Tournament Summary

So, we're back in good old Blighty - thought I'd post quick summaries of the tourneys I played:

30-May - Binions Poker Classic - $210 entry - Finished 240th / 246 - $0 

First tournament of the holiday and I'm all fired up and ready to hold 'em like they do in Texas, please. Let's go go go.

Unfortunately, the cards aren't quite so fired up. I get dealt utter trash for almost an hour until I get A5 and go crazy on a A5827 board, making a stupid call on the river only to find out the other guy had AA all along.

So I'm down to 1600 chips and the very next hand I get KT in the small blind and shove all-in against three people, hoping they all fold. The first two do but Mr AA asks for a count of my chips and then calls with AT - one of the worst hands I could see as really only a K will save me.  Alas, it doesn't come and I'm knocked out of the tournament without winning a single pot. D'oh!

On a side note, "Oklahoma" Johnny Hale, legendary poker author, player, and jolly nice fellow was sat three to my right: http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/bioview.php?image=8

31-May - WSOP Event #4 (3 day event) - $1,000 entry - Finished ??? / 6012 - $0 

First World Series event of the trip and things don't go quite as planned, winning only a couple of small pots in three hours as I dwindle from the 3000 starting stack to 2100 at blinds of 75/150. I then make the second stupid mistake of the trip by raising KQ to 500, only to get called by the small blind and then raised all-in by the big blind. The big blind has only ever shown down big hands so I give him credit and have to fold.

Anyway, next hand, I'm dealt 55 and decide to push all-in for my last 1600. Alas, I get called by the button with JJ, the board doesn't help me and I'm knocked-out.

01-Jun - Planet Hollywood 2pm - $80 entry - Finished 18th / 67 - $0 

After a couple of poor tournaments, me and Kate decide to play a small tournament at the Plant Hollywood casino to try to have a bit of fun and restore some much needed confidence.

After 30 mins or so I get knocked out again... sigh. After thinking about signing up to play in a cash game, I find out that they let busted players re-enter for another $80 and decide to give it another spin.

This goes a lot better and I get a nice double-up when I shove all-in from the big blind with A5 against a guy that limped and then calls with KJ. A5 holds and now I have a bit of a stack to play with.

With it being a small buy-in tournament, the blind levels increase quickly and there's not much room for "proper" poker play as most every hand is all-in or fold. With 18 out of 67 players left (8 getting paid) there's a raise and I shove all-in from the small blind with AJ - the raiser calls with 77 and it's basically a 50-50 coinflip - unfortunately, the board doesn't help and I am again knocked-out - I think I would have been in good shape to reach the final table  and go deep in the tournament had I hit an A or J, but again, it wasn't to be.

02-Jun - WSOP Event #7 (3 day event) - $1,500 entry - Finished ~500 / 2791 - $0 

This is another story of what could have been - barring one mistake, I felt like I played pretty well for the whole 9ish hours (plus breaks) of the day, and had a good handle on the other players at my table.

Of course, doubling-up my stack on the 2nd hand certainly helped! I raise with JJ, get one caller and end up shoving all-in on the river with a full house. After thinking, my opponent calls and shows KK and is knocked-out, $1500 poorer, after just two hands.

However, later that level I get AA and raise, getting one caller. I bet the 862 flop and again on the 4 turn, only to get raised. I am so close to folding when I get a nagging doubt that he *could* have 99 to KK, and decide to raise all-in. He insta-calls with 88 and I end up being back around my start stack of 4500... sigh, shoulda folded, and I know it has cost me 3000 chips.

I win a few smaller pots and go to first break slightly up on my starting stack.

Shortly after break, I make a good call when the bully to my left tries to bluff me out of a pot with 99 when I have KQ which pairs a Q on the board.

Can't remember too many more hands but I steadily accumulate chips and am up to 25000 with approx 90mins left of the day. 25000 would have been enough to see me through to Day 2 but I wanted more! I nearly got them when I raised with 6h 4h trying to steal the blind's chips. 

Unfortunately, the guy to my left calls and then calls a bet on the AT3 board. I check the 7 on the turn and decide he's bluffing when he then bets. I have outs to a flush with any heart or a straight with any 5 so decide to raise all-in. He thinks for ages before calling with AQ - damn, I was hoping he would fold a hand like that. Alas, no heart or 5 on the river and my WSOP adventure is over for another year. If I had hit my hand on the river I would have had 50000 chips and would have been in great shape for Day 2 and a shot at the  $650,000 first prize.

