Terrence

Well Day 1b of the World Series of Poker Main Event is in the books, and I'm still alive.  Not only that, I now have more than double my starting stack, with a total of 66,925.  We began the day with 30,000 in chips, 50-100 blinds, and two hour levels.  The plan was to play four levels, with a 20-minute break between levels and a 90-minute break for dinner midway through.  The first thing that deserves mentioning is the toll it takes on you to play here.  I've heard that the World Series is as much a physical grind as a mental one, but it wasn't until today that I realized what that meant.  I've played for 18 hours straight and finished no worse for wear, but after about eight hours of play today, I'm spent.  My back hurts, I'm tired, and I'm very glad that I have a few days until I play again.  Anybody that makes it through this thing will certainly have earned it.

OK, on to the good stuff.  I'll begin with my table set-up, which was pretty favorable.  We actually began play shorthanded, as a couple people hadn't shown on time, so there were only seven of us to start.  In Seat 2 was an older gentlemen who seemed pleasant enough, but didn't seem to be much of a threat.  On his left was Bill Edler, a pretty well-known pro that has made a couple of deep runs in the Main Event.  I think he finished top 20 a couple years ago.  I recognized Bill right as he approached the table, but didn't let him know that I knew who he was.  All in all, though, he was a very amiable guy and a fun person to have at the table.  I spoke with him quite a bit during the course of play.

To Bill's left was a younger guy named Jeff that gave off that "hotshot" kind of vibe.  He had a hooded sweatshirt that he usually kept over his head, plus a pair of shades and a generally aggressive style of play.  The seat to Jeff's left was unoccupied, and I was in Seat 6.  On my left was another young guy who played a solid, tight-aggressive game.  Next up was a middle-aged fellow from Ireland named Paul.  When he first sat down I expected him to have that aggressive, creative European style of play, but he was actually rather tight.  Not overly so, but he didn't mix it up if he didn't have something.  Finally, the 9 seat was taken by an Asian guy with a cowboy hat that seemed to be roughly my age.  We'll call him Cowboy Bebop for future reference.

As far as table placement goes, our table was in a great spot for spectators, right in the corner of the middle of the room, which gave people the chance to be within a few feet of the table on two different sides.  Brigid, Pete, and Mom were there all day, and Uncle Kevin was there for a while, also.

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm nervous playing in such a big tournament.  I'm really not.  I don't know that I have a word to describe it, but it's definitely not nervous.  I feel energized.  When I walked into the room, took my seat, and had my chipstack in front of me, it was an awesome feeling.  As the day grew on, I became more and more comfortable, and there hasn't been a time when I felt like I didn't belong with the rest of these guys.  Even playing against Bill, a guy who has made some serious money off of poker--I felt like I had a good feel for what he was trying to do.

I wish I could remember what my very first hand of the tournament was, but all I know is that it was ugly.  I folded it, and the older gentleman in Seat 2 actually got a walk, making him the temporary chipleader.  On the second hand, I picked up pocket tens in mid-position, and opened with a raise to 300.  Everyone folded, giving me my first pot.  And for anyone wondering, I am definitely taking it as a good sign that my hand showed up so early.  I folded my next hand, and then sat back and watched the following carnage develop.  Keep in mind how low the blinds are and how much we have in our stacks.  The kid to my left opened for 300, and the guy in Seat 2 tossed in a yellow 1,000 chip.  Now being that he didn't declare a raise, that chip only indicated a call.  Everyone else folded, and they saw a flop of 89J with a couple clubs.  The younger guy checked, then raised the older guy's bet of 800 to 2,000.  The older guy called pretty quickly.  The turn was a red ace and the kid led out for 2,250.  The older guy raised to 5,000, and almost instantly, the kid went all-in for another 23,000 or so.  Just as quickly, the older guy called.  My read on the situation was that the kid had QT, and the older guy had turned a set of aces.  I was close--the kid did indeed turn over QT, but the older guy tabled AJ for top two pair.  Obviously top two is a nice hand, but how can you get all your money in on the third hand with it, especially with a straight on board?  The kid dodged the four-outer on the river, and just like that we had our first elimination.  It was pretty cool, because one of the Cardplayer reporters came up to him and got all the details of the hand, and his name went up on the chip count screen as the chipleader.  I just checked Cardplayer and he was on their live updates almost all day--his name is Dave D'Elessandro.

