The opening day in this Limit Hold'em event started off rough. Many of the players were talking about how, despite the fact that the buy-in had jumped, implying that the field would be tougher, the play was incredibly loose in those first few hours. I was suffering beat after beat due to suck-outs, and really thought it was all over after the first four hours. Then I went on a mini-rush before the dinner break though and got back up to $6000 in chips, but still only $1000 more than when we had started. I headed off to grab a bite, fully expecting to bust-out within an hour or two of coming back.

It was a stellar table that I came back to after dinner. Among those seated were Diego Cordovez, Thor Hansen, Isabelle Mercier, and Tony "TNT" Nasr. It was, by far, the most fun table that I had sat at during the entire WSOP. We were all talking, hanging out, telling stories, sharing Life-Savers, and just generally having a real good time. This is of special note because it rarely happens at these events. Of course, it only lasted two hours because the blinds went up twice and everyone realized that we needed to be paying a little closer attention to our cards. It was extremely refreshing though to spend those few hours after dinner, not amongst cutthroat enemies, but my "friends". Of course, we ripped each other's throats out after that, but still.

I went on a pretty monster rush those first 3½ hours after dinner. I had worked my stack up to $27,000 and was feeling great about my play. Of course, there were some timely suck-outs during that time, but hey, who's counting? I got beat back down in that final 30 minutes before we finished for the night though, and found myself staring down at now $18,000. Quite a swing in such a short amount of time, and I wasn't feeling very good about it. I spoke with Bear and he took a look at the bright side: the fact that we were quitting for the night right at the perfect time for me. I was bleeding a little and continuing on playing probably wouldn't be the best for my mental state. It made sense to me, so I tried to not focus on the final half hour that day and rather on the run to get to where I was.

We got right back into it the next afternoon, and the action was fast and furious. Knockouts were occurring continually and it seemed that the field was just getting tougher and tougher. Every table I found myself at had me feeling like a minnow in a tank full of sharks. I suffered a pretty brutal beat around 7 pm, and got down to about $14,000 in chips; I had pocket Aces and my opponent caught his second Q on the river to make trips with his KQ. Brutal! I thought it was all over at this point. All throughout this WSOP though it seemed that whenever I had gotten to a dire level, a point where sometimes I would just end up throwing my discipline out the window and blow my chance, I had been able to settle down and ratchet up my level of play. I luckily somehow pulled it off one more time here.

In that final hour before we quit for that second night I locked up in a hand with Young Phan that became a do-or-die for me. If I won it, I would be heading to the final table. If I lost it, I would be heading...upstairs to watch a movie. I'll chronicle it here, if only for its entertainment value, and for the fact that it shows me as a rookie beyond any doubt.

I was slightly short-stacked and was in the big blind with KT. Young had opened with a raise from the button. I called, of course, and was greeted with the following flop K 6 7. Not a bad flop for me. I checked and Young made his bet. I check-raised him there and he just called. Now here is where it gets interesting. The turn brought the 8 giving me top pair, the second-nut flush draw, as well as a gutshot straight draw. I bet out and was greeted with a surprise raise from Young. Now here I made the mental decision that I was either going to the final table with good chips or I wasn't going at all. Young and I locked horns and we capped it on the turn. Now, he had every reason to cap it as I would find out after the river card. I however, certainly did not. Like I said, I think I just made the decision that I didn't want to be crippled heading on in the tournament.

I'll explain why this thinking is of the brain-damaged variety. While many people in tournaments make this decision to throw caution to the wind, they, just like I did, aren't thinking of the chips as exactly what they are: gold. As long as you have some chips you can parlay that into moving further ahead. The second you realize that you are probably beat, you should stop putting your chips into the pot. They are just too valuable in tournaments. As long as you have one chip, you have a chance, as they say.

At any rate, the river delivered the 9, which gave me a ten-high straight. I was so focused on the hearts however that I didn't even see the straight. I checked, Young bet and I just called. It seems this affliction of not raising on the end with pretty unbeatable hands would continue. Young turned over the 45, and showed his straight caught on the turn. I flipped up my superior straight and Young said, "Wow. That's alright. Everyone knows I am loose. I probably didn't have anything." Of course this wasn't true at all, but Young was awfully cool about my bad play. At any rate, it seemed that I had blundered my way right to the final table on this hand. Annie Duke actually came up to me afterward and said, "You know Joe, you definitely should have won that hand, but there was no way it should have been ten billion chips! You sure donkeyed your way to a good position there." Ouch! I couldn't argue though. A few minutes later I received a text from my dad. It said this: "Annie says you just made a straight on a big hand and won some chips. She also said you are a donkey. We'll talk later." Brutal, just brutal.

The last hand of the night Amir Vahedi's Jacks ran smack into my Aces and he was knocked out in tenth. I was sad to see Amir go as he had been, hands down, the most entertaining of any of us still left alive. I got a kick out of the trash-talking that went back and forth between us. Alas, it was not to continue.

Obviously, at the end of the night I was one of the final nine still left sitting and I was stoked to be headed to my second final table this year at this year's World Series. Unbelievable.

Even though it was barely a week after my inaugural visit to the final stage, I felt eons more comfortable on my way there this time. The theme of this second trip was one of redemption. I felt like this was another chance to come through. All I wanted was not to play like a donkey this time. Nothing too monumental, just don't play like a chump and give my chips away. While I did play much better than previously, I can't say that I didn't donkey it up somewhat, and I can't say that there wasn't another instance of not raising with almost unbeatable cards on the end of a hand. Damn it! Hearts sometimes look like diamonds, don't they? Embarrassing, just embarrassing. It should make for interesting television though, so laugh at me when it airs on ESPN.

In some ways this final table was far more crushing than the last one. I had pocket Aces in a three-way capped pot which catapulted me into the chip lead with six players left. Then I played two hands very poorly to give it right back. That is, I really had a chance to win this event, rather than just to place highly. On the other hand, I played much better than I had on my first stay at the final table. A mixed bag for sure.

My final hour at the table was spent facing off against Annie for who would finish 4th and who would finish 5th. We traded blows back and forth for a while, but in the end Annie sent me, along with my pocket 3's, home in 5th.

I try and comfort myself with the fact that most people don't learn to play cards at the World Series of Poker on ESPN. I'm not sure how valid this excuse is, but it's really all I have to make me feel slightly better. As with last time, I just hope to improve the next time I find myself in the same situation. I started off finishing in 8th place, and this time I finished in 5th, so next time I must be due for...

Joe Sebok never leaves a fellow crasher behind. You can reach him at joepoker@barrygreenstein.com, and can view all past columns at barrygreenstein.com under the joepoker link.