Main Event Day 1

Started the day with 30K and ended with 87K. It was a great start to the tournament. I had a very tough table as far as ME Day 1 tables go but I was really fortunate that one of the best players seated right after me was moved about 3 hours in and the two other best players busted including David Benefield.

I played pretty cautiously today and did a lot of trapping with big pairs which is how I got most of my chips. Basically I just flatted big hands in position and let people bluff their chips into me.

The only big pot I lost was early in the day when I raised JTs UTG and was called by two players. The flop was J85 rainbow, I bet and got one caller who was a good player. The turn was a Jack, I checked and my opponent bet pretty big and I called. The river was a 9 and my opponent bet big again and I called. He had 55 for a full house. This is a hand I would have lost a lot more chips in a few years back.

The biggest pot I won was towards the end with Kings. I raised UTG and was reraised by a very tight small blind. At the time, I thought there was a very good chance he had Aces so I just called. The flop was J8x and he bet very big which I called. The turn was a 5, he checked and I checked. The river was a King and I bet about half pot which he thought for a long time before calling with QQ.

Day 2 on Friday. May my good fortune continue...