I managed to duplicate my first major tournament cash with another 5th place in another 1K Rebuy at the WSOP.

It's random and strange--and naturally somewhat pleasing--to start the 2007 Series off with such a distinct replica of my first career milestone.

Back then, I was much fresher on the tournament circuit, and although I was technically a "professional poker player," my knowledge of the game paled in comparison to what I know today. Looking back, it seems almost like a fluke that I was able to go so deep in 2005's event, somehow maintaining a stack long enough to bluff it off to the eventual champion Michael Gracz and flame out in fifth place.

Another eerily similar aspect about this event was that Gracz showed up at this year's final table right along with me, with a stack that gave him a serious shot at "repeating." Losing a few coin flips (usually with the slight edge) sealed his fate in 2007 at sixth place.

Amir Vahedi, also a serious threat to start the day, lost a tough hand with an overpair vs Dolph Arnold's huge draw, to take seventh place.

Around that point in the tournament, I managed to acquire a healthy stack of my own (first time over 1M chips), when I sucked out two pairs with QJ vs Barry Cales' AA on a J9-x board. I had grinded all day up to that point, and, with that lucky break of cards, I finally felt confident and poised to go the distance in the tournament.

Then, after losing some chips in late-position steal-type situations against Dolph Arnold (this year's resident 1K final table senior citizen; in 2005, it was Chuck Thompson) and Tommy Vu, Barry Cales avenged his aces' getting cracked with his own share of luck in a hand against me, winning a critical pot with A8s vs my ATs.

Losing that hand left me with 170K with blinds at 20/40K. I managed to pick up AQ two hands later, pushed allin, and got called by this year's 1K rebuy champion Michael Chu, who made the standard call with KT in the BB and caught a ten.

Michael is a fellow Santa Monican and very cool guy, who seemed to play a mistake-free tournament. Congratulations, Michael--dinner somewhere on Abbot Kinney is on you, pal!

The second place finisher, infomercial/real-estate/self-help impresario and Vegas super-celebrity Tommy Vu, was on my left during the entire final table, and I enjoyed his company throughout. He is a true character and a class act. I think the action and personalities from this final table will make for a decent broadcast whenever ESPN airs it.

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The ESPN interview was a lot of fun, too, and we seemed talked about everything but poker, which is kind of how I like it. The producers for ESPN do a markedly good job of preparing the interviews and asking interesting, provocative questions. It's a privilege to be part of a broadcast that is run as professionally as the this one is.

It's also cool that the ESPN people don't offer any suggestions or requirements on what you are supposed to wear, nor do they ask you to put on makeup, the way the WPT does. (Not that I've ever been at a WPT final table, but that's what I hear about the makeup, and I've witnessed them asking players to change shirts for filming).

I think the production crew who handles the WSOP for ESPN is really interested in generating peripheral, quirky human-interest stories related to players in the tournament, and I always enjoy that more than watching  a long succession of poker hands (although I have many friends who prefer the opposite). In any case, it felt good and pleasantly synchronistic to be back on the broadcast for the second year out of three at the Rio.

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Although not winning the event after getting chips five-handed was frustrating, it's undeniably satisfying to make a final table at the WSOP. However, I'm hoping the real value of two years' worth of poker experience will become evident in the coming weeks and beyond.

The exhaustion of the WSOP is well documented, and I still intend to avoid the burnout by playing a fairly limited schedule (maybe 10 more events), occasionally going back home to Los Angeles (my girlfriend and I are heading back tonight), and avoiding the pitfalls of Vegas and fast-money (I have sworn to myself and others that I will not play table games any time soon).

I will attempt to approach each tournament with renewed vigor and focus, whereas I feel like I subconsciously played sloppily in the events that followed my cash in 2005. Taking fifth place in one event is nice, and an effective momentum shifter, but it's not the be-all-end-all to anything in my life, and being aware of that is one of the keys to any potential success I will experience in the coming weeks.