As everyone knows, time always goes by more quickly and now it's actually already here, my first blog from Las Vegas, where I arrived well a few days ago. Of course I didn't insist on taking part in the first event of the 39th World Series of Poker right away, a 10,000 dollar buy-in pot limit Hold'em tournament. By the way, last year Allen Cunningham was able to wrap up this tournament for himself.
The tournament began, by European poker standards, relatively early, at twelve o'clock noon. Each player received 20,000 starting chips, and each level took one hour.
Actually I was really looking forward to the gaming Mecca, and I was extremely motivated as I got on the plane, incidentally together with about twenty other poker players. It's easy to imagine what conversation topic number one was on this flight…
So I was in a good mood but unfortunately that didn't last long because after we had arrived, I felt in my bones that I was getting sick and then it started – runny nose, headache, light sweating and all that one day before the first tournament. So I started an emergency program and went to sleep early but woke up again at six in the morning without any chance of falling back asleep. Nonetheless, I felt fit again and then went to the fitness studio right away to train and afterwards over to the Rio for event #1, the pot limit Hold'em tournament.
350 players took place in it, which yielded handsome prize money. The air conditioning in Rio bothered me even before the tournament started and I had the same syndrome again as the day before. So not a very good prerequisite for a successful tournament.
Right in the first hand that I played on that day I cut my stack in half against a 2-outer at the river. My table was very aggressive and so I played cautiously but didn't get any decent hands.
During the first break, the idea came to me that it really wouldn't bother me much if I was eliminated, since I really didn't feel well and I would have had to last far too many more hours to get a top result. Since I was down 6,500 chips in two and a half hours and lost a blind battle with K-5 against 2-5.
Afterwards I went back to my hotel, the Bellagio, and got some sun down by the pool and then I made myself comfortable in the room with room service and some online play.
Tomorrow is a day off from the tournament for me. It doesn't continue until Sunday, with a no-limit Hold'em 1,500 buy-in tournament. That will indeed be the tournament with the second largest prize money in this WSOP cycle because about 4,000 players are expected. So I have a little time to rejuvenate and then get going again at full throttle.
I'll keep you up-to-date
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