I had written about 2,000 words on Wednesday's poker tournament at Erik's and I wasn't even done yet. Of course, my computer decided to bomb out on me, because that's all it's here for, is to spite me. It's pretty late, so I won't write it over tonight, but it'll be up this week. Also, Sunday is a $100 buy-in tournament at the Port Washington Elks Lodge that I somehow got myself into. It's against mostly Elks Lodge Members and cops. This is the life.

OK, let's try this again. Erik's tournament on Wednesday had 13 people this time, as I tried to defend my title from the previous week. The big change this week was that we had $5000 in chips, as opposed to the $25 we had the past two weeks, and blinds raised every half hour.

Once again, I got put on the same table as Tom, who had no money and used mine, the bum. Jude also came with Tom, but he was on the other table. The first big hand occurred on the other table, as it usually does because I always get put on the tight table somehow. It involved Jude, this new kid Matt, and some little pink-faced kid that looked like he was about 11 years old. Everybody was all-in with a board of 6 8 9 queen 10 with three diamonds. The little kid, who had been the initial bettor, flipped over a 7 with total confidence for some reason, even though everyone else knew he was toast with what was out there. Jude flipped over a jack-high flush, and Matt flipped over a queen-high flush, taking a huge pot and knocking the other guys down to almost nothing. They were both done a little bit after that.

At our table, I didn't play many hands early on, as per my usual style. I picked up jack ten on the big blind, and saw a three-way flop with Tom and Dan. The flop came 7 9 2, giving me a couple overcards and an inside straight draw. Dan bet out, and I raised him. Tom called my raise, but Dan folded. The turn was an 8, giving me the nut straight. I bet out a decent amount, and Tom quickly called. I was pretty sure at this point that he had top pair, because he usually can't get away from top pair, unless there's just something really obvious out there. The last card was a blank again, and I bet out and Tom quickly called again. As expected, he had ace 9, and I showed the nut straight. He said, "You and your straights again," which is funny because I usually don't catch straights. I guess he remembered when I made a similar play last week, raising on the draw and sticking it. Anyway, that pot set me up pretty nice, at about $6500.

After that pot, I think Tom went on tilt a little, and he started throwing money all over, and you could tell he was frustrated. At one point he got pocket queens, and made a good raise with it preflop. Jay and Dan called it, and the flop was 4 5 8. Tom bet out 500, which was a pretty big bet at this stage, and Dan folded and Jay called. The turn was a 3. I was studying both of them, as I usually do when I'm not in the hand, and you could just see Jay's face light up. I knew he had caught a straight. He bet out like $200, and Tom raised him $2500. Jay called it, not raising all-in for some reason. The river was a 10 I think, and Jay checked and Tom checked. I don't get Jay checking because there's no way Tom had 6 7 here. Anyway, Jay flipped over the straight and Tom went ballistic, rightly so, because Jay is just retarded with his chasing. Tom dug his own grave, though, because his $2500 raise had to be the worst raise I've ever seen. If he was watching Jay, he would have known Jay had the straight, and his raise was just throwing away half his stack. Anyway, I don't mean to come down too hard on Tom because he's an awesome player, but I think to take the next step he has to learn when to throw good hands away. Just because a hand is good on the flop doesn't mean it's good later on. But I digress...

After that hand, Tom was pretty much done, and he got whacked a little while later, going in with king 7 against ace jack. I played really tight at this point, waiting for us to combine to the final table where I could do some damage. Nothing of note really happened, and we combined when we got down to 8 left. I was sitting on Erik's left, who strikes me as a good player, but who never gets any good cards on Wednesdays.

Early on at the final table, I picked up big slick suited, and I raised 600 to come in, a pretty big raise. Naturally, two doofuses called me. The flop was 4 5 6, and I bet out 600 again. One kid called, and one folded. The turn was another 6, and I was pretty sure he didn't have that, so I bet out 600 again. He called again, and I put him on a lousy ace, maybe ace 4 or ace 5. I hate people that play that "any ace" mentality preflop that they'll call anything with. The river was a king, and I was positive I had the best hand now. I bet out another 600 as a value bet, and got called again. The kings up took it, and the kid started complaining that I got lucky on the river, but he had no business crying because he should learn to raise and get me out. Instead, he plays tight-weak and loses his money. Works for me. That pot set me up very nicely, probably about third in chips and very comfortable. After another 45 minutes or so, I picked up queen jack suited and came in to see a 3 way pot with Alex and Jay. Alex came in raising, and we both called. The flop was 4 8 10. We checked, and Jay bet out 500, which at this point was a pretty small bet. Alex folded, and I called with my overcards and the gutshot straight draw. The turn was a 2, and Jay bet 500 again. Now it was an even weaker bet with what was in the pot. I was thinking of raising it, but I figured I'd just call and raise if needed on the river. The river was a 9, giving me the nut straight again, and I bet out 4000, figuring Jay would call anything. He did, of course, with a pair of 10s or something, he didn't even show. After that pot I was second in chips behind the kid Matt, who was still playing off that huge stack he took off Jude and the kid from the Sandlot before.


