blind,  everyone folds,  seat 2 on the button limps... he limped! Free flop!!! Except stupid seat 3 raised and I clearly folded 6 8 off.  Flop came 5 7 9. Are you out there Greg Rydz? Do you feel it? Do you feel my pain 2,000 miles away?!

Oh,  and it gets worse...

Next hand...

K 4 small blind,  everyone folds.  I limp,  UK seat 5 checks the option. Flop comes K 8 5... finally, I hit something... so I bet it.  Turn was a 2, I'm still betting,  he's still calling.  River was a 3. All I've got is this stupid king with no kicker,  but it's top pair on the board and we were the blinds.  Ugh. Check.  He checks,  thankfully limiting the damage - he had a king too,  but with all the low cards on the board (None of them matching my four), his 7 kicker played.

More losing.

I know I'm rusty,  and yes,  I misplayed that one hand at the beginning of the level and lost 4,000... but I don't think I've played as bad as my chip stack would indicate.  I guess it's a good thing they gave us those extra chips,  I'm blowing through them pretty quickly. 

K7 vs. K4 in the blinds,  sheesh...

And the 7 played! What are the odds a 7 kicker plays? Like... ever?

Man,  it just keeps getting worse...

Big blind,  A 7 suited.  Conservative seat 9 limps,  conservative seat one raises- min raise.  With a suited ace and good pot odds,  I call,  as does seat nine.  8 7 4 with two spades... except I have diamonds.  Screw it. I led out big.  Seat 9 calls,  seat 1 folds.  Turn was J spades. 3 spades. Two over cards to my 7. I check.  He bets big... I fold.  More folding.  More losing. 

I might not make it out of day one at this pace. Although,  to be fair,  at this pace I wouldn't even make dinner. Easily the biggest loser at the table thus far,  just bleeding chips...

Someone just won a ton of chips hitting a set of aces with pocket aces.  It wasn't me.

Maybe I just suck at poker... Q 9 suited in the big blind.  Seat 5 raises just over a min raise under the gun,  seat 2 on the button calls,  and liking my odds,  I call.  Flop comes J 9 2, with only one heart for me.  But I'm happy about the pair so I lead out... and seat 5 comes back over the top on me.  How can I call? I have middle pair without top kicker and need runner runner for a flush.

Fold.

This sucks.

More losing! (Trading big chips for small)

Hour and a half gone on this round,  haven't won a single chip... sure do miss winning 225 from blinds every 40 minutes,  it was at least something to keep me sane.

Finished the round 34,650... and if you're thinking that is insane to drop 12,000 chips in the second round... I think you're right.  But I guess when you go two hours and don't get a better hand than A 7 suited,  out of position,  something like that is bound to happen.  For those of you accustomed to playing half hour levels,  that's like going through 4 rounds and your top 3 hands were A7 suited,  Q9 suited,  and K10 off. 

Ugh,  I hate round two.  At least antes start next round so each round costs me more...

M Ratio of around 50 and plummeting. 

First Round... First Day

Yep, I was late... I blame the In N Out on Tropicana - how can it open at 10:30 and have 20 cars in the drive through line at 10:30?! But I digress,  I just missed the opening,  not any hands.

Oh,  I blame an 11am start time too...

We started with seven players,  much better than last year's five.  Unfortunately,  with 50,000 chips and 75/150 antes, people have started very aggressive.

On one of the first couple hands,  the pot between seat 2 and seat 7 was 13,000. And that's nothing,  15 minutes later there was a raise that brought the pot to just shy of 50,000 before seat 7 folded. 

My first hand was out of the small blind - big slick off. I had two limpers in front of me,  one and the big blind folded.  Unfortunately,  it was hyper aggressive seat 2 calling me.  Flop came Q 8 8 and I laid out a small continuation bet he folded to... first hand - winning!

Seven hands later I'm back in the small blind with queens.  And... everyone folded. Of course.  So I raised the big blind and got a call.  Flop had an ace,  but I laid out a continuation bet.  Call.  Damn.  Turn was a king - no bueno. So I check and he bets 1,200... I'm already in for a thousand, out of position,  with two overs on the board,  and he's called me twice and bet.  Ugh. I folded.

Of course,  ten minutes later I caught that guy playing 4 10 suited,  so maybe a bad fold.

Playing tight is not what seat 2 does... he plays just about every hand... raises just about every hand pre flop,  and in the first 35 minutes with blinds at 75/150, he's been involved in three different hands where he has bet over 5,000. Crazy.