It wasn't long until I got involved in a pot of my own.  Jeff raised it to 300 from under the gun, and with pocket queens, I called.  Cowboy Bebop also called on the button, and we saw a flop.  It was pure gin, Q33.  Jeff checked, I did the same, and so did Cowboy Bebop.  The turn was a 9, and Jeff led out for 650.  I smooth-called, and Bebop folded.  The river was an ace, which I saw as being a good card for me, because maybe he paired up and would pay me off.  Jeff checked, and I threw out 3,000.  He deliberated for a couple of seconds and then threw in the call, and I showed my queens full to take the pot.  He didn't show, but I have to figure he had an ace.

I got more than my share of pocket pairs early on, and I kept trying to see flops and hit my set.  It worked with the queens, and it worked again about 20 hands later.  It folded around to me in the small blind, and with 88, I limped.  Dave raised it just another 200, and I made the quick call.  We saw a beautiful flop of A84, and I checked.  He bet 800, and I decided to raise it to 2,000.  I figured him for an ace, and fast-playing it might make me more money then if I just called.  he thought briefly and made the call.  The turn was a 7, and I led out with 2,200.  He thought for much longer this time, even letting out an audible sigh, then threw in the call.  I figured that he was having trouble putting me on a hand and was determined to call down with his ace.  The river was a king, a card that I thought might have given him top two.  I made a substantial bet of 6,000.  He thought for a good two or three minutes, saying "What do you have?" with pain in his voice.  He finally threw the call in, and I said, "Set of eights."  He told me that he had turned two pair with A7, which would make it a very tough fold to make.  It also helped that he had so many chips from his early double-up that he knew that calling me down wouldn't hurt him too significantly.

Pocket 8s seemed to be the hand of the hour for me, as I was dealt it four times in the first level alone.  In addition to the aforementioned hand, I took a pot down preflop with a standard raise, called a raise then folded on an AKJ flop with three-way action, and then limped under the gun the final time.  On this hand, Bill raised it to 500 from the big blind, and I was the only caller.  We saw a 9-high flop and went check-check.  A jack came on the turn, and again we both checked.  The river was a rag, and after we both checked, I said, "Are 8s good?"  They were, as Bill had a lower pair, so I took my first pot off of him.  It wasn't a big one, but it gave me confidence because Bill could have tried to bowl me over with a flop, turn, and/or river bet, but he gave me credit for a hand and didn't get cute.

After a couple hours of play, we got some fresh blood at the table as a middle-aged guy named Mike took the 2 seat.  Mike made it pretty clear early on that he was nothing to worry about, calling lots of raises and either folding the flop or paying off a better hand by time it was all said and done.  I got my first action against him after the first break.  After he and another player limped, I did the same with K9 from the small blind.  Dave checked, and we saw a flop of K85.  It checked around to Mike, and he bet out 500.  I was the only caller.  The turn was a 9, and this time I led out with 1,100.  He gave it some thought, then called.  At this point I had him pegged pretty squarley on KQ, KJ, or KT, all of which I had beat.  The river was a 6, making the final board K5689.  It was pretty scary with the straight cards out there, but I figured I'd get paid off by his king, so I made a value bet of 1,100.  He thought for over three minutes, continually checking his cards and looking at the board.  Finally he called and I said, "Top two."  Much to my amazement, he flipped over 77 for a straight.  I was a little confused on a lot of fronts.  Why did he call the turn?  And why didn't he raise the river?  Only T7 beats him, and there's no way I could have that.  I probably would have paid off a raise, too.  It was a very weird hand, and definitely one that I thought I had in the bag.  That's OK, though, as I would get back at him later.