03-Jun - Venetian DSIII - $340 entry - Finished 70 / 870 - $428

Hurrah, my first cash of the trip! Unfortunately, it's only $88 profit, and that was after 13 hours of play.

I got off to a good start with two AT hands that I get all-in to double-up my 12k starting stack by first break. Again, I steadily accumulate chips and am looking good for a deep finish and a shot at the $65k first prize - unfortunately the poker gods strike me down in my prime when I lose over half of my stack all-in with AK against another guy's QT - he hits a Q on the flop and I then have to scrap my way to 70th before I am forced to shove all-in with KJ. I get called by AQ, hit a K on the flop but the A on the turn kills me off and I am knocked out once more.

04-Jun - Venetian 7pm - $120 entry - Finished 110 / 240 - $428

Last tournament of the trip and it goes pretty much the same way as the others, getting a nice stack early on with AA against another guy's AK. But then I lose two key all-ins, Q7 against K8 on a 567 flop - which hits a 9 on the river to give him a straight. Then I'm forced to shove 89 only to get called by AQ - I hit a 9 on the 78T flop, but a K on the turn and the J on the river gives him a straight and I am busto for the final time.

A.

Tournament Update

Quick update on my tournament results so far:

30-May - Binions Poker Classic - $210 entry - Finished 240th / 246 - $0
31-May - WSOP Event #4 (3 day event) - $1,000 entry - Finished ??? / 6012 - $0
01-Jun - Planet Hollywood 2pm - $80 entry - Finished 18th / 67 - $0
02-Jun - WSOP Event #7 (3 day event) - $1,500 entry - Finished ~510 / 2791 - $0
03-Jun - Venetian DSIII - $340 entry - Finished 70 / 870 - $428

Total entry fees -  $3210 (including extra $80 rebuy at Planet Hollywood).
Total winnings - $428

It was nice to finally cash in last night's Venetian tournament but it was only for one level above the minimum and $88 profit (for 13 hours work!). It could have been better but my AK lost all-in pre-flop to QT just before we reached the money and cost me half my stack - ah well.

I plan on playing a couple more smaller tournaments before we leave but have decided against today's $550 Ventian event as not really up for another long day.

A.

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G for dummies (and the jetlagged)

Waking up at 5am, local time, is no fun. But my body still thinks it should be 1pm and questions what this lazy arse is still doing in bed. After a couple of hours of futile dozing I remember that it is FA Cup final day back home and wonder if I can be bothered going downstairs on my own to find the game on TV in the sportsbook area. It's not until a few hours later - after we've both got up, found coffee and pastries, eaten them in the sunshine by the pool, come back upstairs, showered and changed - that I realise that our room TV has all the ESPN channels one could ever want and it was probably on live all along - durrrr...

ESPN2 however, is showing some national spelling bee competition - so very strange, yet weirdly compelling and fascinating:

Host: Spell strepitoso

Gawky high-school kid in braces: can you repeat that please?

Host: Spell strepitoso

Kid: strepitoso? Is there an alternative pronunciation?

Host Only one, strepitoso

Kid: strepitoso? Am I pronouncing that right?

Host: Yes, sounds correct to me?

Kid: strepitoso? strepitoso? Can I have the meaning of the word?

Host: It's a word used in sheet music to denote a particular style of playing

Kid: strepitoso? Am I pronouncing that right?

Host: Yes, already!

Kid: strepitoso? strepitoso? strepitoso? Can you use the word in a sentence, please?

Host: sure, "I asked this f***ing stupid kid if he could f***ing spell strepitoso!"

Ok, I probably made that last part up, but you get the idea.

A.

Sounds like a compelling first day... but given this only takes us up to leaving the hotel at 11am there is more to catch up on.... maybe A has only taken us up to this point due to a reluctance to post that the missus made it further through the Binion's poker classic than he did... Oops! A respectable 65th place for me (still 45 places away from prize money though) whilst A busted out in 245th!!! Will fill you in on the details later!!

Have a nice day, y'all.

K.

Viva Las Vegas

After every long haul flight we always swear never to fly economy ever again... yet here we were once more, onboard flight VS043 from Gatwick to Las Vegas. 10 hours in the same, cramped, seat and we finally landed at McCarran airport in the middle of the Nevada desert.

Catching a glimpse of the Stratosphere tower and assorted ridiculous-looking hotels as we descended, we knew we'd arrived in the magical oasis that is Sin City. We also knew that swearing never to fly economy ever again was basically an empty threat.

