Update From Las Vegas @ 5:25 CT

Pre-flop, the pro bets 1800.  Tim calls, he has pocket 4's.  River comes, 4S, 7C, 8C.  The pro has 5,8 and bets 2500.  Tim raises 5000, the pro calls.  The turn came off a 6S.  Pro bets 25k!  Tim goes all-in.  Pro calls.  River is a 3S.

Pro has the straight which beats Tim's 3 of a kind (4's).

Jeff Bryan brings Tim's WSOP tournament run to an end.

Tim will give you his take on the matter very soon.

Update From Las Vegas @ 5:00 CT

10 minutes in, Tim bluffed the big blind on the river with a queen high.  He adds a 6k pot to his stack, which brings his total to 36,575.

Update From Las Vegas @ 4:40 CT

Tim was down to 21,000 chips, under the gun with pocket 7's.  Tim raises 1500 and was called by the Big Blind (Jeff Bryan).  The button (a loose player) is also in the hand. Flop comes 8C, 10C, 2S, and Tim bets 2000 chips, button calls, Jeff Bryan folds.  Turn comes - King of Spades, Tim checks and button checks. River comes Queen of Spades, Tim checks and button bets 3000.  Tim calls with the pocket 7's and The Button mucks the hand.  Tim takes around 9000 in the pot.

The last hand before the break, Tim was under the gun holding Ace-King offsuit, and bet 1500. The Button and Jeff Bryan call, flop comes Ace of Diamonds, 7C, 8C.  Jeff Bryan checks, Tim bets 3500, and the button debates for a long time then folds, followed by Jeff Bryan folding. 

Tim's stack at the end of the first round is:  32,725.

Round Two Blinds are:  300/600    Ante: 75

Side note: Tim waked in to the women's restroom while telling me this story.

Update From Las Vegas @ 4PM CT

29400 with 15 minutes to go in round 1.

Update From Las Vegas @ 3:45PM CT

21225 at 90 minutes in.  Played in a total of 2 hands.

Update From Las Vegas @ 3:15PM CT

Tim now has 22625 after the first hour.  Doesn't sound like he's getting any cards.

Update From Las Vegas @ 2:45PM CT

Tim has 24500 in chips after a half hour.  He won his first hand blinds, but nothing since.

Update From Las Vegas @ 2PM CT

Just got a text from Tim to notify us that the games are underway.

Dogshit Attitude

If you listen to the radio program---The ITD Morning After on Team 1380---then you're already aware that I don't have the most positive of attitudes...toward just about everything.

Some would call it pessimistic or negative. Others may call it cynical. I call it being pragmatic...even though down deep, I know the truth is that I'm just angry about everything because I'm 4 feet tall.

Either way, for whatever reason, I must be honest and say I don't feel good about my chances going into Day 2. I hate to write that, but that's the truth.

I know many of you who have been pulling for me---which I cannot tell you how much that means---are disappointed to read that, but it's therapeutic for me to just be honest. And, hell, who knows...maybe I will go on a run.

But, if I do, I'm going to have to have something big happen early. Blinds start at $250/$500 with $50 antes today at 2 p.m. St. Louis time.

That means each time around the table, it'll cost me $1,200. (9 x 50) + 250 + 500 = $1,200.

That means it's $1,200 per orbit. And, with starting with $26,325 in chips, I have nearly 22 orbits in my stack.

While that's not massive, it's healthy. In other words, I don't have to shove all-in just to stay alive. I can "play poker."

However, I can't afford to lose much without being in position to shove all-in. And, once you shove all-in...especially preflop...you're putting your fate in the hands of the poker gods. It's not a position you want to be in, obviously.

Therefore, a big hand early would not only be huge, but it would change the perspective of the whole day for me.

I have to psychologically make myself "ready to die." And, by that, I'm not talking about the title of the great Notorious B.I.G. album that all great South Citians pumped in their '88 Cavaliers circa 1997, I'm talking about being willing to put it all on the line for the sake of doubling my stack up.

I think---and I hope I still think this way when I sit down at the table---that I am "ready to die." I don't think I was ready to die on Day 1. There never really was a hand I was willing to die with...or should I say...I was never put to the test once the infamous AA laydown happened in the first level. In hindsight, I think I wanted to adhere to the advice of great players I respect who told me to just survive Day 1.

That has been accomplished.

Day 2 is where I have to make a move. And, being ready to die is part of making that move.

I'm in Seat 9 at Table Green #01. Sitting in Seat 8...and directly to my right when I'm in the big blind...is poker pro Jeff Bryan.

I realize the name Jeff Bryan doesn't immediately conjure up images like the names "Doyle," "Ivey," and "Hellmuth" do, but Bryan is a pro who won $330,000 in the Main Event last year by finishing 27th. And, he will be sitting next to me with $61,000 chips...twice as much as me.

That provides a test...as you may imagine.

Also at Table Green #01 is poker pro Steve McNally. He's a hell of an online player, and he's also had a good cash in an earlier WSOP event here in Las Vegas.

Now, sitting at a table with pros isn't something that causes me to go into fits of fear, as Thursday I played with Joe Beevers for 8 hours and had a bracelet winner on my left who I eventually knocked out of the tournament. But, it would've been much more enjoyable to see a variety of short-stacked no-names at my table as opposed to Bryan and McNally.

But, here's what needs to happen between now and the time I sit down at the table: I need to stop pointing out all the reasons why I can't make a run...and focus on playing the game that got me here and why I can make a run.

The truth is...I know I can do it. I really don't have much of a doubt about that. The thing that I'm struggling with is that I know what a day at the World Series of Poker Main Event is like now, and I know it's like navigating a field with landmines.

I think it's in my best interests to stop tip-toeing around the battlefield avoiding the land mines and just charge the target. I want to take my best shot...as opposed to being blinded out or forced to go all-in with A4 offsuit because I'm down to 10k after folding hand after hand after hand.

I need that Herb Brooks speech again. "Play your game. Play your game."

Look at me...

...I'm a fucking mess.

This is what happens when you drink like Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas for two days straight...then all of your friends head back to St. Louis leaving you alone in your room for two straight days of online poker, porn, and one brief trip outside of me chambers...to get in a cab to drive-through In 'N Out Burger...which, for the record, was so strong.

I need someone to grab me by the shirt like Whitey Herzog did to Garry Templeton and tell me to stop being such a whiny bitch.

"Get out of your room. Go downstairs. Get in a fucking cab. And play some poker, you pussy."

There, I've now fired myself up. Let's see if we can go out there and get some results out of this public psychotherapy session.

For those of you interested in following my charge to the leaderboard today, you can do so by checking back here throughout the afternoon and evening. Tim Pickett and Ryan "Big Grease" Pickett will be getting text messages from me to update my stack and situation.

And, finally, I want to thank everyone who has taken the time out of their days to email me and either congratulate me or wish me the best of luck. As I (think) I noted in another column, it really is surprising/cool to see how many people are into this whole World Series of Poker appearance and take a small slice of pride in having someone from St. Louis compete.

I hope to keep the run going today...

Log-in and post your comments below, or you can email me at tmckernan@insidestl.com.