Not much work to do then...
Nice to see a familiar face in the form of Fraser MacIntyre at my table.
Not so good when I jam with an ace second hand and he gives me a spin with Q6. Luckily I'm good and I climb to the dizzy heights of 9500, some of which I have to re invest by posting blinds. Back to 7500.
Most people in this spot want to try to exist, and hope the table takes pity on their short stack maybe enabling them to squeak into a min cash. Of course money is nice, but that's not my style and never has been. I have to be aware and careful of my environment, but without sounding glib I'm trying to win the damn thing, not bleed to death with no chips.
So off we go. I jam and get it through.
I shove again next hand and the same thing happens. Isn't momentum wonderful.
Two hands later I find 99. A real hand at last, I'm still not comfortable enough to raise fold so I jam a third time. Come and get some.
An old grunter starts shaking like a shitting dog and asks for a count. Fuck.
They count me down and he calls. I ask him what amount do I need to have to make him fold, as he's not folding for any amount...
He flips over AK. Marvellous. I'm ahead but when does that ever mean anything?
Flop comes 235, not ideal as he now has another four outs....
Turn is a club, giving him a flush draw as well!!!
Any chance I can fade the entire world?
Of course not. The river is a king,and I'm out just before the money... Screw poker, my bad luck, all the reptiles that inhabit poker etc etc!!!
I lied, the river pairs the five and I now double up to 37,000. Sorry to those of you with weak hearts.
We are three off the money.
We're in the money, guaranteed $3,000 or something I think. 213 players left.
Up to 71k at 300/1k/2k. 180 players left.
For some reason my updates are sluggishly posting. I'm popping out jokes, videos and all sorts and nobody is getting the benefit yet. Patience, I'm sure the Internet will fix itself soon.
For some that reason that seems to have fixed things. Not sure what that was about. I'm typing and posting videos and people are seeing nothing. Blame Apple. Or the Rio. Or someone. Just don't blame me.
70k. 144 players left at the moment, we're at 400/1200/2400
Screen shows 126 players left and break in 10 minutes.
Next break. 45k.
We're back and seem to have been stuck on 126 players for an eternity. I'm seeing people regularly get 100k + in with utter junk. One kid just stuck in 95k preflop with 52s and was called by 77. At this stage both plays are pretty disgusting. We're at 500/1500/3000 for Christ's sake.
40k and waiting for the right spot. I'll certainly get paid if I get a hand.
Ok.
98 players between me and a bracelet. Difficult, but not impossible. Level 16 is in 10 minutes. We are currently at 500/1500/3000.
Annnnnnnd...
In a suitably disgusting WSOP fashion, I just busted out horribly. I'm pretty sure I played the hand about as well as was humanly possible, and the other guy played it as bad as he possibly could have done. Welcome to poker tournaments.
I raise with KK to 7500 at 500/1500/3000.. Easy huh?
An old guy who has been playing pretty badly min-raises me up to 15,000. I don't give him aces for a second, but I'll see the flop heads up just for pot control, and in case the ace flops. I call.
The flop comes 898.
I'm pretty sure he's going to spazz out with an ace and bet, or even better, shove all-in, so I just check to him.
He instantly goes all in and I beat him to the middle for my last 45k
He flips over AQ offsuit, looks crestfallen, and then calls for an ace.
Turn is a ten.
The river is a jack to make him a backdoor queen high straight.
He gets up to leave and looks crushed. I then have to tell him that he's won with the Jack. That perks him up a bit, and he gives a big whoop and a fist pump as I wish the table the best of luck and leave to collect my payout.
A guy on the rail stops me as I'm waiting for the floor to give me a payout ticket.
"Wow man, that's really sick. You got him to put in all his money so badly against you"
"Yep", I reply, and go off to the cage to collect my money.
It's easy to bleat and talk about bad players, that's why 95% of the poker world does it. The truth of the matter is that I'm very good at getting players to put in their chips against me when they're in a bad spot. It's a big part of why I talk at the table and part of (I believe) my edge in events like this.
An unhappy side effect is that sometimes these players will put the money in bad, and suck out and get lucky. Deal with it. It's what happens. I may joke about and talk at the table, but I still try to act professionally, even if I don't play full time any more. I'm already over it and looking at my next event.
1,419 players
I finish 92nd for $3,957.00