Big hand - set (three of a kind) of sevens - was able to get two callers all-in.  Now at $47,800!

Sorry about the sporadic reports - I’ve been down to about 8,000 and was getting tired.  Hitting the set of sevens has gotten me back in the game.  I was really concentrating, which doesn’t lend itself to live-blogging.  As your fiduciary, I have to do what’s best for all of us, so updates will have to wait until later tonight.

Here’s my stack - oranges are 5000, yellows are 1000, pinks are 500, and blacks are 100.

On break again - at 17,000.  Sigh.

I’m on a run - king high flush, three of a kind eights, a nice uncalled bluff.  All getting me paid.  I think my suit is helping - I am getting MASSIVE respect from the other guys, who all look like they should be bowling.

Gave some back on a feeler bet with the guy who thinks I’m a cop.  I think I’m staying away from him, going forward.  My game is designed to make people uncomfortable - but he stands firm.  He’s one of those guys who talk in poker lingo without sounding like a douche.
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First bad play of the day.  AK, and guy raises to 500.  I should have re-raised, but didn’t (mistake no. 1), then called twice when the board doesn’t pair my ace or king.  Had to fold to the all-in bet on the river.

27,100.  Sigh.
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Your Hero live-blogging ...

Woo hoo!  I’m up for the tournament - 20,300.  My first mega-hand - KK - and a guy raised 600 into me.  I called, and two other callers do as well.  The flop is all undercards, but two diamonds, so I bet 1000.  One caller stays with me.  The next card is a diamond.  I can’t bet into the other guy’s potential flush, so I check.  The last card is a blank, so I bet 1500.  The guy folds.

Onward.
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At the break, I bought my first food of the day - a bag of fruit and nut trail mix.  My friends are kind of aghast that I’m not eating, especially after a 90 minute workout this morning, but it’s not unusual for me.  I used to try cases on an empty stomach because I believed that digestion slowed my brain.  Of course, I know this is totally idiotic - I would lose my steam at around 2:00 and have to binge some M&Ms to get my blood sugar back up, but today, I haven’t made a bad decision yet.  Some plays were sub-optimal, but not bad.  I’d tell you if I did.

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Two BIG hands - a straight and AK both get me paid off.  I probably could have gotten more from the straight, but not looking back.

30,600!  Woo hoo!

A couple of hands go my way, and I’m now at 15,500.

The first one was interesting.  I was in the big blind, and got called by two players.  My hand was awful - J6 - but no one raised so I got to play it.  The flop was KQ6, so I have bottom pair.  I bet 400 and the guy to my right - a pleasant man with an indecipherable accent - calls.  The turn card is a 9.  I check to see what the guy is going to do.  He bets 600 and I make a quick call.  The river is a blank, and I bet 1200.  Later, the guy to my right tells me that my snap check-call made the difference, and he folds.

Still not sure what his accent is ...
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Flopped a flush with Q3d.  Got into a hand with the same guy.  Checked the flop.  Then bet 400 on the turn.  Scare card on the river - another diamond which would give the guy a better flush if he has a king or ace of diamonds, but he didn’t because he folded to my 800.

16,100.  Climbing back out of my hole.
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Q 10 comes up - my favorite hand.  Don’t know why, but I never lose with it.  I have to play it.  So I do - smooth call 200.  The flop is nothing helpful - a king on the board, no queen or ten.  So I bet anyway because it’s Q 10 and I never lose.  Across the table, a guy doesn’t believe me and call my 600 bet.  Turn doesn’t help - it’s an ace.  So I smile and say “Check.”  And there’s something about how I say it that makes the guy not bet.  The river is a 10!  So I bet again - 1200.  The guy looks at me for awhile, then calls.  When I announce my pair of tens, he throws his cards in the muck and starts replaying the hand in his head, trying to figure out how it went wrong.

17,800.  Will be back to my starting stack before long.
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Break time!

Won my first hand of the tournament!  Up $1700.

First to act, I started with 55.  I called $100.  Two callers.  Flop was 972.  I bet $600.  One guy calls.  Turn is a 4.  I bet $800.  He calls.  River card is a J.  I bet $1200.  He stews for awhile and then folds his probable pair of nines.

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Bad hand - I have A10 on the button.  Five guys, acting before me, just call 100.  I raise to 600.  Four of them call.  I get a great flop - 10 5 3.  I bet 800.  Two guys call.  Turn is a J.  I bet 1200.  I get raised to 4000.  I should have folded, but I call as does the other guy in the hand.  The river is anothing card, and the raiser goes all in.  The other guy folds, and then so do I.  I kept thinking that this guy had nothing because he didn’t raise preflop.  But I guess I was wrong.  He was probably playing a small pair, and made three of a kind on the flop.

I’m down to 13,400 from my original starting stack of 20,000.  No worries - lots of poker left to play.  Just need to tighten up for now.

At Table Green 235 in the Pavilion Room.

First hand 99 in Seat 7.  Middle pair - okay starting hand so I call 100.  But the dealer raises to 600, so I fold.  Turns out to be the right decision when an ace hits the board.

On the next hand, dealer warns me about texting during a hand.  Guy to my left says, “Does that rule apply to cops?”  I think he is referring to me in my suit.  Hmmpf.

A couple of hands later, he raises my big blind.  I have A3, think about calling, then think better of it.  Too early to be playful.

On my button, dealer accidentally flips my first card over.  Of course, it’s an ace and now it’s dead.  Funny part - the cards I end up with - 57 - would have been a straight, if I had played them.  But I didn’t, do an ace high hand won.

The guy to my left is playing pretty aggressively, and winning.  So frustrating.  He has had AA and AK in consecutive hands.  This reminds me that, playing 9 handed, there are always big hands somewhere at the table.

Enough for now - will write again shortly.