At one point Erik got picked off by the kid sitting next to me who had played the ace-rag earlier. Erik had queen jack, and he came in with a big raise. The kid called him. The flop was jack 4 6, and Erik went all-in after the kid checked. The kid then called immediately with ace king. How do you do that? Erik and I both let out a big "What the hell" sound as we witnessed another retarded amateur play. The turn was a blank, and the river was an ace, sending Erik packing. That's rough.

We got down to four-handed: Me, Matt, Alex, and Saied. Saied picked off Alex after he made a bluff when Saied slowplayed trip 7s. This made me very happy, because I figured Alex to be the toughest one at the table. Once we got to three-handed, I completely shifted gears and started raising the hell out of everything. The blinds wre high, so I just kept eating them up, and on the rare occasion when someone did call me, I would bet out on the flop and take it down. I increased my stack dramatically until I had the chip lead. Matt came in raising, which he very rarely did. Every time he did, he showed us an ace. I looked down to see ace queen of hearts. I figured him to have a worse ace, so I reraised him all-in. He called and flipped over ace 8 of clubs. I was a huge favorite, about 80 percent, and if I took this pot it was more or less over because Saied had hardly anything. The flop was jack 9 7 rainbow- so far so good. The turn was a 6 which gave him an open-ended straight, and 11 outs. Sure enough, the river was a ten, giving him his straight and punching me in the gut. The devil hand strikes again. After that, Matt had the chip lead on me, and he knocked Saied out a little later.

Heads up I stayed aggressive early on, but Matt kept coming over the top of me- all-in on the first three hands, taking a decent chunk out of me. I started looking to see more flops and outplay him there, which I did for a while. My big score came when I had queen jack. He came in raising and I flat-called it. The flop was ace jack ten, and he bet out again. I thought of raising, but decided just to call. The turn was a king, and he checked. I followed right behind him with a quick check, having made my straight. The river was a blank, and he bet out 5 grand. I thought about it for a while, even saying, "You slowplayed the straight on me, huh?" Reluctantly, I said, "OK, you're 50, and 100 more. Let's roll." He called me and flipped over kings and tens. I showed him the straight, at which point Matt and Erik, who was dealing, both went, "Holy shit. Wow." That was easily my best play of the night, if not the summer, and I doubled through.

I had Matt on the ropes, and he limped in one hand that I had king jack. I figured I had at worst a coin flip, if not a better hand, so I raised all-in and he called, saying he hoped I would do that. He had pocket 7s, so it was a coin flip. If I won, it was over, if he did, he would double up. I couldn't get any help, and he took it.

A little bit later I got king 7, and I came in raising, which was called by Matt. The flop was 3 4 7, and Matt checked to me, and I bet out with top pair. He waited a bit then called. The turn was a jack, and he checked quickly- a little to quickly, but I didn't listen to the voice in my head, and I bet out again. He thought, then called. The river was a blank, and he checked again. I bet out again, a big bet, way too much, and he went all-in immediately. I KNEW IT. That was dumb, and I knew he was slowplaying me. I folded it, and he showed the nut straight that he had flopped. Stupid stupid stupid. This crippled me, and a little while later I was down to about nothing. I went all-in with 9 2, which is total trash, but I was pretty much forced to. I figured my odds of getting lucky and doubling up were better than my odds of losing my blind and coming back from that, so I went for it. He had pocket 5s which didn't make me real happy, but I still had about a 30 percent shot at it. No help came though, and I ended up taking second, pocketing $100.

Overall, I was happy with how I played. I feel like most people at the table fear me when I get involved, and I may be the most respected player there. The one mistake was the hand that I could feel I was getting trapped on, but other than that I played pretty flawlessly for the second straight week. I had the tournament basically won with that ace queen and I got sucked out on, and I lost the coin flip with the king jack. Sometimes you get em, sometimes you don't. I can't complain because I won the coin flip to win it all last week. I'm getting a lot better at changing gears at the right times and picking my spots to make a move. My reading skills are as good as they have ever been, and I can almost always peg someone on their hand. Come to think of it, probably about 85% of showdowns I'm in, I win. So my poker career is going well.