Within an hour of landing we were all checked in to the swish Encore hotel. The suite is pretty sweet, although the view from the 31st floor of Circus Circus and assorted car parks isn't the best. Being on the the 31st floor does mean that the lifts serving the upper half of the hotel have only one stop to the lobby though - so can't complain too much.

Within another half hour we're down by the pool and decide to order some cocktails - Pineapple Mojito for the Mrs, Long Island Ice Tea for me, and boy are they strong. The initially irritating dance music, blaring out from the speaker behind our loungers, becomes strangely enchanting after a second round.

Half-knackered, half-pissed, we head to the room to get ready for dinner. It's an easy decision to hit the Wynn buffet for our first night.

The buffet is immense - petty much every possible type of food is available from umpteen different serving stations. It's all you can eat, but a pitiful (by most of the other patron's standards, anyway) two plates later and we've both been beaten.

A quick go on the slot machines and I turn $20 into $50 in no time at all - wahoo! We struggle on to 10pm (6am BST) and decide to call it a night after a quite ridiculous 22 hour day.

A.

Vegas tomorrow

The Vegas dream begins again tomorrow as we head back for eight nights in Sin City.

K has kindly agreed to come back with me - I think the promise of a 5* hotel and a load of pampering spa sessions may have had something to do with it though! I'm again hitting up some poker tournaments:

30-May - Binions Poker Classic - $210
31-May - WSOP Event #4 (3 day event) - $1,000
01-Jun - Venetian DSIII - $550
02-Jun - WSOP Event #7 (3 day event) - $1,500
02-Jun - Venetian DSIII - $330
03-Jun - WSOP Event #9 (3 day event) - $1,500
03-Jun - Venetian DSIII - $330
04-Jun - Venetian DSIII - $550

2009 World Series of Poker
Binions Poker Classic
Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza

Not quite the $10k Main Event of last year, but hey, more raffle tickets = more chances to win big!

Viva Las Vegas!

A.

PS. oh, yeah, and I'll also be a twittering fool @hazey88

WSOP report - part 3

(Again, as originally posted on ITH)

After the buzz of Day 1 we had a fairly quiet Monday although we did have a hotel move up the road to The Wynn. Our new hotel room is pretty sweet even though it's the cheapest one they do and we resist the temptation to pay extra for a suite upgrade at check-in. The massive floor-to-ceiling windows give us a great view down the strip and also out to the mountains. The Rio looms large in the distance and I can't help but take a sneak peek at every opportunity and wonder at what might happen.

That evening we meet up with Tall Paul for some mindless button-pressing on the slots at K's favourite Monopoly machine, while taking full advantage of the cocktail service. We then move to Treasure Island to meet up with a couple of friends that have just flown in for our last few days in Vegas. After a quick drink the time zone change hits them and they head to bed while we hit the bar for some video poker and a few more potent mojito cocktails. Tall Paul tries to pass on tips he's picked up from chrisjp while the barman tries to pass on a completely different set of tips and convinces me that Double Double is the *only* game to play. Hmm.

TP then has the genius suggestion to move to the Venetian for some NL cash. We try to get onto the same table but get placed a few apart. I buy-in short for 50BBs and ask for a table change, before promptly donking off my stack on the third hand, calling all-in on the flop with the nut flush draw and an overcard. It misses and I decide the mojitos have left me in no fit shape for poker. I wuss out and leave TP to it.

The wife and I spend Tuesday with our newly arrived friends having a look at Fremont Street and the Stratosphere before all heading down to the pool at the MGM (finally making some use of our free but unused room). We then head to Charlie Palmer's steakhouse at the Four Seasons (following a recommendation from a mate back home) for a superb meal and one of the best steaks ever.

We then head back to the hotel where I log-on to the internet to find out my Day 2 table before bed. No huge stacks and no big name players and I like the look of it. Of course, you can never really tell until you sit down. I spot that there's a chap with only 3k in chips three to my right, putting my BB firmly in his sights. With the first level 250/500/50 I imagine him pushing first-in and me calling light to knock him out and adding his chips to mine - yeah! Paul Azinger is also drawn at my table and sticks out but surely he's a golfer and not a poker player, I hope!

Day 2 starts at the PartyPoker hospitality room at the Rio. I have a veritable entourage(!) as chrisjp and Tall Paul join my wife and our two friends in there with me. Chrisjp and I wish each other good luck as we head to our respective tables. Here we go (again)...