At least he's on my right.

AQ off in middle position with a large raise from normally conservative seat one.  I call and seat seven calls from the button. Flop comes J J 5. Seat one bets,  I got out.  Winning hand was seat 7 with A J that turned into the nut flush on the river.  Losing sucks,  but at least I got out cheap.

Very aggressive table,  lots of pre flop raises... seems like a lot of people playing any two suited cards. Down two thousand early.

AK off in a middle position, raised to win blinds. 

Seat three just showed up... wait until he gets a load of seat two...

I felt priced in with 5 6 off in the big blind with a min raise from seat two on the button and a call from seat 3 in the small.  I missed a Q 10 4 flop  (Shocking,  not many flops I could hit) and even checking to an 8 on the turn didn't help so I folded to a bet.

Next hands,  pocket sixes in the small blind and everyone folds... saw this movie before with my queens.  So I raise and seat 6 again calls from the big blind.  Flop came 4 3 3 with a couple hearts... pretty good flop for sixes, so I bet the pot. He called.  I swear I've seen this movie before.  Turn was the J of hearts... certainly didn't improve my hand,  a five would have been nice.  Similar to episode one,  I checked the turn with my pair,  he bet,  and I, again,  folded.  This movie sucks... but what am I supposed to do - spend thousands more on sixes? It's early... although I feel broke. 

When does seat 5 get here?

Down about 3,000 an hour fifteen in... good thing we started with 20,000 more chips I guess. 

I got A Q suited second to act and raised,  but only won antes.  Something is not working well here... when I win blinds,  I only pick up 225. But I seem to lose a thousand every time I see a flop.  I think the combination of no antes plus aggressive betting brought on by giant chip stacks relative to the blinds is working against me.  I'm just not sure how to fix that yet.

I got to limp with 3 7 off from the big blind and while it had predictable results,  at least I got to see a free flop before I folded. I do love free flops.

I had A 10 off in a late position so I raised it and seat 7 called from the small blind.  Flop was 9 Q 8, which he bet.  I called with a gut shot straight draw,  an ace,  and position.  We both checked a 6 on the turn and he bet a 3 on the river... I folded.

This doesn't feel like winning. I'm not sure I remember what wining feels like,  but I'm pretty sure this is not it.

Back to back pocket aces for seat nine - I remember when I was excited to be in seat four instead of seat nine...

AQ off won me blinds... It may not be much,  but at least it's winning! It just doesn't feel like winning...

With about ten minutes left,  I got KQ off early,  raised,  and got seat nine to call from the button... hopefully he's out of aces. I laid out a continuation bet on a J 10 10 flop and he folded.

Real winning!

Of course,  a couple hands later I had K 3 in the big blind,  everyone folded, small blind limped, and I checked.  Flop came 10 6 4 and we both checked.  I bet a 3 on the turn,  but he called. We both checked an 8 on the river and he won with 6's and 8's. I guess my threes weren't good...

46,400 at the end of round one... down about 7 percent.  But it beats being at 26,400 and I still have a M Ratio over 100, so...

What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been

These are not the cards you're looking for

Six years ago I played in the Main Event of the WSOP for the first time - I was in my early 30's, single, and fresh off a hot run of poker wins, including a $15,000 cash in a Memorial Day Weekend tournament at the Horseshoe. I had just met Tiffany about two weeks before I left for my first tournament - she's the girl referenced in my first blog as the girl I was texting at the poker table instead of paying attention to the World Series of Poker.

Fast forward to this Memorial Day Weekend when our daughter was born - I've now got a wife, a house, a daughter, and I think the last time I played poker was at the WSOP last year. In all honesty, I probably played in Brad's basement once or twice and at the Circuit Tour in Hammond a couple times... I'm not sure I won a thing. Rusty and off my game would be putting it mildly.

Yet here I am... in Vegas... blowing $10,000 on a poker tournament I'm quite ill prepared for while my wife gets the brunt of our screaming 6 week old. I have a friend that says wives/mothers really "earn their stripes" in the first couple months after a baby is born - I think mine's on her way to General from Cadet in record breaking time. 

I guess my part is making some money... or at least getting through Day One. I registered today and am ready to go - Amazon Orange 383. Yes! I love Amazon Orange. And Seat 4, which I feel good about (I didn't want 1 or 9 next to the dealer). Some interesting rule changes this year:

• They pay the top 1,000 or top 15%, whichever is greater. I know they did top 1,000 last year, but I can't remember if they did 15% or not - it would have been approximately the same number either way. I've finished in the top 1,000 three of the last five years, so I'm probably due for a pretty big letdown. 