I came out of the dinner break feeling good.  My stack was at 45,600, and I hadn't gotten mixed up in anything too dangerous.  I was making a conscious effort to really use position to my advantage, trying not to over-commit to good preflop hands, and always trying to be the first one in the pot.  I was mixing my play up pretty well, flat-calling a raise with AK spades preflop to disguise its strength, and raising a few times in late position to take down the blinds.  I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar a couple times on steal attempts, but nothing that did any damage to my stack.  One early pot that worked out for me was when I called a standard raise from Cowboy Bebop in the big blind with AQ.  The flop was T94, and I led out for 600, obviously hoping to take it down right there.  He called, though, and we checked the turn and river, both of which were low.  Fortunately for me, ace high was good enough to take it down as he just had QJ for a busted open-ender.

Bebop was no slouch, though.  Twice before the break he put the squeeze play on me.  First, with blind at 100-200, I raised to 500 with 55.  Dave called on the button, and Bebop popped 1,000 on top of that from the big blind.  I called, and Dave folded.  The flop was T44, and he led out for 2,100.  I very well may have been good, but decided against mixing it up in such a marginal spot.  He got me again later after I raised from the cutoff with A7, got called again by Dave, and reraised by Bebop.  Dave and I both folded, and he took it down.  Just before the break, though, he lost a decent pot to Bill that dropped his stack down to about 18,000.

About 45 minutes out of the dinner break, I had the classic case of making the wrong move at the right time.  I hadn't gotten much to play, taking a small pot with AQ on a queen high flop off of Jeff but not really playing much else.  We had finally gotten nine-handed after filling the seat on my right with an Indian guy named Mike.  A very friendly guy, he had gotten moved from another table with a good stack of about 40,000.  Anyway, Cowboy Bebop made it 800 to go from early-mid position, and he was called on the button by Jeff.  Needing just another 500 to call, I looked down to once again see pocket 5s.  I made the call, and we saw a three-way flop of K24 rainbow.  I checked, Bebop bet 1,600, and Jeff folded after a moment or two of thought.  Bebop had been continuation betting everything post-flop, and this actually seemed to be a good board for 55, with only one overcard.  I decided to make a move at it, and I repopped him back to 3,800.  Much to my dismay, it didn't take him long to call.  The turn was about as much as I could hope for.  The 3 got me open-ended, and I stayed strong with a bet of 4,500.  I thought there was a chance that he thought I was full of it on the flop and was calling to take it away on the turn, so I led out again.  Again he called.  At this point, I figured him for one of three hands--AA, AK, or KQ, all of which obviously had me in trouble.  The river was absolutely beautiful--an ace to give me the wheel.  I took my time, asking him how much he had left (it was around 13k), and trying to figure out what he had and how much he would call on the river.  I didn't think KQ could hang around to much of a bet, but AK and AA weren't going anywhere, no matter how much I put out.  I decided to put him all-in, which could also make it seem like less of a value bet and more of an "I want you to fold" bet.  He thought for close to five minutes it seemed like, and I just kept staring at the table, stealing the occasional glance at him to try to get a gauge on his thought process.  Eventually he said, "Well if I'm meant to go out I'm meant to go out," and he put the chips in for a call.  The dealer told us not to turn our hands over yet, because any time there's an all-in the cameras, microphones, and reporters all have to come over.  I looked at Bebop as we waited, though, and said, "I've got you."  Once the dealer gave the OK, I turned over my wheel, and he flipped 22 for a flopped set of 2s.  Ouch.  I definitely got a little lucky after trying to make a creative play, but I think his one mistake was not shoving the turn.  The flop was so dry that he probably called to just set me up for devastation, but the turn put a straight draw out there.  Obviously, if he had shoved over the top of me on the turn I would have been gone, but fortuitously enough he opted to call and allow me to hit.

