So , here goes on the $3000 Hi Lo , i mill assume you all know how to play and keep it as basic as possible or this could turn into a book !

Usual WSOP format , 3000 in chips , blinds 25 25 . The only player i knew was Andy Black and as you will see he won a large amount of my chips in an unusual way !

In these limit events with split pots i play tight until either the later limits or if i have a chip lead and can see some flops cheaply in position.

I only played 3 hands in the first level , A2 QT , flop was 3 4 5 for a wheel , A3 79 in SB , flop was 9 9 4 with two hearts , i bet and got one caller , turn was the 8 of hearts giving me top trips and the nut flush i bet and won .The last hand was A3 46 on the button , on a flop of K Q 3 2 7 , i won 3/4 with nut low and a pair of 3's ! I finished the level with 3000 , my goal is to stay a minimum of 20 times the big blind which was now up to 50 . Andy played a pot and on the flop of 2 5 K , called a bet saying " Gamble gamble " , turn was a 3 and he two bet , river a Q , Andy showed A2 46 for nut nut .

Level 2 , again in one hour i only played 3 hands , A2 5Kds in the SB to a raise , flop came 3 3 9 J T and i scopped with a flush then in the BB i called a single raise with AK JT , flop was 9 T J , i checked to raise but he checked , this was a mistake , turn was a Q giving me the nuts but also a heart flush draw , i bet , he called , river 8 of hearts , i checked and passed , he showed me A2 36 all hearts ! The last hand before the break which is every two levels , i was in the BB with JJ xx , flop was J J 4 , i checked hoping for a high card but the turn was a 3 and now i got one caller who made his low on the river for a split pot , i now had 3100 .

With blinds now 50 100 i played only two hands , AA 26 in SB , flop 6 8 Q , called a bet drawing to nut low with top pair , turn was an A giving me trips but counterfeiting my low but river a 5 , i got half as the 5 gave my opponent a flush , the only other hand i raised preflop for the first time with A2 KJss on the button getting two callers , flop was A 5 T one diamond , i called a single bet hoping for a J Q or K to give me a chance to scoop , turn was the Q of diamonds , this gave me the nut straight with the nut flush draw , i won and ended the level with 3575 . Blinds went up to 75 150 so i was still ahead of my target of 20 times BB .

Level 4 and i started to improve , i had A2 8K and scooped with two pair then i played a bad hand on the button and got lucky , it was 38 JT , flop was 9 3 4 , i called a bet assuming he had A2 and looking for a T J Q or K , turn was another 4 , he checked and i bet , he called , river another 3 , he check called my bet , he had AA , my last hand was AA K8 which i won a big pot with after a flop of J 4 5 A J , up to 5900 above average for the first time.

Level 5 and the blinds are now 100 200 and the pots are getting big , i am getting no hands so having to gamble a little using the button , i limp with 6T JQds and flop perfect to 7 8 9 , all check and i bet and get three callers , turn is a 9 , i bet again and get two callers , one all in , river a K and now the other player with chips bets , i dont put him on a full house as unless he called the turn with a low draw and KK and has got lucky he would have reraised the turn with a made full , i call , he has 6T for the lower straight , i take on a short stack raising with A3 47 and make two pair and the nut low , i am now up to 13,600 , one level to go before the dinner break.

Blinds are now 200 300 , i am still not getting good Hi Low starting hands but i am willing to see flops and try to take on the short stacks in position .

Mickey Wernick has joined the table and we call a raise from a short stack , flop is A 4 T , i have KJ 35 so need a 2 or a Q for nuts , i call the all in bet , turn is a 7 , river a Q , i get 3/4 as Mickey has the same low . I win unchallenged on a flop of A 4 6 all spades , i had 23 48ds for nut low and a small flush , i then lose a big pot , unraised it is Q 4 5 3 with two diamonds by the turn , i have A6 45 for second low and two pair , river is the 2 of diamonds which gives my opponents AQ 3K nut nut ! But all is recovered on the last hand before dinner , FP raises to 600 knowing the BB will call as has only 200 left , all pass , i call for 400 more in the SB , pot is now 1700 , i have an easy hand to get away from , J5 54 , flop is K 5 T , i check call, turn is a Q , i check call again , river another Q , i bet and get a reluctant call , he had AJ xx and had bet the flop with an all in player with only a Q for a straight and hit it on the turn but paid my house off on the river , it was now the dinner break and with 16,500 i was one of the chip leaders .

Only one other stack on my table was over 10,000 so with blinds now 200 400 i was expecting to bust some players , that was until they broke a table and to my left came a player called Steve who had 18,000 .

