Is it the 4th of July?

After a good night's sleep, I was fired up and ready to play Tuesday's WSOP preliminary event - $1,500 buyin with over 2000 players. As I walked away from the tournament after busting out, all I could do was laugh and shake my head. I have a real sickness.

I played as well as I can play. I built up a nice stack of 23,000 in chips when the average stack was 10,000. There was a crazy player from Finland sitting two to my right that had about 25,000 in chips. No one else at my table had more than 12,000. I had actually told myself to stay away from the 25k player because he was pretty good and there 8 other easier players to pick on. I played a lot of hands in position and felt like I didn't let many chips get by me.

My last hand was one that will be on my mind for awhile. I understand that what makes me capable of playing a hand like my last one is the exact thing that makes me an above average tournament poker player. But, man these firework filled bust-out hands can sure make your head spin.

Anyway, I had sat for hours and let the crazy Fin steal the chips from the players around me. He and I hadn't really mixed it up much because I think we had a mutual respect. I had called several of his raises and reraised him once before, but we hadn't played a big pot together. For my last hand, I was sitting in the small blind when he raised to 600 from the cutoff. I looked down at my cards to see A2. Not a great hand, but one that cuts down his chances of having a strong Ace based hand. I reraised him to 1700. He studied a bit and called my raise.

The flop brings T92. I continue to represent a big hand by leading out for 2,500. He studies a bit more and just calls. I'm thinking he is just calling to see if I will slow down on the next card and allow him to steal the pot (called floating). The turn card is another T. At this point, I feel like I can still represent a big hand. I don't think he has a T in his hand because he would have probably raised me on the flop. If I lead out with a bet, he has a prime time bluffing opportunity by shoving all-in. My plan is to check the turn, let him make a standard 5-6k bet and then I will shove all-in for my remaining 19k. He's gotta have a T or he just can't call me. Great plan, right?

My great plan goes awry when the crazy Fin bets 15k. For those of you who aren't poker buffs, you have to understand that it is very unusual for someone to bet more than the total chips (9.5k) already in the pot. Interpreting the size of a bet is a huge part of poker. Because of his bet, I am certain that he doesn't have a T. Anyone with a T would want to get a bet paid off, not scare a customer off. I also notice that he is VERY nervous - shaking hands, pounding heart, jugular vein making his shirt move. It's really difficult to figure out whether this nervousness is because he is bluffing or because he has a big hand. I had picked up on the same scenario earlier when he bluffed another opponent, so I believed that was just further evidence that he was bluffing.

So, I had all of the evidence that he was bluffing, but I still couldn't beat much. I had 19k in chips left, so a fold wouldn't have really been that big of a deal. However, if I was right, I would have a 50k stack when the average was 10k. 50k would have been the average stack size during the middle of Day 2 - and this was just 5 hours into Day 1. I was pretty certain that he was bluffing, but this was a tough spot for sure.

I decide to trust my gut and bet all-in for my last 19k. The Finnish player freaks out and says "I knew you had a big pair. Why did I bluff at this pot?". After counting the stacks down, he learns that he only has to call 4k more. He says "I guess I have to call" which makes me think he has 2 big cards or some kind of a draw. A big crowd had gathered around to watch this monster pot and I'm starting to feel pretty smug about the prospect of turning over A2 in such a huge spot. I'm such a poker stud - man, I'm good at this... OMG he just showed 89. He WAS bluffing, but only in HIS mind. He really had the best hand. Geeeeeeeeezzzzzzz, I'm a moron!!!!!!!! You should have heard the chatter - apparently everyone else agreed that I'm a moron. What a spectacular fireworks display complete with a huge flame-out at the end.

The strangest part of the whole deal was that I was smiling when the river card didn't save my stupid butt. I can sure swing for the fences and play without fear of busting out. I trusted myself and, actually, feel like I was correct. I was content with my decision while at the same time being disappointed about letting another WSOP event get by without making a real run at it. Oh well, what do you do? I guess I'll just light another fuse tomorrow....