At the end of my last article, we were nearing the end of day 1, and I had just doubled up Kill-Bill for the second time, leaving me with approximately 40k in chips. The average stack had about 35k.

I finished the day with a 50k stack, without ever being all in, and I don't remember winning a big pot with any hand. I remember only one showdown, where I had AJ vs. Q5 for a 15k pot against a tilted Turk. Other than that, I was chipping up nicely and steadily. <READMORE>

Going into Day 2, I was 25th out of 82 players, and I liked my chances. The average M was pretty low, and I believe that strategy wise, I am as good as anyone in situations like these. So I felt great, but I needed to get a few hands. WELL....that didn't happen.

My starting table was 6 handed, with one big stack and five even stacks. It was a very aggressive table. In four rotations, I kept trying to steal, only to get repopped each time. I finally repushed vs. the chip leader with 77 and took it down uncontested.

I was then moved to the a side table on the first floor, right by where the TV table was. Sitting on my left was Dario Minieri, who had a monster stack, and we both knew who the other was. He is a GREAT player and a true maniac, much like myself. My chances of stealing were pretty much gone, and for the next 3 hours, I did not get dealt a single good hand! The best hand was AT on the button, and I got pushed back from a tight player, so I had to give it up. This was absolutely horrible!

The blinds were getting huge, and I was struggling to maintain my stack. I won a pot of about 20k with J 9 after I raised in 2nd position and hit a flop of A J 9 vs. A rag, and it put me up to about 50k. Now the average was about 70-80k, and the blinds were high.

Then, this series of hands happened. Dario raised in 2nd position, everyone folded, and he frustratedly showed aces. The next hand, he raised UTG, and I felt that it was what I call a frustration raise. A player who had done a lot of repushing but hadn't shown a hand pushed in his short stack of about 20k, and immediately, Dario squirmed in his seat. As I was watching him, the skin on his neck became very red! I again read that as weakness (whoops). I woke up in the BB with AQ, and I decided to isolate, so I pushed my 50k stack in. Dario had about 110k and was immediately shaken....I realized that he was strong. After a lot of deliberation, he called with AK, and the short stack showed AA. OUCH, what a bad situation. This was partly a misread and partly because I NEVER had a hand in 4 hours (not Even AJ, or any pair other than the sevens). Fortunately for me, a queen came on the flop, giving me the sidepot, a 60k stack, and a horrible image...

Another 2 hours went by without me playing a flop, without having anything AT+, KJ+, or 22+ in any position, and I was down to 25k. My image was still horrible, and I wasnt able to steal, as I sort of had a target on my head, and I was getting repopped a lot. With about 7-8k in the pot and a 25k stack, I got dealt 9Ts, which SEEMED LIKE ACES to me at that point. I couldn't wait much longer, and I pushed from 2nd position. This push is pretty standard with an M of 3, but I unfortunately ran into jacks. The flop came T 8 7 with a flush draw, and somehow, I sucked out badly once again. My stack was still pretty small though.

I remained card dead in the next hour, but I did find myself in a few good situations. For instance, if it's unraised to me on the button, I push any two cards. Also, the button was raising every hand, and at some point, I repushed Q 4. Throughout all of this, I grew my stack a bit.

We were then moved to the TV Table. I won a few smallish pots by raw aggression, and I doubled up after repushing with AJ vs 99. I got dealt Aces the next hand, but I didn't get any action. The mommentum was all mine, and dario was feeling a bit intimidated by the TV Table thing, so I ran over the table and built a stack of about 200k.

There were a lot of meaningless pots. Then we were moved off the tv table, and we were six-handed while playing down to 3 tables. A tight lady with whom I'd played in Paris with an M of 5.5 raised UTG. She had 110k, and I had 180k. In mid position, I found AQ. I thought about it and pushed, and she called. She had queens, and....whoops, another suckout!

After that hand, I finally had a big stack. I ran my chips up to 400k by sheer bullying of the table, and I ended the day with 392k. Somewhere in there, I had a real hand. I picked up TT UTG, but I got no action. Besides that, it continued to be the usual--no AT+, KJ+, or 22+. I actually did have 22 once in the SB, and I pushed vs. Dario.

Anyway, going into day 3, I felt great. I had sucked out for my life so many times, and I finally had a big stack. In the second rotation, i raised the button with AT, and I got repopped another 60k. There was already 90 in there, and even though the guy played back at me a lot, I thought he was strong, so I had to flat call. The flop was Q T 7, and he pushed. I felt like shit, and after 5 minutes of deliberation, I decided he had kings and folded. He later told me that he indeed had kings....nice! At the table, I had kept on saying, "I can't believe I'm folding this, I'm definitely ahead," because I wanted to induce some sort of reaction and a show of the cards.

After that, with 290k in chips, I just blinded myself down for a bit. The trend continued of me having NO HANDS WHATSOEVER....NOTHING! To make matters worse, practically every hand had a raise and a reraise. Every time I raised, I got pushed. So I sat back. I was down to 120k chips, and I called Dario's raise (for all my chips) with A9 and doubled up. Then, in the SB, I was going to be pushing with any two cards, since I had 260k, my opponent had 140k, and there was 40k in the pot--and he is tight). I found A9, and I was not happy. I thought to myself, "this wont be live if I'm called, but it's a trivial push." sure enough, he woke up with AK.

I was down in chips, and four hands later, I pushed a 120k stack (m of 3) with A7 sooted, and Dario took me out.

*****

Thats the "hand history" of my tourney! Overall, I havent thought of a hand I would have played differently over the course of all 3 days. I feel great about my day 1 play, and the play on day 2 and 3 was pretty straightforward and was made by the cards. The AQ push vs. Dario was simply a misread and an unlucky situation, since he had been raising UTG all day with connectors, JT+, and any pair. Other than that, everything that came up was a trivial tournament situation. I sucked out a lot, but I never had any hands.

It was rather frustrating to finish 10th, but I left with a smile. I'm proud because I gave my everything out there, and I left the tournament proud of the fact that I put forth my very best effort.

Random Afterthoughts

I am very happy with myself; proud of the way I played, the way I conducted myself, and the way I reacted to the pressure. I sort of confirmed that I belonged there. I felt really comfortable talking someone into a fold when I had all my chips in with thin air (REALLY THIN), and I never gave anything away. I think that those who were there saw that everything I did on the table came out so natural, and I simply confirmed that I belong there.

I was amazed by the coverage I received by the reporters, and I was really happy with it, because I achieved one of my targets: making myself known in Europe. However, what made me extra happy was that even though I felt great about everything, I didn't get carried away, and all my focus was on the game. It simply felt great, and I never lost focus from start to finish. 10th place is bittersweet, but I've said it and done it before. I belong there, and I believe in my game. I'll definitely be back, even if it isn't in the next two years, because I might not play another event in the next two years. I believe that I can and I will take down a major event in the future, just as I was sure that I would be back at the FT of a major online event a while back. I reacted to my exit from this event with a big smile.

And some final advice from me. You started playing the game because you love it, so don't forget that. If you want to play your best, you simply have to love and enjoy every momment of it. If you don't feel like playing, don't play. Play because you want it, and give everything you have to the game.
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