This was by far my biggest pot of the tournament, much larger than the set of 8s that I stuck on Dave, and it got me up around the 70,000 chip mark, close to the table lead along with Dave.  I didn't get much else for the rest of the level, save for aces in mid-position, which I took down with a preflop raise and no action.  I entered the third and final break of the day with 70,200.

Coming into the day, my goal was to reach 40,000 in chips.  I was obviously well ahead of that pace, barring anything disastrous from happening, so I set a new goal coming out of the final break to see if I could reach 80,000 by the end of the night.  The cards didn't seem to want to cooperate, though, and I mostly folded for about an hour.  I did take one small pot after limping into a four-way pot with KQ of spades.  The flop came A87, with two spades (one of which was the ace), to give me the nut flush draw.  It checked to me and I bet 800 and got called by one player.  This guy had the big sunglasses, big headphones, the whole shebang.  He had gotten moved to the table around the same time as Mike, but before John, a tough-looking guy that reminded me a little bit of my cousin Duke.  John filled Cowboy Bebop's seat shortly after I left my treadmarks on his head.  Anyway, the early position player called my flop bet, then we both checked as a red 9 hit the turn.  The river was the 6 of spades, giving me the nut flush, and oddly enough, he led out for just 800.  I figured he had a weak ace and didn't want to be faced with a tough decision if I made a big bet.  I didn't think his hand was big, so I had to figure out what I could raise that would get called.  I put in another 3,200, a bet that was less than the size of the pot, but not small.  Fairly quicky, though, he mucked it.  Maybe I could have squeezed a little more out with a smaller raise, but it was still a good take.  Outside of a couple uncontested preflop raises, my only other hand of significance was also my only preflop three-bet of the night.  Headphones guy raised it to 800, and Mike called on my right.  I had AQ off on the button, and seeing as I had been playing pretty tight for the past couple hours, I thought this was a good time to flex my muscles a bit.  I raised it up to 4,600 and both guys tossed it rather quickly.  From there, I mostly folded as we neared the close of Day 1, just taking a small pot with T8 of diamonds when I flopped top pair in a limped pot on the second-to-last hand of the day.

I ended the day with 66,925 in chips, well above the chip average in the room and second only to the ~95,000 of Dave at my table.  I feel like I more than held my own.  Bill Edler ended with under 20,000 in chips, and Jeff also had under 20,000, despite catching running diamonds to double up off of Mike's pocket queens with KT off on a ten-high flop.  I outlasted a lot of big names already, as Doyle Brunson got taken out about midway through the day, as did David Pham, Chris Moneymaker, Ralph Perry, and quite a few others.  The seats are re-drawn for Day 2, so I'll have a new set of tablemates, and a whole new challenge before me.  I couldn't really be happier with how my first day of play turned out, as I far exceeded my hope of reaching 40,000 in chips by day's end despite never really being in a bad situation in a big pot (aside from the 55 hand, since I was check-folding any non-A or 6 river).  I know it's only going to get tougher from here, but I think I'm ready to take on whatever comes my way.  There's a long way to go, but with a formidable amount of chips and the confidence to know that I belong here, I've still got a shot.  How awesome is that?

Terrence

I guess it stands to reason that the deeper you get into the World Series of Poker, the tougher it gets.  That being said, I have a hard time seeing how things could get much more difficult than my Day 2 table.  I'll go even further and say that the final table will not be as tough as the group I went against yesterday.

Before getting into it, let me give an overall update.  Following the second Day 2 today, we've lost 3/4 of the entrants.  About 6,400 people entered, and there are only 1,600 left, less than 1,000 away from the money.  It's within reach, and there's a chance we may even get there late on Day 3.  Dozens of name pros have been eliminated thus far, including Mike Matusow, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, and plenty others.

