June 14th: It is hard for me to believe that I have already reached the midpoint of my time here at the WSOP. Last year at this point I was burned out and ready to go home. This year, I still have the urge to play, feel I am playing very well, and am still hoping that I have another opportunity to have the “run good” hit me square in the face so that I can try and get that elusive bracelet.

I rented a condo for the month of June and couldn’t have really asked for a better spot. When I arrived on June 1st, I gave a quick karmic thanks because my pick-up brought me to Vegas without breaking down and then had to give an even bigger thanks when I realized how perfect my digs are for me. I am about 5 miles from the hustle and bustle of the Strip which is far enough that I can get my beauty rest but close enough that it is an easy drive to and from the RIO or the Strip. I am also right across the street from a grocery store and my bank so getting both food and funds for my tourney entry fees has been painless. Lastly, my place has a pool and an exercise room, and I have been playing in a basketball game that is running in Henderson, so I have been getting in a daily workout and just feel much more energized this year than last.

Last year was also tough because I didn’t know anyone out here. So it just got lonely going from my rental to the casino and back. Meeting and hanging out with some good people from both the internet and live poker worlds has helped tremendously. There are plenty of assholes in the poker community, but I have been pleasantly surprised to find that there are a lot of decent people out there as well.

Of course running well relatively early in the Series helps too. I was fortunate enough to final table WSOP Event # 12 which was a $1,500 Limit Hold’em event. I had not planned on playing this event, but when I busted out of Event #11 (a $,1500 NLHE event) right at the beginning of Level 5, it just so happened to be right at the time when the Limit event was starting. So I figured, “I am here, I have nothing else better to do – why not enter?” Two days later, I was frustrated that I got so close to a bracelet and came up short, but the 5th place money I received means that I am freerolling the rest of this series, makes my investors happy, and makes the rest of the Series basically stress-free.

My plans for the rest of the way are just to keep grinding. I have played in nine tourneys (which is already more than I played last year) and cashed in two. I am still enjoying my relative anonymity as the oldish guy at most of the tables I sit down at, but with more experience, I am also starting to become much more comfortable at the tables. I am now willing to talk more so I have been enjoying my time and actually getting to talk to, play with, and try and figure out who everyone at the table is, rather than just sit there, has been really fun for me. I mean, where else would I find out that Scotty Nguyen has a $60k prop bet getting two to one that he can’t drink booze at the tables during the WSOP?

So that’s it. My midpoint recap. Hopefully I can make just as good of a recap when the WSOP ends. If you are at the Series and see a tall, skinny guy with a UCSB hat on, feel free to introduce yourself. I continue to wish you all the best of luck unless you are at my table.

** Adrian chardrianDresel-Velasquez is a mid-stakes MTT pro and an instructor for PokerPwnage. He has now made a WSOP final table in consecutive years. He has also now finally entered the internet age and tweets his updates:

You can follow him at twitter.com/chardrian