Main Event, Day One

I felt cool, calm and collected and enjoyed Day 1 immensely. I never really got a major rush of cards, but looked for spots where raises and re-raises would have credibility. I like to think I picked my larcenous moments perfectly, but I was clearly lucky not to run into big hands when I did so. The man on my right, an options trader from Chicago, would flick the chips into the pot with a little clockwise spin sometimes, a "tell" I have noticed before that frequently indicates weakness or a speculative grade hand. The second time he did it I re-raised him and he folded, so I tried it twice more over the course of the evening with the same result. The only time I got in trouble all day was when he raised on the button and I had A Q, a potential trouble hand, but strong nevertheless in against a button raise. I sensed trouble, hesitated, thought about folding, and then thought about calling before deciding my hand had enough value to justify I raise. He called, and then called again on an 8 8 7 flop. I gave up on the turn (J), and he moved in, hinting later that he had A A or K K.

The last couple of levels I didn't make much progress, catching just enough legitimate hands to go with a few small steals and hold my ground. I dipped slightly before ending the night right where I'd been most of the day, a little above average with 52,000.

I was pretty tired, but for some reason John and I ended up staying up until three thirty in the morning, drinking wine and playing each other heads up.

Woke up pretty early, very grateful for an off day. Got a haircut, and then played golf for the first time in many years. John's a 6-handicap and I'm a total duffer, so he gave me a huge handicap: each of his strokes counted as two. We bet very small amounts of money on each hole and came out virtually even. It was tremendous fun, well worth a little scorn from the homefront about the wisdom of playing in the 107 degree heat.

Very tired, might make it to bed before midnight.