Aditya Agarwal: Back for more on Day 4

Aditya Agarwal was playing his 11th World Series of Poker and, having cashed in five of his previous outings, was in confident mood sooner than this year's tournament. It made Agarwal, the 31-year-old Team PokerStars Pro from India, an obvious candidate for somebody to follow closely through his tournament. We followed him level-by-level through his Main Event, which ended early on Day 4. Here's a close-up insight right into a player's journey during the World Series Main Event.

DAY FOUR, LEVEL 17Blinds: 4,000-8,000 (1,000 ANTE)

And so the party ends. Aditya Agarwal is out of the arena Series of Poker Main Event, cashing for $18,714 and finishing in 621st place.

Agarwal had a brief stack this morning, but span it right into a stack thrice that size by the mid-point of today's first level. However his Twitter feed tells its own story:

That's now six Main Event cashes for the Team PokerStars Pro from India. A VERY deep run still eludes him on this tournament, but one suspects he'll return for an additional crack next year. Thanks for the sweat, Adi.

DAY FOUR, LEVEL 16Blinds: 3,000-6,000 (1,000 ANTE)

In conversations with Aditya Agarwal this week, one word was used perhaps greater than another: "Hopefully." It's certainly been spoken many more times than "aces" (Agarwal has had them once, on Day 1) and "kings" ("I had them once and lost with them," he said.) Instead this have been a masterclass in survival, picking spots and edging into the money--all drifting along a river of hope.

Agarwal returns today with 125,000, that's 21 big blinds for the primary HALF-HOUR as they play the rest of Level 16. After that, it will be 4,000-8,000 and it'll again be crunch time. Agarwal's only called all-in this week ended in a double up not removed from the cash. Now he has cashed, he'll be searching for another double as much as take him much deeper--and to permit the web tournament veteran to play his best.

"The table looks good, so hopefully," he said.

Here's Agarwal's Day 4 table:

Seat 1: Endre Sagstuen - 116,000Seat 2: Fred Goff III - 509,000Seat 3: Jasthi Kumar - 1,351,000Seat 4: Jonathan Kosterlitz - 245,000Seat 5: Jaroslaw Jaskiewicz - 134,000Seat 6: Yaron Genut Ramatgan - 119,000Seat 7: Aditya Agarwal - 125,000Seat 8: Alejandro Anaya - 197,000Seat 9: Steve Billirakis - 439,000

Hopefully this may increasingly continue for one more day at least.

DAY THREE, LEVEL 15Blinds: 2,500-5,000 (500 ANTE)

The grind continues for Aditya Agarwal who finishes the extent with 168,000 in chips. "With my stack, I'm pretty handcuffed," he said. "THE MASSIVE stacks aren't going to let me see a flop. You either have chips otherwise you don't at this stage."

Agarwal isn't the shortest stack on the table. There's a player with only 33,000, who's running the clock down at most opportunities in a bid to eke into the money. Everybody on the table knows he's doing it, he knows they know, and it's actually an attractive friendly atmosphere over there in this day and age despite the trouble of the placement. There are just 1,015 people left within the tournament, meaning four more can be eliminated and they are within the money.

"I want a break, it's pretty gruelling," Agarwal said, who estimates he saw only 30 hands prior to now two hours. "Only five players after which we will start playing again."

DAY THREE, LEVEL 14Blinds: 2,000-4,000 (500 ANTE)

As the clock ticked towards the top of Level 14, Aditya Agarwal was his phone, updating his Twitter followers on his progress, and just about doing everything except playing poker. The explanation was that another player with a stack of around 100,000 was within the tank, having opened to 11,000 after which been shoved on by the 520,000-plus stack of Andy Seth. It became pretty clear, with three minutes still at the clock, that this was going to be run down the entire way into the break. It is the way the fast stacks are actually playing.

"Oh yeah, it's gotten so slow now," Agarwal said. At one point over the last level, Agarwal got as much as 190,000 but then lost a 40,000-chip pot and sits now with 140,000. "MUST play tight now," he confessed. "THE LARGE stacks are so good."

He includes Seth in that bracket, against whom he has played repeatedly online and considers to be a fair friend. Agarwal will know that despite their friendship, Seth is hardly going to take it easy on him. And Seth is now on Agarwal's left.

There are 1,161 players still left, that's 50 from the money.

DAY THREE, LEVEL 13Blinds: 1,500-3,000 (300 ANTE)

When we last caught up with our hero, Aditya Agarwal was at a low point. He was all the way down to 85,000 and needing something to happen. Well, it did. In the midst of the last hour before dinner, Tony Tran, to Agarwal's right, moved all in from the small blind pre-flop, covering Agarwal's 75,000.

Agarwal found A-Q and called. Tran's A-10 didn't cause any dramas.

