I awoke this morning a man of optimism and hope.  After my hellish 2 levels at the WSOP I am as empty inside as Hilary Clinton’s soul.It’s not that I was card dead (I had a decent run of cards), it’s the fact that I ran into pocket aces FIVE times in 2 levels.  Twice with one guy and three times with another.Oh I also had the joy of having a flopped full house get beaten on the river by a higher boat.I went out on the last hand of the second level where I flopped Q-10-9 with a Q-J suited.  The chip leader with about $80k in chips had limped in in middle position (her first limp since she came to the table).  I called and the big blind made it $600 to go.  We both called.

Chip leader makes it 3k and I go all in for $6k more.  I think I am good with top pair, an open ended straight draw and a backdoor flush.  Both of them go all in behind me and I see anither Q-J which makes me happy.  Then I see the big blind had aces against me for the third freaking time!  They held up and I was off to Caesars to try some cash games.

At caesars I sat down at a 1 - 3 game and lost $500 in thirty minutes because I ran into aces TWO MORE TIMES.  I have to say that the last time the guy told me to fold and showed his set of aces on the turn and saved me more cash.  Normally I don’t want any pity but by that time I felt like I had a target on my forehead.I gave up and headed to Bellagio to make up the money at the BJ tables.  Yay for Bellagio! After winning I had a nice meal and am heading back to sleep. Tomorrow I will try to redeem my self esteem in the Caesars mega stack tournament with the entry fee kindly provided by the Bellagio..

All I can say about the WSOP was that it was quite an experience and just wait til next year!  It was worth all the ups and downs.

Day 3

The first thing I did was hit the blackjack tables and I promptly lost 3 doubles and splits to an English dealer named Jane. Luckily the shoes were pretty decent and I was able to eke out a decent gain.

I thenregistered to play in the 11 am MGM tourney and busted out first hand with J-J vs 2-3 clubs. He called a large raise and a large continuation bet then lectured me how you should never raise Jacks. Apparently I was stupid not to recognize his flush draw (backdoor runner runner).

I then went to Harrah’s and played in their bounty tournament. I had 80 percent of the chips and knocked out 27 people ($10 a head) when we split. I took down first prize and an invite to the year end tournament of champions so I will be back in August.

A woman was one of the last 3 and she had unbuttoned her shirt to distract the table. Hah! I was unfazed since she was had nothing on my wife Missy!

One notable incident occurred during the tournament. A dealer raked the pot after an all-in short stack survived without matching the chips. I helped figure it out and correct the problem but the other guy kept arguing. I looked him in the eye and told him there were only 2 things that were true in this world.

1 NEVER fight a land war in Asia.
2 NEVER argue math with an Asian.

Day 2

After taking a refreshing swim I played BLackjack for several hours and netted over $400 catching a few good shoes.

I decided to head over to Caesars to play in their megastack tourney for practice. My first hand I played Q-7 off from the big blind and flopped second pair. I may be color blind because instead of betting $100, I bet $1000. I got a caller and wanted to kick myself! The turn was a Q and I bet out $3000. Another call and another on the river. So I almost doubled up through a mistake!

The lesson here is always act like you know what you are doing, even if you don’t. Despite some good play I got caught making a huge bluff with A-8 suited against A-K (the guy was moving all in with marginal hands). The upshot is that I will not get in that situation in the WSOP.

I returned to the MGM to play some BJ and promptly lost almost $5k! Things were looking bleak for our hero until I used a positive shoe to win it all back plus $300 with large bets and doubles.

During this session I saw a craps table going nuts for 20 minutes. I meandered over and who did I see but my old buddy TJ Cloutier(a famous pro poker player).He was actually pleasant to me and we commiserated as he lost mucho dinero. I could do an entire blog on TJ saying nasty things about people. The entertainment value was well worth my losses. You have to admire a guy who can tell person after person what worthless halfwits they are to their faces wirhout ever losing track of all his bets on the craps table. Soon he ran out of money and he had a LOT. He went through a roll faster than my wife at Neiman Marcus. Last year he told me he won $40k in a tourney and then lost $50k at the craps table.

I went to bed thinking that if I ever start gambling like Mr. Cloutier someone needs to shoot me. Actually that someone would be Missy.

Honestly, my journey to the WSOP will only turn erotic if I make it deep into the tournament and Missy comes out to support me. Those of you who know Missy know that that is as much of an incentive as the cash.

My trip started out great as I was pleasantly surprised to find myself upgraded to first class! Seat 1A, surely a good omen.

Once I landed I hit the blackjack tables. After going down a grand playing $50 a hand, I was lucky enough to get a real plus7 shoe. I made a quick $1600 and left up $675 for the session. When I hit a positive shoe, I progress my bets.

Brimming with confidence I headed out to the Rio to register. I saw many celebrities including Ray Ramano (he is uglier in person) and Jesus Chris Ferguson. The place was packed, more so than when Rick Fleck checked out the scene last year. I am playing Saturday, July 5th at 12, seat 1 (I am taking this as another good omen).

Heading back to the MGM Grand I decided to hit the tables again. Once again I went down a grand playing $50! Luckily I was able to hold on to catch a plus 8 shoe and upped my bets to net $400. I was up more but I played for the dealers, doubled a ten vs 6 and lost.

Thus ended Day 1. As a side note I continued my streak of being the only man in Vegas not to be approached by a prostitute. I am beginng to develop a complexm