Gray-haired poker TRs: Living the WSOP dream

Something took place at today's tournament that I have a question for this board.

During my rush where I won a ridiculous number of hands in a row, on a hand where I check-raised with A-4 suited the player who folded said, "You can't have it every time." So I turned over the Ace. Someone asked the dealer what my other card was, and the dealer turned it over.

Is that the rule, if I show one card another player can ask the dealer to turn over the other card? I'd never seen that before.

Well thats a better question she asks than "how much did you win (or lose) 😃

One other thing happened today, that I thought was interesting.

A player to my right, flashed his cards in one hand in a way that I could see one of the cards. He then folded. I said to him that he hadn't covered his cards enough and had made it so I could see what he had and suggested that he cover his cards better.

The players at our end of the table acted like I had done some incredibly noble thing. Isn't it common/standard for people to advise a neighboring player if they are inadvertently flashing their cards?

Narrow misses are frustrating, but hopefully you are taking away some lessons you can apply in the summer.

I don't know the blinds in the J-J spot unless I missed it, but shoving Ax from the SB may not necessarily be a crazy move from your opponent depending on stack sizes. If you have JJ in the BB there and the SB open shoves, it's likely to be a trivial call most of the time at most stack sizes. Reg type players can show up with some pretty dusty shoves from late position, especially if their stack is dwindling and/or if they think you will fold too wide. Ax is the clear best hand most of the time vs. any two cards.

My rule on players flashing their cards is that I'll warn them one time. If they keep doing it, that's on them. I've never had the table speak up and commend me for it, but usually the flasher will say thanks. I wouldn't want to win via underhanded means, so it's natural for me to "do the right thing" in these situations. However, the moral dilemma has never arisen in what I would classify as a big spot. That's probably because most people who are that sloppy with their hand are likely to be some variety of fish in the first place. You're a lot less likely to see that type of mistake in a big game or deep in a tournament when the chaff has been eliminated.

I don't think I've heard of a dealer flipping over the second card unprovoked. Could be venue-specific or could just be amateur hour stuff. I played a $200 at a small local venue last month and was facing a tough decision. After I'd been thinking for maybe a 30-60 seconds, the dealer pressured me to hurry up (there was no shot clock and time had not been called), which is highly unprofessional. My point is that you may encounter some wacky dealer behavior from time to time when playing off the well-beaten path. It may not reflect standard operating procedure.

19 out of 151 is impressive, even if you didn't get paid 😉 Well done.

I don't play a lot of tournaments, but I can't imagine it's OK for the dealer to turn over a mucked card. Maybe it's room-specific, but that just doesn't seem right. I would have asked why she did it.

"FLOOR!!"

That could have cost you real money.

The rule, which is sometimes misunderstood, is often referred to as "show one, show all." Its meaning is that if you show your cards to one player, the dealer should show them to the entire table if asked (although I'm not sure whether someone has to ask). So think of it as "show one player, show all players." The rule is NOT "show one card, show all cards." The dealer was out of line for revealing your 4 kicker.

I've seen players arguing about the same thing. It's pretty bad that a dealer would make the same mistake.

FLOOR is right- That dealer had no clue what he was doing or its a very peculiar local rule. Everyone gets to see the EXPOSED card only.

It was absolutely the right thing to do. Personally when a player flashes his cards or is just is sloppy looking at his cards sitting next to me I will always quietly tell him he is exposing his hand. Now I'm not so damn noble as to not look if he continues to do it. If I'm next to the dealer and players expose their cards while folding (happens a lot when they flip them high) I just tell the dealer so he can let the player know. But again I'm a one and done on the issue. Candidly most players don't say a word so what you did is obviously the right thing for the integrity of the game but sadly its not as common as many would hope. Similar to noticing a crease in a card or a smudge on the back unfortunately many players will never say a word.

warn once, don't warn again is my rule

I definitely tell the dealer about those so they can take it out of play. I don't want the person that marked it to have an advantage.

Family vacation casino poker tournament #4

I'm back at the casino to play in the daily NLHE tournament.

I start off very card dead, which is no big deal since the blinds are initially so small and the pots most of the time are not that big. The blinds the first four levels are 100/100, 100/200, 100/300 and 200/400. You start with 12,000 chips.

I don't play a single hand in levels 1 and 2. The first hand I play is late into level 3. I have A-9 suited on the button. It folds to me and I bet. Both the SB and BB call. The flop is. J-9-2 rainbow. SB and BB check, so I bet my middle pair and win the pot. I have 12,900 chips, slightly above starting stack.

