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