My Day 2 table began in the Brasilia room, which is basically the secondary room at the Rio.  The Amazon room is the main room, and the place that we will all be playing in once we've eliminated enough players to fit there.  Right when I sat down, I took stock of my tablemates and their chipstacks.  I was among the leaders at the table, with probably two guys that had me slightly edged.  There was a wide range of styles and nationalities at this new table.  I was in Seat 6, and to my right was English pro John Duthie.  I've seen Duthie before and know that he plays a little loose, often catching people by surprise with low suited connectors and the like.  To his right was an older man that I think must be a war vet, as he had three fingers on one hand and none on the other.  He played a very tight game, but when he got a big hand he pushed hard with it.  To his right was a young German guy who was extremely unpredictable.  He changed gears very well, sitting out for half an hour before raising and reraising five straight hands.  It was tough to get a feel for him.  To his right was a kid in his mid-20s in a long-sleeved Florida Gators shirt.  He was also very tough, and I could tell early on that he knew what he was doing.  Most players seemed to stay out of his way, as he took down a lot of pots preflop uncontested.  Oddly enough, he seemed to do the most raising from early position.  The 1 seat was taken out rather quickly, so no need to worry about him.  Seat 9 was another tough European--a young Swedish kid that seemed to reraise half the preflop raises.  It was hard to put him on anything, as he was very active in most pots.  To his right was a young Canadian kid that played a very tight style, and finally to his right was a middle-aged guy that seemed to play a pretty straightforward game.

On the first hand, I looked down to see AQ in middle position.  With 200-400 blinds and a 50 ante, I made a standard raise to 1,200.  The guy immediately to my left reraised to 4,000, and it folded back to me.  I wasn't thrilled at the prospect of playing AQ out of position, especially against a guy that didn't have a huge stack, so I laid it down.  He showed aces!  Just as my pocket tens on the second hand of Day 1 seemed like a good sign, I took this as a bad omen of things to come.  Did I mention I hate AQ?

The next few hands saw a preflop raise followed by a reraise, followed by a fold.  It gave me a good idea of the way the table was going to go.  I decided to get in on the action (as well as make a statement that stealing my blinds would not be tolerated), when about 12 hands in, Duthie raised from the button.  I looked down to see A7 off from the small blind, and made a meaty reraise of 3,800 on top.  He thought for a bit, then tossed it.

Duthie came into the day with less than 30,000 in chips, but he quickly got back on his feet after coming in for a raise in middle position.  The guy to my left made a huge overbet push of about 20,000 on top.  Duthie barely had him covered, and he said, "I just can't lay this down.  I call."  Duthie flipped over queens, which were in great shape against the 77 of his opponent.  The board ran out safely, and the queens held up.  I wasn't thrilled to see Duthie chipping up, as I knew he could be dangerous.

Shortly after Duthie's double-up, I called a raise from Gator guy on the button with 56 of spades.  The flop came down as perfect as I could hope for--347 rainbow.  Oddly enough, he checked it.  I thought he was looking for a check-raise, so I didn't slowplay my fliopped straight and threw out a bet of 2,000.  Apparently my read was off, as he tossed it pretty quickly.  That seemed like a missed opportunity, but I guess he put me on a big pair preflop and he totally whiffed it.

I only got involved in one other hand before our table got moved back into the Amazon room.  This hand really illustrated why playing with deep stacks gives you more freedom than regular tournament structures.  After Duthie limped in mid-late position, I peeked down at the 46 of hearts.  With position on the cutoff, I elected to call, and along with the blinds, we saw a four-handed flop of J73 rainbow, giving me a gutshot.  The Canadian kid checked, then the aggressive Swedish kid bet 1,200.  Duthie thought briefly then folded, and I saw this as a chance to take a pot off the kid.  I put him on a weak jack, and I called not only with the gutshot, but looking to take it down later in the hand.  The turn paired the 3, and the Swedish kid checked.  I bet 1,800, hoping it would look like I wanted a call.  He must not have seen it that way, as he raised another 4,000 on top.  I still saw him as having a weak jack, and I decided to represent 77, a line that I had followed pretty well so far.  I made a pretty small reraise of another 5,200 on top, and the kid thought for about 20 seconds, then folded.  That was a nice pot, and put me up over 70,000.  Shortly thereafter, we were asked to move into the Amazon room, although our table wasn't breaking.  We all picked up and moved to the back corner of the Amazon room, to the 60th table in the Orange section.

