I started today totally focused , very happy with the layout of my table and intending to sit back during the first level and see how everyone played , i knew Sammy Farha who was chip leader with 152,000 would be the aggressor , i underestimated how much his style of play would dramatically change the table dynamics .

During the first ten hands , he passed one , most he raised , a couple he limped and the first time his blind was raised 2400 , he asked how much they had left and promptly reraised 20,000 more , i could see the chips were going to be redistributed quickly .

I mucked hands for an hour watching the action , on one hand Paul Nepa called Sammys raise , flop was J 8 J , Sammy bet 5000 Paul called , turn was a 5 , Sammy bet 15,000 Paul called , river was another J , Sammy bet 40,000 , Paul called and showed 66 , Sammy had A high !

I then saw Paul bet 3000 on a flop with three hearts , Charlie Shoten reraised 5000 more and Paul called , turn was a 4th heart , both checked , river was a blank , Paul checked and Charlie bet 30,000 , Paul had flopped the King high flush and couldn't lay it down to Charlies bare A that had got there on the turn .

I wanted in on this action so instead of waiting for good hands when Sammy limped i called with Q9s , two others called , flop was A Q Q with two diamonds , Sammy checked and i did hoping to check raise , now i wish i had bet , all checked . Turn was a K making two flush draws , Sammy checked , i bet 3500 , Charlie raised to 8000 , i was now sure he had the TJ for a straight with maybe one of the flush draws , Sammy raised 5000 more , i put him on either the bare K diamonds for two pair with a flush draw or the fourth Q , i decided to call and if a blank fell i would steal the pot from Charlie . River was a 6 making the diamond flush , Sammy bet 15,000 i was certain Sammy had missed and was bluffing but i was also certain Charlie would call , i either had to move in or pass , in the end i second guessed myself and decided that maybe Sammy also had Charlie on the straight and had made his flush , i passed and Charlie called , he had TJo for the straight , Sammy flashed a Q and passed .

If i had bet the flop Sammy would have probably raised and if i had him outkicked i could have won a big pot , a few hands later Sammy limped again and this time i called with QTs , bare in mind yesterday i would have passed these hands so basically i was trying to get some of Sammys donations , the player to my left passed as did seats 5 6 and 7 but 4 hadn't acted yet , he pointed this out to the dealer and now raised 5000 more , Sammy called , this was a big raise and seemed like he didn't want a call , i put him on a medium pair or AJ , when Sammy called i figured he thought the same and i decided to take a flop and maybe win a big pot .

The flop was T 6 3 with one of my suit , Sammy checked and Daniel bet 15,000 , Sammy mucked , i was sure he was representing an overpair with an underpair , i decided to pick it up now by raising him 25,000 of his last 30,000 , he didn't look to unhappy when he put it all in , now i had to hope he had JJ and i could win with a Q or a T , unfortunately for me having had 3 players pass out of turn he had decided to represent a hand raising 2 limpers with pocket 3's and had flopped bottom set , i lost and was down to 6000 and wanted to throw up !

Thinking about it now , if he was betting the flop with an A , when i raised ,15000 would have been enough , now if he moves in i could pass and still have 21,000 , instead i couldn't pass for 5000 into a 100,000 pot . Of course if i had just played my own game instead of letting Sammys play change my strategy this would never have happened . I have no one to blame but myself .

I blinded away down to 1800 then for no reason i can explain decided Q2o was the hand to go all in with , two players called then Charlie raised 3000 to get it heads up but one called , flop was 2 2 6 with two clubs , they both checked , turn was the 8 of clubs ther was a bet and call of 3000 , river was the 9 of clubs , both checked and Charlie showed A9 of hearts , the other player passed and i won , not with my set but with the Q of clubs .

At the end of the first level the chip changes were amazing , seat 1 had lost 10,000 , i was down 60,000 , 3 was up 60,000 , 4 was up 50,000 , 5 was down 20,000 , 6 was up 100,000 , 7 was level , 8 was down 25,000 , Sammy was down 100,000 and seat 10 was up 5000 .

The next level was 100 ante with 500 1000 blinds , i needed another miracle , there was a raise to 2100 , passed to me on the button i found AJs and decided to call , both blinds also called making a pot of 9400 , flop was A 6 7 rainbow , blinds checked and the raiser represented the A with a bet of 5000 , i called all in for my last 5300 , both blinds passed , he had AQ , i needed a J to stay alive but turn and river were 8 5 and i was out .

We'll never know if i had been as patient as yesterday if the right situations would have come or if i would have eventually had a rush of cards , what i do know is that i had a game plan that i allowed another players actions to change and i paid the price in the biggest tournament i have ever played in after giving myself a chance on the first day and for that i am disgusted .

Next time i run into a player like Sammy Farha i won't make the same mistake but this was a $25,000 tournament not a $500 and these opportunities for a shot at life changing money are rare , i have learnt a painful expensive lesson , i hope you learn from it too .

I now have to put this behind me and try and go into professional reporting mode bringing you the latest as the tournament continues to it's conclusion and someone wins $2,856,150.

As always i will do my best to inform , teach and entertain but to be honest i'm gutted !

Yours deflatedly from Las Vegas