Online Marathon

I played a Paradise Poker online limit Texas hold'em tournament today and was the chip leader going into the final table. 450 players began the tournament (45 tables by brick and mortar standards.).That's a lot of folks to compete against in a poker game. When I watch the top pros on televison, it amazes me that the same players make it to the final tables week in and week out against fields of a thousand or more players. After today, I have great admiration for these poker pros. It's exhausting work. I had a lot of luck today, but my concentration was good and I awaited patiently for playable hands. In the later stages of the tournament, I was able to steal many small and medium pots because players were worried about being eliminated and played much tighter, Skalansky's "Gap concept" worked beautifully in my favor (Read David Skalansky's Tournament Hold'em for Advanced players to learn more about this idea). I truly wanted to win this event to test my mettle against so many other fine players, so I was a bit disappointed to be so close and finish third. It was a marathon event to be sure, and great large tournament experience. If it would have been A World Poker Tour event, I would be a wealthy man right now, but alas, with my $5.00 buy-in, I'll bank my $156.00 prize and smile knowlingly!!

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