Next hand I am dealt A-A. I toss in 600 chips first to act. Given how inactive I have been, I fear that everyone will fold, and I won't get paid with aces. My fear is not realized. The player to my immediate left is playing a somewhat short stack and goes all-in (with A-10 suited). To my surprise and delight, the BB with a bit more than a short stack goes all-in with Q-Q. Of course I call. My hand holds up, and I have 21,000 chips.

Level 4 sees me dealt nothing of note. When the level ends and we go on break, I have 17,700 chips.

I am dealt nothing playable in level 5 (blinds 300/600).

In level 6 (blinds 400/800) I have not played a hand since what feels like the Obama administration. Plus, the only hand I have showed down was aces. So when I am dealt A-9 suited in middle position, I open the betting. I get multiple callers. I totally miss the flop and there is a ton of betting activity so I fold. I am down to 12,800 chips. At this stage of these tournaments it starts to get a bit turbo-ey, as I have previously noted. I am already down to 16 BBs, which is no reason to panic, but the blinds do become an issue fairly quickly in these tourneys.

I get dealt 9-9 in middle position. I don't recall if there was any betting action ahead of me, but I go all-in. It's not a hand I am likely to love post flop, so I went all-in figuring my thus far tight image is likely to get it through. In fact, everyone folds.

In level 7 ( blinds 600/1,200) I again get dealt 9-9 in the BB. It folds to the small blind who just puts in the call. I go all-in and the SB folds. I have 14,500 chips.

With only 12 BBs, I am looking for spots to be aggressive. Not go crazy, but hands where I can be first to act and reasonably put people to a decision. I am dealt A-9 suited in the cutoff and go all-in, and I take the blinds. Soon thereafter I am dealt A-4 suited (not sure what position) but I am first to act, so very thinly I go all-in and everyone folds.

At the end of level 8 (blinds 800/1,600) I am dealt A-7 suited and first to act I go all-in and get called by Q-Q. I am a 2-1 underdog, but I flop an Ace and win the hand. I have 25,800 chips (still only 16 BBs).

We go on break right after this last hand. There are 44 players remaining out of the original 108 players. The average chip count is 29,445.

Although I don't always write down in my notes what the levels are, I get active in Level 9 (1,000/2,000) through Level 12 (3,000/6,000).

There is a huge stack at the table and he is playing a ton of hands. I think this was Level 10 (1,500/3,000). He opens the betting by putting in 7,000 chips. I have A-10 offsuit. I have 21,500 chips. I am certain he has been opening light. A lot. I go all-in. He grudgingly makes the call with K-J offsuit. My hand holds up, and I have 46,000 chips. Someone announces we are down to 27 players. I am surprised how fast we went from 44 to 27 players, but I guess that's because of how problematic the blinds have become. Eleven players will cash, although I know that it will actually be 12 players since it is tradition here for everyone to agree to pay the bubble person once it gets down to the bubble.

The same huge stack limps into the pot (3,000 chips) on the very next hand from early position. I pop it to 15,000 from middle position with 9-9. Everyone folds. I have 53,500 chips. Average stack is 50,000.

With the blinds still 1,000/3,000 in Level 10, it folds to me on the button. I have K-10 offsuit, and I bet 9,000. The small blind is a short stack and goes all-in for 21,000 chips with A-J offsuit. I am pretty certain I am behind, but I feel priced in and make the call. I flop a K and win the hand. I have 73,500 chips with 22 players remaining. Average player stack is 58,909.

The next hand I play, it folds to me just before the button. I have K-9. I min raise and win the blinds. I have 69,000 chips with 17 players left.

A big stack opens a hand with a 20,000 chip bet. I didn't write down the level so I'm not sure what the blinds were, but I remember thinking this was a way too big bet in relation to the blinds. I look down at 10-10. I go all-in for 62,000 chips and villain folds. I have 88,500 chips with 14 players left (remember, 11 get paid but tradition says it will be agreed upon that the bubble will get paid meaning 12 get paid).

Now we are in Level 12 (3,000/6,000). It folds to me in the SB. I have K-9 offsuit and I pop it to 20,000. Big blind folds. I have 89,000 chips.

