Getting ready

I was up at 5:30 this morning after some fitful sleep. 

The theme of last night's dreams was not displacement this time, but something else. While some guys dream about winning the Masters, making millions, or saucier stuff, in my dream last night, I was in a small rental house, on my hands and knees, cleaning a dirty kitchen floor with a rag.  

That was it - the whole dream that I remember.  (Well, not all of it: for some reason, Alias-era Jennifer Garner was there helping me, but that just makes it more pitiful.)

As an accomplished dream interpreter, I think I have a read on what this dream meant. The rental house could have been a stand-in for my status as a representative of the poker league, as in the tournament entry belongs to the group and I am just the lucky resident who gets to stay there; the dirty floor represents my insecurity about my abilities; and the cleaning rag stands for my efforts to be a better player.  (And Jennifer Garner? I think she's there so that my brain doesn't shut down the dream out of sheer boredom.)

I have heard that dreams are your mind's way of throwing out the trash that otherwise plagues your subconscious. If that's the case, consider me squeaky-clean.

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Wojo finished last night at 70,200 chips, up 10,200 from his starting stack, but down from his 105,000 at the dinner break. I haven't heard yet what happened in the last four hours of the first day - he must have decided not to be a rock after all - but he shouldn't be unhappy with a net profit for the day.

Today, my poker buddy Mike and I will be playing, and the other four representatives will be launching later in the week. Interestingly, John C. is actually thinking about skipping Day 1 altogether and starting Day 2 with 60,000 chips.

This strategy worked for one guy last year who came to our Day 2 table and then just went nuts. In about two hours, he built his stack up to over 200,000 chips, playing a hyper-aggressive style and catching some cards. 

But the flaw in this strategy is that there are going to be players at the Day 2 table who start with 150,000 or more chips, and who will be looking for smaller stacks to intimidate. 

All things equal, I'd rather be a big stack on Day 2 instead of a small stack, just like I'd rather win hands than lose them and just like I'd rather be talented, young, handsome and rich, instead of the alternative. But as Mick says, you can't always get what you want.

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I have decided to go with a black suit and black golf shirt as my outfit for Day 1. If it goes well, I will be the Undertaker, seizing your chips and your soul.

Not sure yet whether I will be chatty or taciturn. Wojo decided yesterday to be quiet, and it seemed to work for him, but last year, I had a good time with my first table and finished with 90,000 chips. I think it will turn on who's at my table. If it's a bunch of poker pros, I will retreat into sunglasses and headphones, but if it's a bunch of recreational players, I would probably get more information from them than I give away by talking.

We will see.

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So, from here out, the dispatches are going to be shorter and less expository.  I will describe most of the hands I play using poker shorthand, and occasionally my observations of the other players or the environment in the room.  

You might think this live-blogging would be a distraction to my play, but it's not. It gives me a vehicle to process what is going on, to remember my good plays, and correct my mistakes. Some readers of this blog will give me good advice about my tactical decisions and point out missteps I may not have recognized.

I am beyond excited about playing this tournament. Why not me?