I didn’t do too well in the tournament at Hollywood Park today. I just wasn’t catching cards and I wasn’t playing all that well either. The low point had to be when I was holding the nut flush, bet out $200, was raised $900 by the guy behind me … and I just called instead of coming over the top at him and going all-in. I won the pot, of course, but it could have been so much more. He definitely would have called me and I would have knocked him out of the tournament. I don’t know what I was thinking. I guess I just wasn’t thinking. I ended up busting out pretty early, and the way I was playing it was inevitable.

Total cost after the entry fee and the multiple rebuys I did: $95. So I sat down in a cash game, 3/6 Limit Hold ’em, and won back the $95 plus another $60 just for fun. Busting out early isn’t so bad when you do it for free and then turn a profit on the trip.

Traveling for work as much as I do sucks, but it does have its silver lining — comp days. While it sucks to be stuck in a hotel room with nothing to do over a weekend, it’s nice to know I’m earning two comp days for being on the road Sat and Sun that I can use when I get home. Next weekend, over Labor Day, I’ll be earning three. Woo.

So I’m taking a comp day today. Stayed up late last night, slept in a little bit this morning, didn’t have to lanesplit through 65 miles of LA traffic… Life is good. And later this morning there’s a chair with my name on it in the No Limit Hold ‘Em tournament over at Hollywood Park. Shuffle up and deal!