$16 PER MINUTE

I bought in to the $1060 event at the Commerce on Monday when Marci was off work. My promise to go it slow and wait for the premium hands served me well for the first two orbits, then I got involved in eight hands, all of which I lost, and I was on the rail 65 minutes into the event. Here's how it went down:

The blinds began at $25/25 with $2500 stacks. One player lost a couple of pots, neither of which got shown down, and he was down to around $700. He was raising preflop, committing chips on the flop and turn, then laying down to check/raises. The first time I voluntarily put a quarter in the pot, I was in early position with QJd and looking to start a family pot. It folded to the short stack guy, who bumped to $75. It folded back to me and I called the $50. The flop came Kxx with two diamonds. I checked and he bet nearly the size of the pot. I couldn't imagine he had a big king, so I check/raised him all-in hoping to take it down without a fight. He called and showed K9, not much of a raising hand, but the odds-on favorite in this spot. I failed to catch a diamond and suddenly I was under $2k, exactly how I didn't want to begin.

A few hands later, it folded to me in the cutoff with AQ. I raised, got called by the button, and missed the flop. We both checked, a jack peeled off and he bet when I checked. He looked earnest, so I imagine he had AJ or KJ.

I called a limped pot with 55 and folded when I missed.

My next big hand arrived when I was in the big blind with AK. There was a raise under the gun, which I had to respect, so I just called and looked to catch a pair. The flop came 764 all diamonds. I had the king of diamonds. I check/called a pot sized bet which slowed him down. The turn was another 7 and the river was a jack. Neither were diamonds and he was content to check down his pair of kings.

I limped in early position with JTh, but there was no action besides the guy who raised me, so I folded preflop.

I raised the cutoff with KJ and players stood in line to call me. All three players behind me called my raise. The flop came K63. I was second to act and I chose to check my top pair, because I was low on chips and I was afraid somebody was sitting on KQ after everyone was so eager to call. I decided to keep the pot small and take it down on the turn if there wasn't any action. The turn paired the king, which had me thinking I must have the best hand. This time the first player to act came out with a small bet of $150. Now, I wasn't sure where I was at anymore. He could have the KQ or he could have hit a set of threes. I didn't think he would bet in that spot with nothing, so I decided to call. I wasn't too keen on going broke so I was just going to play it passively and hope it stood up. There was no flush draw and I didn't mind giving a cheap card to anyone sticking around with a pair of eights.

One player behind me called. The river was a 7 and again the player first to act led out with a tiny $150 bet. I just called - either I'm beat and I'll lose less or I'm winning and the player behind me might call as well. He did call but we both mucked when we saw the bettor show 54 for the straight. I imagine the third guy had some sort of pair of eights or nines. If only I had shoved on the turn, I would have won the pot, but at the time, even with trips, I felt vulnerable in the hand.

Now, I was the ultra-short stack and the blinds increased to $25/50. I didn't have the room anymore to play small pots, but I had just enough to attempt a resteal. The blinds passed me, cutting $75 off my stack and then the end came when I was on the button. An aggressive player put in a standard raise from late position and I looked down at T7c and reraised all-in. My first goal was to get him to fold. My second goal was to have live cards against AK, AQ. He called with QQ and it was over for me before I even got to rake a pot.