Let me preface this by saying this is more of a "I'm just venting" thread and possibly being posted in the wrong forum. That being said...

I really only play low stakes cash ($1/$2 NL Live) and primarily at one card room but figured that I have gotten my bankroll up enough (started with $1400 and got it up to 9k) to try and take a swing at a big boy tourney. My home card room does a 5k guaranteed tourney that I'll play when I get a free-roll via the card rooms promotion (cash gm, quads with pocket pair = free entry to tourney). Mainly because I don't like the structure so if I'm going to play it's not going to be on my dime. I've won it once (185 entries).

So the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa was having a 200k guaranteed deep stack tourney with an entry of $570 so I figured "why not".

One thing that I've noticed in the past with me, is that I've become so comfortable at my local card room that when I play somewhere else it always takes me a bit to get comfortable/not nervous. It's weird, but even after playing consistently for over 3 years now I still find myself nervous when playing in a new environment... when there really isn't any reason that I should be. So with that in mind, I got to the card room about an hour before Day 1F started so I could get the early nervousness out of the way. Smart move, as I was "warmed up" once the tourney started and felt zero nerves.

So the tourney is going and I've managed to get to 120k in chips with the average stack being 80k(I believe we started with 25k). It's pretty late and we're at level 13 with Day 1F to finish up at level 14 (literally 15 minutes away). A table broke and one of the players sits directly to my left. The importance of this (not realizing it at the time, but reflecting on turn of events realize now) is that I have no clue what type of player this guy was.

I had KJo on the button and raised, only to get one caller, which was the SB. The flop come x, x, J. He leads out and I re-raise, he calls. The turn comes x and he checks, and I bet followed by a call. The river comes another blank and he checked, which I then led out about half the pot. He calls and shows AJ.

In hindsight, I know I played this completely wrong. If nothing else I should have just checked the river as I was only getting called by a better hand. That hand crippled me pretty bad and I proceeded to flame out a few hands later.

So what's the sliver-lining here? There had to be a lesson learned as I'm a big believer that all session, whether played bad or successful, have a "something to take away" aspect.

I'd say the biggest lesson is that I was not prepared for the mental grind of such a long tourney session. I was pretty moronic in the sense that not only did I wake up at 4am to drive to Tampa, I also played a rd of golf prior to my start time of 6pm. By the time this chain of events unfolded I had been up nearly 24hrs straight with a rd of golf sprinkled in between my early wake up/drive.

I think this also circles around to being comfortable in my home card room too. There, I know all the players, how they play, etc.. in the tourney I was involved in every hand even when I folded, so there was no mental break. At the time of the blow up I just think I was done mentally. The next day, I woke up sick which I think was purely due to exhaustion as I was back to normal the day after that.

So all in all, I'm proud with the way that I played. I proved to myself that I'm capable of playing on a bigger level with better players(what I would view purely off of buyin). I was winning hands based on what I thought other players had and not necessarily having the nuts every time. My downfall was not understanding the stamina required (at least for me) and not seeing the warning signs to prevent such a blow up. And there is the silver lining.

One thing, I'm pretty sure I was the topic of conversation after I left the table because my flame out was about as good as it could get... sadly enough.

well that's it. My first post is completed. I look forward to playing in these types of events again with a better self-awareness. Just sucks that I was the reason I didn't go to Day2(final day). More often than not I find myself saying "well bad luck happens, given the chance I'd prefer my opponent to call me every time". That wasn't the case this time...This was a self-inflicted flame out.

Did not read a single word

I guess it's relative.. 200k, to me, is considered "big".

Thanks for reading the whole post, I'm forever grateful. If you read the very first line you'd be able to answer your own question as to the point of the post. but to save you precious time from scrolling up I'll leave this here..again..

"Let me preface this by saying this is more of a "I'm just venting" thread"

Excellent use of paragraphs here, OP. Seriously people, take heed! Will meme later.

What the hell is that

Good story man. At 24 hours awake, you're slightly impaired. Even stone cold sober it's like you've had two or three drinks on an empty stomach. Next time work it out so you are properly rested and these sorts of flameouts are less likely to occur.

Moving to small stakes MTT because I like OPs heart and hate to relegate him to the trolling that BBV will emit.

Thank you sir. alot of sub forms here, wasn't sure how to classify my virgin post.

side note/stupid question, how does one edit a post around these parts?

flat that lead, it puts you in a better place for turn & river play

Feed him to the trolls!

Below your post is a edit button but only for a few minutes for each individual post.
If you want to edit something later you can't. Try pming a nice mod. They can always edit everything (I know from experience)

typical Bragxiter argument...

I think you did OP a disservice. It doesn't really fit in MTT, but in BBV it could have been epic. Maybe move it to live casino poker?