The blinds are 500/1500 with limits of 1500/3000. I have 31000 chips.

The first hand of my demise :

In the first hand I played, I raised with AK73 suited. I was called by the big blind.

The flop: 4K7 -- I flopped top two pair and 2nd nut low draw. I bet, and the other player calls.

The turn: 4K7J -- still two pair and same 2nd nut low draw. Again I bet, and the BB player asks "is your hand really that good?" -- then he raises. I call.

The river: 4K7JQ -- still two pair, and no low possible. Both players check. The BB player turns over a set of 4's and scoops the pot. I lost 10500 of my 31000 chips on this hand.

The second hand of my demise:

I'm in the BB with T854 double suited. A player in the cut-off raises, the button calls, and I defend my blind and call.

The flop: J94, two diamonds. I flop an open-ended straight draw. The cut-off player bets, the button folds, and I call with my draw.

The turn: J947, three diamonds. I have the nut straight, but I'm afraid of a possible flush. So I check, call the big bet.

The river: J9476, three diamonds. Again, I check-call. My opponent turns over AJ26, suited diamonds for a scoop of the pot. I lost another 10500 chips -- the minimum I could lose without folding. Now I'm down to 9000 chips.

The last hand of my tournament:

Two hands later, I'm on the button with AT35. The player in seat-10 (under-the-gun) raises, I call, and the small blind calls as well. This is the same player who hit the 1-out on me with quad queens versus my nut full house.

The flop: AJ6, two clubs. The player in seat-10 (UTG) does a continuation bet. When I see the flop, I had already decided to make a stand on this hand -- I wasn't about to fold no matter what hits the turn or river. I'm was thinking the player in seat-10 was raising with a weak ace, and certainly didn't flop top set of aces. I'm also believing that the ace on the flop probably counterfeited him. Therefore I raise, hoping to force out the player in the small-blind. The SB calls, and seat-10 raises; I re-raise, and seat-10 caps it to put me all-in for 8500 chips (I folded 500 chips in my small blind on the previous hand).

The turn: AJ62, two clubs. This looks like the ideal card for me. I have top pair with a decent kicker, and the 2nd nut low. The betting by the remaining two players doesn’t concern me because I'm already all-in.

The river: AJ629, two clubs. Seat-10 turns over AJ56 for top two pair. It turns out he had raised under-the-gun with a very marginal hand -- but probably good enough of a hand to try to steal the blinds. The small blind turns over A334 -- for the nut low. I'm out of the tournament in 15 minutes.

Conclusions:

In hindsight, I can't imagine playing any of these hands any differently. The first hand was beat by a player with bottom set. The second hand (my straight) was beat by a flush. The third hand was beat by one player with two pair, and the other player with the nut low -- shutting me out with a single pair and 2nd nut low. There's just nothing I could do about it.

At this point, I'm not sure I'm planning to play the WSOP next year. My 1500 event was a disaster. My 2000 event went well at first, but three hands and 15 minutes later and I'm out. It's hard to swallow and justify the expense of the WSOP as things stand right now.