(CBS) This report by Ken Adams is part of a series for CBSNews.com about his run at the 2006 World Series of Poker.

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After a good night's sleep, I checked my e-mail, made a few calls, ate a good breakfast, showered and dressed and headed to the Rio for the $2,000 No Limit Hold'em event. A total of 1,579 players entered the tournament — almost a 50 percent increase over last year's field.

I took my assigned seat and surveyed the rest of my table. There was only one world class player. Don Zewin finished third in the championship event in 1989 and has made countless final tables since then in World Series and other major tournaments.

The good news was that he was not seated to my left. He was all the way across the table from me, so it would not be hard to stay out of his way except when I had a big hand. I could not figure on outplaying him, so I would have to plan to show down the best hand if I tangled with him in a pot.

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We started with 2,000 apiece. I was sailing along nicely, winning a few and losing a few, staying out of trouble, when I picked up K-Q on the button. Zewin opened for a standard raise, and two of us called. When the flop came K-K-5, my biggest challenge was to figure out how to make the most money on the hand, without scaring off my opponents.

After fourth street, one of my opponents moved all in and I called. He turned over A-K, and I lost a lot of my chips. Soon after, I tried to double up with a small pair (5-5) but ran into A-A and was eliminated early. Not my day.

I was very disappointed to bust out early again. At this point I had played in four tournaments and not finished in the money once, let along made a final table.

Perhaps I would have felt better if I had read the blog entry by Daniel Negreanu (one of the 10 best players in the world) posted on Card Player's Web site the next day. Writing about his early exits in a dozen World Series events so far this year, he said:

"Most of the tournaments I've played have seemed uneventful, as I've been unable to muster up a big stack of chips on day one. It's been quite a while since I've been able to cruise through day one of a tournament as one of the leaders.

"I kept my streak intact, going broke later that day. The only time I made it out of day one this year in a tournament, I went all the way to the number-one spot. On the other days, I've had to make a flight change every time!"

If Daniel Negreanu has not made it beyond the first day in a tournament all year, playing every single week, perhaps my expectations need to be adjusted. On the other hand, we play very different styles. My conservative style is better suited to surviving into the money. His super aggressive style is designed to either build a big stack and put him in position to win first place, or send him home early.

I cruised the tournament area to see how my buddies Adam Green and Matt Matros were doing (both were still alive with a decent supply of chips), then signed up for the next $525 satellite table.

While standing in line, I ran into a law school classmate, Mark Weinberg. Mark is a tax lawyer who has his own firm in Bethesda, Md. A former IRS attorney, he is one of the country's leading experts on tax-exempt organizations and represents some of the most prominent charitable organizations in the world.

He was in Las Vegas for the weekend, and knew he would find me at the World Series. We caught up on things, and made a tentative date to get together that evening.

(Note: Anyone who expects a poker junkie to leave the tables at the World Series to keep a dinner or social engagement is smoking something more powerful than tobacco. I let Mark know that I may or may not be available, and promised to call him if I was free.)

When they called me for a table and I saw the rest of the field, I considered waiting for the next one. It was a very tough group of experienced, successful tournament and satellite players. But I decided to play. Much of what I enjoy about the World Series is testing my skills each year against the best players. No point backing away from the challenge.

I was doing well until my A-8 ran into another player's 6-6 when there were six of us left. The flop came 8-6-2, which looked great for my hand. He slow played his three 6s nicely, and I was eliminated.

By Ken Adams
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