Posted by Padilla 10:02 AM
A few of you have asked about the time issue. Tired, adrenaline, sleep deprivation?

--Started Saturday at 11am (though everything started late), finished at 2:30am. Waited in cab line 'til 3:15am, bed by 4am.
--Woke up dead tired. Got a call telling me I was in 25th place.....was wide awake 2 seconds later.
--Played another 12 hours on Sunday. Home a bit earlier though, in bed by 1:30am, but couldn't fall asleep as I ran through all the "what ifs" from my bad beat, and not knowing where I stood with respect to the money.
--Got phone call Monday morning telling me I was in 367th out of 568. Not worried about moneying now.

The grind got pretty bad on Saturday, even though I had money the whole day. I can't imagine being short stacked for 6 hours. Our table was pretty even until I knocked out our first player 7 hours into the 12 hour day. Then the flood gates opened. The last 2 hours presented my toughest competition of the tournament. Even with a decent stack, these guys were whipping me mentally. I rivered 2 pair and took a big bet from a guy to achieve my stack goal for the day and quit playing anything risky. I've sat in long sessions before, without taking breaks every 2 hours, so I was pretty fresh mentally until that last group. There's something about achieving a goal that probably contributed to me getting tired that last hour or so.

Sunday was totally different. I started way ahead, so I used the first 2 hour sessions to buddy up to the table. I didn't want them scared of me, and we were losing a few of the short stacks, so I knew the competition for the day was yet to come. It's always easier to play when ahead, but once I got knocked down before the dinner break, I knew I had (2) 2-hour sessions to either build my stack back over 100K, or at least see how close to the money I could get. I went from 40K to 59K, so I was happy. Yes, I was all-in a few times. One time my opponent took forever to call, only to find out we had the exact same hand, AQ. I received a few comments that I played a short stack very well, so that felt good.

So basically, if you're concentrating, it goes by quick. If you're stressed, it probably goes by even quicker, cuz you want your next hand. All I thought about was the game, the table, and patterns. Total focus isn't difficult when you're scared of being eliminated. On rare occasions I allowed myself to walk around the table, talk to Byron or Jessica, and relax. But as I said, 2 hours isn't much to ask. Maybe it'll get old in a few years, but not when it's your first time.

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