I am playing in a freeroll tournament on canbet poker: an $500 freeroll tournament. 6508 entries, I cannot believe it.

I have never play in such a big tournament before; I mostly play cash games and live games at the casino poker rooms in Macau, but I was discussing with Andy yesterday and he suggested that it is a good experience to play in some online tournaments before trying our luck in the APPT Macau in September.

Cash games and tournament playing are very different. In cash games, patience is a big element; sometimes you are just not getting the good cards, and when some other players are in a hot streak, you just have to let them cool down first before taking them on. In tournament you cannot do that; the tournament is structured so that you are forced to play and gamble even with less than ideal cards.

Having said that, I do not think playing in tournaments are difficult, or I should say, it is not difficult to finish high up in a tournament. Within my very young tournament career, my experience says if you play tighter and just sit and wait, about half of the field will be eliminated in one way or the other before you. With decent playing tactics, it should be easy to finish in the top 25-30% of the field. However, winning a tournament will always be difficult and requires a lot of luck.

I am playing very well and maintaining myself around the top 200th place when I lost a major showdown: my AK cannot beat a pair of sevens. I am reduced to below average stack and from there on I am playing the survival game.

When there are only about 500 players left, I start to feel that maybe I have a chance to cash. Top 260 players can cash in the tournament. The blinds are increasing very quickly, and most of the short stack players are playing very tight, trying to cash if there is no chance to win. I got KQ and I decide that is my moment of truth. I push all in, and is called by a rival with A9. A nine on the flop kills my tournament life. I am out at 334th place.

Better luck next time.