Quote of the day: "How the hell do you call an all-in after the flop with just ace high?!"- Erik

Terrence's bankroll: $170+$75= $245

I finally got my first taste of a big buy-in, non-home game on Sunday when I played at the Port Washington Elks Lodge. I found out about it when I returned from lunch one day last week at work to find a note from Paul. I asked him about it, and he said someone had come to pick up some giveaways for a charity outing, and the first thing they said was, "Does anybody play texas hold 'em?" To which Paul described my passion for the game. I called the woman up when I got back from lunch, and found out that there was a $100 buy-in tournament being held in Port Washington to benefit their charity foundation. 100 people were expected to enter. I registered, got the directions, and began to get excited.

On Sunday, I headed out, stopping at McDonald's first. My nerves were tangible as I spilled my drink all over my table as I went to sit down. I got off the exit on the LIE to find that the road I needed to take was closed by police. I somehow found my way to the place at 3:58 for the 4 o'clock start. It turns out it didn't start until more like 5:15 because of the traffic incident, so I hung out for a bit.

One of the first things I noticed was Mike Sexton, the host of the World Poker Tour, sitting at a table, eating a hero and drinking a beer. I went back up to the woman I had registered with and said, "How did you get Mike Sexton here?!" She told me that her cousin was Mike Sexton's boyfriend, so he agreed to come to announce the tournament, but he wouldn't be playing, which really would have been cool. She told me she would introduce me to him, and I went over and talked to him for about ten minutes about poker, the tournament, and North Carolina, where he told me he used to live. I was wearing my Carolina shirt and hat, so he could spot me a mile away. I really wanted to ask him where Shana Hiatt was, but I'm a wimp and I didn't.

Soon after, Mom and Al showed up, which didn't exactly thrill me. First off, Mom told me that she was coming to watch me, no mention of Al. To make things exponentially worse, they decided to enter into the event as well, even though I told her not to when she told me she wanted to come watch me. This isn't even taking into account that they still don't really know what they're doing at a hold 'em table(Mom's never-fold-a-face-card strategy still baffles me). Anyway, that got things off to a bad start, but I didn't worry about it too much. At least it would keep them out of my hair while I was playing. After a few words from Mike Sexton, who won the World Series of Poker main event sometime in the '80's, incidentally, things got started.

We picked our seating assignments out of a hat, and got going. I was seat 6 at table 8. The total number of entrants was about 95, I think. I also found out, much to my chagrin, that there was one re-buy allowed. I HATE REBUYS. Maybe it's just because I can't afford them. Or maybe it's because if you lose, you should be out, and I shouldn't have to deal with someone I already eliminated. I'm leaning towards the latter. Anyway, I was totally calm when we started, not worrying about the train wreck compilation of events that preceded the tournament. I started out in the blinds, like I always do, despite there being about a 75% chance that I won't. For the first hour, I literally only put money into the pot voluntarily one time. Aside from the blinds, I limped in with jack queen in middle position, saw a flop of Ace 5 6, and folded. Part of this was because I wanted to feel out the strength of play at my table, but mostly it was because I got the worst cards I've ever sen in my life. King 4 about five times. 3 8 about five times. The jack queen was the only time I saw two cards above a 9 at once, and I got no pocket pairs.

After the break, I had about $1200 of my original $1500 still intact. Not so bad considering I hadn't won a pot yet. Also, I had noticed without too much critical thinking that my table was composed entirely of terrible players. When I say terrible, I mean TERRIBLE. Everybody wanted to see a flop, so everyone limped in. Nobody ever raised preflop, except to double the blind the few times that someone had kings or aces. People bet and called all the way down with ace high. All sorts of things that show you why the poker gods keep plenty of thunderbolts handy. At one point, I got pocket 6s on the button, which is usually a decent position to be in, but the guy before me had raised coming in, which meant that he had a high pocket pair. The people didn't even raise with ace king. I'm serious. I folded, knowing I would need to set up to drag the pot, and sure enough the flop had a 6. Unless the guy had pocket queens (there were two out there), I would have taken it and probably doubled up at least, especially when you consider the old, grizzled lady that called everything down to the river was in the hand, too. I still couldn't get anything even remotely worth playing, and I slowly got blinded down. What made this excruciating was that I really wanted to raise, but there had only been two pots in 2 and a half hours that didn't result in a showdown. There was really no way to raise someone out of a pot.

