Summer, WSOP and Aruba
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 - Scott Ian
I can’t believe summer is over. Granted, I live in LA so it’s never really over, it’s more the idea of summer being over. You know that horrible “back to school” feeling? Not that I’m going back to school and if anything I worked harder this summer than I have in years so, don’t listen to me. I think the insanity of my summer may have done permanent damage!
Going into the WSOP main event I knew what I was in for and I committed to it. Last year I didn’t get to play the main event and this year it literally took an act by the scheduling Gods and the planets aligning just right for me to play. I had this insane window where I would be arriving in Vegas from Anthrax’s European tour hours before the start of day 1D, flying to Tulsa OK to play a show the day after day 2B and flying right back the morning of day 3. If I were to make it to the final nine, I would be on a plane as soon as it ended back to Sweden to play a show the next day. How this all worked out is beyond me and I wasn’t sure if I could mentally and physically do it. Of course I could bust on day 1 and everything would be so much easier but the whole thing had this “meant to be” vibe about it so I committed to getting through the week and playing my game no matter what.
Amazingly, everything went according to plan. After finishing day 2B at 1:30AM I was at the airport by 4:30AM for my flight (through Dallas) to Tulsa. That all worked and I played the show, kicked some OK ass and was back at the airport at 4:30AM for my flight (through Denver) to Vegas. Not only were my flights on time, they were early and I got back to Vegas hours before the noon start of day 3. My nightmare of sitting in Denver airport as my stack blinded off didn’t come true.
Now I was about to play day 3 of the main event having not slept in almost 48 hours. The mind is an amazing thing because I stayed focused and locked in all day and at the end of the marathon I had 152K going into day 4. I had no trouble sleeping that night.
Bubble day was a mix of anxiety and excitement for me. Of course I was excited to make the money but I had this feeling gnawing at me that I didn’t have much left. When it got to hand for hand it killed me. The slow pace for over an hour knocked me on my ass and my focus was gone. I could feel the last three weeks catching up to me like a locomotive and I was going down. I think making the money in a way was bad for my game because I lost the tension I needed to remain locked in.
I busted out shortly after when I ran my J7 into AA. I was in the BB (6K). The SB limped and I checked. Flop comes 10 7 2 rainbow. He bets 6500 and I think he’s lying so I re-raise to 17,500 with 59K behind. He shoves. I should’ve folded but like I said, I’d lost my focus and I called. He turns over AA! A 9 came on the turn increasing my outs but the 4 on the river sunk me and that was that. 637th out of 6484. I was stoked. A sense of relief washed over me as I left the Rio and a huge feeling of accomplishment. I cashed in my first main event. I set my mind to making it through the week and I did. Would I have liked to have gone deeper? Of course. Next year it’s on. Thanks to everyone at UB for making my life easier all week as well. Your support was invaluable!!
Last week UB hosted my second “Home Game” and it was a blast!! Vinnie Paul was first out for the second time in a row I believe. And that’s no knock on Vinnie’s game. Just bad luck. Guy rivered a flush against him. Kirk Hammett was tearing it up most of the game, taking down pot after pot and was the chipleader for a while. He lost a big pot, KK vs AA if I remember correctly and then got whittled away. I thought he was a lock for top 3. I had a crazy hand against Phil. I’ll let the picture do the talking!!! Greg Tribbett and I made the final table and finished 4th and 5th . Adam “Roothlus” Levy finished third, getting knocked out by the same guy that busted me and both of us against a set of 5’s!! BeantownBoy77 finished 2nd and won $1000 TD’s. Congrats to SMGKAG for taking it down and winning the Aruba package.
We’re planning Home Game #3 for the end of October. There will be some new faces there this time as well. Hope to see you there!!!
Cheers,
Scott
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Tags: Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Aruba, Aruba Package, Aruba Poker Classic, Greg Tribbett, Kirk Hammett, Phil Hellmuth, Rio, summer, ub, Vegas, Vinnie Paul, WSOP
