Another poker trip is about to come to a close. Sadly, I went 0-for-5 in tournaments for the week; 0-for-9 if you count the four online events I played Sunday. These things happen. I hadn’t planned on playing the main event out here unless I had a really good trip, poker-wise. And though I feel I’m playing well (I was essentially a coin flip away from winning my shootout table yesterday), I am going to stick with the plan and pass on the main. My decision not to play seems to be downright shocking to everyone I tell it to. I don’t really see why. We all agree that the players are better than they’ve ever been, that ten thousand dollars is a lot of money, that the last major tournament held in L.A. (the NAPT last year) had an extremely tough field, and that the number of entrants is down in this year’s LAPC. All of which, to me, adds up to the main event not being the greatest investment. Some have countered that historically the LAPC has always had an amazing field. I say, if I could buy-in to the 2006 LAPC main event tomorrow, I would. Times have changed. After I finish making these arguments, my friends tell me they’ll buy pieces of me so that I can play for cheaper. I appreciate their confidence, but I haven’t mentally prepared to play a big tournament this weekend, and there are plenty of great events coming up on the east coast. I’ll stick to those. My next one is the WSOP-C at Caesars Atlantic City, probably followed by the Foxwoods Poker Classic and NAPT Mohegan.
Good luck to all my friends playing the main. LA…it’s been real.