Eventually, our table got broken up, which was great, because maybe now I'd get at a real table and get some cards. Wrong. I pulled the ace, putting me at table 5. As an aside, that was the only ace I saw in my hand the entire night. No joke. I got put on a new table, where I sat for an hour without getting anything. Finally, on the button, I saw pocket tens, my favorite hand. 5 people had limped in for the $200 blind (as you can see, this table wasn't much better), so I went all-in for another $800 on top of the blinds. All 5 players that limped then called my raise, which was four times the big blind, for God sake, and I pretty much knew I was done unless I either caught a ten or saw 5 undercards. Calling my raise left 2 of the players with about $200 left, so you can see how bad these guys were. The flop was 8 9 king, and one guy bet out $500, basically alerting everyone that he caught a king. One guy called, as the others folded. The turn was a jack, giving me hope, as I now had an open-ended straight draw. One guy check-raised the other all-in, and he folded. He flipped over pocket jacks for a set. Remember, this guy limped in. I needed an 8 or a queen to stay alive and quintuple up, but the river was a king, and I was done. Mike Sexton was at the table when I went out, as he had been making the rounds any time he heard an all-in to make sure the retarded knew how to make side pots. After I got knocked out, he shook my hand and said, "Sorry to see a fellow Tar Hell get knocked out," so that was nice, at least. I ended up finishing in about 45th place out of 95 people, without winning a pot, and without using a rebuy. I know, I'm speechless, too. I didn't stick around to see who won the awesome trophy and the $4,000+ for first, as I was understandably spent. I had gone almost four hours without winning one hand or seeing two good hole cards, save for the tens, which got whacked. It frustrated me to no end, because I knew if I had gotten any cards at all I would have dusted the whole place. Oh well, I'll have plenty more chances, I'm sure.

Quote of the day: "What's with kiting my checks? You tapped out? You didn't spend it all on the hooker, did you?" "Mike, please, relaxation therapist."

Terrence's bankroll: $245-$115=$130

I'm back in Chapel Hill now, so naturally, the first thing we did was play poker. We were able to scrounge together me, Pete, Jon, and Roy for a 5 dollar game. Pete and Jon didn't even have 5 bucks, so they left to go to the ATM. Jon came back sans Pete, so we decided to start playing and blind him down. He finally got back about 40 minutes later (typical Pete), and folded his first ten hands or so. He finally did play a hand against Jonathan, and he lost all his money calling with something pretty weak at the end. Not a good night for Pete.

On the fourth hand, I had ace 9 and came in raising 6 bucks (we start with 100). Roy reraised 10, and I called. The flop was king 4 8. I checked, and Roy bet 10. I figured he had pocket jacks or queens, so I raised him 20. He reraised another 20, and i was pretty sure he had ace king, so I folded. I found out later he just had ace ten, but he did some job representing the ace king. I could have taken it with another raise, but he played it well. That left me with less than half my original stack, and I was in trouble. I got some of it back later when I called a weak 2 dollar preflop raise from Jon. Roy also called. I was in first position, and I bet out 10 bucks when the flop came 2 3 4 rainbow, giving me an open-ended straight draw. Roy called, and Jon folded. I put Roy on just overcards. The turn was a 9, and I bet 10 again. Roy called. The river was a queen, and I was praying that didn't pair him up. I went all in for my last 27, because that was the only way I could win the pot, seeing as I had the worst hand possible. Roy thought about it for a while, then folded, and he definitely wasn't happy about it. He told me later he just had king high, but I don't know. He spent way too much time being upset at it to just have folded king high.

I tried to play my regular game after that, but I was in trouble. Pete went out shortly after, and Roy was a bit on tilt and down to only 30 dollars. He just would not die though, so I was being cautious, not wanting to finish one out of the money with a coin flip or close to it. I picked up ace queen of clubs, the devil incarnate, and came in raising 12 bucks. Jon reraised all-in, and I folded it, because even if it was up against 2 7 off, it would find a way to lose. For some reason, I rabbit-hunted, and found out I would have had the nut flush. Torture.

Three or four times in a row on my big blind, Jon would raise and I would look down to find 10 3. Just enough times to drive me nuts. I commented about how I was getting a lousy ten every hand, when I look down and see my favorite hand, pocket tens. That has a funny way of working out. I came in raising, and everyone folded.

I finally took Roy out when I had ace queen one again, and came in raising 15 on his big blind. He decided to go all-in for another 15, and I called, pretty sure I had him as he was desperate. The devil actually held up, and I took him out. Now it was down to me and Jon, and I was down about 330-70 in chips, but I knew I could fight back. I stole a few blinds, which were now at 5-10, and got myself to about 100 in chips. Jon looked down, started to pick up his hand as if to fold it, then called the big blind. I was pretty sure he had garbage, so I raised him twenty on my king jack, although I would have raised anyway. He reraised me 20, trying to make it look like he was setting a trap with a big hand, but I knew he had junk, so I went all in, and he folded. Hehe.

He stole a few of my blinds and got me back to about 95, and I looked down to see ace 3 of clubs. I raised it 20, and he went all in rather quickly. I was pretty sure he was stealing, as he had done something like this earlier when I had the same feeling, but Roy hadn't called him. Usually I would chuck an ace 3 pretty quick facing this kind of raise, but I decided to go with my read and call. He turned over 5 8 (!), and I was looking good. The board had all blanks, although he was open-ended on the river but didn't catch. This got me to just below even.

