The Dream is Dead.

And it didn't take long.

But believe it or not...losing out of the WSOP Main Event wasn't even the
biggest disappointment of the day.
I got to the Rio on time....got parked in Valet....and saw Chris Moneymaker, who I know pretty well. We talked about our situations...almost identical.
Sitting on 80K at dinner break...going in the tank the last five hours...and closing out with only 35K'ish. We walked in wishing each other the best.

I sit down. Victor Ramdin and his mountain of chips are two doors down from me in the four seat. First hand I pick up Q5. Fold. Another player raises and takes it down. On the next hand I look down at QQ. Blinds are 800/1600. I raise to 4500. The BB gives me that "how dare you raise MY blinds looks" and delays for awhile. He raises me, I think it was 6K more. Well, it didn't make a lot of sense for me to call off 10K if I wasn't going to be willing to put in the rest...I am sitting there though, and I am thinking back to 2006, when in the same situation with QQ...I raised then, the BB put me all in and he had AK...rivering a King and sending me packing about 400 from the money. I remember how horrible that feeling was...so I was hesitant to play the QUEENS.

After all, on Day 2...I had raised with them UTG...and got raised FOUR times my raise by the tightest player at the table and folded without hardly even hesitating. I just felt like this guy was trying to squeeze me. He had a LOT of chips and I was feeling like he was preying on my small stack. I moved all in. He turned over AA. Oh my god! I was feeling a lot better when the dealer put out Q-7-10! It blew up in my face though when the A of clubs came on the turn.....10 on the river and I was gone. I shook his hand, wished everyone well, and left. OR TRIED TO! They were letting the spectators in, a LOT of them, and I was like a salmon trying to swim upstream....it was very frustrating.

I finally got out into the Hall...and who do I see? Chris Moneymaker..who had JUST got whacked as well. WOW! That was quick. His beat was on an attempted bluff. We walked out together. I got my car and decided to shoot over to Venetian and play the $550 over there. Ended up being 473 players. I went in and played very loose and crazy. Called an over bet with 66 and flopped 4-6-7. Raiser bets, I call. Turn 7. He bets again. I raise. He calls. River didn't matter. He checks. I bet big, he calls. Didn't show. Half an hour in and I'm up from 15K to 25K. Then the @*&(@$# hits the fan. Sort of. Luckily I am good friends with all the floor guys over there.

There was this lady in the #1 seat, who I find out later is Jeff Pollacks personal assistant at Harrahs who was a total bitch. For some reason she thought she was some kind of great player. She was basically trying to correct everyone on every little thing. I dont remember how I finally got into it with her...but when I did, IT WAS ON! She says "I know I made it longer in the WSOP than YOU did!" Oh really? So you got knocked out FIVE minutes ago? Cuz I got knocked out TEN minutes ago! It kept going back and forth and finally, I put a $200 bounty on her. The whole table got excited about THAT! Well, on the break she goes and whines about it to the floor guys. They come talk to me about it in private, it was more of a joke, but I agreed to NOT keep the bounty on her...I guess if I paid someone a bounty after whacking her they could disqualify me. So I told them I would pay the person on the next break!

They actually laughed at that one! I go back to the table. A few hands later she makes this huge donkey play. Pushing all in on a board where she had middle pair and a 3rd nut flush draw against a guy who had flopped broadway. She missed and was left with less than 1000 chips! HA! Couple hands later I get into a hand with 910s. The flop is A77, two spades. Raiser checks. I should have bet right there but I didnt. I brick the next two...and him and I are talking about what we think the other guy has...and suddenly she starts claiming that we are colluding! HUH!??? Yeah I am colluding to lose $3000 chips! I told her "lady, you are just bitter and pissed off because you made a donkey play and lost all your chips....and to cite collusion is about the biggest a-hole thing you can accuse a player of, especially when its so FAR off base!" Well, here she goes again, calling the floor.

They come over, and for calling her a donkey, which I didnt....I said she made a DONKEY play....I get my FIRST penalty of the trip! Yes! Finally! I get a ten hand penalty. Big deal. On the 4th hand of my penalty...she gets whacked. BYE BYE lady! Have a nice day. I spend the next five hours getting drunk and stacking up chips. In fact...it went by so fast...I couldn't believe it when I looked up and we were at 49 players....4 from the money!!!??? Wow. Well, I get moved to this table full of total MORONS! Literally the first hand I see when I sit down, with the blinds 1500/3000 is this guy SHOVING all in for 65k under the gun (with JJ)...and getting called by this lady with A7! Jacks held. I actually pick up some hands....KK....AQ...99...and chip up from 80k to 130K....starting to look like another certain cash, which would be my 10th of the trip. The money was $714...so at least I would get my buy in back plus...but I had a great chance to get deep in this thing and if I could win a big share of the $70,000 first prize, I could really get over not cashing the Main Event.