A new player was moved to our table after Duthie eliminated the guy with QQ vs. 77.  A young Spanish kid, he came to the table with about 35,000 in chips.  He wasn't the one to worry about, though, as we soon lost the player in the first seat when the German guy took him out.  Filling his spot was none other than Carlos Mortensen, the 2001 Main Event champ.  "The Matador" had around 30,000 in chips, but when a guy like that has anything in front of him, you take notice.  He seemed to be laying back mostly during his first few hands, and the flow of the table continued--raise, reraise, fold.  I had noticed that the few hands that Mortensen had raised, he had made it a different number each time.  Twice he had made nearly a 5X raise, and both times the kid in the Gators shirt had reraised him and took it down preflop.  A few times he had raised smaller, and on all but one he ended up taking the pot down either pre- or post-flop.  I figured that his oversized raises were with something like a small pair or some kind of suited connector type of hand, and that thinking led to my next play.  Mortensen made another large raise from under the gun, and Duthie called in middle position.  I looked down to see pocket 4s, and thought it might be a good time for a squeeze play.  After Mortenson's 2,500 raise (blinds were 250-500), I put another 8,000 on top.  Mortensen folded rather quickly, but Duthie called.  I can't say I was happy about that, but I figured that if I stayed strong I could take it down.  The flop was beautiful but scary as it came down 49T with two hearts.  I had flopped bottom set, but there were draws galore on there.  Duthie thought for about 20 seconds then checked.  I thought about checking behind and trying to trap, but there was just too much danger out there.  I bet out 10,000, and he thought for about two minutes before folding.  I thought he was going to push on me, but I guess he decided against it.  He looked at me and said, "Nice hand... I think.  I folded queens.  It just didn't seem like the right time."  I wish I had known he had queens, because a check behind may have won me a lot more money.  I thought he may have been splashing around with some kind of suited connectors, though, not a pair.  A check may have made him think I had AK and missed, so I regret the play.  That being said, I dodged a bullet by getting him to lay down queens in the first place, despite having flopped a set.  I wonder how everything would have played out if I had just called preflop.  Mortensen may have caught a piece of the flop, Duthie would have the overpair with no reason to think he wasn't good.  I could have taken a monster.

Not long after this hand, the Canadian kid got mugged.  He raised preflop, and Gators guy called in the big blind.  The flop came down T92 with two hearts, just like the flop Duthie and I had seen..  Gators checked, and the Canadian kid made a 2/3 pot bet.  Gators kid raised, Canadian reraised, Gators reraised, and Canadian just called.  The pot was huge at this point.  The turn was a king of hearts, and both players slowed down with checks.  The river was a blank, and after Gators checked, the Canadian bet 25,000, nearly his entire stack.  Gators guy got up from the table and said, "Wow this is sick."  This was the first brutal decision he had needed to make, and he took a good five minutes before he made it.  He seemed ready to fold a couple different times, and the Canadian kid remained stoic throughout.  Finally, though, he made the call, and he turned over T9, for top two pair on the flop.  It was good, as the Canadian kid had QQ. 

Shortly before the dinner break, we lost the Canadian kid when he shoved for his last 7k with K3, only to be called by Duthie and his 99.  The 9s held, and the kid was gone.  That turned out not to be a good thing, as who came to our table but Bill Edler, the pro I played with on Day 1.  Bill had a stack of about 30,000, but he soon doubled up off the German guy when he turned trip jacks and called the German's push with just a pair of 6s. 

