On to Day 2...In the Money $$$

Well....let's get to first things first. I made the money and Day 2 of the $2K event. I will earn a minimum of $3,800. That's the good news. The bad news....I have no chips. This was simply the most incredible, fun, roller coaster, unbelievable last 4 1/2 levels of poker I've ever played. I will do my best to recount the action as I was involved in a ton of hands and I did my best to remember them.

Level 7 (300/600)- Keep in mind this hand is the FIRST HAND AFTER THE DINNER BREAK....Middle position raises and guy to his left flat calls. I re-raise with K-K from the SB and original raiser ships with 9-9. I call and flop comes 8-3-5. Turn obv 9 and I ship about $7K to him. Grrrrrrrr. Within 15 minutes of that hand, I win 3 big pots to get up to $50,000.

Same guy limps, short stack shoves for about $5,000, I call with 10-10 from the SB and original limper folds. Shorty has J-8 and board bricks so I send another victim to the shower. A short while later, random Asian raises from late position and I call from the BB with 7-7. Flop comes 9-8-4 and I lead for $3,000...he folds. Next hand, EP raises, I call with Ah-4h on the button but SB and BB call. Flop comes 10h-7h-7c. Original raiser leads out for $5,000 and I flat call in position (other 2 fold). Turn comes another 10 (perfect card in my book). He checks, I bet $7,000 and he folds. Short time later, same random Asian raises from middle position, I 3-bet with A-K on the button, he folds. A little later, I raise from late position with 9-9, shorty ships with A-K, I call. Flop is benign but turn-Ace and river-King seals the deal.

Level 8 (400/800)- I raise with A-Q from late position. Shorty in BB shoves and I have to call. He has Q-Q and I brick (that's 3 players I've doubled up since the dinner break). I get switched to a new table where I'm sitting 2 to the right of the earlier guy that I had doubled up when he had top set of queens. On the last hand before the break (that's the key....I suck balls at the last hands before the break), THAT guy raises from EP and I decide to call in the BB with K-10. Flop K-Q-J. He leads 800 into a 4,000 pot (wierd ass bet). I call. turn Jack. Now he leads $2,400. I call (what am I beating here...wtf am I doing?). River is an offsuit deuce and now I stick my head up my ass and lead at him with one of these stupid ass blocking bets for $4,500. He min-raises me to $9,000. WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING? There is now over $20,000 in the pot and I need to call $4,500. WHAT AM I BEATING HERE? The answer is nothing but I call anyways and he shows me A-10 for the flopped joint. So.....I go to the last break with $32,500 instead of $47,000. I was majorly pissed.

End of Level 8- $32,500

I come back from the break to play the last 2 levels. We are getting down to 250-300 players and the play is getting pretty tough. I've got a great table as far as people to play with. Everybody liked each other....there were a lot of sick beats and no one was getting pissed. It was truly the funnest time I've ever had playing poker. So....Big stack who I thought was getting a little fed up with me raises to $3,000 at $500/$1000 level from early position. I've got Q-Q on the button and I thought about just calling but I thought he might 4-bet me light and I would catch him slipping. I raised to $9,000. Now....the SAME FUCKING GUY who had top set of queens and A-10 for the flopped joint shoves all-in from the BB. The original raiser folds and now I'm totally screwed. I do the math and it's simple......The pot has $45,000 in it and it's $20,000 to call. Please tell me how I fold Q-Q there. I was pretty sure my Q-Q was behind but really...how do I fold Q-Q getting over 2-1 on my money? I call, he has K-K, board bricks, I'm crippled to $7,000 in the $500/$1,000 level. This guy owned my soul like it was nobody's business. Funny thing was....he was a really great guy that was genuinely crushed that he had to SCREW ME IN THE POOOPER 3 times in one tournament.

I was crippled but then a funny thing happened....I decided to fight! Helped by some big hands, I shoved 4 times without getting called and ran my $7,000 up to $16,000. From there on, I fought, clawed, scratched, kicked, and basically played the most disciplined and patient poker I'd ever played. I shoved several more times without getting called and was able to stay afloat as we approached the bubble. I genuinely did not care about the bubble and was more than willing to get my chips in there but I was never dealt a hand when we were close to the bubble that I could go with. One time...when I had around $20,000, I raised to $3,600 with 9-9 and the SAME FUCKING GUY shoved all-in. I thought to myself...are you kidding me? This guy is pwning me so hard...I laid it down and he showed me two Kings. This guy should get the keys to my house because he apparently owns everything about me.

We got down to the money bubble, I held on for dear life and made the money (top 198) with only $10,600 chips. The blinds will be $800/$1,600 when we return at 2:00 tomorrow so it will be a short day if I don't double up on my first hand I play. But....I'm not ashamed or dissapointed with limping into the money. Many people, including me in the past, would have just shoved lightly after being crippled with the Q-Q. Instead, I fought hard and picked my spots and you never know what might happen if I double up once or twice tomorrow.

So.....what do you do after making the money and playing 13 hours of poker all day???? Well, you go play pai-gow poker at $50 a hand at 2:00 in the morning. Then....you run like god, go up $1,000 in 30 minutes, start playing $500 a hand for about 30 minutes and eventually walk away after two hours losing only $300. Rubba------that Degen moment was for you!!!

So.....it might be a quick day tomorrow or....maybe not. Maybe, just maybe, I fight and claw tomorrow as well and you never know what might happen.

Stay tuned for Day 2 action tomorrow...

Thanks for reading,

W2D