Sharks

It's my first live tournament of the year. I'm in the PokerGO studio in Las Vegas, at the first event of the Kickoff series, a $5k buy-in. As the cards are about to be dealt, I look across the table...

There's Justin Bonomo, #2 on the all-time money list, with $63M in lifetime winnings. To his right is Andrew Lichtenberger (aka LuckyChewy), a well-respected high-stakes pro with $20M in winnings. There's also Ryan Reiss, who won the WSOP Main Event in 2013, and has racked up $8M in winnings on top of that score. To round out the table is Jeremy Ausmus, another well-respected pro with $16M in winnings.

Then a little later, to top things off, we're joined by poker hall-of-famer Erik Seidel, #9 on the all-time money list with $45M in winnings.

Sharks indeed.

I take a quick glance at the table next to us, where I only recognize one of the players. I let out an imperceptible sigh, but refocus and play my game.

Well into the night, I'm the tournament chip leader. But the blinds creep up and the cards don't cooperate, and I'm eliminated a couple hours later, a few players shy of the money.

I whiff the next tournament in the series, busting the first hand after late registration closes. But event #3 goes my way and I make it to the final table with the third largest stack.

Unfortunately I end up getting knocked out in 5th place, but happy with how I played, and grateful for the experience. The $25k payout doesn't hurt either.

I thought I'd try something new and record a video analyzing key hands. If you're interested in digging a little deeper into poker strategy, take a look:

Let me know what you think — I'd like to experiment with more of these analysis videos in the coming year.