FIRST and FOREMOST....

I once heard the TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE...

AS hard as it is to do as a poker player, sometimes you have to look yourself in the mirror and say, "MATT, your an idiot, and you played like one today!"

1 small example..... blinds 100-200 I open for 550 with KK, alabama "call every hand" called, then in less than 1.24 seconds, 22year old internet pro makes it 2075. I have seen enough of these young guns to know that this can be a little pstars squeezer.... but he has played fairly nitty and did it SOOOOO fast that I had to immediately assume a range of QQ-AA. Given I had kings I assumed AA or QQ as most likely holdings. A structure such as the MainEvent allows for plenty of play and given the fact that I deem myself +EV vs the field {laymans terms= better than most}... I flat call in order to win more from QQ... (a ReRaise would usually garner a fold) BUT LOSE LESS to AA...

FAST FORWARD TO THE FLOP.....(its heads up, alabama folded, so pot is roughly 4900)
Q 7 4..... worst case for me.... Im still behind AA and QQ just pulled way ahead.....
SOOOOOOOOO i check fold to 3200 chip bet ( i had 16k after pf call).
I WISH I woulda took more time on the flop.
I THINK i should have considered 4betting PreFlop with the intention of folding to a shove. ( I could have made it 5500 and still had almost 13k behind if i decided to fold)
I HOPED to fold and have him show me AA for an excellent laydown.

He kindly showed me JJ. I was too embarrased to show....

So to make a long story short, after an A+ performance in the Satellite that got me into the MAin Event in the first place I came in to the big show tired and sloppy and didn't make the most of the situations in which i was involved. I would much rather have my ACES beaten by JT SOOTED than have to admit that I made some bad decisions. DESPITE all this I made a mini-comeback and won a few small pots to end the day with 27,200.

3 days of rest and relaxation and we will be back at the RIO for day2 on wednesday.

ON THE BRIGHTER SIDE.... the REAL poker player in the family had a good day 1 as she slowly and steadily chipped up to 45k in chips to end the night.
AS much as a hate to give up her many moves because I feel that she can run much more effective bluffs because of her gender, I HAVe to tell you about a LEVEL 1 hand.
SOME young aggro kiddo keeps RAISIN and a RAIsin until my little hurricane decides its time to slow this young punk down..... Here is the action....

PREFLOP... kid raises from late position to 350 (blinds 50-100)
MAMA aka katj99 aka "the hurricane" RE-RAISES to 1350....

FLOP (Q 7 3 w/ 2 clubs) .. mama bets 1900..

TURN ACE of clubs.... mama bets 3375....

kid hims and haws and makes the laydown.....
the whole table is certain that its a flush....
no... "its a set" chimes in a few....

I TOLD HER NEVER TO SHOW......

SHE tells them... "ONE TIME"....


and slowly tables Jack of spades, 2 of hearts......

AS the table collectively takes a deep breathe and silently thanked her for putting this kid in his place, she silently stacks her chips knowing that she will undoubtedly have the nuts the next time that situation arises.

Off to enjoy a day off with a little shopping and some good food. Maybe a show in the evening or even a late night ECO adventure.

THANKS TO ALL the friends and FAM that are rooting us on, this has been quite an experience and it's great to be able to share it with those who care.
SHOut out to all the limelighters who have pumped their fists for us, both the JUNKOVIC family and the GOUGE family, all friends , but mostly to our favorite animal friend, BOOGER.

A NOTE TO STIVI : get well soon BROTher , we know that your a strong fellow so I am assuring your sister that everything is going to be just fine. Hopefully we can make some Dough out here so that we can give you a 2 week paid vacation.

PEACE,

CA_GROWN and KATRINAJ99