First hand I get dealt 77 UTG. Figuring that everyone will be pretty cagey first-up I raise to 1500. It folds around to shortie who quickly pushes for his 3k and I quickly call. He shows AJ and after 10 hours of poker on Day 1 I'm in my first coin-flip of the Main Event. Not quite the way I imagined-it but I win and do get to add his chips to mine. After he leaves the table, Paul Azinger quips that he folded another AJ but didn't have the heart to tell shortie that as the board played out!

Paul Azinger is a nice guy but not that great a poker player. Within 45 mins he's busted his 21k starting stack. With around 8k left, there's a raise to 1400 and a call, and he just calls in late position. He then folds to a bet on the flop. Weird.

The guy to my right, Jamal Kunbuz (who I've posted about before and ended up finishing 33rd) is pretty active and playing a lot of pots. I get involved with T9 in the BB, calling after the cut-off raises first-in to 1300 and the button and then Jamal calls. The flop comes 689 with two diamonds. Jamal checks and I bet out for around 3k, get two folds and a call from Jamal. The turn is the Ten diamonds which improves me but makes a pretty scary board. Jamal leads for 3k and I'm in a tricky spot. Anyway, I end up calling, hoping for a free showdown and see the river - another Ten. Bingo. Jamal leads for another 3k and I thank my lucky stars before deciding how much to raise. My mind has gone blank however and I'm struggling to remember how much is in the pot. I finally add it all up and decide to raise to 15k. He calls, and mucks as I show. Yes!

I win another tidy pot when I call a guy's river bluff with A9 on a JJ9xx board and I'm up to around 61k in chips and feeling good. Being on one of the higher-numbered Brasillia tables (54) we break soon after and I get drawn on Brasillia 43, seat 2. in a strange coincidence Jamal also gets the same table, seat 3. I would have loved to keep that guy on my right but not to be.

Late on in the level, I raise first-in on the button with AQ. An older guy in the big blind calls and we see a KK9 flop. I check behind. The turn is a blank and he checks again. I decide to fire out just over a half-pot bet which he just calls. The river is an Ace but the guy leads into me for 4k. Hmm. I call and he shows KQ for the flopped trips. Interesting one, and looking back there's not a lot I can beat after he calls the turn and then decides to lead that river. Maybe I could have saved a few chips there - nevermind. I finish the level with around 56k.

Level 2 is 300/600/75 and I start with a couple of nice hands. There's a raise to 2k from the cut-off, the button and SB calls and I call with 88. The flop comes TT8! SB checks and I bet out for 5k but unfortunately everyone folds. I think a check would have been more appropriate as thinking back I reckon one of the late position guys would bet. Oh well, I was hoping that one of them would have a T or an overpair there and get fruity.

I then get AA UTG and raise the table standard 2k. The button and the BB calls. The flop comes J7x with two spades. I bet 5k and get a call from the BB. The turn is a blank and BB checks, I bet 10k and he folds.

That puts me over 70k! Unfortunately, it's all downhill from there...

It's a bit of a blur where my chips went but I remember seeing a load of AJ, AQ, AK hands that don't hit.

I raise AQ from 2nd position and get the SB to call. The flop is K25 rainbow, he checks and I cbet. He calls. The turn is a 3 and I decide to check-behind with my gutshot wheel draw. The river is a blank and I check-behind again. He shows 44 to take the pot. Hmmm, maybe another barrel was required but I remember that for next time.

In late position I pick up AK of diamonds. The guy to my right, who's becoming a bit of a pain, raises first-in and I reraise. He calls and it's heads-up to a flop of 944 with two clubs. He checks and I put in a decent cbet. He thinks for what feels like ages. I have about 40k behind and, sitting statuesque in my usual Joe Navarro stance with elbows on the table and hands clenched under my nose, find myself unable to resist the dire need to gulp (silly, I know!). Not sure if he noticed or used it as a tell but soon after he check-raises me all-in for my stack. I think it over for a while but decide I can't call and muck.

I pick up AK again UTG and raise to 2k. The old guy from the AQ/KQ hand calls and then the tight guy in middle position reraises to 10k. It folds around to me. It feels like he's squeezing but he's tight and still has half the table to act behind him so I give him credit for a hand. At the time, I figured him for AA or KK but realise now that his range is probably a fair bit wider. With just under 35k behind I think I should have shoved this one when it comes back to me.

