So I have finished 259th in the WSOP Main Event, which was good for $38,759. I still cannot summon the energy to write a detailed blog entry about the tournament (and it doesn’t help that I stopped taking notes after two days).

In short, I am happy with my play. The tournament required that I go through several different phases, ranging from hours of supertight play to pockets of hyperaggressive activity. I passed most of the tests I faced with flying colors.

I am proud to have improved on my 2005 finish, and I’m acutely aware of the fact that my game has evolved greatly since that time. The hand that busted me is illustrative of this fact: it was a daring squeeze-play reraise gone wrong. Making the reraise would never have occurred to me last year; the move wasn’t even in my arsenal. Then again, last year, I’d never have lived long enough to make the same play.

I suppose I’m slightly disappointed that I failed to get into the big money, but 39 grand is nothing to sneeze at. Both my bottom line and my tournament resume look a lot nicer than they did a week ago. I have no regrets.

I fly back to NYC sometime in the next 48 hours and then it’s back to the grind.