In the next hand I play, I have 7c-9c. It folds to the button who is pretty short. He just limps. I put in 3,000 to call and the BB checks. The flop is J-10-rag, no flush draw. It goes check-check-check. The turn is another J. I decide to play it tricky and act like I slow played a J on the flop and now have three Jacks. Of course I only have a gut shot, but they don't know that. I bet 10,000 chips and both opponents fold. A couple of hands later, the button who was short says he had a 10 and asks if it was good. I was busy stacking chips from another pot, and I said I didn't remember which hand he was talking about. He got knocked out on the last hand of the level, and on break I admitted I used the scare card 2nd J to run a bluff.

The next hand I was on the button. It folded to me. I had A-5 suited. I bet 21,000 and won the blinds.

We go on break. I have 103,000 chips. Average stack is 92,571.

When we return from break for Level 13, blinds are 4,000/8,000. So even though I am a bit above average stack, I only have just a tad under 13 BBs. I comment to a player next to me that most people really can't afford to lose a hand they get involved in.

We are seven-handed at my table and it folds to me in middle position. I have J-10 and I raise and take it. I think I may have also won a hand that I did not write down, because now I have 125,000 chips

I get a walk in the BB.

Next hand I am in the SB. It folds to me. I limp with Q-10. The BB shoves for 59,000 chips and I fold.

Now there are 13 players left. Eleven get paid, but the tradition at this casino in these tourneys is on the bubble to have everyone agree to pay the bubble. So we are on the effective bubble.

Blinds are still 4,000/8,000. I think my table was six-handed at this time. I am third to act on an unopened pot, and I look down at K-K. I min raise to 16,000 chips. The player two to my left with an identical chip count to mine makes a massive all-in raise. Of course I insta call when it comes around to me. We are playing a roughly 250,000 chip pot (there are only a total of 1,297,000 chips in play for the entire tournament).

My K-K is well ahead of villain's offsuit A-K.

The flop has an Ace. Sigh.

I do not improve on the turn or river, and I am out on the effective bubble.

Another near miss for me. That's two tourneys in a row. I was second bubble boy followed up by actual bubble boy in my last two tourneys on this vacation. The fact that they only pay top 10% in tourneys at this casino (as compared to top 15% at the WSOP) is a tough nut to crack given how fast the blinds become troublesome. I'm not really sure what these near misses say about me.

Fun one. I think obvious scare cards (paired board, Axx, 4-to-a-straight/flush) are great bluffing opportunities against the middle 80% of players on the bell curve. The bottom 10% are bad to bluff against because they'll never fold anything. The top 10% are bad to bluff against because they'll never fold anything.

It may not really say much about you. Short stacks and fast levels mean anyone is going to need a lot of run-good and hold-good to cash top 10%. A few misses don't mean your process is flawed in some huge way.

That aside, I do think there's some room in these really shallow spots to find cool plays. There is definitely some art to short stack play.

We also always have to be mindful of obligate gambling spots even when we don't LOVE our hand. Limp-folding QTo vs. a 59k shove SB vs. BB at 8k blind level feels too tight to me. A cursory look at the charts backs that up. Upswing and Poker Coaching have a very wide shoving range from the SB on 10BB. It's actually far wider than I would've guessed. Here's the Upswing graphic. You can see they recommend jamming all sorts of crap from the SB.

https://pokercoaching.com/blog/push-fold-charts/

PokerCoaching Blog -

Push Fold Charts

We really want to cash tournaments and we really don't want to be eliminated, but sometimes that determination works against us and actually costs us money when we pass up spots we should take because we are afraid of the exposure. Norman Chad has often been inclined to repeat the great Amir Vahedi line from 2003, "In order to live, you must be willing to die." It's a dangerous maxim if embraced too liberally, but still something worth internalizing for tournaments.

Dogface: "We also always have to be mindful of obligate gambling spots even when we don't LOVE our hand. Limp-folding QTo vs. a 59k shove SB vs. BB at 8k blind level feels too tight to me."

I struggled with what to do there. Folding seemed way too tight. Jamming seemed kind of thin. So I went in the middle and limped, which didn't work out. Truth be told, I didn't like any of the three options I had, but you are probably right that I should have jammed and put the BB to the test rather than giving him the opportunity to put me to the test. That said, calling a jam from villain felt like it would have been a punt in the moment so I folded. What I was hoping for was the my limp would let me see a flop, and I was going to be aggressive post flop. Alas, I never got that chance. Greater aggression preflop on my part probably was the way to go, but it sure wouldn't have felt good. But I see your point.