We then lost Duthie in an instance of a squeeze-gone-wrong.  Mortensen raised, Gators called, the German called, and so did the older guy.  Duthie pushed for another 25,000, which elicited folds from Mortensen and Gators guy.  The German thought for a while, then said, "Let's gamble," and he threw in the call.  The older guy got out of the way and we were heads up.  The German had 44, which amazingly enough had Duthie crushed, as he could only turn over 53 off!  That was a pretty sick move, and the 4s held to knock Duthie out.  His seat was soon filled with a middle-aged guy with about 50,000 in chips, but the German cut out half his stack with a couple of well-timed reraises to put him in trouble.

Bill soon whacked the new guy who took Duthie's spot when he came in raising and got one call, then they both checked a flop of 589.  The turn was a queen and Bill bet 5,000, only to have the other guy push for 17,000 more.  Bill insta-called with 67 for the second nut straight, and the other guy was drawing dead with AQ.

All throughout this, I was staying pretty quiet.  I raised a few times from late position to take some pots, but I wasn't really getting into any big pots.  This had turned out pretty well for me, though, as I had just crossed the 100,000 mark by the final break of the night.  Unfortunately, I slid a bit after the dinner break.  First, I got tricky and limped with aces in early position.  Seeing as how the table had been so aggressive, I thought for sure I would see a raise and a reraise before it got back to me, but much to my dismay there were three other calls.  The flop came 28Q with two diamonds, and Mortensen and the Gators guy checked.  I bet out 2,000, and a player behind me folded.  Mortensen called, then Gators guy raised it another 6,500 on top.  What could he have?  I thought he had a queen, something like QJ, and I made the call.  So did Carlos, who I put on a couple of diamonds.  The turn was a black 4, and after Mortensen checked, Gators guy bet out 20,000.  After getting called on the flop, I didn't think he'd go so crazy with just a queen.  I thought about it forever, going back and forth between pushing and folding, but I finally opted to toss it, as did Mortensen.  Gators guy said that if I pushed he would have puked and then called, and said he had flopped top two and that I was scaring the crap out of him with how long I was thinking.  He wasn't going anywhere, though, so that was a good laydown.  I doubt Q8 would have called if I raised, so I probably take it preflop, but at least I got off of it.  After this hand, though, I gave away about half my money on a funky hand.  I had mentioned that the Swedish kid was raising and reraising a ton of pots, and once again he came in raising on my big blind.  It folded to me, and I saw KJ off.  I don't particularly like this hand, but I decided to throw in a call.  The flop was 577, and I thought I could take it down with a bet.  I bet 5,000, and the kid called.  I immediately figured that he was floating the flop, looking to take it down with a bet later on.  I was ready to let him do it, but then the jack hit the turn.  I checked it, and he bet out 10,500.  I called.  The river was a queen.  I checked again, and this time he threw out 20,000.  I really didn't believe him, especially with how many pots he had been splashing around in, but this was a big bet to have to call.  I went with my gut and made the call, and like a punch in the gut he turned over AA.  Ouch.  That pretty much cut me in half, under 50,000.

I bounced back pretty well after that, taking a few hands with preflop reraises with jacks and tens.  I also put a squeeze on Edler and Mortensen after Bill raised, Carlos called, and I popped it 15,000 on top with AK.  I was ready to dance if one of them pushed, but they got out of the way.  I ended the night with slightly less than I had started with--57,900.  In relation to the blinds, I still have plenty of chips, as we'll come back to 600-1,200 blinds with a 200 ante.  There's definitely still plenty of room to play, and I have to think I'll have an easier table than I did on Day 2.  I'm a bit disappointed with that KJ hand, since I probably shouldn't even have called it preflop, but I'm glad that I was able to bounce back.  Day 3 is going to get us close to the money, so I'm thinking that if I can get over 100,000, I'll be looking good to make a run at it.  75% of the people that started it are gone, and I've got a shot, so I'll definitely be taking a positive outlook into Day 3.