It is one of the well-known feelings you get after setting up your mind and body for the long haul, defining a strategy to follow, focusing on the important things - and then you find your self being thrown off all of that by circumstances and hands dealt.

The cards were not coming to me last night - three times I had a decent hand, and three times I was second best at the table, and with no further ado I was out after 35 minutes of play in 15th place. Yikes!

After that I played some small stakes NLHE at a table of beginners - and still managed to lose, but I was having fun and experimenting with alternative hands and bets. Then I lost a little on the blackjack table until I could finally get a seat at the $500 buy-in $5/10 NLHE table where the big guys and deep pockets were, together with Dustin and Giuseppe. Giuseppe was losing (to Dustin), and the others were growing weiry and tired after hours of aggressive play with raises and reraises, a lot of showing off and bluffing. Now was a good time for me, and I played a couple of hours, saving the day.

Dustin and I will be back for the World Poker Showdown at the Radisson in ten days, hopefully with other players from Guanacaste and Tamarindo.