WSOP Summary

Now ive had a chance to chill after my main event i can now review the tournament as a whole.

I am very pleased with my play and know i could have easily gone further with a little bit more luck.

The allin i made on day 1 with QhJh (see previous posts) on the turn to push a guy off a better hand and the call i made on day 3 for all my tournament chips on the flop with AK were without doubt the 2 best plays in live poker ive made to date. Both hands were key to increasing my stack size significantly enabling me more freedom to play more hands without worrying as much about my cards. Also the AK i re-re-raised with on day 2 gave me a nice few chips when i pushed a tight player off AK before the flop towards the end of the days play.

I dont think ive mentioned that on day 3 i didnt hit a single flop with maybe 5 pocket pairs as well as a few ace-x and other hands. Mind you saying that i did hit an above average number of flops on day 2 on my second table. I am also pleased to confirm i did not get AA at all in the tournament and only had KK once. This doesnt bother me because i only had JJ or less in St Kitts and in live poker you simply dont have to have good cards to get deep into a tournament if you are playing well. It helps if you can hit flops or straight draws when you are priced in which i know my luck ran ok on.

I think it is very important in deep stack live poker that you get involved in a lot of hands in the early levels, unfortunately i maybe should have been in a few more flops on level 1 but i soon relaxed and took many more flops in level 2 and tried to be the raiser where possible and not the caller , although if you are the caller it helps to have position.

I also realise that it helps to get more chips as soon as possible in the early levels so that the option to bully the tighter stacks and get a strong table image is available without risking too many chips. It really helps to watch as much play as possible at a table and label players so you know what type of player they are. Its also nice if you can pick up some tells which i know i did well on some tables guessing what players were holding when they are in a pot and using that information for later if possible. I play better when im relaxed and comfortable at a table and sometimes a few friendly words to the guy next to you can mean he goes a lot easier on you in blind battles. Its true, honest ! although i use the reverse to make them fold as how i could i betting without the goods if im so nice in between hands.

Ive learnt a lot more about live poker from this tournament and the most important thing is to trust your instincts and feel for a hand removing your cards from your head and putting yourself in your opponents shoes to get an idea what they could be holding. I certainly used my instincts a lot more in this tournament than ive done in any other live one before.

In summary, ive played very well, learnt enough to take my poker to a higher level and cashed for a nice healthy $20,617. Job well done and i now have 4 days left to holiday in Las Vegas , BONUS.

Endnote: I didnt mention that i spoke to Steve Davis again in losers corner waiting for payout as he finished 2 places higher than me in 579th , although the pot he lost on was only half the size of mine :)