I don’t want to get too lengthy or too “technical” with alot of poker jargon, but I can’t help but brag a bit about my performance in Event 3 of this year’s World Series of Poker. Many of you kept up with my updates via Twitter, but I wanted to provide some details since it was one of the more exciting experiences of my life so far. 
This was a three-day event, and the game was Limit Omaha 8-or-Better (aka Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, or LO8). Overall, there were 918 participants enrolled. I was suprised with how many “names” were participating – including John Juanda, Eli Elezra, Freddy Deeb, Linda Johnson, and many others. Ms. Johnson was at my starting table, which didn’t do wonders for my tension.
Prior to the tournament, I got to meet multi-talented Hollywood mainstay and all around cool guy Joe Reitman, aka JoeUgly on Twitter, at the Starbucks just up the concourse from the WSOP pavillions. That sort of broke the ice for me tension-wise, as I got to have a conversation with a celebrity and a poker player, and it was pretty “natural”, so my nerves were eased for the time being.
When I sat down at my first table, my hopes were simple – “let me just win a couple of good pots.” Well, I managed that feat in what seemed like no time at all – by the dinner break (six hours into the tourney, a longer performance than any other tournament I’ve been in or won), I was the chip leader at my table and feeling pretty good. I got to meet Annie Duke, and she was awesome enough to take a pic with me before the players headed out for a long break.
My table broke when I returned, and I was moved to a new seat at a table with poker powerhouse Toto Leonidas. Alot of heavy action at this table meant my chip stack stagnated, as scooping opportunities (chances to win, aka “scoop”, the entire pot, rather than just the high half or the low half) were minimal since I was trying to avoid situations where I might get quartered (win only “half of half” of either pot – a Pyhrric victory, since you end up with less chips than you did when you started the hand). In the end, after almost 13 hours of play, I had survived Day 1 with a slightly smaller than average chip stack. We bagged our chips for the next day, got our seat assignments, and I headed back to the hotel for some rest.
The next day’s start was delayed by an hour, which gave me a unique opportunity – I ran into “The Master” himself, Men Nguyen, in the hallway on the way to my seat. Once the crowd around him had dispersed a bit, I asked his advice – “I’ve got the average stack, Mr. Nguyen – what do I do to stay competitive?” He offered some terrific advice that I tried to internalize as best I could in the moments before we started – I truly think it helped, because applying The Master’s advice helped me increase my chip stack considerably, which meant I was able to keep swinging with the big stacks for a while longer. I got moved to a new table again, and thought this might be the end.
As I approached my new table, I locked eyes with Eli Elezra, who would be seated two seats to my left. Mr. Leonidas was at this table again as well, along with a number of other big stacks. By this time, however, we were fairly close to the money – only 20 or 30 more players needed to bust before I would finish, so I figured I just needed to pick my spots, stay alive, and play smart. After this particularly grueling level was nearly over, I had my “Sorry, John, I don’t remember” moment. In two pots within 5 or 6 hands, I managed to scoop two pots playing heads-up with Mr. Elezra. This nearly doubled my stack and pushed me back to about twice the average. I went heads up with one of the most respected players in the game and survived. Not only did I survive – but we were moments from the dinner break, playing hand-for-hand as there was just one more spot left till the money. Just as the tournament directors were calling the dinner break, the “Players Left” count on the big board ticked down from 91 to 90. It was my first ever World Series of Poker, and I was in the money.
After the dinner break, time seemed to slow down. I spent most of the next level at a table with some unfamiliar faces and a few players I had played with throughout the past two days. I maintained my stack and tried to keep a tight-aggressive image. I got moved again with about 36 players left. We started with 102 tables, and I had made it to one of the final four. I knew this table would make or break me – Eli Elezra was back, seated in the same position as the last table we played at, with me occupying my last position as well. Thang Luu, last year’s winner, was directly to my left. In the #1 seat was Eric Lindgren, and to his left was Freddy Deeb. To Freddy’s left was Jordan Rich. I got seated with some of the greatest names in the game – not the time to make a rookie mistake. Too bad for me, this was going to be that time. I got dealt A-2-K-K, with the A-2 suited, which is a pretty strong hand pre-flop for LO8. I raised preflop and got one caller – Freddy. The flop came 5-A-8, all spades. Freddy bets, I raised, he re-raised, I called. The turn was an 8. I figured Freddy for a strong spade flush when he fired quickly at the pot, so I thought I was safe with my low – or so I thought. A 6 fell on the river and I felt confident I had at least half the pot – but I’d blown it. The Ace on the board counterfeited my low – When I told Freddy I had A2 for low and Kings, he said “oh – then I scoop you.” I missed how that was possible – but he turned over 2-3 for the low (making 8-5-3-2-A, lower than my 8-6-5-2-A), and the third 8 for the high. Going into the next break, my stack was reduced by half. I was in trouble.
Back from the break I got to say goodnight to Annie and Joe as they headed out for dinner – turns out I wouldn’t be too far behind them. My first hand back, I got dealt A-A-6-7, with two suits. Mediocre at best, but with about 1/3 the average stack I needed to move quickly. I pushed and got beaten out by two smaller lows and a full house, ending my first World Series of Poker run with a 29th place finish and a prize of about $6,500.
Overall, I’d say I did pretty well. I cashed in my first WSOP appearance, got to meet alot of my favorite players, learned alot more about what’s now my favorite game, and saw what it’s like to play with the best in the world.
Yes, I’ll be back next year.
accomplished