"A full double up," Agarwal said, adding that he picked up a couple of small pots after that.

The next step for all players would be the money bubble. That may be gradually edging nearer. In step with tournament staff, it's estimated to reach between about 10pm and midnight, which means that another long period of stress and strains. "IT WILL get slower, I guess," Agarwal said. "IT USUALLY get slow. People get far more cautious. Others get more aggressive."

Agarwal first cashed on the WSOP Main Event in 2007 and has done so in 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2015. He said that in that period he hasn't noticed any real change in players' attitude because the cash approaches: once slow, always slow is the gist of it.

DAY THREE, LEVEL 12/13Blinds: 1,500-3,000 (300 ANTE)

It have been another rough couple of hours for Aditya Agarwal, who's now all the way down to 85,000. Blinds are 1,500-3,000 in Level 13 and can go as much as 2,000-4,000 after the dinner break in an hour. "If I WOULD LIKE to move deep, I'LL need some chips," Agarwal said.

He described the former level as "Not too good", citing a hand he played with pocket kings because the only really interesting skirmish. He said he decided only to name with them pre-flop after a gap raise -- "I had such little chips," he said -- but then checked through a run out of Q-Q-8 at the flop, followed by an ace at the turn. He bet small at the blank river, but lost to A-7.

Tony Tran, to Agarwal's right, has greater than 500,000 chips, that's probably the most on the table. He was liable for a few eliminations, however the new players who came in also only had small stacks. "I'm still OK in table chip position," Agarwal said, noting the dimensions of his opponents' stacks. But, as he says, he might be at a very important stage by the following break.

DAY THREE, LEVEL 11/12Blinds: 1,000-2,000 (300 ANTE)

The first component to play today--ie, the time before the primary break--was still the regulation two hours, nevertheless it bridged two levels. Play ended on Day 2 on the middle of Level 11, so today they've played the tip of that level, plus the primary hour of Level 12.

It wasn't an ideal period for Aditya Agarwal, who lost about 30,000 in total. That leaves him with 125,000 at present, but he doesn't appear to be unduly aggrieved. He said he bluffed off a couple of thousand when he defended the massive blind with 2-3 and, after flopping a deuce on an A-2-10 board tried to steal it at the river. But his opponent called with A-Q and that was no contest.

At least 150 players were knocked out in that first period of play today, so the pace is definitely quickening.

DAY THREE, LEVEL 11Blinds: 1,000-2,000 (300 ANTE)

When we last left Aditya Agarwal, towards the top of Day 2AB, the Team PokerStars Pro from India had 157,000 chips heading into the last hour of the day. When bags came out on the end of the night, he had precisely 157,100--the stack he brings back to the Amazon Room today.

Aditya Agarwal: Well rested on Day 3

"I'm feeling good, well rested," he said this morning, taking his seat at a brand new table. He said he spent his time off yesterday sleeping, before hitting the buffet at Caesar's Palace for dinner. Was that a lucky buffet? "Using up the points," he said, brandishing his Total Rewards card.

Agarwal's table today is as follows:

Seat 1 - Rory Brown, Ireland, 107,800Seat 2 - Frank Peluso, United States, 81,900Seat 3 - Tony Tran, United States, 215,800Seat 4 - Aditya Agarwal, India, 157,100Seat 5 - Michael Guzzardi, United States, 171,300Seat 6 - David Floyd, United States, 145,000Seat 7 - Phung Ngo, United States, 111,800Seat 8 - Adam Geyer, United States, 82,300Seat 9 - Giuseppe Pizzolato, United States, 122,400

That's a sexy typical line-up for this stage of the tournament. Although there are still some superstars involved, and a few pretty mighty stacks, Agarwal is faced with seven relatively unknown players, plus the highly-rated Adam Geyer. Geyer has $2.5 million in tournament earnings and has narrowly missed out on WSOP and WPT titles previously. He has also been deep twice on the PCA. Although his stack is the second-shortest on the table, it's still 40 big blinds.

Ireland's Rory Brown has some EPT pedigree and has a string of results from both Ireland and the U.S.; Tony Tran made the highest 100 on this tournament last year; and Phung Ngo has a WSOP final table appearance under his belt and made a deep run on this year's Millionaire Maker.

It's probably worth declaring that recorded live tournament successes aren't the one barometer for a player's ability. Agarwal himself has earned $630,000 in live tournaments, but greater than $4m online.

Agarwal thinks the cash bubble will likely come into sight after dinner tonight. That has now become the consensus among players within the room. Stick around to look if he's still there then. The common stack firstly of the day was 154,000 -- almost precisely Agarwal's -- but things could change dramatically over the approaching hours.