I'm floundering a little and hate giving up all these pots. On the last orbit before break I decide I really want to win one. I pick the tightest player on the table and decide to raise his big blind whatever. In late middle position it's folded to me and I raise with 84o. Everyone folds. Yes.

What a level! Up to 70k and cruising and then back to earth with a bump. But I still have 33600 in chips and have to forget about it and just get on with things. Level 3 is 400/800/100 giving me an M of 16 and I realise that this is going to be a big level for me.

For the first hour I stay pretty level. Our table is playing pretty tight and steal once or twice, but you can feel the blinds and antes taking what seems like big chunks out of your stack every hand.

Then the guy to my right who had earlier check-raised my AK all-in raises to 3k in the cut-off. I'm on the button with 32k and QQ, and re-raise to 10k. He's been stealing quite a lot but has me covered. He calls. The flop is K92 rainbow, he checks, I bet 12k, he puts me all in. I have 10k behind, hate it, but call. He has KK. Turn comes a Q to give me 1 out, but I miss and I bust. Man, it feels awful as I trudge back to the hospitality room to say goodbye to the reps in there that looked after us.

And so my World Series adventure comes to an end. What an amazing experience though. Everything, from first walking into the Amazon room and seeing all those tables, to just walking around the Rio and stumbling past one poker superstar after another, it's fantastic.

My advice if anyone wins a qualifier - no matter how much you'd like to bank the cash, you just have to go and play in it! There truly is nothing else quite like it. Plus you get to meet some top ITHers - it was a pleasure to meet up with yankees, Tall Paul and chrisjp.

I'll be trying my darndest to get back there next year. Fingers crossed I can get lucky again and it will happen. Hopefully see some of you lot there too!

WSOP report - part 2

(Again as originally posted on ITH)

So here it is. The big day. Sunday 6th July, Main Event Day 1D. We get to the Rio with plenty of time to spare which is good 'cos the place is packed with people and getting around is proving tricky. Good job we have the PartyPoker room in which to seek refuge - nice comfy sofas and as much free coffee, water and assorted snacks as you can manage.

I get to my seat in Blue 17 after wading through the masses of tables in the Amazon room. The sight of all those tables is quite something but as soon as I sit down it feels like any other live tournament and I can ignore everything else to just concentrate on my own table. I'm in one of the end seats (seat 8 ) which is good as you can get a nice view of the whole table without too much straining.

"Shuffle up and deal!" comes the call from the tournament announcer and we're off. I smile to myself and have a flash of not quite believing where I am.

First hand, here we go... I'm in the cutoff and there is a raise from the guy on my right. I look down to find QTo and I fold. The button calls and we see a flop... QT7. Nooooo! Bet, raise, call. Turn is another Q. Nooooo! Bet, call. River is a blank and it goes bet, call again. Initial raiser turns over AQ and the button mucks. Wow. Welcome to the World Series!

The button later tells us that he had KK on that first hand. Man, I could have tripled up! No point thinking about that too much though as I made the right play.

My plan is to play it tight, especially before the antes kick in. With 20000 chips to play with I'm aiming to stay out of trouble and just play things pretty straight. I'm happy to see flops with position though and when the early position old guy raises to 300 I call on the button with AJ. The flop comes a Jack high rainbow and the old guy leads for 400. I raise to 1000 and he calls. I'm likely ahead as he checks a 2nd diamond on the turn. I bet around half the pot but he folds. My first pot won and I immediately feel more settled.

The rest of those early levels is pretty uneventful. I fold a lot of marginally playable hands from marginal positions but continue to chip up as I hit QQ a couple of times, but don't get any action past the flop.

My table is as good as I could ever have hoped for. It's just so tight and passive and there is not a single player I am worried about playing against. It was also quite a surprise to find that the guys on my table were all nice chaps - not a single loudmouth, obnoxious idiot that ESPN's coverage makes it appear is at every table! Towards the end of the day there was plenty of humorous banter but it felt just like a home game, it was that comfortable.

The old guy who I had won my first pot against now had a decent stack after busting the 2 players between us on my left, but surprised us all when calling a huge all-in raise on the river with KT on a 7898T board against a full house, 9s over 8s.

That and another couple of hits left him with less than 8k at the 150/300 level. He min-raises UTG and I reraise in the BB with JJ to 2k. He just calls and we see another J-high flop. Sweet. I check, he bets and I raise to put him all-in. He calls and shows AA. My set holds and I win a nice pot. Thankyou for not pushing preflop, mister! I'd have been in a bit of a tricky spot if he did. Instead, i get lucky and win a nice pot to get up to 36k.