Well, here we go. This dipshit in the two seat...who had just laid down 88 five hands earlier...when there was a raise and THREE callers(getting a great price there and FOLDING? Great laydown, clown!)...then flops an 8 and goes bananas...only to see that another player with QQ had flopped a set of Queens, so I am thinking this guy is capable of making 'decent' laydowns right? He raises at cutoff, from 3000/6000 blinds...to 21,000. I look down at 10-10 on the button. He has about 75K behind his raise. So I find a good number to re raise him....60K. Another 39 to call. He tanks....I know I have him killed, know he was stealing with probably a weak ace, or a small pair. HE CALLS! Huh? The flop comes out 4-2-6....rainbow...pretty much a dream flop. He checks. I go all in for 55K. I assume he is auto folding. I even tell him when he looks at me...dude, I have a big overpair...save your money. I will let you see the cards. But NO! He CALLS!!!!!! And turns over A9! WTF!??? He called 60K PREFLOP with that garbage! The turn was a miss....and on the river!???? AN ACE!!!!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! I am not going to lie...I WENT NUTS! I should be sitting there with 250K and a path to an almost certain final table...and instead, I am OUT. NO CASH! another wasted 11 hours of my life at Venetian, losing not to a GOOD PLAYER...but yet another MORON, IDIOT DONKEY!

I left Rick there, who was playing the 8pm tourney and had chipped up to 15K as I was leaving. He is going for the lead in 'HOUSE CASHES'...we are tied at 9 each. Oh...almost forgot to tell you guys that story. The night BEFORE Day 2....I was jonesing for some poker action. I had taken Monday totally off from poker. On Tuesday I went to Binions where my buddies Allie Prescott and Lou Esposito were both at the Final Table of their 2K Main Event. Allie would finish 6th...and Lou would end up taking it down. He got this plastic trophy that he joked about all the way back to the Rio where I dropped him off. I then went to Venetian to try and build up my bankroll in sit n gos.

After finishing 4th...that was cute, too. Two pairs with the nut flush draw and this german fool calls with 10-3 offsuit...where the only way he can win is by hitting a NON diamond 8 for a straight. he hit it.. For some dumb reason I decide to play the 8pm $180 tourney. Well, I went on a big run midway through that and almost won it...before getting my 88's rivered by a Q against the guy holding KQ offsuit, or I have a TON of chips. I finish 16th....for a whopping $277...and get home at 3am. Perfect. But it had zero effect on me the next day in Day 2. In fact, if anything,

I think it helped me. I really think I had gotten TOO much sleep the last couple of nights. First place that night was $8500. I should have won SO MUCH MONEY on this trip so far. I cannot BELIEVE I am DOWN for the trip. Its ridiculous...but a testimony to how FREAKING hard it is to be a profitable poker player when doing it for a living. You just really, really HAVE to get that top 3 finish once or twice a year and just hoard that money....not blow it, not buy into a bunch of bigger buy in events...and NOT BLOW it in CASH GAME! I feel bad because I haven't added it up yet, but I think I have really gone through a LARGE portion of my backers bankroll since I have been here. I have a week to take something down before the house lease is up and I have to drive home. I really am NOT looking forward to driving that drive, at $4.25 a gallon...on the bad money run that I am on.

ACE NINE! Un-freaking-believable! Its really a good thing I don't carry a gun.

I am at home now....licking my wounds. I think that sitting down and writing this is a bit therapeutic. I already feel a little better, just talking about it. I have to try and focus on the positive. I have played great on this trip. I have earned a ton of respect (I think, anyway) and I have met a lot of great people. The results are always RIGHTTHERE but just not finishing out. But what can I do? Such is the life of a professional poker player. I am probably going to 'medicate' now and read myself to sleep. Oh, by the way...Jena is out. Poor thing. She has a decent stack...raises with KK...only to be reraised ALL IN by a guy with JJ....I'll take that race for a double up to 190K......but never mind...the jackass hits a Jack on her...and she joined me on the rail. So everyone in the house is OUT! Gabe and Claudia went and played a $1400 satellite at the Bellagio for a seat in their $15,000 Main Event. Claudia WINS! But she didn't want to play, she wanted to pass it to Gabe to play. They wont transfer it. So now of course, she is hacked!

I'm just wondering...now that I am OUT of the Main Event...am I not allowed to post on the blog anymore? Do I get fired? Does anyone care now? I mean....we have a week of tourneys out here...then its home to play the daily/nightly tourneys at the Beau Rivage...until the Gulf Coast thing gets there in August. I guess I will play it by ear!!!! Good night everyone!