Dogface: "We really want to cash tournaments and we really don't want to be eliminated."

I really wasn't upset about the monetary aspect of failing to cash. The money involved was far from life changing. My disappointment was in the fact that if my K-K had held up against A-K, I would have had an enormous stack. That would have been a rare opportunity to likely make the final table as one of the chip leaders. An experience like that doesn't come around every day, and I wanted that poker experience for my growth as a player. I really wanted the opportunity to use my chips as a weapon. I wanted to see what it would be like to play a final table as a front runner. Would I play it just right? Would I play it too safe? Would I play it way too aggressively? The loss in the opportunity to grow as a player and experience something rare as a poker player meant waaaaay more to me than the actual dollars involved. The only thing I know for absolute certain is if I made the final table flush with chips, I would not have entertained the possibility of an ICM chop. If I made the final table, I was going to play it out for the learning curve of it.

Two months is a long time to not have played a hand yes! (sorry, couldn't resist this obvious joke)

Tournaments are fun like that. You can play well and run good for hours on end, but then when it really matters you get stuff like this. Not fun :(

Best thing to keep in mind though is that the hand is completely standard, and if you were the one holding AK you would for sure have played it the same way. And maybe you are saving up the run good for this summer.

Har Har!

they say you are a tournament player. probably a good one since you consistently run quite deep. you got into a large pot with a big preflop advantage, and villian binked one of his three outs on the flop. that's how tourneys go. you can play well for 8 hours or whatever and then you get coolered and come away with nothing but the experience.

tourneys are depressing, I hate them

I hope you make a big score soon. Your game seems solid enough and it seems you have a better approach now vs before. You gotta play to win, not just survive. I have always subscribed to that Vahedi quote, and I actually think it's applicable to life in general (with obv exceptions, of course).

Now you just gotta fade the run bad and run hot yourself which we know is really hard to do. It's part of why I never liked tournaments- the thought of playing well and getting nothing time after time, having to win 10-20 coin flips to have a shot etc, it's too much potential irritation.

I'm only willing to torture myself with slot tournaments as you know. The thought of torturing myself in a skill game seems 10x worse.

Family vacation casino poker tournament #5

My wife is spending the day with our niece, so that means I get to play in another poker tournament. I have been running deep in tournaments, but I haven't been able to crack the top 10% for a cash so far. Let's see if today is any different.

The first two levels I have no playable hands, which is fine since the blinds are 100/100 and 100/200.

In level 3 (blinds 100/300) I get hit hard by the deck. I get dealt 10-10 and there are three limps ahead of me. I certainly don't want to play 10-10 four-handed post flop, so I make a healthy raise and everyone folds.

Soon after that I look down at K-K. I open the betting and get called by a player who has been playing too loose and who chases draws way too much thus far. The flop is 7-3-2 rainbow. I bet, villain calls. The turn is an 8 with a second diamond. I bet, villain calls. The river brings a card that does not complete any of the flush or straight draws. Knowing my opponent's propensity for chasing draws, I just check and sure enough he goes all-in. I insta call, and as suspected he had a busted straight draw.

The very next hand I am dealt A-A. The table captain who has a big chip stack limps. My read on him is he likes to play a lot of hands and on the turn or river if his opponent slows down he likes to put them to a decision in which they have often folded. I raise his limp and he re-raises. I raise yet again, and he calls. The flop is harmless. I bet, he calls. The turn also seems harmless, so I bet and he calls. The river is not scary. I don't have a ton left, so I go all-in and to my surprise he folds.

I don't get anything the rest of Level 3 and almost the entirety of Level 4. On the last hand before the first break I get dealt A-A again. A middle position player opens the betting. I raise and everyone folds, including the original bettor. We go on break and I have 28,600 chips (starting stack was 12,000). The average chip stack is 16,167.

In level 6 (blinds 400/800) I play a couple of hands from the blinds. The first time is when I am in the SB and it folds to me. I have 2-3 suited and I put in the additional 400 chips. The BB just checks. The flop is 8-8-8. It goes check-check. The turn is a J. I stab at it and the BB folds.

The next time I am in the BB it folds to the small blind who puts in 400 more chips and I just check with 2-9 off suit. The flop is J-4-3. It goes check-check. The turn is a 3. SB checks. I can definitely have a 3 in my hand (I don't, but as played it is reasonable that I could) so I bet 1/3 pot and villain folds. I have 27,500 chips.