That old guy is replaced by another who later wins the award for the funniest hand of the day. He raises from early position, gets reraised by the young Californian dude in a Full Tilt cap and calls. The Californian has got 6600 behind after the KJx flop. I know this because the old guy checks, and he bets 3000, the old guy min-check-raises and Californian dude pushes all his chips into the middle. He flips his cards - KK for top set but didn't quite realise that he hadn't already been put all-in. Now, old guy has seen the KK but then unexplicably shows and mucks AQ!! For 600 chips in an 18000+ pot?!?!?!? WIth 4 outs... twice!! The whole table can't believe what we have seen and falls about laughing, apart from the Californian, who feels very embarrassed after making the rookie live mistake of showing before being all-in, but also relieved to not have to face two cards that could have put him out!

The Californian had been drinking Vodka Tonics since he slipped below 10k. Probably not a bad plan but he gets plenty of Mickey taking for the rest of the day about showing his KK!
It's at about this time I find out that the guy who was moved to my right in the previous level was Mark Brockington and had finished 2nd to Blair Hinkle in Event 23 for $326k. He was a really nice guy and had an amazing setup when in a hand. He would basically put his hands together at the wrist and cover his entire face, except for a small V between his fingers and cap. No idea how he could see anything of what was going on but it appeared to be working. Fortunately, he seemed to be playing a fairly straightforward game and I was able to steal quite often - apart from the once when he had just told us about the $326k win and I jokingly gave him a walk, showing my 92o and telling him he'd better just take my small blind in that case then!

At 150/300/25, I run into a tricky spot. The guy UTG has just won a big pot and is still stacking his chips as he looks at his cards before raising to 900. He looks a bit jittery as I reraise to 2500 with AK in middle position. He thinks and then re-re-raises to make it 3000 more to me. Woah. I'm thinking he has AA or KK here and finally fold, trying just to stay out of trouble that an A or K-high flop might get me into.

Apart from that, the last couple of levels are fairly uneventful. With the antes, pots become more attractive to stealing. It certainly helps when at least 3 at the table are looking at their cards before the action is on them and I start to be able to tell when they're gonna fold. I love this table.

Unfortunately, at the start of the last level - 200/400/50 I suffer a couple of setbacks with steals not getting through and dwindle back to around 27k.

One of those setbacks is against the old AQ guy from before. I raise in the cutoff with K8o and he calls in the SB. I check behind an AA9 flop with the intention of delayed c-betting the turn. He checks and I bet just over half the pot on a 7 turn. He calls and we see an 8 on the river. Now he leads for a decent amount and is staring at me. Not seen him do that before and I feel the urge to raise and continue to represent the A but I end up thinking too long and end up folding. Hmmm... I think I may have been bluffed here but my 8 is probably not enough to call. Raising is probably the better play but I got a bit scared and dodged it.

Anyway, another steal attempt with 97o in the hijack gets a caller in the same old guy on the button. The flop comes 985 and I cbet 2/3 of the pot. Old guy calls and I check a J turn. He checks behind and we see a J river. That's a good card for me. After our last tangle I know old guy will bet it though so I check and quickly call his 3k. He shows AK and I take a nice pot.

The Amazon room has gone very quiet as it's getting late and people are dreaming about making Day 2. That is until we hear a loud "F**k!" come from a few tables away. The whole room goes "Ooooooohh!" and starts laughing as one of the floor people goes over for a chat. Apparently, he was just swearing at himself after having to throw away yet another duff starting hand.

Our table gets even tighter (if that were possible) and I make a few more routine steals to keep me ahead of the blinds and antes and I finish the day, exhausted but happy, with 36,425.

Chrisjp comes over to help me out with the bagging-up process. Thankfully, he's done this a few times before and I finally get all the different boxes filled and the bag of chips sealed.

What a day. 10 hours of poker, plus breaks, and K was there for the whole thing. Despite not being able to see my table from the rail she patiently stood there the whole day and looked after for me during breaks. Mind you, as a Soap fan she was happy at getting to watch Michael Greco play on the table two behind me by the rail. She was also having fun watching this almost blind guy play. Every time he looked at his cards he had to bring them right up to his face and the whole rail could see what he had. Buoyed by the SNG cash earlier in the week she tried to imagine herself playing with the same cards... maybe next year, dear...