DAY TWO, LEVEL NINEBlinds: 600-1,200 (200 ANTE)

During the past level, the primary after dinner, Aditya Agarwal hit his high point for the tournament to this point of about 180,000 chips. At time of writing, as he and his fellow competitors take their last break of the night, he sits with 157,000. This, folks, is tournament poker, particularly the early days. It is very often only a steady grind.

According to Agarwal, the table has got slightly tougher--Vojech Ruzicka is now the large stack with about 240,000--but remains to be "pretty good". He said: "I BELIEVE I WILL BE ABLE TO last the night."

That continues to be three hours away. The organisers have put an additional half level onto the scheduled five levels after the turnout was bigger than expected. "Eleven hours for the primary Event, that's a brand new one," Agarwal, who has played this tournament 11 times, said.

But we'll leave him to it for the night now and catch up when he returns on Thursday for Day 3. That, at least, is the hope.

Aditya Agarwal: The Day 2 version

DAY TWO, LEVEL EIGHTBlinds: 500-1,000 (100 ANTE)

Aditya Agarwal is heading to dinner with a bit greater than 100,000 in his stack. He has lost his team-mate Fatima Moreira de Melo from his table--she was eliminated midway in the course of the last level--and was joined by Vojtech Ruzicka, the Czech pro. Ruzicka may be very widely recognized in Europe, having won a High Roller event at EPT Deauville many years ago (worth $426,907 of his $1.4 million recorded cashes). "He seems good," Agarwal said, although he admitted not having seen Ruzicka before.

The only significant pot the 2 of them played ended with Ruzicka taking a slice from Agarwal's stack. Agarwal flopped top pair and bet it, Ruzicka called. They checked the turn after which Ruzicka check-raised the river, in which point he had a flush.

Although there's been a quite considerable changing of personnel at Agarwal's table both today and on Day 1, he's yet to be liable for busting anybody. Presently it's back to Palms Place, 90 minutes of relaxation, before returning to 100 BBs.

DAY TWO, LEVEL SEVENBlinds: 400-800 (100 ANTE)

"That was an effective level," Agarwal said, a stack of chips that now total 130,000. The Team PokerStars Pro from India has increased his overnight stack three-fold throughout the first two levels today and now's the chip leader at his table.

"It's still super-early," he said. "But at the moment it's good because they've seen me with a large number of hands and a few individuals are short so they're playing tight. I AM ABLE TO open a large number of pots."

With the exception of the set-over-set hand against Fatima Moreira de Melo, detailed earlier, Agarwal has still avoided major confrontation. He has, however, continued a gradual climb, which, on this long marathon, is strictly the strategy required.

When players return, they'll be paying a large blind of 1,000, that is prone to put numerous pressure at the short stacks at Agarwal's table. There is a high chance some of them will bust, potentially to get replaced by stacks far larger even than his.

Over Agarwal's shoulder, Antonio Esfandiari has more as regards to 200,000. Grant Levy, on a neighbouring table, has 200,000 well cleared. Meanwhile, in line with the official updates, Alvaro Lopez has 350,000.

DAY TWO, LEVEL SIXBlinds: 300-600 (100 ANTE)

Aditya Agarwal came into Day 2 with a stack of 57,100 and a table that featured his Team PokerStars colleague Fatima Moreira de Melo and the three-time WSOP bracelet winner Dewey Tomko. Brad Willis glided by the table earlier and saw how Agarwal's match up against Moreira de Melo started out (it's safe for work, despite the promise of nudity within the title), and Tomko busted pretty early on.

Other than that, not much have been happening. "The table is playing pretty tight," Agarwal said. "No really big pots." Largely way to the set-over-set encounter against Moreira de Melo, Agarwal has built his stack to its high point of 85,000. That puts him within the top three stacks at his table but, obviously, with a ways still to go.

DAY ONE, LEVEL FIVEBlinds: 250-500 (75 ANTE)

As Day 1B of the $10,000 World Series Main Event draws to its close, our hero for the day Aditya Agarwal sits with 57,000 chips. That's only marginally greater than the quantity he sat with at 11am today, when things began, and that is the way it goes sometimes. For all its manifold riches or horrific bad beats, little or no says "That's poker!" more efficiently than playing 10 hours within the most prestigious tournament on the earth to bag up your starting stack.

That, of course, is the aim of this experiment: to present a real-life view of a player's progress in an event like this. Nobody could win the tournament today, but plenty could lose their chance. Of the 1,733 who started Day 1B, about 550 are out. The whole numbers will all be revealed the first thing tomorrow, however the belief is that about 30 percent of the sector will perish on Day 1.

Agarwal described his day as "exhausting" and "way swingy". He said that for obvious reasons he didn't much benefit from the period when he was short-stacked and watching an early elimination. "It was a lot better after I got back to starting stack," he said.

Overall, he said he was "pretty happy". And he'll be back on Tuesday for more of the same.