A few hand later, I had king 5 on my big blind. Jon raised ten coming in, so I called. The flop was 4 5 6, and I was pretty sure I was ahead in the hand. Jon bet ten, and I should have raised, but I just called. The turn was a ten, and I had a feeling he had just caught a pair of tens. He bet ten again, and I called. The river was another 6. This time he bet twenty, and I called again, even though I was almost positive he had a ten, and he did, queen ten. Man, I just need to learn to listen to my gut. I'd save so much money. This hurt me bad, and a little while later I went all in with a diamond draw on the flop, desperate to double up. Best case scenario, he just had an open-ended straight draw, although his cards were higher than mine, so a pair would have won also. The turn and river were both garbage, so he took it. Overall, I played pretty good, and I was really happy with my reads, especially after not playing with the guys for a while. Jon took his 15 bucks, and I took... nothing, because that bastard Pete never paid. I'll get him tomorrow.

P.S. This year is going to be sick with poker, as almost everyone I met is interested in playing. I wouldn't be surprised if we were able to organize a 50 person tournament. We were talking about it at Fall Fest, and two guys turned around and said, "What? A poker tournament? Where?" Haha, the bug is catching, and there's a lot of money to be taken.

Quote of the day: "The kid's got alligator blood. I can't get rid of him." KGB, in honor of Roy.

Terrence's bankroll: $130+0=$130

Last night we decided to get as many people together as we could on short notice to play a tournament. Word spread rather quickly, and the 5 or 6 we originally anticipated quickly turned into 12. We used the first floor lounge to play- luckily our RA is into poker, too, so he was cool about us playing in there. He actually has a nice poker table in his room, too. There was one table in there already, and Pete and I carried up the table from the laundry room downstairs. All told, there were 12 guys at 5 bucks apiece. Some of the notables were me, Pete, Bobby, Godwin, Big Red Ho, Andrew, and Patrick.

We divided up into two tables, and I was sitting with Bobby, Godwin, Andrew, this kid Will that lives next door, and some other guy. On about the third hand of the night, Godwin comes in raising 10 bucks, and the guy reraises him 10. Godwin goes all-in, and the guy quickly called. It actually put him all in, so Godwin had 8 bucks left if he lost. Godwin turned over pocket queens, and the other guy had ace jack of spades. Everyone at the table said at the same time-"What the hell are you doing?" Naturally, poor play was rewarded as an ace came on the flop, and a jack popped up on the turn to add insult to injury for poor Godwin. A few hands later I got pocket jacks. I came in raising, and Will called. The flop was 4 6 10. I bet out 15, Will raised 15, and I went all- in, pretty sure he just had tens. He called and flipped over king ten. The turn was a blank, and the river was the king, and the suck-out-fest continued. That left me with about 12 bucks, but the blinds were still 1-2, so Godwin and I weren't done yet.

After that, I had to just wait to push it all-in. On my big blind, I had ace ten with two limpers, and I went all-in. They both folded, which was fine by me. I fought like hell and actually built my stack up to about 40 bucks. Godwin also battled, getting back to about 50. Andrew got whacked when he made a real dumb play on Bobby. Four diamonds were out there, Bobby was betting the whole way, and Andrew raised all-in with the queen of diamonds. Bobby had the ace, and Andrew was gone. After about an hour and a half of fighting, and with half the field gone, I picked up pocket 9s with one limper on the small blind. I went all-in for my last 25 bucks or so, and Godwin folded to Will, the limper. With the pot odds he was getting, I was pretty sure I'd get called, but I figured to be at least a slight favorite. Wrong. He turned over pocket queens, much to my surprise, and they held up, so I was toast. I hadn't even made one bad play, either. That king spiking on the river just killed me, as I would have had about 180 in chips, rather than the 20 I ended up with.

In addition to mine and Godwin's bad beats, the other table had it's fair share, as well. Jonathan whacked Patrick after Pat flopped a set of 5's, while Jon had top pair with Jack Ten. All the money went in on the flop, and Jon needed two runner to win it. Needless to say, he got it, about a 50-1 shot. Jon's new nickname is now Runner Runner. He also whacked Pete earlier when Pete went all-in preflop with ace king of diamonds. Jon called with king queen of clubs, and he got a flush on the turn to whack Pete.

Like me, Andrew is a degenerate gambler, so he organized another tournament to be held up on the third floor. We all took our stuff and left- me, Pete, Andrew, and Patrick. All in all, there were seven guys in the tournament, for another 5 bucks a pop. Winner got 30, second got their money back. My first real good hand was when I got trip tens to crack aces, although he slowplayed them, so I don't feel bad, and I actually whacked a guy in the same hand who thought his pocket 8's were good. That set me up nicely, and I followed it up by taking a good size pot off Andrew with the nut flush when he had a straight.

