There Was Blood

Yesterday was what Commerce Casino calls the 1455+45+85=$1585 No Limit Hold Hold'Em tournament. I built a massive stack early. In the first level I won a huge pot with two red queens against two black aces with most of the money going in on a king high all heart flop. After winning a bunch more pots I got moved to a table with Allen Cunningham to my left, Randy Holland to his left, John Hoang to his left, and Alex Bolotin to his left. I busted Cunningham in a strange and big race, my AQ making a broadway straight on the river against his pair of sevens. This came on the heels of busting his Full Tilt compatriots Erick Lindgren and Jonathan Little in the last week during the FTOPS. The other three monsters soon busted as well. It was really looking good.

Then, like the recent movie There Will Be Blood, the wheels just came off. Everything just went haywire and a promising start was derailed. I started slipping mentally. I was unfocused. There were a couple guys at the table in their forties, recreational players, that I just couldn't figure out. Normally these are the guys you get your chips from, but I just couldn't get a read. I spewed in a couple pots with pocket pairs where I probably made the right decisions, then lost The Big Obligatory Race with AK, then took a bad beat for the rest.

It felt like I was just going through the motions the last couple hours. I expected to lose those last two hands, and I didn't really care.

I think I'll probably take a break from the donkaments today and tomorrow in order to get fresh and clean for the main event on Saturday.