Late night:
Forsberg's luck continued to wan after dinner, and his chip stack slowly shrunk. To make matters worse, Julian Gardner, a professional from England, soon joined the table, and he brought a large mound of chips with him.
Gardner, a 29-year-old who finished second to Robert Varkonyi in the 2002 main event, immediatedly pushed the action, using his advantage and intimidation to steal pots.
Forsberg tried to make a couple moves. He raised with pocket jacks, but when an ace and queen came on the flop, and his opponent led out with a bet, he threw the jacks away.
Later, the same thing happened with pocket kings, only this time he had two other players in the pot. When the ace came on the flop, and his opponents led with a bet and a raise, he laid down his kings.
Down to about $6,000, Forsberg knew he had to change his strategy. So when he got pocket queens a short while later, he went all-in before the flop, then did it again with king-queen, both times winning the blinds and antes and increasing his stack to about $12,000.
"Now I'm starting to feel comfortable," he says. "I've still got 30 times the big blind and I'm playing some good cards."
Plus it was about 10:30 p.m., with a break coming at 11. He's been playing for nearly 11 hours, which is an accomplishment in itself. Now just hold on another half hour, make it to the break. Then make it to the next break. It's all about survival.
Then, shortly before 11 p.m., Forsberg looks down and finds pocket aces. First to act, he goes in with a raise. He notices another player sizing him up, eying his chip stack. This is exactly what he wants.
When his opponent announces "I'm gonna put you all in," Forsberg calls immediately and shoves his chips forward.
"I got my chips into the pot before he did," Forsberg says with a laugh, noting that if he wins the hand, he'll be up over $25,000.
His opponent turns over ace-king of spades, and Forsberg's optimism turns to dread when a jack and 10 come on the flop. The turn card is a queen, giving his foe a straight, and ending Forsberg's tournament.
"It's like I said when I started this little adventure," Forsberg says, "you really have to get lucky, not to get unlucky.
"You have to win your races to have a chance. Good play can get you into the money, but even pros will tell you that you have to have some luck."
When the first day ended, a field of nearly 1,300 had been cut to 445, with three more first-day groups to follow over the next three days. Gardner was among the chip leaders, sitting in 31st place.
Forsberg was not among them, but his dreams were far from dashed.
He will continue to play smaller tournaments in Washington, and says he'll build a stake from those events in case he has to buy his way in to the main event next year.
"This won't be the last one."
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