At that point I think I had the chip lead, or at least close to it, but only one guy was out, so there was still work to be done. I took out Joe when I called a preflop raise on the button with 8 9 and flopped top two pair. I went all-in on the flop after he bet out, and he called with ace king. I still don't understand people calling all-in bets with just ace high. Oh well, fine by me. Now we were down to 5, and this kid Greg went out when he called an all-in with 10 6 before the flop. Someone needs to just shoot him so he can never play cards again. But I digress...

Down to four-handed, Andrew was shortstacked after losing a couple big pots. He had been almost maniacally aggressive all night, raising pot after pot. Eventually, it caught up to him, and he was down low, but he fought back, doubling up a couple times, until he was reasonably comfortable again. When we got down to four, we moved down to the lounge(the other tournament was done by then), and played there. Patrick was starting to get low because he was very passive. So many times he would limp in, then fold to a raise. It was almost automatic. Pete doubled up off of me after Andrew raised on the button, Pete called, and I went all-in. I had ace jack of clubs, and I also had a huge chip lead, so I kept pushing my weight around. I figured Andrew to be just stealing the blinds, but Pete I was a little worried about. I figured at worst it was a coin flip, but I was hoping he'd muck it, as there was already a lot in the pot. Pete took a long time to decide, and while he was thinking, Andrew kept telling him, you have to call with these pot odds, you're getting 3-1, which is just plain wrong, as you can't influence a guy's decision. He was doing it all night, too, and next time I'm gonna call him out on it. Anyway, Pete decided to make a stand and call with pocket 7s, and they held up. I was still the big chip leader, so it didn't hurt too bad, although it would have been nice to whack Pete. A few hands later I picked up ace 4 of clubs on the small blind, and I came in with a 20 dollar raise, with the blinds at 3-6. Andrew called it, and the flop was 2 6 6. I bet out 20, and Andrew raised it 20. Now here's the thing with Andrew- He knows what he's doing, and he's very capable of making a play at a pot on a draw or with nothing, as I'd seen before. He also knows that I probably didn't hit that flop, what with my preflop raise and all. I decided that he was on a flush draw, I was sure of it, and that my ace was still good. If a diamond came, I would get out, but if not, I had him. I called his 20, and the turn was a 9 of spades. I bet out 20 at him, determined not to give him a free card for his flush, and he called with a confused look on his face. The river was a 4, pairing me up, but more importantly, it wasn't a diamond. I bet 20 again, and he just looked totally defeated. At this point, there was something like 190 in the pot, and he only had about 80 left, but he showed me jack 7 of diamonds, and after begging me to show my hand, folded, even after I told him I wasn't showing, and I didn't. He agonized over that for the next twenty minutes. He even said, "I don't know what you have, but you played that one perfectly." He accumulated a few more chips by stealing some blinds, though, so he wasn't done.

I was on the small blind with 4 5 offsuit, and I felt like stealing, so I raised it 20 to Andrew. He called, and the flop was ace jack 6. I figured if I bet out and he has any piece of this, he's going to call or raise, but I can take it if I check-raise him, which I hadn't done all night. I checked it to him, and he bet 20. I hesitated for a second, then raised him 30. Again, he looked totally confused, and folded it, telling me he had jacks. Naturally, I told him that I had him beat, because I'm fun like that.

My other great play of the night was against Pete. Now this hand scares me a little, because I'm thinking of things I never would have dreamed of a few years ago. Up to this point, Pete had played almost no hands at the final table, preferring to let me and Andrew duke it out. He came in raising for 20 on the small blind after Andrew folded, and I looked down to see 4 6 of hearts. I decided to call his bet, just for the sole purpose of stealing the pot later. The flop was jack 2 7, and he bet 20. I called him, still with nothing, but just waiting to steal it. I realize this sounds crazy, but I was in the zone reading people last night. The turn was an ace, a beautiful little scare card for me. Pete bet out 30, and I raised him 60. He folded it, and I took a really nice pot with 6 high. At this point, I had over 500 in chips, with the other 150 or so divided between Pete and Andrew, although Andrew was shortstacked, at about 45 bucks. I found ace queen on the small blind, and after Pete folded, I raised it 30 bucks, effectively putting Andrew all-in. He did go all-in, and I called. He showed jack ten, and my devil hand held up, so we were down to two. I had about 600 in chips, while Pete had 100. I had to play smart, though, because there was a 30 dollar difference between first and second, and Pete requires patience to beat. I stole a few blinds, and got out of his way when he'd make a move, just biding my time. I whittled him down to about 70, when he started going all-in right off the bat in the small blind. I never picked up anything to call him, but he did it about 5 times. Finally he went all-in and I looked down to see pocket tens. Man, I love that hand. I called, and he showed ace 3. The flop was innocuous, as was the turn, so he needed an ace or a 3 to double up. The river was my third ten, so I took the title and the thirty bucks. Not a bad way to end the night.

