End of Day 1

Chip count 14,550.
6844 entries into all 4 day 1's of the Main Event. Last I checked there were 3663 left in the field.
666 places will pay just over $21,000 if I last that long.

I play again on Wednesday at 12:00 in the Brasilia Room table 38, Seat 2. Blinds will be 250-500 with a 50 ante.

Overall I thought I played well today. I really did not have much to work with when it came to playable hands. I stole a few blinds and bet at some orphaned pots. It seemed like every time I picked up a pocket pair and raised, the flop had at least one over card. I took down a lot of those pots but I may have just been bluffing with the best hand.

Unfortunately I got caught bluffing a few times as well and it cost me a lot of chips. My worst one was when my opponent called my raise preflop. The flop was ragged with all low cards. I made the continuation bet and he called again. The turn was another low card. We both checked. The river was a King. I thought with my table image I could represent Ace-King instead of the Queen-Jack I had in my hand. I bet $3,000 on the river and he called with Ace-2. He had paired his 2 on the flop and called 2 bets. I guess I did not appear too strong.

One of my goals was to bust at least one player. I came close when I was short stacked. I raised Kc8c in late position. The big blind just called. The flop had a King and an 8 in it. He checked to me. I over bet the pot by moving all in to try and look like I was trying to buy it. He immediately called and turned over pocket Aces. Luckily the board did not pair, and my hand held up. Unfortunately for him, he was left with a single $100 chip so technically I did not bust him out of the tournament. I just pulled his legs and arms off.

My last table with Men Nguyen and Rafe Furst was interesting. Men was up and out of his chair all the time and raising every pot when it was folded to him. Rafe was much more quiet and serious.

I was only there for an hour, but I played 3 hands. I raised and won the blinds twice. The other hand was JJ under the gun. I raised to 1200 and Rafe Furst called in position. Everyone else folded. The pot had $3,450.

The flop was Qh-6h-6c. I bet 1500. Rafe stared me down and eyed my chip stack. After a little delay, he folded. That pushed me back above 14,000.

I have booked my flight back to Phoenix for later this morning. I will fly back into Vegas on Wednesday morning. Does anyone want to come out with me and cheer me on?????

Summary of Day 1:

I am on the plane heading back to Las Vegas for Day 2b of the World Series of Poker Main Event. Before I start giving more updates on my status during the day, I wanted to get down some stories from Day 1 that I did not have the time to write up.

My initial feeling on Day 1 when I sat down at the table was a mix of butterflies and jitters. My mind was racing with things I was supposed to look for. Watch his hands when he puts in his chips, did he just purse his lips, why is he leaning forward? These were all thoughts that were cluttering up my mind in the beginning.

My solution to this dilemma was to jump in with both feet. I am dealt T-6 offsuit and it’s folded to me in late position. I raise and go into my Phil Hellmuth pose with my hands under my chin and my eyes staring at the middle of the table. The players behind me all fold and I won my first pot of the World Series.

About 10 hands later I picked up Ace-King in the big blind. There was a raise from middle position and it’s folded to me. I want to raise, but it’s early and I don’t want to play a big pot out of position, so I decide to call. The flop is 8-6-2 or something small like that. I check to see if I can get a free card. The initial raiser bets about ½ the pot. I’m pretty sure that this flop did not hit his hand. What the hell, let’s raise his $300 bet to $1000. He thinks about it for about 60 seconds, while my heart is racing. He decides to fold and I win another pot. After that initial rush of adrenaline, I was able to play my normal game.

The best story I heard was on my last table of the night. A younger man who was obviously very excited to be playing in the World Series told me his experience with Jennifer Tilly. This man had won his seat for the 2007 Main Event but his Army unit had been called to Iraq. He spoke with the online poker room manager who was ex-military and got him to buy him in to the 2008 Main Event instead. Luckily he survived the tour in Iraq and was loving every minute of the tournament.

The Army vet said he was at the table with Jennifer Tilly earlier in the day. He raised a hand pre-flop and Jennifer reraised him a large amount. Jennifer tried to stay very still, but he noticed that she was breathing heavy and the pulse in her neck was throbbing. The Army vet laid down his hand, and said,”Jennifer, I am going to tell everyone at home that I made Jennifer Tilly’s heart race and made her breathe heavy.” Jennifer smiled back at him as she collected the chips from the pot.

While waiting in line for the bathroom, I saw Dan Harrington come in. He looked at the length of the line and decided to head back out for a different bathroom. On his way out, someone recognized him and told him that they loved his book. I wonder how many times he gets that when he’s trying to take a piss.

On another break I saw Jose Canseco walking through the hallway. He was wearing Ultimate Bet poker site patches. They must have bought his way into the tournament. It figures that a man that cheated in baseball would represent a website that cheats their customers.

My last table with Men “The Master” Nyguyen and Rafe Furst was exciting. Men had his usual Corona and lime in his drink cup and was talking non-stop. Everybody received a seat cushion from Everest Poker when they arrived at noon. It was a welcome gift as sitting on your ass for 12 hours can start to hurt.

For those of you that don’t know, Men is very short. He’s probably around 5 foot 3. I noticed he was sitting on 2 cushions instead of 1. When the petite female dealer remarked that she was taller than the “Master” I chimed in that maybe he should sit on 3 seat cushions to try and intimidate the table. I said, “I’m 6 feet 4 so I don’t need a cushion. I intimidate people naturally.” For the next 15 minutes Men kept asking me not to intimidate him.

Our plane is starting it’s descent and I am now going to start focusing on my day.