So 33k going back; I had no real strategy going into the day, just worry about my table and make the next level is all you can really do I believe in a field of this magnitude. Level one was quiet I added 3k to my stack. The only hand I recall was when I picked up Queens on the button. UTG an oldish guy raised to 1100, I decided to play them slowly and called, the SB shipped for 17k which I was calling until UTG ships for 50k; SB held AKs and UTG AA. Felt good after the hand as I lose chips on an eight high flop if SB didn't ship. My starting table was ok, perljammer was the only player I recognized but he was short and lost them early enough.
Level two I got to 54k winning most of those chips in two pots. Pot one against a young English player when I called a raise pre with AJ and call an Axx flop, an Ace turn and a 5k bet on the river, he held A10. The second hand I played I had no idea where I was TBH. I raise early to 1500, blinds 250/500 with AQ and get min-raised by an oldish tight player. I call the extra 1500 and the flop is AKK. I check and he bets 3000, call and its checked down, he has 1010.
Level three the table breaks and my new table is tougher with lots of big stacks. Just after I sit down I spot one clear soft spot, Amerillo Slim shoves 50k into a 5k pot and shows AK for no-draw no pair. There's a 30ish American niggling him and he gave as good as he got so he isn't totally senile. I end level three on 56k.
Two hands of any consequence in level four both where I held AQos against two good big stacks. Hand one I call a bet on the turn with ace high which is good and hand two I connect with the flop and get two streets of value, ended level on 64k.
By the last level of the day there was some crazy hands on the table, about ten players had come and gone and there was 4 monster stacks over 200k. One hand a guy scoops 340k after flopping a straight flush holding 7d9d another a guy 3-bets a flop to 100k in a 4-bet pot and shows 32os for bottom pair. I picked up my biggest pot of the day early in the level when I raised the cutoff with KhQh and get a K two rag one heart flop. A guy who had lost about 100 of a 170k stack in the previous 30 mins check raises my 4k bet to 11k. I'm confident I'm good here so just smooth. The turn is the Ah giving me the nut flush draw and I check behind. When he checks the blank river I'm sure he has a worse king and get a nice 14k bet called after he dwells for an age. I found the last 45mins very hard with all the big stacks playing well and not getting a sniff on a decent starting hand. This saw me drop from my tournament high of 90k to a finishing 72k.
All in all I think I can be happy with my performance over the day. The Queens in level one were the only sniff of a premium I got over the day so, to more then double my stack in the 10 hours felt like a decent days work. This is a complete monster of a tournament and totally different from anything that I've experienced. By the time I sit down Friday it will be seven days since I was first dealt a hand. I'm just going in with the same frame of mind I've had so far; play my table and make the next level.
A couple of people have recommended that I shouldn't post hands I play while still in the tournament. While I appreciate the advice and have given it some thought, I don't think it's a worry in a field this size at this stage and if I'm lucky enough to get any deeper I wont have time for these type of reports.