He obviously wanted to defend his BB because when i raised in the SB with A3 7Qds , he called , flop was 3 5 6 , i check called , turn a Q , i check called again hoping i had half locked up and wanting to see what he called my raise with , river was an A , i called again , his hand was 22 45 !

I get some back with a button call of QQ 56ds and a flop of Q 3 3 , i raise the BB bet and he calls , turn 2 , he check calls , river an A , he check calls and i scoop , back up to 15,000 then disaster strikes.

The guy i flopped a full house of Q's goes all in from FP , i call in the SB as i have QQ again with K7ds but no low draw , Steven the chip leader in the SB also calls , flop is A K 9 with two clubs , i check call with the nut flush draw , turn is the 4 of clubs giving me the nuts , i bet and Steven calls , i put him on two pair with a low draw , river is the 5 of clubs , i bet 400 and Steve reraises , automatically i reraise hoping i can get him off a bad low knowing i have half locked up , he reraises and i now pause and study the board , surely he hasn't got 23 of clubs , i assume he has the nut low now so no point raising again , i call , he has 23 of clubs and has hit runner runner straight flush , boy was this guy catching cards .

I still had over 10,000 and call a raise from Mickey with the best hand i saw all day A2 45ds , i never once held A 2 3 , flop was 8 9 J , i check call with the nut flush draw , turn is a 6 giving me a nut nut draw , we both check , i know Mickey hasn't got the straight now so when the board pairs with another 9 i lead out but he makes a good call with AA , i call a raise from Steven with A2 46 , flop is A 5 6 with two spades , i check call with second nut low and top two , turn is 8 of spades and i pass , i end the level with a deflated 6400 .

It gets worse , level 8 blinds are 300 600 , i have to make something happen , i make up the BB against Steven , flop is A 2 7 all diamonds , i have 34 QK for nut low , we both check , turn pairs the 7 , i check call , river is a K , i check call assuming it's a split , he has A3 47 , he flopped a flush and nut low and turned a full house ! I get a quarter .

I am getting low when i pick up AA JQds , i raise and get one caller , Andy Black in the BB , flop is 2 3 8 , Andy bets , i have to pass , he shows me A3 37 , the last hand of the level i win 3/4 of a pot to survive with 2700.

We are now at level 9 of 400 800 , we have been playing 11 hours and what happened next made me feel sick .

I raised to 1600 , Steve called , Mickey Wernick went all in for 1700 , the player beside him called as did Andy Black in the SB , with so much out there the BB also called for 900 more i added the 100 as did Steve , so Mickey was over a 10,200 pot , My hand was A3 97 , flop came 9 5 3 , i checked hoping someone would bet and i could get my last 1100 in , Steve bet 800 , the player next to Mickey called as did Andy , the BB passed , i reraised to 1100 all in and all 3 called for a side pot of 4400 , turn was another 9 , all checked , river a Q , all checked , i was so relieved to have won and got back into contention when the dealer said lets do the side pot first i forgot i was in it , Andy showed KK and everyone mucked and he was pushed the 4400 , this made quite a difference to him as he only had about 6000 left , i was pushed the main pot and after stacking all the chips i quickly wrote my notes , as i wrote the chip count i suddenly realised i was short and instantly realised the mistake , i said to the dealer i was in the side pot , Andy said he couldn't remember but Steve said he rememebered me check raising his 800 to 1100 so i was right , the floor was called and the action described but as we had played another hand i lost the chips and Andy benefitted from mine and the dealers error , he should have put the side pot on front of me instead of in the middle and asked me to show my hand as only Mickey was all in for the main pot , you can imagine how i felt .

Jean Robert Bellande and Alan Cunningham joined the table , i called a raise with A3 3Q v Jean and check called on a flop of J 2 7 with the nut low draw , turn was a T , we both checked , river another J , i won with my 3's as he had A2 24 .

The last hand of the level i should have been out , i limped with A2 9Kds , as did one other , Alan in the BB checked , flop was 9 9 3 , Alan bet , i called , the lady caller reraised , Alan passed and i flat called , turn was a 6 giving me top set top kicker and nut low draw , i check called , river a J , i i check called again , she had an almost identical hand to mine A3 9K but had flopped the full house . I was still in with 4000 with one level to go but blinds were now 500 1000 .

I limped in FP with A3 7K but missed flop totally , then in the BB button raised to 2000 , Andy called is SB , i had KK QTds and only 2000 left , i had to call and hope for a high flop , the flop was A J 5 , i bet my last 1000 with a wrap , both called , turn was a 9 giving me 4 extra outs for high if an 8 fell , river was another 5 and i was out in 62nd , 26 off the money .

I will never know if that 4200 side pot would have made a difference , Andy went on to finish 11th so the chips helped him , i would probably played the 9 9 3 flop more aggressively with more chips so would have lost them anyway .

All the best