The end result was sitting in a rental car in a driveway in Henderson, Nevada with no recollection of driving home. It was one of those “How did I get here, what happened to the last 20 minutes” moments. I’ve always been pretty even-keeled and my emotional swings are minimal. My highs aren’t that high and my lows aren’t that low. So, finding myself sitting there staring at the garage stunned and dazed was a very odd situation for me.

How did I get there? By the summer of 2007, I had been traveling the poker circuit for almost a full year covering tournaments for PocketFives. During that year, the stakes I had been playing had steadily increased. I was coming off a cash in the largest buy-in tournament I had ever played (a $5,000 WPT event in Reno) and there were a few smaller WSOP events I was hoping to play if I could fit them around my work schedule. Cash games were my spot, though, where the swings and variance were less and I could control the variance more so than in live tournament poker.

The thought of playing in the Main Eventnever crossed my mind. $10,000 was way out of what I could afford to risk on one tournament. When Day 1A of the Main Event came around, I was happy to be covering the action and wrapping up a long summer of hard but rewarding work.

As I was walking the tournament floor, a player I had gotten to know a little bit and had played against deep in the Reno event called me over and asked, “What day are you starting?” It took me a minute to process his question and when I understood, I replied, “Oh, I’m not playing. $10K is way too much for me to have in a tournament and I have to work anyway.”

We chatted for a moment while a hand went on at his table and finally he put it to me. He said, “You work on setting it up where you don’t have to work and I’ll take care of making sure you have enough backing to play in the tournament.” I was shocked, having never thought this was a possibility and never dreaming of asking someone else to put me in the event.

We talked a little and I insisted that if I were to play, I would have to put up some of the money myself and told him the maximum amount I felt like I could swing. It was more than I really wanted to have invested in one tournament, but a shot to play in the Main Event was something I couldn’t pass up.

Just like he said, he put together a small group of investors, I put in my part, and next thing I knew, I was holding a card with my table and seat for Day 1D of the WSOP Main Event. I got a good night’s sleep, had my reporting team prepared to handle everything without me, and was ready to go.

Things started off amazingly well. I was nervous at first, but won a couple of pots early and got into the groove. Just before the second break, I won a nice pot when I flopped a straight and a flush draw against another player’s lower straight and lower flush draw and we got around 20,000 in each.

The hand shot me up to almost 50,000 in chips from the 20,000-chip starting stack. I continued to run well and play well enough for the rest of the day and ended up finishing my Day 1 with over 100,000 in chips and was in great position going into Day 2.

As smoothly as Day 1 went, Day 2 was the opposite. I sat down in the 10-seat of my Day 2 table and within three hands, flopped a set of fives only to end up doubling up a player who had flopped a set of queens. The good news there was he only had about 25,000, so it hurt, but didn’t crush me. Next up, I bluffed off more than I should have before I settled in and got into the groove.

I chipped back up some and caught a few hands when my table broke and sat down at a new one. I thought I was back on track when I flopped a set of eights before I got all of my chips out of the rack I carried to the table. Underset to three jacks, but again, I was lucky that my opponent was relatively short in chips and I was still okay.

Nothing went right at that table, but the losses were minimal after that first hand and then that table broke as well. I was off to my third table of the day with about 90 minutes of play left.

At the time, each day played five full two-hour levels and the money bubble was expected early on Day 3. So, at the same time as we were closing in on the end of the day, the money bubble was starting to loom. We weren’t there yet, but it was starting to creep into everyone’s mind as the field size kept dropping.

With about 20 minutes left in the day, I was around the chip average and although I had less than the 100,000 I started the day with, I with was happy to have survived what I considered to be a tough day. I hadn’t played perfectly, but had gotten lucky to not go bust in a few hands and still had a shot.

Then, the hand that left me stunned and dazed came up. I was dealt two kings and raised back and forth with another player pre-flop until finally I said, “I’m all in” and slid my chips into the middle. He went into the tank and counted out chips, determining I had him covered, but just by less than five big blinds.

He was pained by the decision, but finally decided he had too much in to fold and with an “I hope you have A-K” statement, made the call with pocket nines. On the T-8-7, flop my heart skipped a beat, but a four on the turn left me one card away from doubling up. But instead, the six of diamonds hit, making his straight.

That was really the last I remember of the tournament. I know I got my last couple of blinds in with A-7 against pocket tens, lost, collected my bag, made it to the car, and got back to the house where I was staying.

A few hours later, I was over it, but that was the first and only time I have ever been stunned by anything having to do with poker. The magnitude of the event, the value of the money, knowing other people I respected had their money riding on me, and the abrupt end all combined to leave me sitting in that driveway holding the steering wheel with both hands not knowing how I got there.

As I plan to get out to Las Vegas this summer and play a few events, the Main Event is the only tournament I am sure I will be playing. And every time I think about playing the Main Event, I always think back to the first one and get a chuckle thinking of myself sitting in that car.

Court Harrington has worked on the business side of the poker industry in roles including tournament reporting for PocketFives, radio hosting for PokerRoad Radio, coaching for the WSOP Academy and privately, and a variety of behind-the-scenes responsibilities. He also plays in cash games and tournaments. Harrington is currently doing consulting work and exploring business opportunities outside of the poker industry. You can contact him at Court@CourtHarrington.com.