Day 1 Update WPT Championships

Hey Poker Fans,

Pretty good Day 1 report. I finished with 121,000 in chips. I won the first and last hands of the day. Everything in between didn't really matter much. I was kind of card dead, so I had to rely on a few bluffs and steals to stay afloat.

I couldn't figure out whether the first hand was a good or a bad omen. When I got to my table to start the day, there were only 2 other players there. All the other tables had 6-8 players ready to go. After shuffle up and deal, the first guy folds, the second guy folds, and I win!!! Woooo!!!! Just for grins I decide to peek at my cards. Yeah, I start the day with ACES!!!! Good omen - 1st time it's ever happened to me. Bad omen - I got no action. Oh well, I guess we'll find out.

A little bit later, Sammy Farha sits down in chair 9. I was really excited to be playing with him and even more excited because I had position (get to act after he does). I was looking forward to learning something. I actually won most of the pots that we played together - one of them pretty big.

The first 4 levels of the day were very boring. I didn't get many hands at all and had bad flops when I did have a little something. I managed to manufacture enough chips to stay close to the starting stack.

The last level of the day, things really got going. I started picking up some hands and pushing the action. I always like when I get a little run of good cards because that opens up the rest of my game and can be really deceptive.

My favorite hand of the day: I had worked up to about 130k with about 45 minutes of play left. I was on the button with QT and made my standard raise to 1700. In poker, I always have a confrontational aspect to the guys that sit directly behind me because I "steal" their chips so many times by opening for a raise. The BB glares at me and calls the 1700. The flop comes Kh6h3s. The BB leads out for 2,500. Very few players would hit top pair there and lead out - almost everyone wants to check to me, let me bet and then reraise me. So, with this thought in mind, I reraise him to 6,000 trying to represent the K. He finally calls and another K comes on the turn. He bets 5,000 which seems like an awkward play. I actually thought the guy had something like A6. I reraised him to 14k, again, trying to represent a K. After some thought, the other player reraises me to 30k. I think long and hard about going all-in because I just KNOW he doesn't have a K. I finally chicken out and tell him "this is hilarious, because I'd bet $100 that my Q high is good. Do you want to make a side bet?" He never answered, I fold, and he shows me 55. He did have the best hand, but I had the right idea the whole time.

I was really pleased with the whole day. I usually have hands that bug me because I played them wrong, but none today. It was really nice to go to sleep without rehashing any bonehead moves.

In closing, I need to calm down some of the excitement out there. It took me three years and 13 major tournaments to win one. Everyone out here is really good - especially in the 25k tourney. So, everybody realize the odds that we are up against. If it only takes me 3 more years to win another one, I will be thrilled. Trust me, I am going to have fun, I am going to play as hard as I can, and I am going to walk away smiling.

Now, it's off to breakfast. My friend Andrew got 2nd place in a tourney last night, so HE IS BUYING!!!