Quote of the day- "Man, I just love watching you guys. It's so intense."- Andrew's friend, who watched the whole tournament.

Terrence's bankroll- $130+5+25=$150

Last night me and the guys decided to hold an impromptu tournament, even though Pete and I had already decided not to play. What can I say, we're junkies. It began with seven guys- me, Pete, and a bunch of guys from my hall. Early on I played a couple pots and took most of them after backing up my preflop raise with a bet on the flop. We began the tournament with 100 in chips, and at this point I was up to about 160, which was good for second in chips, behind Jesse, who had taken a few big pots. Anyway, Jesse comes in raising from first position for only 6 dollars, a pretty weak raise, and I'd seen him raise with dumb cards before. So I look down and see ace queen off, and I reraise him 15. Alex behind me calls, and so does Jesse. The flop comes ace king 4, all hearts. I had the queen of hearts in my hand, so I had top pair, top kicker, and the nut flush draw, and even a backdoor straight draw. I bet out 15, Alex folded, and Jesse raised me 15. I reraised all-in for another 107. He called after thinking for about 2 seconds and flipped over king jack of spades. Huh? "I didn't think you had anything," he said. Obviously my preflop reraise, bet and all-in reraise on the flop was not noticed by him. This left him with 4 outs against me- his two kings and the jack of diamonds and clubs, as the heart would give me my flush. He was basically on an inside straight draw which could get beaten even if it hit. The turn was... you guessed it, the jack of clubs, giving him two pair, but I still had a ton of outs. Two more aces in the deck would give me trips, 3 queens would give me a superior two pair, 4 tens in the deck would give me a straight, and the remaining 8 hearts would give me a flush. Seventeen outs going into the river isn't so bad, and remember, this was worst case scenario. I saw the river come off- it was a heart, giving me the nut flush. Right as I started to pump my fist, I saw that it was the jack of hearts, giving Jesse a full house. This knocked me out of the tournament and gave him a massive chip lead, and he ended up winning the tournament, while Pete took second. Once again, idiocy prevails.

Quote of the day- "If there wasn't luck involved, I guess I'd just win them all."- Phil Hellmuth

Terrence's bankroll-$150-5=$145

Before I get into Roy's first tournament of the year, I have to mention what took place after the tournament on Wednesday night. Pete and I stood outside for probably over an hour, discussing all the plays we made that night, and different ways to play some of the situations that came up. I also vowed never to play ace queen unless I was in the big blind and flopped the nut boat. I said that even if I had 1 million in chips and my opponent had 1, I would fold ace queen rather than put him all in. I also forgot to mention, Pete lost all his money when ace king ran into pocket rockets preflop in the Wednesday game, then lost his last remaining dollars when the 7 8 his ace king was all-in against caught the nut straight on the turn. That's rough.

Anyway, I kept imploring Pete to be more aggressive when the tournament reaches its latter stages, as he's always finishing in second or third due to his conservative nature.

We got to Roy's at 9:30 for the tournament, and there was a record 18 entrants. Two tables of nine people made for a packed house, and we drew seats for position. I found myself sitting on Jonathan's right, with Godwin, John, Ryan, Yush, and a couple other guys at my table. The first playable hand I got was pocket 7s in late position. Godwin came in raising from under the gun- 2 dollars more than the blind. You should know that we begin with 20 dollars. I reraised him 4, putting him on just high cards and not a pocket pair, and he called. The flop came king king 4, and Godwin checked to me. I bet out 4 dollars, and he quickly pushed all-in. Sure looks like a king, right? I went into the tank for a couple minutes, trying to figure out if he would make this play with anything but the kings. I finally decided that Godwin didn't have that bluff in him, as he is usually a smart, conservative player, and I laid down my 7s. This put me down to less than half what I started with, 8 bucks, but the blinds were still low. I found out after the tournament that Godwin had jack queen that hand, and had put a major move on me. I can't really say anything except great play. I didn't expect him to be bluffing, and he took a huge pot on a gutsy play. Good play, Godwin.

I pretty much sat on my eight dollars for a while, waiting for a hand I could double through with. I picked up pocket 7s again, and after three people limped for the dollar blind, I decided to go all-in. If I was called, I would be a slight favorite, and if not, I'd take $3.50. Everyone folded, and I was up to $11.50. I limped a couple times with decent cards, but couldn't seem to hit a flop, and my short stack pretty much eliminated any chance to bluff at the pot. One time I limped with ace 9, and Godwin raised 3 dollars and was called by Yush and Ryan. I folded it, rather than go all-in, because I figured i was up against a better ace, plus I'd get more than one caller. The flop came jack 3 4, and Godwin went all-in, and Ryan called. Ryan flipped over jack 8(who knows why he called the raise with that), and Godwin flipped over ace jack. Once again, terrible play was rewarded when the river spiked an 8, giving Ryan two pair and sending Godwin's stack across the room. I think Godwin is my Asian poker clone. Every time I see him, he's getting outdrawn by retarded hands.

