Today was the first round of the eastern portion of the Degree Poker Championship.

I played in group 1A this morning - with emphasis on the word morning. I had to be at Niagara Fallsview Casino and Resort by 6:00am for registration, which meant a 4:00am wakeup-call to leave time for the 1 hour drive.

I arrived at the Casino shortly after 6:00 and was registered by 7:00 leaving a half hour to grab breakfast at the lobby diner. After coffee and a bagel in the spiffy art deco eatery, I headed to the tournament room and tried to prepare myself mentally for the game.

I wasn't worried about the good players - I was sure I could hold my own against them. I was more worried about being called by some ninny holding 9-2 off suit after a big raise only to have him hit trip nines on the river. Thankfully, once things got started, my worries were put to rest. The ninnies (as I call them) didn't seem to be at my table - and the couple of marginal players at my table were playing tight and seemed to know better than to try really stupid.

So, on to the tournament:

The format of the first round in the championship had 4 pools of 250 people each. Only the top 20 from each pool advance to the semi-final.

The levels were as follows (30 minute timed intervals):

My day:

Two hands in I was dealt AQs and opened the pot. After a flop and turn I was wise to fold after a decent raise to me. Two more hands and QQ came to me. This time a flop full of under cards - and a Q on the turn had the hand locked. My opponent paid me for slow playing his flopped two pair by just calling my bet. The level finished with me up in chips.

During the second level I opened with 44 in late position and the BB raised his short stack all in. With only 200 more to call I was in my first race. My opponent flopped a set which held up against my 2 pair. Several hands later another short stack called all in from late position. From the big blind I called his bet with 8d9d sensing weakness. The @$300 was a bit of a gamble, but it proved to be the correct call. The opponent showed A6o and failed to connect on the ace while my 9 paired on the flop and I nearly completed the straight by the river.

Level 3 gave me my third race. Once again, I was dealt a pocket pair and opened from late position. A player in the blinds re-raised all in. I had made an aggressive bet and which left only @$400 to call. The call may not have been wise, but I didn't read a higher pair and felt I was ahead going into the flop. Opponent showed AJs and caught his over pair of jacks on the flop. I was open for a straight by the turn, but it wouldn't have helped because the other player would have completed the straight to the ace vs my straight to the King. At the end of level 3 I was up roughly $3000 overall to about $5000+.

At the short 10 minute break I finally had a chance to look up and see how much the room had already cleared out. I was feeling good. I had played a fairly tight but aggressive game. I was maximizing my return on good cards, and any risks were calculated.

Level 4 saw the blinds get to a point that was going to start eating at the short stacks at the table and force play. I don't think I saw a single flop until I was once again dealt pocket QQ allowing me to open from middle position with a raise. A player that had just been moved to our table sized up my bet - tried to get a read off of me - and after toying with the idea of calling folded. A short stack decided to take a stand and pushed all in before the flop. His all in was less than my raise, and I pulled back a few chips. He was devastated to see my QQ vs his 78o, but was relieved (to say the least) when 78blank come on the flop. A queen or other pair didn't come by the river and I was dealt my first truly bad beat.

Level 5 came at just before the 3 hour mark (real-time) of the tournament. At the beginning of the level they had announced that the pool was now down to 78 players. The bad beat and a few blinds had eaten into my stack, but I was still in a competitive position. After two blinds further eating into my stack in the 5th level and a ton of unplayable cards, I was finally dealt AJs. There was only roughly 4 minutes left until the next blind raise and I knew that this was make or break time. I raised to $1600. The table folded around to the button and after thinking for a moment the player pushed all in to leaving me with a decision to call with what amounted to nearly my whole stack. I was not entirely sure if it was a steal attempt at the blinds or a similar desperation move, but with time running out in the level and knowing that I only had a few blinds left in me - I called. The opponent quickly turned over his pocket KK vs my AJ of spades.

The flop came down. All under cards and no spades to be seen. I was 2 cards away from virtual elimination. The turn was garbage - and the river provided no relief. It was a tough beat, but good. The better cards won the hand.

The next hand I had to pitch my 83o even though I only had 3 ante's left in me, it wasn't the hand I wanted to go out on. The next hand was not much better, but with two other players in the pot I went all in with 94o. The flop turn and river didn't provide any help at all and my day was over.

As I was walking towards the door they announced the field was now down to 58 players - meaning I went out either 59th or 60th. Top 23% - but not quite good enough for the top 8% required to move on.

As a parting gift I got a stick of deodorant and a t-shirt, but the experience was the real reward.

Better luck next year.

andre