Early in Level 7 (600/1,200) it folds to me on the button. I have Kh-10s off suit and I 2x open. Small blind calls. The flop is the three spades, no K, no 10. My read is that SB could have called wide preflop because he thinks he can outplay me after the flop. Villain checks. All I have is a flush draw, but I know, based on prior play, that if I check back he is going to try to push me off my hand after the turn. So I bet and villain folds.

Shortly after that, I am dealt A-Q. Strangely, so far today and if my memory is correct from the last couple of tournaments I have been dealt 9-9 through A-A a decent amount of times, but A-K, A-Q and A-J have extremely rarely been dealt to me. This seems mathematically peculiar since there are a ton more AK, A-Q and A-J combos than there are premium pairs. I believe this is the first time today I have been deal an A and paint. I bet and everyone folds.

The rest of Levels 7 and 8 I don't receive anything playable. We go to break. I have 21,800 chips.

In Level 9 the blinds are 1,000/2,000. It folds to SB who limps. I have Q-8 and I just check from the BB. The flop is A-8-7. SB checks, I bet and I take it.

I go card dead for a couple of levels. I'm not sure what my chip count was, but I haven't played a hand in quite awhile. I am dealt Q-Q in Level 11 (2,000/4,000). I open 2x. An argument can be made I should have gone all-in, but I felt if I did that everyone would fold given my tight image from the past couple of levels. In my perfect world I will get called by the BB. Instead I get three calls. Not what I had in mind. It get worse as the flop is A-A-K. It folds to me. I know how tight my image is. As played, I could definitely have A-K (I don't, but I can definitely sell this story). I go all-in. Everyone folds. Phew! At the other end of the table, I hear two of the players discussing how I must have had a monster given how long it had been since I played a hand.

Not long after that there is a raise (by a tricky strong player) and a call. I look down at A-K and I go all-in. The original bettor goes deep into the tank and folds. The original caller insta folds. I now have 61,000 chips, which gives me some room to breathe, but even so I only have 15BBs. As I have repeatedly found in these tournaments, the blinds are massively turbo-ey around this level. The original bettor says he would have called against anyone else but me. He says he had A-K suited. I am pretty surprised he laid it down. Pleasantly surprised since we had the same hand. He asks what I had. Not a chance I am answering his question. I tell him that if I get knocked out before he does, I will tell him at that time. Again I hear him say to the player next to him that I have not been playing hardly any hands, so surely I had it.

A hand or two later I am dealt A-A, I open the betting and everyone folds.

We have been playing 7-handed at my table for awhile now, which means the merciless blinds are coming around really quickly every orbit.

The next hand I play is when I am in the BB. It folds to the SB who limps. I have Jh-9h suited and I decide to see a flop. The SB was low on chips. Maybe I should have put him all-in. My plan was if he checked after the flop, I would put him all in. The flop was Ah-8s-4h. SB min bets half his tiny stack. I have a flush draw so I put him all-in for his remaining scraps. Of course, he calls. He has Qc-8d, middle pair. So in addition to my flush draw, I have two over cards to his pair. Though behind at the moment, I am actually a slight favorite. This would be a good time to "get there" since losing any hand is pretty detrimental at these blind levels. I do not get there. I am down to 40,500 chips -- 13 big blinds.

Given how tight my table image still is, when I am dealt A-4 suited I min raise light. The big stack at the table, who is one of the players who earlier had commented how tight I had been playing in recent levels, then massively over bets all-in. Given that he thinks I am playing tight, I am certain he has me crushed and I fold.

We reach Level 11 and the blinds go up to 2,000/4,000. We are still seven-handed, so I am now aggressively looking for spots to make a move since the blinds are relentlessly and frequently coming around to me.

I am down to 22,000 chips when I finally find a spot. The table big stack limps. Another player limps. I have A-7. There is a ton of dead money in the middle. I go all-in. I figure the raise is big enough that I still have fold equity. It folds to the original (big stack) limper and he goes all-in. Not what I was hoping for. The other limper folds. My opponent turns over A-K, which was surprising since I had not seen him slow play a big hand this way previously. Villain hit a straight on the turn, meaning I needed a K for us to chop. No K arrived and I was out in 22nd place (97 players total). Ten players will cash, so I went fairly deep but still not that close to cashing. It is amazing how fast my high-water mark of 61,000 chips disappeared thanks to losing a coin flip, huge blinds and seven-handed play.

