The Spin

I didn't last too long in WSOP event #3.

Luckily my P.R. people have already created the spin.

"By getting knocked out early look at how much time I saved. If I wasn't going to make the money then it's much better for me (mentally and physically) to go out in an hour than sit there for 10 hours. This way I'm completely fresh for playing tomorrow."

You buying any of this?

How about:

"I also got knocked out of my first WSOP event last Summer in like 5 minutes before doing well in my second. So I'm sure I can still convince myself that today was actually a good omen."

Should I keep going? Am I hurting my case at this point?

I've certainly had better days.

As a tight player it pains me anytime I go out of a tournament before the antes have kicked in. I think those later levels are when I have a strategic edge over the average players. However when the blinds are only 25/50 I sometimes get myself in trouble since it's hard to determine what my "risk" should be.

Today I played for all my chips with two pair. I definitely could have folded. The board was scary enough.

If it was later in the tourney hitting two pair would mean getting all my chips in.

No question. But at 25/50?

I could have waited.

And what stings most of all was my not taking advantage of the poor play around me. Guys raising from early position with king rag off. That kind of stuff.

If I could have bought back in I would have.

But since they won't let me rebuy lets just get out to the car and into the 105 degree heat.

What else can I share with you?

Before they announced "Shuffle up and deal" Jeffrey Pollack (Harrah's Commissioner of the World Series of Poker) said a few words and half the crowd booed him. He took the booing well but then again he had to. The lines have been absolutely ridiculous. Alot of players had to wait in line 3 hours just to register. Talk about patience and discipline. We also started this tournament event an hour late. Harrahs can't be screwing up like that with this many people.

I keep calling it "Harrahs" despite the fact that we're playing the WSOP at the Rio because Harrahs owns the World Series of Poker. And the Rio. I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to come out here and play in 2004 when the entire WSOP was still small enough to fit into Binion's Horseshoe downtown.

Final thing I wanna mention: the cards and chips.

The playing cards were real easy to misread. Suits and numbers. Not sure why they went for such a different look. It's almost like Harrah's researched the guy in Florida who designed 2000 Presidential Election ballot and asked him if he could create a playing card for the World Series.

The 6's and 9's were easiest to confuse. Very hard to tell which way was up. (I should have taken a picture for you). Each time I saw one I had to relook once or twice and then also look back at my hole cards to see if either was a 6 or 9.

One time I tried to semibluff my straight draw and I think I accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan.

Meanwhile I gotta give a shout out to Harrahs for their new chips. Very nice,

They almost seemed magnetic to me as I was stacking them.

Actually my day went so poorly I shouldn't even say stacking.

"Adjusting my small pile" would be a much more accurate description.