WSOP Trip Report Days 3 and 4

My latest poker article, a strategy-filled narrative from my third and fourth days at the World Series of Poker Main Event, is now appearing in the September Issue of 2+2 Internet Magazine. Here’s an excerpt from early on Day 4:

At this point, I was rolling along with a very nice stack, and there were just a few hundred competitors left in the tournament. My girlfriend was about to fly out to Las Vegas to support me. She had just passed through security when it happened.

I raised to 15K first to act with K-J of clubs and got called by a grizzled man who looked to be in his late 50’s or early 60’s. The flop came A-Q-6 with two clubs, giving me a flush draw and a one-card straight draw. Even without all my draws, this is a good flop to bet at, because as the pre-flop raiser, I am more likely to hold an Ace than my opponent who just called a raise. I bet out 35K, and he raised to 75K. I moved all in, and he called with Ace-Queen for top two pair. None of my draws got there, and just like that I was crippled, down to about 150K.

“Nice hand,” I muttered as I pushed my chips to the winner. His withered old man jaws stopped smacking on a wad of gum long enough to thank me.

I stepped away from the table to cool my head and call my girlfriend. I told her what had happened.

“We’re going to be boarding in twenty minutes,” she advised me.

“I’m not sure what to tell you. I have no way of knowing how long I’ll last. It’s going to be touch or go until I either get some more chips or get knocked out.”

If you’d prefer a more visual summary of the tournament, check out Poker Savvy Plus, where I’m working on a series of videos covering these and other hands I played in the 2008 Main Event.