The blind kept going up, and I kept being blinded down, until I had four dollars left with a 1-2 blind on the way to me. I told myself if I saw a face card I'd go all-in, but in the eight hands I saw, the best hand of the bunch was a 10 5. Finally, on my big blind, I looked down at ace queen, which sure looks good after the cards I've been getting, especially seeing as only one guy had limped in and I would surely be heads up with the best hand. Yum had limped, and I raised my remaining two dollars, which he called. He flipped over a 6 8 offsuit. How the hell do you limp into a hand with 6 8 offsuit when you know the big blind is going all-in? Do peopl pray to get this lucky? Or are they just too stupid to realize that 6 8 isn't favored over anything? Anyway, you've heard this story before- a 6 came on the flop, and I was sent packing by ace queen once again. 9th place out of 18 players. Pretty weak.

I stuck around, though, to see my protege, Pete, try to break through. He was at the other table, and he had a healthy stack. He was down to three handed with Steve Zeng and Patrick, with Steve Zeng being the low chip stack. Pete had some rough hands, though, and he became the low man on the totem pole. Then, a great thing happened. Steve and Patrick had a raising war and Steve was all-in with ace ten against ace king. Patrick's hand held up, and Pete was guaranteed a spot in the money.

I forgot to mention- before I went out, the following hand occurred. Jonathan limped in from early position, as did John Moon. Godwin then raised his last chips into the pot. I think it was something like 10 dollars above the blind. Han called, Yush called, Jon called, and John Moon called, so there was a five-handed pot for a ton of money. The flop was 6 7 8, and Han made a bet, which Jon called, leaving him with two dollars. The other two folded. The turn was a 4, and Han bet Jon's last two, which Jon called. Jon flipped over pocket 4's and Han had king queen, as did Godwin, so they were both drawing dead to a 5 to split the pot. Why Han continued betting I may never know, as he had nothing, and had nothing to gain by bluffing into a pot that was protected by Godwin's all-in. Think about what you would do if you were Jon. You limped with pocket 4's and saw a good-size raise in front of you, as well as five callers. For Jon to call the raise, he was putting more than half his chips in the pot and basically committing himself to going all-in. Best case scenario for Jon, he's against nothing but overcards, at least 5 different ones, which would make him unlikely to win the pot unless he caught his third 4, which is more than an 8-1 shot. I looked up the odds given everyone's holdings on the computer when I got back. Jon had a 27% chance to win the hand, meaning that three out of four times he would be out of the tournament. There's not one halfway-sane poker player in the world who would risk all his chips when three out of four times he will be eliminated well short of the money. Jon tried to justify it afterwards, coming in my room to berate me about my criticism of his play. He eventually left in a huff after pulling out the "well I won the pot, didn't I" move that he'd been saving up. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the rationalization of a bad card player. The fact remains, Jon did win the pot, but he got very lucky to do so, and to rely on luck to win, you may as well not even play. But that's just my feelings on the subject.

Back to the game. Pete came into the final table shortstacked against, Jon, John, and Patrick, but Patrick quickly busted Jon after Jon went all-in with pocket kings on a flop that contained an ace. Good play, Jon. Now guaranteed at least $15 dollars, Pete was about even with John Moon, while Patrick had a huge chip lead. Pete stole some blinds, and then doubled up on Patrick when his pocket 4s held up against Patrick's ace queen. Pete later doubled up again when his ace jack beat Patrick's ace 4 when Pete hit two pair. The very next hand, Pete had Patrick all-in, and his pocket tens held up over Patrick's king queen. Just like that, Patrick was dead, and Pete had almost all the money. He finally got John Moon all-in with king 9 against his ace 10. Pete got a king on the river to win his first yellow chip and $40. Way to go, Pete! I'm sure we're going to have some great battles this year.

On a side note, five players busted out of tonight's tournament by going all-in with ace queen. I broke my own rule about playing ace queen, which seemed like necessity at he time, but all it really did was cost me a chance to play my small blind on the next hand. From this day forward, I am never playing ace queen again. So if you see ace queen on the flop, know that I don't have two pair.

Quote of the day-(In a whiny, hysterical voice) "I wrote movie reviews for the News and Observer for two years!"- Big Red Ass, Jonathan.

Terrence's bankroll-$145-5=$140