53rd

I just finished 53rd in a firestorm. I can honestly say I've never visibly showed too much emotion in a live poker tournament.......until now. My hand is still hurting from the chair I hit. We'll get to that. I arrived today with 63,700. Early on I raised it to 4k from the button with 9 10 of spades. The big blind defended and the flop came K Qs 5. He bet 5500 into me. At this point, I was just not ready to give up a pot that easy, so I decided to call and see if I could float him off the hand on the turn. The turn was a nice 7 of spades giving me a flush draw in addition to my straight draw. After asking me to count my chips, the SB checked. I decided to take a stab at the pot because I felt like he might have a Q and I could take it down right there. I bet 11k and was called fairly quickly, now basically putting my opponent on a K and really nervous about what I was going to have to do on the river. The river as a wonderful 8 of spades. The player checked to me and I wanted it to look like I missed a flush draw or something so I shoved my chips in quickly. He called and I was quickly up to 130k after he mucked in disgust. Then, I got moved and called a 6k raise from early position out of the SB with 1k/2k blinds with KQdd. The flop came Jd 4d 2s. Oh boy. I check raised the guy basically all in and we got it in there against his AA no diamond. Brick, brick and I was back down to 50k. After finding some good spots and winning a small all in with AK vs A6, I was back up to 100k before moving to my next table. At this point, I noticed a different dynamic. The player to my left had a ton of chips and a ton of gamble, so I was going to have to be ready to play post-flop. I decided to essentially tighten up until I was deeper stacked because I had 100k with 3k/6k blinds and it would greatly limit my post-flop play with this guy calling so much. I won a nice pot against him with QcQs when I raised to 16k was called by him. The flop came 9c 3c 3. I bet 22k, he called. Turn was a 7c. I moved in and he folded. Then the hand of the tournament and possibly worst beat of my life came. I raised to 16k in late position. Erik Cajaleis called out of the SB and the big blind after asking if we just got to 54 squeezed his last 60k in the middle. I really thought it over and how he asked if we just made the money and I jammed my 120k over the top. He showed As8s to my A10. The board ran out 9 5 2 3 river 8!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I turned around hit a chair and probably swore. I'm usually extremely quiet, but for the amount of money in the pot along with the dead money. I would have been at a little over 200k. Instead, I was crippled to 60k. I then got moved to another table and found KQo in mid position which is certainly good enough when folded to me. I pushed all in and was called my AK and that's a wrap. It was around 11k for the win which is certainly good enough for a main event seat. It will also keep me below my around 20k WSOP bankroll that I planned out even if I play in the main event. The good news about the tournament is that I have no regrets. I decided to make moves when I was short that were aggressive and without fear. When playing for a lot of money, I always see players change their games, but I'm glad I didn't. Overall, I think I played about as good as I'm going to play in a tournament. If the luck was on my side, I'd still be playing. Thanks to everyone for your support and interest throughout this. It really means a lot getting messages, calls and everything especially with all the ups and downs.