The 2010 —— fF —__—_—. POKER av Journey of James FreedThis page intentionally left blank [reserved for more photos]© Wo leW aaViclepdsetcccn metcanrareocomecr niche my The Prizepool: $2,827,800 The day started out with a record-setting field of 3,142 players who filed the Pavilion and parts of the Amazon Room, Numbets were so large that other tournaments were made to adjust where they were starting so as to acéommiodate the huge player-base of this event«No seAior'sstelted poker tournament hayever broken the 3,000 player‘ mark prior to this mofster-sized attraction. Ta fact, this year's record tumouteclipsed the previous 2009 record mark by 16 percent making it the Single largése'seating of any event ip-the history of the World Series of Poker. p--"\) elem oe > WREB ca of a TaraThis page intentionally left blank [reserved for more photos]The Met ‘My friend and neighbor Ken Clarke, who had agreed to act as my coach and chauffeur for the next two or three days, eame over around 10:00 am ‘on the morning of the tournament and we sat about "strategizing" for ‘more than a half hour prior to leaving for the RIO. ‘We arrived at the RIO with more than an hout to spare before the start of the tournament, Having pre-registered the week before, there wasn’t much to do, so we walked around looking for people we knew and actually bumped into Several who had signec! up for the event. With just few minutes left before the start of the tourhament, I headed to my assigned table and Ken went off to play in a live No-Limit cash game. Having received a good night's sleep the evening Doefore, 1 actually ele pretty good. Ken helped. keep my stress levelidown by prepating me a set ff notes that kept me constantly aware of how such [needed to cover the "blinds" at each levelThis page intentionally left blank [reserved for more photos]Jhe Structures er CMD Nee Ee ice Ente All players began with 3,000 in tournament chips. Alllevels weke set to last 60 csinutes. Breaks were sc: to occur after every 100 levels, oF fo hours of play, and last 20 minutes. \ 1-mibute dinner break forthe frst day was scheslaled fier the eomplesion oF level 6, nearly 7 hours into the fourgamedr ‘Screens thronghot the room provided an upsto-the-mintre counta remaining time for each amount of the small and big blss< the current level, as well as the a Of the blinds for the upcoming level. Understanding’h6W much you needed in chips t6]SuEvive the blinds ar each level is ettical in managing your play. ‘Theoretically, you could be "blinded out" of the tour OUT OE a oa ae ing aware of each person's pablo! Trying to get a quick read on the pla "chip stacl — [remembering who made ses aod remind playing _ your position are all things that must beweéiasidered prior to each bet, calbor raiseThis page intentionally left blank [reserved for more photos]+ You can probably imagine IBiiatoi esata 2 2 3,000 people all heading for 5 A Welcémed Relief dinner at the same time. The _ line in front of the buffer ‘was several hundred people deep, My friend Ken saved ee afternoon at Buzio's, the RIO's popula seafood restaurant ‘We Both ordered the Sea Seallops. Mine came with bfead & butte®, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans. Ken ordered sides sweet potato fries and eon on the cob. Both dinners were excellent. Notonly did we have time for a ‘nice felaxing dinner, but we still had neaely 30 minutes left over before the start of the next rouadl The view from our window seat. Thanks for thinking ahead Ken!This page intentionally left blank [reserved for more photos]Mee ee | | ol DIE Fact: You can't make it into the money, ifyou don't make it to day 2. soy ooo recesses Me) Ton our-retsn fromdinner, play was schechuled 10 continue una. the completion of level 10; another four and a half hours. With onlenougl chips left to last through the first nwo hours of blinds, | kneWi had f get lucky and win at least one good hand, At nearly 1:00 am, after a long and grueling 13 hours of play, I made the cut for day two. The field of 3,134 had been whittled down to only 424 people. Even though I only had $6,000 in chips at the end of the day, a ‘mere two times what I started with and only 38th from the Bottom of the field, was extremely pleased with the accomplishment, Afterall, I had outlasted more than 2,700 players in what was a very long grucling day Itis often said, "All you Need is a chip and a chair.” The fact was that there were seven people going into.the 2nd day that only had one chip left. Whew! | made it!This page intentionally left blank [reserved for more photos]By oer regrow ONT Othe second day play resumed ar 2:30 PM and was scheduled to continue down to the final table or the completion of 10 more level ‘whichever came first. The first four hours were played with onlOne 20 minute break. Starting at the 11th level, the blinds were $500 and $1000 with a $100 ante. At an average of 2-1/2 blinds per hour, you can see that ‘my $6,000 in chips would barely lata half hous into the next level. I had to make a move at some point in the next hou. I got lucky and picked up an additional $3,000 in chips late into the first level, which provided me with enough chips to get to the thd hour of the day. eae a ee ee tense. After struggling 1/2 hous [finally got a hand on.the-button and pushed the small and big blinds. Luckily, they both had thing and folded. We were how only 17 places away-fromiehe cutoft of 324 players, needed to place in the money... ex playing my last set of blinds Ionly iad $2,300 in chips left, of with no playable handS for almostanother enough for 6 more hands. | still needled 9 more players to be kknocked out in order for me to place inthe money. Ken ‘cautioned me NOT to play a hand, and the strategy,worked Tmade the cutoff with $1,900 in chips left.This page intentionally left blank [reserved for more photos]With the pressure of making the cutoff behind me, I loosened up alittle and played a couple of hands, One of which [got pushed out of by the chip leader, the others of which I picked up only a relatively sinall amount of coms ‘small pocket pair, I was Knocked out in 236th place, a gain of another 88 positions up the ladder, placing me in the 27th level of the payouts, J) Tn the end, | beat Or outlasted 2,909 players. Though still far off the $487,994 for first place, I feleitwas 2 cffort for a first time entry 0dThis page intentionally left blank [reserved for more photos]‘The next morning, Ken avid his wife Connie, who had sat homealone for the pait two days, sumprised me poolside with ceongratularOr) roasts ycith Champagne Mimosa’. The next evening we drove to the Strip and had dinner at The Palms, a restaurant located inside Caesar's Casino. We shared a 5:1b Canadian Lobster and all the fixings. We then shared New York Cheesecake and Key Lime Pie for dessert. It was an. outstanding meal and the service was excellent.This page intentionally left blank [reserved for more photos]