• We're starting with 50,000 in chips, not 30,000 in chips. WHOA... craziness. I mean, that's 66% more chips!!! I've been trying to figure out if this is good or bad and I really haven't come to a conclusion. On the one hand, it has to be bad - it looks great for me and it was done by the casino. It simply can't benefit the player, it has to benefit the casino somehow. This is the basic tenet of the entire city of Las Vegas and gambling industry at large. But I haven't figured out how yet. On Day One last year, my starting stack had an M Ratio of 200 and if I finished the final round with that amount, I would have had an M Ratio of 28. With the new blind structure and starting chips, I will start with an M Ratio over 220 and in the final round would have an M Ratio over 35... so it definitely doesn't work against me early on. I think it lets aggressive players be more aggressive... and that doesn't necessarily benefit me because I'm not an aggressive player... but I do like to take advantage of aggressive players, so I guess we'll see - at the end of the day, it's still poker no matter how many chips you start with. 

• But 50,000 is pretty cool!

• As a reminder, I can't win the tournament this week, the best I can do is outlast 7,000 other players and make the final nine - then come back in the fall to play for the championship. It's always been like this and typically those nine people are referred to as the November Nine. Another change this year, however, is that they moved it back and the final table starts October 30 and is played through Halloween until November 1st (So as to not interfere/compete with the presidential election). 

Sidebar: Why can't ghosts have babies? They have hollow-weenies... 

Yes - jokes about babies and pictures of my daughter on my poker blog, I'm that guy now.

• The last big change is an 11am start time. I hate the 11am start time. How am I supposed to get a proper lunch and get there in time for an 11am start time? There was that one year I overslept and almost missed a noon start time - how am I going to handle 11am?! What a mess...

Speaking of being a mess - so I'm on my way out here, get dropped off at the airport, my wife and screaming daughter are 40 minutes away, and I realize I forgot my hat and iPod. The iPod with my WSOP playlist that plays the same 2 songs over and over and over again for (hopefully) 60 hours straight. Not that I'm a superstitious man - although my lucky underwear and t-shirt could probably play on their own by now.  And my hat! I have these poker sunglasses that make me look like a loser when I wear them, but they actually make the room brighter, not darker... they're specifically created for poker. The downside is that if you don't wear a hat and block the light from above, they have this terrible glare and you can't see anything - high quality engineering at its finest, I'm aware. So anyway, I'm down a hat and down an iPod heading to Vegas for the WSOP. 

Not good. 

I'm faced with few options - I'm at the Indy airport, so I can get a Colts hat, an IU hat, a Boilermakers hat, or a hat that says IN real big with the words Indianapolis under it. My wife suggests I could buy a WSOP hat here... but I can't be THAT guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgFcl3BrJpU

Anyway, my wife, who is already awesome for letting play... and watching our daughter... who is probably screaming at the top of her lungs right now... FedEx'ed me my iPod and hat. Overnight. On a weekend. We're going to pay that bill and go ahead and never speak of it again... but I've now got all my gear. 

Of course, I guess I could have just bought some gear here - no matter how many times I play, the commercialization always fascinates me. Today there were booths for:

• Massages
• Poker Attire
• Poker Strategy Books
• Blue Shark Optics (My poker sunglasses)
• Training Materials
• Trinkets - different chip covers, lighters, etc.
• Some sort of bracelets that either reduce or enhance the ions in our bodies - I believe possibly both because there was a chart about how negative ions affected our bodies and how positive ions affected our bodies
• The Poker Tax Specialist - he's been a staple for years
• Headphones and Chargers
• An advertisement for the Summer Series 2016 of the Global Poker League - join now and you can watch every game... featuring such teams as: New York Rounders, LA Sunset, Montreal Nationals, and the San Francisco Rush... or potentially your favorite is a team from the Eurasian conference like the Moscow Wolverines, Paris Aviators, or London Royals. 

Speaking of London, there was speculation in one article I read about whether or not the Brexit would hinder a lot of UK players since they, you know, basically cratered their currency... evidently WSOP usually gets a lot of UK players. 

At any rate, Day One on Sunday at 11am PT... surely with 50,000 chips I can make it through Day One, right?