I’m having the worst World Series I’ve ever had. I only cashed twice in the preliminary events, I’m down money in the cash games and going into the Main Event I’m down almost $200,000 in tournament entries. In the first three $10,000 buy-in events I played, I finished within one table of the money, which was annoying to say the least. My two deep runs came in the $10,000 stud event where I made the money in 13th place and a $1,500 no-limit hold’em event where I finished 58th.
In that event, I was well over average chips midway through Day 2 and on the hand right before the dinner break I called a raise with [7c][8c] from the big blind. The flop came [9c][6h][3c], giving me both straight and flush draws. Normally I play this type of draw fast because there is more than one way I can win the pot. I can either get fold equity and win the pot on the flop or get all my chips in as a favorite against most hands.
This pot, had I won it, would have put me near the chip lead with 58 players left. However, my opponent got it all in against me with top pair and I bricked out. Instead of having a good shot to at least final table this event, that was all she wrote.
I still have a few days left in Vegas and the Main Event to play. I feel like I’ve had a lot of bad luck this series and usually when that happens, there’s a lot of bad skill involved too. I’m sure I made some bad decisions, but it seems like a lot of the times I bluffed, my opponents had a hand to call me down with.
Sometimes I didn’t raise in the spots where my opponents couldn’t call, sometimes they just drew out on me. But the funny thing about the World Series is, if I can get in a deep run in the Main Event, I won’t feel so bad about the last seven weeks. It only takes one good run of cards to make you feel like you’re smart. And the way things have gone this summer, I don’t feel so smart about poker right now.
