i played in a no-limit hold’em deepstack tournament at the bicycle casino this past saturday. i’m pleased to announce that i was one of 11 people left standing when they decided to chop the pot at 3am. technically i finished tenth (apropos) out of 580 entries. this was the second “big” tournament i have played at the bike and it was the second time i cashed. i seem to run pretty good there as opposed to commerce. here’s a rundown of some of my thoughts about the day. i arrived late and kinda liked it – maybe getting there earlier made me a bit more nervous. this would make sense as it’s the same kind of thing when i play shows – i like getting there right before we go on rather than waiting around as it tends to do strange things to my psyche. i tend to be a little nervous before any show i play. anyway…outside of the first 2 hands that i played like a fool i fell into a good groove early. by the break i had a great read on my table but a below average chip stack. the most critical hand up up this point came when i called an all-in in lp from a shorter stack only to get reraised all in by the armenian guy on my left. i didnt t see that one coming at all but i had to fold. i despise getting big chunks of chips taken away from me without even a fight. it was a bitter pill to suck on and swallow for sure but it was a crucial fold as i would have been driving home early. by the second break i had to regroup as i was indeed in a very critical lack of chips situation. during this break i caught up with a good friend and poker mentor of mine. he reconfirmed what my only option was at this juncture…chip up fast or go the fuck home.