Before I talk about the tournament, I just want to start from the beginning and give you all the background information.
It was the feast of Chris Porter (Poker Royalty) and James Sullivan (as Poker Royalty) decided to prepare a surprise party! I had that night free, so I thought I could make a turn there, because I was planning to Foxwoods from the morning.
Well, the party was really interesting. I had never played "Beer Pong" and before I turn. All other threw over his shoulder and I thought it was surely not the best way to proceed. I think the best path is throwing underneath.
Then the party moved to the Cherry Club at Red Rock. It was the first time I went to this club and I liked the atmosphere there. It was really cool!
Before I knew it, it was 3h30am. Yark! A little too much for someone who has to leave early the next day.
My assistant Patty was home around 8:30 am to wake me up. Instead of waking up, I instead asked him if there was a later flight she could book me. She found one at 14:15, which gave me a chance to catch a little sleep.
At noon, she tried to wake me up again. "Hey Patty, what would you think of night flight? ". She had already given the trouble to change my flight and my carriage, and suddenly I was changing again.
However, I knew that E-DOG was on the Jet Blue flight at 23:55 which arrived in Boston at 7:54. It just gave me enough time to make the tournament began at 10:00. Why this tournament begins at 10:00 am, that I will never understand. Presumably to make it more difficult for players on the west coast, since they, with jet lag and play at 7:00. And brain poker players usually does not work before noon!
To save time, we all took our luggage with us on the plane. You know what that means: no shampoo or liquid. Frustrating.
When I finally boarded the plane, I felt took me. I usually fly first class and I have more room. Jet Blue does not have a first-class flight and the plane was completely full. Sometimes I have little pain in the lower back and I knew at that moment that this flight would be very long.
They had TV, by cons! There were several good programs, with a choice of 30 positions. I listened to a lot of MTV and VH1.
We arrived on time and we boarded the limo. The limo driver was issued my old driver Gord Andretti, like a turtle. Wow! We flew from Boston to Foxwoods in 1:13, while this is normally a two-hour trip. Nice!
When we arrived, our rooms were not ready, so we went to the poker room immediately ... no sleep.
It did not bother me too much. I remember in 1997 when I was in my early days, I had been very tired for several days at Foxwoods and things went well. I played a session 20 hours Hold'em $ 20 $ -40, followed by a limit Hold'em tournament $ 100 ... I won! The next day, I played in another limit Hold'em $ 1,500 tournament ... and I had won too!
In fact, I think being tired on the first day helps me to relax and not be too excited. I did not realize, for cons, we were playing schedules for 15 hours. It was a bit absurd absurd ... not bad, actually! I hope the WPT may make events around the world with the same regulations. It would be easier for everyone, but I understand that it is difficult to implement. Play 15 hours the first day and 13 hours in the second, it is too much and it is unfair for older players. It becomes much more a matter of endurance than skill-testing question.
Realizing that the supper break was at 17:30, I decided that I need some rest if I wanted to be able to work later in the evening. With $ 43,000 in chips, I took the 200-400 level to go for a two-hour sleep. It was a difficult decision for me, since I have NEVER done something similar. This is an attachment for me to be at the table for EACH hands, so the decision to go to bed was very difficult. I know it was good.
Ok, I promised you a bit of poker content, here are some important hands for me that day:
I decided to mix my game really well during the first few levels and reduce my raises much more than normal. I made minimum raises, or what I call "raises unpleasant." Not always, but most of the time.
My first table was ridiculously difficult, but it often helps me to try harder: Joe Cassidy, Nick Schulman, Mimi Tran and three other internet pros that you probably do not know, but who are really strong.
I eliminated a short stack in the following hand: I raise to 200 with A 
-Q 
and SB called my raise. The flop was K -9 -5 . The SB checked and I bet 200 He quickly revived me in 1000 -. I called his raise.
The turning point was April 1 . Check it. I look and I see his chips he has left about 2150. I bet 500 and he called. The river was October 1 He checked again and I pushed all-in. Why I played the hand this way? Well you'll have to wait for my article in Card Player to know.
Later, Mimi Tran raised to 600 and I wedged in position with KK. The flop came K 
-T -3 . Mimi bet 600 and I just wedged. The turn was the J Mimi and bet 1200.
I hated this card for several reasons: 1) It can now beat me; 2) It may have killed all my action.
I just called the turn and river was February 1 
. Mimi bet 2500 and it was clearly not a bluff. Frankly, I had a big dilemma here. If I reraise and it pushes all-in, I will be forced me to fold this hand. If I do that calling his bet, I lose a lot of chips here by not maximizing the value of my hand.
So I restarted 3 700 more and she called my bet. As she pulled her hand in the center, she told me she also had a set on the flop. Doh! The J was really a bad card for the door.
Although I was tired, I was very patient all day. In one hand, I re-raised with QQ. Another player has also revived and I lay my cards quickly. Usually when I sleep QQ, this bodes well for me in this tournament.
During the day, I have never been in danger. I held between 25,000 and 50,000 chips. Towards the end of the evening, by cons, I had a sequence of bad cards and I fell to 20,000 chips with blinds 600-1200. Fortunately, I was lucky and I hit a flop with KQ KKQ and I was paid by KJ.
With about 15 minutes to do, I've realized that the evening might end on my small blind. I tried to speed up the game by talking, so that I can play my button and some other hands.
Well, this last hand was on my button and I had ... AA! A player in late position raised to 4,500. This was a player who looks to me like the "internet player" type and I was almost certain that if I relançais, he went to bed. In fact, I did not re-raise any time, except that both the QQ I finally slept.
I returned to my style of play in 2004, calling almost exclusively made and lowering my raises. The big blind also called. The flop came 10 -9 -3 . Both past and I bet 5,000, leaving me about 20 200.
The big blind, a champion of the WPT, I was check-raised to $ 15,000 and the original raiser folded. Obviously, I went all-in and he called. I was slightly concerned about a big draw, but I was relieved, happy to see what position I was ... he had A-3! Perfect! I doubled the last hand and I now have 67,600 chips.
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