WSOP 2007: Playing with the best

Easy smiling as the chipleader at the time with Frank and Katja

Sorry but this will be a short update only as I am tired like hell. I bought myself in to the $5,000 potlimit holdem event as did 390 other players, most of them well known full time professional players. I made it through day 1, now 53 players are left, 36 will be in the money and I have 110,000 in chips with the average being at about 75,000. It could have been way more, I was already at 180,000 but I lost a big pot, recovered to 150,000 but lost the very last hand of the day also with  on a    board when my opponent had the on the button.

I played and survived today long hours with:

- Phil Hellmuth (out)
- Josh Arie (out)
- Robert Willamson III (out)
- Jason Strasser (out)
- Dewey Tomkow (eleminated by me)
- Thomas Wahlross (out)
- Michael Gracz (eleminated by me)
- Howard Lederer (out)
- three top online pros which names I don’t know (2 taken out by me, ‘raszi’ still in)
- two well-known live game/tournament pros which names I don’t know

It was a very though game today and I played my very best game, except in one hand very late today (which costed my 70,000 in chips right away) when I could not stop my fast playing in time and called an all-in bet to fast and without proper thinking. I even gave my first autogram today, lol.

This is what Jason Strasser wrote in his blog:

Though tables are no fun

Unfortunately, i have to report that I am currently at the toughest table of my WSOP career. Robert Williamson III, Thomas Walroos, and a good online European player (Raszi) round out my table. There are really no weak spots at the table.

The entertaining factor of the day was Phil Hellmuth, which whom I talked very much because "he couldnt figure me out" - lol. I doubt I will be able to report tomorrow because besides the fact that I play day two of this event at 3 p.m. I will nevertheless play the $1500 NLH at noon (this is crazy, I know and I would give my ticket back this time - but to do so I need to go over there to the Rio tomorrow and if I am there I can also play ;). 

More about all this on Sunday.