The timing of my bust out hand was interesting as my phone proceeded to blow up immediately after. Literally five seconds after I got knocked out, my phone dinged. It was the broker representing me in one of my office buildings that is up for sale. I walked out of the poker room, read his text and called him back. We had received a promising offer and spent a few minutes discussing our response. After I hung up, out of curiosity I walked back into the poker room and saw that the tourney was already down to 16 players. Five players had been knocked out in like 5-7 minutes.

Moments later, my partner in a shopping center texted me that we had received an offer for our one vacancy (the biggest space in the center) and he needed me to call him to discuss our counter offer. After I finished that phone call, my younger daughter, who has just started a new job, texted me that she needed my guidance on what to do about the health insurance, dental insurance and life insurance plans available to her with the new company. Once I had that discussion with her, my older daughter texted me about a banking question she had. So if you are wondering why I find poker tournaments relaxing (despite the blood pressure rising variance that accompanies them), the fact that I get to ignore my phone/e-mails while I play is why.

My vacation will be over in a few days. I suspect I won't make it back to the casino before I head home. I'm not sure how much these tournaments have helped me get ready for this summer's WSOP since the structure is so much slower/forgiving at the WSOP. These vacation tournaments do not give you a ton of chips to start with. The biggest discrepancy is how fast the blinds become a tsunami out here, whereas the WSOP gives you so much more time, much more play.

In any event, I suspect the next time I find myself at a poker table will be this summer at the WSOP. Until then ...

Fun read! Even if the results weren’t satisfying.

I think these are great practice for WSOP. Getting reps in, thinking about spots that come up frequently, it’s important to have that frame your tournament mindset.

In your writing I’m noticing how you’re adjusting your ranges to your stack depth, and what stage of the tournament you’re in. This practice will serve you well in the summer.

Sorry that KK couldn’t hold vs that AK… that’s just how these things go.

Some fun HHs in there. Stabbing when nobody else shows strength can be very effective.

If people are openly commenting on how tight you are then that can be taken as a sign to add some flavor to your ranges and/or to bluff with impunity. I've gotten less nitty over the years, but used to get those comments myself. It's not a bad image to have if you can leverage it.

Tomorrow will make it exactly two months until I arrive in Las Vegas for WSOP 2025. Starting to get excited/impatient.

The timing of my impending arrival in Vegas became apparent to me yesterday at work. I am in the process of selling an office building of mine. Based upon the contract being finalized yesterday, I looked at the timing of things (seven-day attorney final comments, buyer due diligence, buyer mortgage time frame, etc.) and I determined what I thought would will be the most likely closing date, which I projected be exactly the date I will be flying to Las Vegas. So I e-mailed my real estate attorney about this, and she has requested closing be a few days earlier. We'll see if that is possible.

I really don't want to have to deal with closing while I am in transit. Even worse would be if closing is a couple of days later and I have too deal with it on 10-minute breaks from a WSOP tourney. It's doable, just not desirable. The last office building of mine that I sold was this past Fall when I was in Ann Arbor for a Michigan football game. It was the Friday before the game. The buyer was moving painfully slowly and it looked like closing would have to spill over to the following Monday. Not the end of the world, although the saying is that time is the enemy of all deals. It was mid-to-late afternoon and I was in a local t-shirt shop buying Michigan gear when I got a call from my broker saying the other side had finally finalized whatever needed finalizing. I said, "So we'll close on Monday?" The broker said all of a sudden the buyer had a sense of major urgency and wanted to close immediately/today with time running out.

WTF, they drag their heals for days, and now I have a timing crisis? Yes, that was exactly the case. So the broker sends me an electronic document which I could read on my phone and then docusign. I went to a quiet corner of the store, Michigan gear over my left arm, cell phone in my left hand and tapping away with my right index finger to docusign the contract. Technology is pretty amazing.

I'd prefer not to have a repeat of this type of closing from the ParisShoe hallways during the WSOP.

This will be my third WSOP, and I feel the same excitement today that I felt prior to my first WSOP. I hope that excitement never goes away. At my age it's not a great idea to wish a part of my life away, but I sure do wish I could fast forward to two months from now. The biggest difference between now and my first WSOP is there is no nervousness, no anxiety. I know how everything works, I know where everything is, I feel a sense of belonging.

This feels like the sweet spot. I am still excited about the upcoming experience, but I do not feel any uncertainty. Now all I need to figure out is how to get a hot run of cards when the blinds start to matter at the WSOP ... are you listening Poker Gods?

Run good!!!