I love playing poker and would not trade my life for anyone else’s, but playing these tournaments can be dejecting when you’re in a cold spell. My experience and wisdom on the tournament trail does not immunize me from the despair of repeated failure, and that’s how I feel right now.
The WSOP is a great opportunity for me and other pros because there is so much less talent, on average, in these tournament fields. It’s donkey heaven out here. This makes my single cash so far even more frustrating that it would otherwise be. It’s especially confounding because I earnestly believe I am playing very well and I don’t believe I have been overmatched by anyone at any time.
Also, I’m lonely. This is a long trip and being by yourself in Las Vegas, on a weekend night especially, is strange and isolating.
Recognizing that I needed them, I recently took two days off and returned to action yesterday feeling refreshed. Alas, I could only muster a about 400th out of 2,700 players in the latest massive $1,500 Event. I was undone, somewhat ironically, by the arrival of a donkey at my table. Despite the relatively late stage of the tournament, he began splashing around in every pot, completely unafraid (or unaware) of the consequences. He made for a rather confusing opponent, and he stumbled into a couple of spots where I donated a bunch of chips to him, and that was that.
All I can do is play well and keep plugging away. I am an expert at separating my emotions from my poker (Sug D doesn’t tilt), but I’m not above admitting that the WSOP grind is bumming me out right now.
davidzeitlin 
Hang in there, keep playing well. We all are rooting for you.
Congrats on your cash last week. Hang in there brotha…you know how good you are, and like you said, all you can do is play your best and let the rest take care of itself. We’ve been grinding away over at the Borgata Summer Open and I cashed in the 1st event for a few bucks…but the rest of the week I’ve been getting real deep (missing the bubble by a couple of people in one) with nothing extra in my wallet to show for it. Combo of suckouts, coolers, and shitty luck…and thats that. It’s frustrating to play all day, make it into that inside room with the final 9 tables with the big payouts written out on that board, just to walk away with a big goose egg. Then I played some 2/5 and made enough to buy into most of the Borgata events for next week…just to donk off half of it yesterday in another 2/5 game. When the grind gets to ya, it’s good to take a little breather…take a couple of days off if need be, and come back refreshed to do it all over again. So I’m home now, watching the Mets’ doubleheader (speaking of donkeys….oh boy), surfin the web…writing on your blog…then do it all again in the next couple of days.
Gordon, Vinny and I will be touching down at McCarran on 6/25. We plan on checking out some of the bars/ clubs during the weekends or other downtime while we’re out there…so you’re more than welcome to join us if you’d like to take a little break from the grind. I’m sure I’ll run into you, but feel free to give me a ring if you wanna hang…or I’ll try to give you a call if we have plans to check out a club or something. If you get your 1st bracelet before or during the time we’re there…then the bottle of Cristal is on you. 🙂