WSOP - Day 1B

The big day arrived - Day 1B. After getting past the scrum to get in I found my seat. Good news - I didn't recognise any of my opponents. After we got going I settled in nicely. I wasn't getting any cards but every now and then I'd raise and grab some blinds. The first half of the day (six hours) passed by mostly uneventfully. I was able to slightly increase my stack but, more importantly, avoid any big drops. Also, I'd not seen anything to worry me from the other players at the table - only one of them was in any way tricky (raising with crap and bluffing), the others were all classic weak-tight apart from a couple of looser calling stations.

After the dinner break (and a hearty curry) things picked up for me. I called a raise from the guy immediately on my right with J9. The flop came JJ2 and he check-called my bet. The blank turn went check check and another rag on the river saw him check-call my bet, even saying 'there's no way you have the best hand' before calling.

Before I describe my big hand of the day, let me set the context. Earlier I'd seen a hand which went like this. Some guy raised. Rocky McGranite called. Then an old guy raised from the button. Original raiser called. Now the rock raises! Both opponents called the raise. Flop is king-four-rag. It's checked to the old guy on the button who bets. The original raiser folds and the rock goes all-in. He must have a massive hand. The old guy calls with his pair of tens! The rock, far from having the AA or KK I thought he would have, had 44 for a set. Turn was a blank and the river was a ten, making the old guy his bigger set.

OK, my big hand. I raise with JJ and it's folded to the old guy on the button, who re-raises. Not only had I seen him do this with TT before, but I'd also seen him limp with AA from the button. I therefore thought there was a fair chance he had a good, but not great hand. There was enough in the pot for me to want it now so, after quite a long think, I went all-in. He immediately called and I prayed for AK, as I thought it was the only possible hand I could be ahead of. 'I think your pair is bigger than mine', he said. 'No it's not' I replied as I tabled my hand. He flipped over 88 and I was ecstatic. The board brought four clubs which actually made my flush and I'd doubled up. Finally, my WSOP had got going.

My second big hand was against a woman who had got moved to our table. Twice she'd raised my blind from quite early position. Twice I'd reraised with AK and AJ and made her fold. The third time she made this raise I re-raised from the button with QQ and she called. The flop was three rags and she checked to me. I checked behind, feeling confident I was ahead (I'm sure she'd have re-popped me with KK or AA). I wanted her to think I had an AK or AQ-type hand. Turn was another rag and she bet. I flat called. Another rag came on the river and she bet once more. Again I called (no point raising - only a hand that beats me calls) and she showed TT. I think her river bet was pretty poor - what hand that she was beating would call? If she thinks I have AK then let me bluff at the pot.

The third major pot of the day was one in which I actually made an error. A fairly tight player raised from mid-position on my big blind. I find my second AA of the day (the first only won some blinds) so I re-raise. I didn't put too much thought into the size of the bet, I just made a standard re-raise amount. He called. We checked an all rag board to the river. Not betting on either the flop or turn was a mistake on my part. When it came to the river he had about 8,000 chips left. He called my bet of 4,000, which was the biggest callable amount I thought I could bet. A bigger re-raise pre-flop, or an intermediate bet on flop or turn, would have meant I could have got all his chips. This was 4,000 chips I missed out on.

I went into the last level of the day with about 37,000 chips and my plan was to protect that stack for Day 2. However, I managed to gently increase it to 53,425 by the close without taking any risks, simply through blind stealing and taking a couple of pots away. After bagging up at the end I moved to my table for Day 2 and found myself one of only three stacks above 24,000. Allen Cunningham is at the other end of the table with 77,000 and there's a 43,000 on the table as well. As long as I stay out of Allen's way I should be able to have a good day, provided my big hands hold up.

I'm actually feeling a bit nervous now for the first time. I had no nerves at all before or through Day 1 as it was all just a big adventure - I had nothing to lose. Now I do - I'm in a good position and have the chance to blow it. Obviously I hope I don't.