Every time I play in a poker tournament, I make it a point to learn something new. Sometimes it can end up being a very small thing, and sometimes it is such a big thing I wonder how it was possible that i didn't already know that!

My learning experience at a WSOP final table last Sunday was of the VERY LARGE variety... Here it is: I talked too much which resulted in me giving up too much information. When the first conversations began about a possible chop.... I quickly let everyone at the table know that I had no intention of leaving the room without that WSOP Championship ring. I said I didn't care what the chip count was or who had the chip lead, they only way anyone else could get MY ring was to beat me... We could chop the money ... but I get the ring!

As a deeply determined Pro Poker player, I had no intention of not winning that ring!  Here's the funny part..... By so clearly making that announement, all I really did was signal the good players that they could get away with big re-raises of any bet I made.  In simple terms..... I told them that no matter what, I could not accept getting knocked out without the ring... SO..... If i didn't have AA, KK or maybe QQ...there was NO WAY I could call a re-raise made by anyone that had more chips than I did... The worst part was: They were right, I couldn't! And, I had been dumb enough to make sure everyone knew exactly how important that ring was too me..... Consequently, I would raise with a solid hand like AK and one of the better players would triple my bet knowing I couldn't risk getting knocked out!

The sickest part here is that the ring is exactly that important to me. Had I not made sure they all knew that, I believe that I would have won the tournament relatively easily...

Ultimately, we chopped the money up 5 ways, but by then, they had my number and most of my chips....Lesson learned!