It was a struggle to say the least, so I had to pick my spots very carefully, knowing that my next move could have easily been my last. I got a very good read of the players at my first table and even though I was not getting cards, I felt when I did, I knew who I wanted to be up against and those were the opportunities I tried to focus on. I attacked when I had decent hands and most of the times those decisions paid off.

I concentrated on 4 very important elements that I have been taught on the show which are: Position, Players (Tells) and Betting Patterns and my “M”

I was constantly aware of my M, and that allowed me to pick strategic situations that my stack suggested I had to, to stay alive.

I was then moved to what turned out to be the actual final table with over 90 players remaining (129 entered the tournament) and began that process all over again. Position, People, Betting Patterns and the “M”

At no point did I have more than 68,000 even when the final 10 players were determined I was the short stack at the table, but I knew my players, I knew their weaknesses and I was determined to apply the lessons I learned on the show at all costs. I never gave up.

I said to myself before I began that these are some of the best players in the world advising the listeners and myself on how this game needs to be played and I had to put my ego aside and respect their knowledge and instruction, and that is exactly what I did. I was able to steal the blinds when I sensed weakness and that allowed me to have enough for my blinds when they came along and some additional betting units.

Then came the moment of truth. There were 5 players left and it was me and another player heads up. I look down at pocket 9’s and make a raise, mind you I now only have about 75,000 units and there are a total if 1,290,000 units on the table. It comes around to this other player and he looks at his cards and moves all in over the top of me. The first thing I thought was DAMN! I don’t want to lose the tournament with a pocket pair, I just don’t. Pocket pairs I have been taught are the quickest way of hitting the rail and I had done that far to many times in the past and felt I need to think about this. Even if I felt he only had 2 over cards to my 9’s I was considering folding as I had not won but 1 or 2 races the entire day and just didn’t feel good about going in on a coin flip.

So I channeled Jerry Yang, I remembered where Jerry told me about foot tells, Tells that exist under the table. This is a practice I knew nothing of as little as a month ago. I had already observed his jugular vein and breathing pattern and saw that it was accelerated but that wasn’t enough, so I stood up as if I was thinking about my decision (which I was) and observed his feet. I said if this players feet are crossed beneath his chair I am going to put my tournament life on the line and call him (his feet were generally not crossed) I looked down and BAM! they were crossed (crossed feet indicate that a player doesn’t want to fight and is weak, therefore usually bluffing) I walked back to my chair and before I could sit down I snapped my cards face up and said CALL!

He had an Ace of clubs and a 3 of diamonds. He put his tournament life on a bluff (even though he had an ace, I had already raised the pot so he at the very least should have thought that I had a stronger ace) The tell Jerry Yang taught me was perfectly accurate.

My 9’s hold up, I double up and 2 hands later I have the rest of his chips.

The remaining 3 players appeared to be unsettled by my quick and aggressive comeback and they began to make some bad decisions trying to slow me down but there was no stopping me at that point and I began to take complete control of the table from that hand on and the heads up was only 3 hands long. I was still short stacked 2 to 1 but the very first heads up hand I look down at ace-queen of clubs I say All-In and my opponent called me quickly with only a king - deuce. I hit an ace and won the hand.

Two hands later I was the big blind and she raises to 100,000, I now have the chip lead and look down at 6, 7 of spades so I just call. The flop is 6, 7, 10, I check she bets another 100,000 and I move all in, she had KQ, a blank on the turn and a 6 on the river and I filled up and it was over.

The moral of the story I expressed to Frank was that, the lessons the pros give us on the air truly work, and if they are applied properly, it almost makes it unfair for those who know nothing of them. The stars were aligned just right on Saturday.