I’m sorry I haven’t written sooner.  (Isn’t that how every late letter starts?). But it’s true - if you’ve been following this live blog this far, you want to know how the story ends, don’t you?  And I’m very sorry that I’ve been remiss in my responsibilities to you, my investors.

But here’s the consolation prize - by dint of good luck, IMMENSE poker skill, and an iron butt capable of playing poker for hours, we won $3738 (after a $20 tip into the dealer pool).  This means that if you invested $5.00, you’ve won $18.70 - a 374 percent return on a two-week investment.  Congratulations!

This morning went about as expected.  I played two hands:  66, which got me the blinds and a limper; and AQ, which went down to KK.  I lasted long enough, however, to make another $500 more in my payout - a good morning’s work by any measure.

So, I went to the cage, collected my winner’s card and my money.  My friends Rick and Doug took a nice picture of me, then we went to get chicken and waffles at Hash House A Go Go.  Glenn and Bert bought me lunch (thanks, B & G!). Pictures below. (Note the change in attire - after last night’s idiocy, I had enough of the black suit.)  I then entered the 1:00 p.m. $250 deepstack, and am crushing it too.  But that’s a story for another day...

See you back in Houston!

OK - so Shiva the Destroyer worked his magic for 80 percent of the day, then went home to be replaced by Dexter the Self-Immolating Donkey.  Remember him?  He ended every episode by driving his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud into a volcano, while firing an M10 bazooka up his nose.

That’s kind of how my day ended yesterday.  Sitting on around 600,000 chips, I could have just rode out the rest of the day and ended up in the top 100 with 252 players left.  Instead, I played too loose, fired my bazooka at a guy who was impervious to pain (and good sense) and lost more than two-thirds of my stack.  It was also the first time that I felt like the worst player at the table.

I’m not a bad player - I think I got tired, lost my focus, and talked myself into decisions that I would not have made earlier in the day.  So, now I have 120,000 chips and will have to bet 40,000 of them every ten hands.  That’s tough - it means I can’t wait too long, or my chips will just get blinded away (i.e., disappear).

Some good news: there are no giant stacks at my new table (Orange 481, scroll down here to see the table assignments and their stacks), and I am in Seat 9, which means I don’t have to post the 32,000 big blind/ante bet for eight hands.  If I find a good hand early, I can shove with my full stack.  Also, there’s actually a smaller stack than me at the table (poor Sean Kane).

Anyway, I was a little blue last night, but I’m feeling better this morning.  I got up and did a full workout (hi, Art!), and am ready to fight the good fight.  I might not feel like Shiva this morning, but I might be able to get in touch with my inner Larry the Lobster.

See you soon!

Quick update - I’ve moved twice since White 111.  I’ve been at Black 198, caught some wild hands and got over 600,000, then moved to Black 191.

There are now 369 players left at 9:30, Las Vegas time.

Oh, I forgot to say.  We are all winners now!  If I go out right now, I win $2500, and each of my investors make $12.50.  Congratulations!  More money to come - here’s a link to the payout schedule.  The higher I finish, the higher my payout.

More stories to tell, but not right now.  Need to concentrate.

Day 2 - up at 8:00 (10:00 CST).  For all the stress of yesterday - long workout, 13 hours of poker, three Cosmos, poor diet - I felt pretty good.  I had a pancake and a Diet Coke for breakfast.  That’s what passes for comfort food for me at this place.

Going into this morning, I am 26th overall in chip count out of 5917 total entrants.  The plan is to take advantage of small stacks, and avoid large stacks like the plague.
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Okay, my seat is at White 111.  I am the chip leader here, but there are some large stacks.  Players seem nice.  The guy to my right asks me, not unkindly, if I’m going to a funeral.  He’s got a small stack, and I get the sense that he is trying to curry favor with me.  It won’t work - I am Shiva the Destroyer this week.

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It’s been almost two hours and I keep getting great hands.  I am now at 300K, and have knocked out four players.  I’ve had KK three times, AK twice, and JJ once.  Here’s what a big stack looks like...

I have not made a mistake this morning.  I am Shiva the Destroyer.  Godzilla laying waste to Tokyo.  Beware the Giant Stack!

End of the day - I have 193,800 chips, which puts me in the top twenty at least of the 6,000 players in the tournament.

As I am writing this, I’ve had three Cosmopolitans with my friends and am a little bit drunk.  It’s for good reason - I have exceeded my expectations and have a chance to go really deep in the tournament.

Can I win this thing?  It pays $660,000.  Yes, I can.  But right now, I need to sleep off this drunk.

So there.  See you tomorrow!

New table - White 136.  When I pulled my chips out, the table collectively gasped.  I probably have four times more chips than the next highest chip stack.

Everyone here has been playing together from the beginning, apparently just trading chips with each other.  I am the New Guy, but they have been mostly welcoming.  One guy said, “You look too young to be playing with us.”  I showed them my DL to put that to rest.

About 150K.

Table White 136 (and my stack)

Another big hand - nut flush takes out three players!  I’m at 135,000!

I won the hand on the river and, for the first time in my poker playing life, I yelled out, “Yes!” and hit the table, knocking over everyone’s stacks.  Lots of dirty looks, but I don’t much care.  I’m probably in the top five percent now - very formidable.

From the original 10 at Green 235, there are just four of us left.  It has not been as collegial here as in years past.  Not a lot of conversation - just quiet concentration.

Now my challenge is to wait for hands.  No chances.  Patience.