2,891 is the magic number

Event 17...the largest single starting day event in WSOP history. Quite a spectacle to be sure, and quite a challenge to play with that many people with so few starting chips. Initially they were going to start us with 1k in chips, but after much complaining from players (none verbally from me, I just sent my psychic bitching and moaning) they bumped it to 1,500.

The Vegas trip with the fellas was much fun and on some level quite successful. We killed in the satellites, although none of us actually cashed in the event we were out there for. Robby and John were far and away the work horses of our group, while Matt and I pulled out weight, but didn't quite put the beating on some others we would have liked. I am very very glad we made this trip and on some level am glad I will be making the trip for the main event on my own. We had a really good time, and that is mainly why I am more inclined to make the main event trip solo. I think the 1k event was a great warm-up for the big one, but because we had 4 of us and we were out there both to play and to party a little it was a little too unstructured. I plan to have a more rigid schedule for the first couple of days I am in LV before my starting day of July 30th, that follows something similar to the following:

9:15 AM - Wake-up
9:20 - 10:00ish - Swim
10:00 - 10:45 - Stretching and Yoga (if I can remember how)
10:45 - 11:45 - Coffee and light breakfast, read strategy books, shower, etc...
12:00 - ? - Play in Daily Tourney @ Ceasar's, Alladin, Venetian, or Orleans
6:00 PM - Dinner
7:00 PM - Tourney or Cash Game
1:00 AM - Bedtime

I figure getting into a bit of a rythm will be helpful...or at least can't hurt too much.

If I had to critique my play during the trip I would say that my biggest problem was playing too tight. By tight, I don't mean too conservatively (although I might say there were a few times I could/should have made a slightly loose call), but rather I wasn't playing my game the way I should. I never felt entirely at ease at the table, even though I was making good reads, good plays, and never felt out of my depth.
I won (chopped at 2/3 for me, 1/3 for my opponent) the first sat we played, and then we went and signed up for the $225 last chance tourney. On the 3rd hand of that one, I flopped a set of 7s and check raised my opponent from 125 to 425...he thought about it and then called. The next card gave him top pair (an ace) and the nut flush draw. I moved all in and after thinking for a few minutes he called and then hit his flush on the river. Out in 10 minutes, on the very first hand I played. I think that set me into a bit of a funk and caused me to play a bit less creatively than I would have had that hand gone in my favor.

Check back in a bit for some more random stories from the trip.