Make sure you guys check out my girlfriend's new blog out at: http://thepocketqueen.wordpress.com/ She tackles the uncertainties that this current poker fallout has caused in our lives and making the move to another country with me to go for it!

This year's WSOP was unlike any other I've ever witnessed. An air of uncertainty covered everything with a thick fog. It was such stark contrast to my first WSOP in 2006. In 2006, money not only was growing on trees, but forests of these money trees were sprouting up in the unlikely climate of an overly air-conditioned hallway in an off-the-strip convention area of the Rio All-Suites Hotel. Calvin Ayre was making it rain and suites for every poker site worldwide would give you more free shit than you could shake a stick at. Life was good and there was no reason for any of it to ever stop.

Fast forward on the old VCR to present day. Overflowing suites labeled "Full Tilt" and "Poker Stars" were now replaced with "Blue-optic glasses" endorsed by the likes of Humberto Brenes and Hoyt Corkins (This is fucking depressing just writing it down...more wine should do the trick.) With the Rio's walls barren and a cash-strapped industry refusing to go softly into the night (this quote ironically remained relevant over July 4th), an unexpected repercussion surfaced. The community as a whole, at possibly its lowest moment, banded together.

On a broad scale, people were showing sympathy to those with money stuck online. Narrowed down, the roommates I have stayed with for the last three summers grew even closer. Tiny differences in the past were quickly dismissed. Online poker, with its up and downs, was replaced by petty gambling between friends and bonding over Ice Hockey rivalries. The days of rejoicing after a huge win or dodging a wireless mouse being thrown across the room as someone was enduring a horrible session were gone, at least for the interim. Instead, pool basketball, an almost obsessive affection for Whole (Cole) Foods, and Nintendo's prodigal son - the Wii- took center stage. It was a different Vegas this summer than I had ever experienced, and though much less lucrative and secure from a financial sense, a different sense of fulfillment was found that could only be replicated in a college dorm.

From a results perspective, I had a successful WSOP. My live cash game was definitely rusty to start, but by the end of June I believe it really rounded itself out. I ran fairly terrible in larger pots and still was able to turn a decent profit. I definitely have spots where I always could play better, however, so as a whole, I would grade my live cash game a B+. Above where I expected it to be after the void online poker left, but not completely rocking out.

My tournament resume was looking rather meek until the main event. I was 0 for 14 I believe, with the toughest tournament field I faced being the 5k six-max. I played the hand that crippled me rather poorly for the situation and was kicking myself for several days after. My main event run dragged my summer from the bowels of defeat, however.

Day 1 - Soft table to start. I had gotten the best of a looser player when I had flopped a set multiway, checked the flop of J54 with 55, led with a bet into five people on the 4 turn that looked like a steal attempt which induced a bluff raise, and then check/raised a blank river forcing him to snap muck his hand. This allowed me to have control over his actions early on by initially catching him stealing. I was then moved to a much tougher table. Several players under the age of 25 all calling a different portion of the European continent "home." That's always recipe for at best a crazy table, and at worst a crazy tough one. It figured to lean toward the latter rather than the former. I arrived there with 50k (30k starting stack) and was playing well enough to stay even. After dipping to just under 40 after a few big hand losses, I started running hot.

One notable spot of running hot was when I raised KJ UTG. My image was a little out of line at this point and it was probably a thin open with how often people were playing back. I believe everyone at the table I was at, along with the table behind me, called. Thankfully, the flop fell KsJsJx. checked to me and I led for a little more than half the pot. Someone had to have something and no chance anyone was going to believe I did at this point. I ended up getting one caller from Russia. I'm not sure his name but he was a very good player. He flats and everyone else folds.

Turn To (Board Ks Js Jx To)

I lead huge. My bet here has two purposes. If he has a KQ type hand I think there is a good chance I can get the turn for value and he will fold the river. If he has AJ, QJ, or JT obviously he is never folding. He is probably going to check behind a draw because some of them have showdown value now and if he was going to bet any made hand he's for sure calling a bet. He thinks and flats.

River Qo (What an amazing run out)

Now AJ may decide to fold, but he so often has JT and QJ that I am for sure getting paid off on a large bet. He also may bluff raise that river thinking that I am betting just an Ace off for chop, though that's ambitious value to go after.

I think I have a few choices for sizing: check, bet small to get a call from an Ace or induce a bluff, or overbet assuming QJ and JT make up a huge part of his range and he is never folding. I think its close between all three. I thought a c/raise would often illicit a small bet from him trying to get a crying call from the weaker parts of my range and I would look incredibly strong to raise. A smaller bet means that I am trying to get calls out of AK, AQss and AJ exactly. I think AK in his spot with how active I had been will squeeze pre, so now I have to weigh AJ combos + AQss combo vs the overbet calling combos of QJ and JT. Since there are almost double the combos of QJ and JT compared to the former subset, I went for the overbet. He tanked for a while and called with QJ.

Everything was going smoothly until literally the last hand of the night.

I wake up with KK UTG.

Raise to 900 (200-400)

I am called by a good young player to my left. He was flatting me often so hard to define any range of his at this point. A guy who was probably a little older, maybe 28, squeezes from MP to 4000. He is sitting with 45k. I have a little under 80.

As he squeezes, the tightest player at the table with 25k effective flats on the button. In my mind this is AK or QQ 100%. I'm not sure if I was going to flat or 4bet the original squeeze, but with kings here I think its the easiest 4bet ever. I want to make it amount that if it goes reraise, flat, shove, I can reshove, so I make it 15k total. Fold and original squeezer instantly shoves for 45k total. Obviously I'm not folding no matter how long he took at this point, but him instantly shoving made me way more confident about the hand. I thought if he had AA he's going to Hollywood a little for the recreational player behind him.

The button tanks a while and folds. I call. The button flipped QQ after I call to show his restraint, and my opponent flipped AKo. I think with 150bb and how the action played out that he played this hand very poorly. AKo is way behind my getting it in range there, and with the tight player flatting the 4k I am obviously going with my hand against his 25k stack. 150bb in the main event is just way to much to risk against my range there.

The flop came Q53 rainbow. Thank god the other guy folded...

Turn 4o River 2o and my opponent scoops 100k pot to finish day 1. Deflated, I move on to day 2 with somewhere around 32k...