A $1,000 no-limit event brought 3,175 players to the felt, including me, for a longshot, pipe-dream attempt at WSOP glory today. I tossed away a third of that opportunity on the very first hand when I raised with KQ suited and check-called an AQ9 flop, an A turn, and led a K river only to be met with AJ.

From there, I managed to remain a turd in the pond for a few more hours before three-betting preflop with KK, having two players call out of position, and shoving after their checks on a 995 flop only to see a 3 on the river doom me in. That was a bad, but good-bad, result for this event. Ideally, you’d win the whole thing. But short of coming close to that, an early bust-out isn’t the worst thing that could happen to you.

The upsides of the early bust-out tonight included: a.) getting to watch game 6 of the NBA Finals and seeing Dirk Nowitzki deservedly win an NBA championship, and b.) knowing I’ll get to wake up tomorrow and play the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event where I’ll have by far my best chance of winning a bracelet in this series. You know, like a 0.2% chance instead of a 0.05% chance.

That event lends a higher opportunity for WSOP glory than most other events I play for two reasons. First, and most importantly, the field size is dramatically smaller. The two events I’ve played so far this year have had over 3,000 players each. Tomorrow’s event drew a more modest field of 885 last year, a field I managed to finish 22nd in despite it being my first-ever live pot-limit Omaha tournament. The second reason tomorrow’s event is my best opportunity for a bracelet might be because of a higher overall edge against the field. It’s really tough to say for sure, but last year’s $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event sure did feel pretty fishy compared to the average no-limit event of the same buy-in.

One final small thrill of the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event is a higher density of pros at your table. While that’s theoretically a bad thing, some of those players tend to be quite bad, plus it’s always fun to play with someone you’re familiar with from watching poker on TV. I have a dream of one day playing a hand of poker against Doyle Brunson. Realistically, an event like this is the only spot where I really have much of a chance!