I’m getting slaughtered.

I’m probably taking a shorter break from grinding and booking this month as the worst one ever. It should be the correct move, even though i hurts my ego.

Hard times.

Poker’s been tough on me since I got back from Vegas. Like, really tough.

I don’t wanna bore you guys with the standard bad-beats, high stakes crushings and setups, since I actually think most of you alredy know the feeling. The feeling of not having any control over your results. The feeling of having every pot go the wrong way. The feeling of being totally out of sync. The feeling of free falling.

Well, that’s about it. I’m currently working a decent amount with my game, so hopefully something good will come out of all this. I’m also trying to get myself a second coach. Anything goes, I just wanna get my ass out of this awkward doomswing. Work work work. That’s all there is to it.

A good thing is that I’ve learned a lot during last year’s epic six month breakeven stretch. That might be one of the most important traits you must develop as a poker player. Always try to learn from your misstakes, and always consider yourself a student of the game. The guys who think they are fully learned might get robusto, but they usually end up busto. Get yourself a badass work ethic and start grinding, both the tables and the theory. That’s all there is to it. Simple, huh?

This is probably one of the crucial moments in my career were I have prove myself. Prove why I’ve become a professional at something, instead of just lying around on the couch whining all day. This is were all my experience, my willpower and everthing I’ve learned comes into play. This is the time for me to rise. Rise and shine.

Or at least rise. I’d totally settle for rise at the moment.

WalmartBrat

We have high taxes on alcohol so that we don’t drink too much.

We have high taxes on cigarettes so that we don’t smoke too much.

We have high taxes on gas so that we don’t hurt the environment too much.

We have outrageous taxes on labor so that we don’t..?

Just had my biggest loss ever. I’m not tilted. I’m not angry.

But, I feel… weird.

Wow I’m so jetlagged you wouldn’t believe it. I woke up at 2 am this night, feeling totally refreshed. So, I’ve basically been up since then. Felt kind of weird going for a walk at 4:30 in the morning.

Hope it’s better tonight. Gotta get into grindmode.

I’m bust. In the money, but not that deep. Finished 623rd.

Oh well, I guess life could be worse. I’m actually proud of how I handled today, even though the cards made my day a massacre. I worked really hard to stay focused with a positive attitude, and I think that’s actually what got me in the money.

Anyway, I started out good, slowly adding on chips to my stack. The real turnpoint of the day came when i raised 77 to 9k (2000/4000 with 500 ante) in middle position and got two calls. The flop came J 7 5 and I gave myself a mental high five. The small blind, who called pre, donks out for 15,400 and I call. The other player folds.

The turn brings a 9 and the small blind bets again, this time 25,000. I call. The river pairs the board with a J which completes my full house and the small blind bets 55,000. After some consideration I shove all in and the small blind calls fairly quickly, showing 99. The pots ends up being around 700,000 and I’m really crippled with 40,000 left. It’s quite hard to describe the feelings I felt at that moment, but fortunate enough we got on break right after that hand. When we got back, the guy to my right told me that he had folded a nine preflop. Pretty sickening being one-outed twice in the same tournament, especially when it’s the Main Event.

I tried really hard not to be bothered and to keep focus were it belonged. Coming back refreshed from a break helped a lot, and as I felt better I started working the shortstack while the bubble slowly approached. It actually went pretty well and I didn’t get called a single time which got me in the money with about 80,000 chips. I mean, getting in the money is kind of a big deal when you are down to under 20 big blinds.

Happy times, untill I got my stack into the middle. For my part, the hand actually played itself when I called a shove in the big blind with A8 vs the small blind. He turned over 48 offsuit (wtf!?) and spiked a 4 on the flop. That was it, I was bust.

Right now, I’m feeling a bit low – but I’m sure it will pass. Looking back at all this, I’m pretty sure I’ll only remember all the great stuff and how I tried my best. I actually managed to get on my booked flight home aswell, so I guess that’s a good thing. We are leaving the hotel in 4 hours. It’s been an amazing month here in Vegas, and I will surely upload some photos when I get back to Stockholm. Thanks to all the amazing people I’ve had the pleasure hanging out with on this trip. It’s been a blast.

I would also like to thank all the guys at Europoker who gave me this oppurtunity and who have helped me out with everything. You know who you are. I’m really really really thankful for all that you have done. Thanks a lot.

Me and Eetu, our finnish WSOP Main Event Player

Better get packing. Laters,

Kristoffer Vadsmo – WalmartBrat

Today hasn’t played out the way WalmartBrat would have liked so far, but the good news is that he just made the money at the Main Event and is guaranteed to take home $19,293. He lost a huge 800K pot a few hours back in a set over set situation but managed to navigate his short stack successfully through the money bubble.

He’s currently at about 80,000 chips, which is well below average stack of 320,000, but he’s still alive and kicking, and all you need is a chip and a chair at the Main Event, so fingers crossed that he can make some more magic happen late in Day 4.

WalmartBrat is currently sitting on about 350,000 chips after the first two hours of play at the Rio. Just over 1,000 players are still alive and kicking , with average stack at about 210,000 chips.

WalmartBrat showed up with his game face on today on Day 4, ready to play some serious poker:

Updates throughout the day as we have them. Think good thoughts for WalmartBrat here on Day 4 as they race towards the money.

250,000 chips.

That’s what I’ve got to work with. Not great, but good enough. I’m really thankful for getting this far, and I’m trying really hard to not get any expectations. We are going into the money sometime tomorrow, and my stack should put me in a decent position to get that far.

Hopefully many players will be shortstacked and scared money, so I’m hoping to be able to conquer a shitload of chips right around the bubble. Anyway, we’ll see how it goes. I’m happy with the way I have played today, even though i bluffed away 100k in one pot. Still, i think the bluff was good.

Well well, the game starts in 11h. Time to get some sleep.

Take care,

WalmartBrat