I haven't even been dealt a hand yet, and I am already in a hole.

It's the $300 buy-in No Limit Hold'em opening event of the Harrah's WSOP Circuit at Caesars Indiana, a riverboat casino located just across the river from Louisville, Ky. The announced turnout for the opening event is 954 players -- a record for a $300 buy-in event on the WSOP circuit. However, the casino was expecting half that many players. As a result, there are only 53 poker tables in the expanded bottom floor of the casino, and playing eleven-handed, the tournament begins with just 583 players; the remaining 371 "alternates" have to wait for the corresponding number of players to get knocked out before they can play.

Having arrived late, I am alternate #361.

A couple of hours pass, and finally my number is called. I am handed $1500 in tournament chips -- an orange chip worth $1000 and a purple chip worth $500. For some reason, I am reminded of the scene at the beginning of Enemy at the Gates, where the Russians are sending in reinforcements to Stalingrad during World War II. As Jude Law -- who plays a Russian soldier -- steps off a boat and directly into battle, he is handed ammunition but no weapon to fire with:

"The one with the rifle shoots; the one without follows him. When the one with the rifle gets killed, the one who is following picks up the rifle and shoots."

I guess the rifle in this analogy is a seat at a table.

Normally, I'd like to sit tight, not get too involved, and avoid big pots early in the tournament. But that part of the tournament has already been taken cared of for me. The problem here is that the blinds are already at $100/$200; with only $1500 in starting chips, I've only got three or four rounds until I blind out. I have to come out firing, and it's "all-in" or fold.

I enter the game in the cutoff seat. On the second hand I am dealt 77, but an old guy in early position makes it $700 to go. I give him credit for a hand -- plus I am not about to go out on my second hand of the tournament with 77. I fold, the player behind me calls all-in with 88, and the old guy shows KK. Both flop sets as the board comes down K-J-8 and the guy behind me is out.

Several hands later, I am dealt 8s2s in the big blind, but fold to a raise. On the next hand with two callers in front of me, I limp in from the small blind with 5s3s hoping to flop something I can push with. The flop comes J-8-3 mixed suits with a spade, giving me bottom pair with a backdoor flush draw. I check, the new guy in the big blind bets all-in for his last $800 (he had already been involved in a pot) and gets a caller, and I have to fold. The big blind shows 88 for a set of eights.

I am down to $1100.

The next hand, I am dealt 7-4 offsuit on the button. Only an early player limps, and I think this might be good time to push all-in on a steal but decide against it. After that hand, the tournament director calls for a break.

Amazing. I've only been in the game for ten minutes, and we are already on break.

We come back, and the blinds are still at $100/$200 but now with a $25 ante. It now costs $575 a round to play, so I've got less than two rounds left. For some reason, the player on the button decides to finish a sandwich rather than play his hand, so I effectively get the dealer button for another hand.

I am dealt 33. A couple of players limp in front of me, and now is the time to make a move. I push all-in for $1100, nobody calls, and I pick up the $975 in the pot. A couple of hands later I get dealt AA, open the pot with a $600 raise and get no further action.

A couple of hands after that I recieve KQ offsuit. KQ is a trouble hand, but I have to stay aggressive and pick up blinds and antes. Like myself, I realize that most of the table is relatively short stacked compared to the amount of the blinds and antes, and that I don't need to make a $600 raise to scare anybody. I open the pot with a smaller raise to $500, and everybody folds.

They break up the table. So far, I've doubled my stack to $3100 without confrontation.

Sweet. $1600 down, $1.43 million to go.