DAY ONE, LEVEL FOURBlinds: 200-400 (50 ANTE)

A confession: I USED TO BE worried about this idea. Aditya Agarwal agreed at first of play to maintain us updated on his tournament progression, but poker may also be cruel. The very last thing anybody wanted was for his Main Event challenge to fizzle out, particularly with its details being broadcast in all places. It is very easy to feel responsible at the rail: not just a cooler, but someone prepared to amplify the despair.

But we've better news than the former update: Agarwal is back to 53,300, greater than his starting stack, after essentially the most eventful level of his day so far.

Returning to 18,000 after the dinner break, he dribbled right down to 11,000 not long into Level 4. But he then found Q-J within the big blind and called a late-position raise. He then flopped the arena when it came 9-10-K.

They checked the flop, Agarwal bet 2,000 at the turn and shoved the river, finding a willing caller with K-Q. After which not long later he found aces against queens and so they got it in pre-flop, doubling him again to the high 40,000s.

"That was good," he said. His distinctive giggle when relating excellent news may be back.

Remember back in Level 1 once we were talking about his tough table draw? Well, each a kind of vaunted opponents is now out. Consistent with Agarwal, Anton Astapau bluffed it off; Jeremy Ausmus lost less spectacularly, but in addition hit the rail. Agarwal was not responsible. "Unfortunately," he said.

There's one level left within the day and then the night-long audit can begin. Agarwal isn't counting any chickens and said he would "hopefully" comply with continue the tale on Day 2. Two more hours after which we'll be there.

Aditya Agarwal: Our hero on Day 1

DAY ONE, LEVEL THREEBlinds: 150-300

There's no method to dress this up: Things have taken a downturn within the last level for Aditya Agarwal. He's heading to his dinner break and leaving only 18,000 chips behind. In truth, he might easily has been out. After finding J-9, you'll have thought a board of 9-9-J (two spades) was boom-time, but Barry Schultz was sitting with pocket jacks.

That cost Agarwal a piece of chips, however it was even worse for Carter Gill. Gill had two spades and made his flush by the river. He was all-in and sent home.

Agarwal is now heading back to Palms Place for his dinner break and to spend a while together with his wife. "I'll talk through some hands with some friends," he said. Although the way to escape a cooler like that isn't really something anyone can do much about.

Schultz is now the table captain, with greater than 100,000. Astapau and Ausmus remain, but Gill's seat is empty, meaning they're playing eight handed on that table. Blinds could be 200-400 after they return, that's still 45 big blinds for Agarwal. There'll be two more levels after that.

DAY ONE, LEVEL TWOBlinds: 100-200

Without question, the WSOP Main Event is among the most eagerly anticipated tournaments of the year and players sit up for it for months. But it is also true that there'll be long periods when little or no happens. This is a long and regularly tedious grind exchanging nothing a lot more than the occasional ante.

At the tip of the second one level on Day 1B, Aditya Argawal has 45,000 chips. It means he has played the past two hours for the web lack of 7,000--a negligible shift. "Uneventful," he said, before upgrading to, "Very uneventful."

Despite (or even as a result of) talent stacked on the table, there haven't been any significant swings. Jeremy Ausmus has 50,750 and Anton Astapau has 58,000. Only Carter Gill's stack has changed markedly. He's left with 17,500 on the moment, that's still 87 big blinds.

That said, Anthony Zinno is in sight on a neighbouring table. He has a stack of 125,000 already, so there's always the risk for matters to modify very quickly.

DAY ONE, LEVEL ONEBlinds: 75-150

Agarwal was in his seat prior to play starting at 11am and watched all other seats at his table gradually fill. And it is a tough table: Jeremy Ausmus (a WSOP bracelet winner, with with regards to $5m in tournament earnings) is to Agarwal's immediate left, while the APPT and LAPT champion Carter Gill is within the four seat.

"I have had softer tables on Day 1," Agarwal said.

Aditya Agarwal and Jeremy Ausmus

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He added that he didn't recognise the player who came to sit down at seat six, but immediately established that he was a good opponent. "He seems really good," Agarwal said. "COMMONLY Event, you'll be able to just tell: who seems comfortable, who isn't. He seems really comfortable."

The player in question is Anton Astapau, the Belarussian high roller. One suspects the 2 have crossed swords repeatedly online, where Agarwal plays as "intervention" or "Adi Agarwal" and is top of the all time Indian money list.

As you could expect from the outlet level, little or no changed to Agarwal's starting stack of 50,000 here. He said he got it as much as 57,000 at one point, then ran top pair right into a turned flush to take it back to 52,000.

It may be very early days, but every road starts somewhere.

We'll update this post within the day.

WSOP photos by PokerPhotoArchive.com.

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