As I mentioned at the end of my last blog, I went into Day 2 of the WSOP Circuit main event in Tunica with $255,500 at $1,500/$3,000 ($400).
I was second in chips out of the remaining 61 players, 27 of whom would finish in the money. Given my huge stack and the relative weakness of the field, I felt great going into Day 2.
I had only played with two of the players at my new table the day before, so I sat back and learned what I could about the rest of them before I started splashing around.
The only player who had more chips than I did, David Dao, showed me what he was about right away.
He opened to $12k in early position on the very first hand of the day, which was met by a very small reraise from the small blind to $27k total.
Most people would take this as a sign of strength, but not our boy David. He moved in, covering the small blind's $150k stack.
The small blind tanked for a moment, but without too much hesitation called off the rest of his stack with the A♣ K♦. David showed the Q♣ 8♦, and managed to whiff.
Instead of having position on a spewy idiot with the chip lead, the chip lead now belonged to a solid player on my left. Thanks, David!
Fortunately, the chip lead was about to come my way. I won a pot of about $200k when my A♠ J♣ in the big blind was good enough to bust the player on the button, who held 6♦ 6♥.
I started chipping away at small pots after that and was able to build my stack pretty quickly as we approached the bubble.
I must digress for a moment to tell you about a hand that my buddy Jon "FatalError" Aguiar appropriately deemed "the least logical hand I've ever heard of."
With the blinds still at $1,500/$3,000 ($400), we were playing seven-handed with 28 players left ... the exact money bubble. Action folded around to David Dao in the small blind, with a stack of approximately $90k. He limped in.
Matt Stout
Tunica Part 2: Cure for the Common Slow-RollTunica Part 1: Slow-Roll CityMatt Stout's Biloxi BluesOne to the Ghetto and One to the HospitalVisit www.pokerlistings.com