Last night was the Stacy Poker Tour tournament, returning after a week hiatus. The turnout was slightly below what we're used to, with 23 entrants. There were a couple new faces, as well, with Roy, Bobby, and Ryan playing in their first Tuesday game. We started off with three tables, and I got carded to what seemed to be the toughest one. Aaron, the current Tournament of Champions points leader was seated three to my left, while last week's winner, Andy, was on my right. There were a couple weak players at either end of the table, though, so I figured as long as I was careful, I could increase my stack.

A few hands in, I picked up ace ten of spades UTG+1. Andy limped in from under the gun, and so did I. The small blind limped- this kid Todd who is a real fag and might get a beating soon, and the big blind made a small raise. Everyone called, because when you double the big blind, anyone that has already limped has no reason to fold. Stupid. The flop was ace ace 5. Wowsa. I decided to slowplay it, as these guys can't help but bet. It got checked through on the flop, and then I checked it again on the turn, which was a 9. The river came, pairing up the 5, so I knew I was set. Todd bet out 20, and the big blind called it. I put the big blind on a pocket pair above 9s, which he thought were good, and I thought Todd was just stealing. I raised it 20, hoping to get a call. Todd folded, and the other kid called. He showed pocket tens, and my boat won it. Why did he call there? He said he didn't think I had it. Good read. I think anyone could see I had it by the way it played out, but I won't complain because that was easy money.

I took a few small pots in the next half hour or so- nothing substantial. Our table was playing pretty tight, so everyone was pretty easy to read. I folded a full house to Aaron one time, which I didn't feel like losing a lot of money on. The flop was 10 10 queen on my big blind. I had 10 5. I checked it, and he bet the like ten. I called it. The next card paired the queen. I checked it again, and he bet 25 this time. I figured him for the queen, so I mucked it. A little while later I picked up pocket kings UTG. I raised it to 12 to play, and the kid two to my left went all-in for another 19. He had been playing tight after giving all his money away in the first few hands, only playing once to call a guy with king high on the river. I know that's the opportunity I wait for when I'm low on chips. I called his 19, and he showed ace queen of clubs. The board didn't help him, so I took a nice little pot, and I had the chip lead at the table.

Shortly after that hand, we recombined to two tables, as we were down to 16 players left. Pretty much all of my friends were still alive. Pete, Jon, Roy, Godwin, Bobby, and Ryan were all in it, so it looked like we could have a real battle on our hands.

Before I go on, I need to say something about my first table. I respect anyone who can play well, and who knows what they're doing. But you have to know the rules of the game. Aaron is a very good player, but he disrespects everyone at the table with the way he acts. Almost every hand that he wasn't in on, he gave a running commentary. For example, Godwin was involved with another guy in a pot, and Aaron told the guy, "If a spade comes, fold, because he hit his flush." I tried to tell him to be quiet when a hand is going on, but he wasn't taking it. Anybody playing poker, heed this advice. It's fine to talk while playing. If you're talking about anything besides the hand in play, go right ahead. But don't talk about what you think someone has or how you would play this particular hand. It's bad form, and it's against the rules, too.

Another piece of advice- If you're playing in a tournament that you're not hosting, don't spend the whole night whining about the structure of the tournament. If you don't like it, don't play. Simple as that. Otherwise you may get a beating like that kid Todd is going to get.

Back to the game: I was in the ping pong room for my second table, and the only one that stayed with me from the first table was Godwin, who was still one to my left. Jonathan was on his left, and we had Alex, Josh, this kid Joe, and two other kids that I don't remember too much. The first hand at the table, I came in raising, and Alex called it. I bet out on the flop and took it. The next hand I got pocket 4s. Josh came in raising to 12 bucks, and I called it, as did Jonathan behind him. The flop was 9 4 2. They both checked it, which was unlike them, so I threw out a small bet of 12 bucks. The pot had 40 bucks in it, so I figured I would get some action, but they both laid it down. Grr.

I had a nice chip stack, better than average, so I just waited on some nice hands. I took a few small pots, but overall, I didn't take anything big. My stack increased, though, so I can't complain. My one big pot came on the final hand of our table, as I had ace jack on the big blind. Godwin and two other guys had limped, so I figured I wanted to thin the field, and maybe even take it right there. I raised it another 25, and Godwin went all-in. The other two folded, and I had to call another 65 or so to play. With most people, I would think they had trapped with a monster, like pocket kings, but Godwin had this whole feeling of being frustrated all night, so I got the sense that he was looking to either double up or go home. At first I put him on a mid-pocket pair, like 5's or 6's, but the more I thought about it, the more I figured he would have come in raising with a hand like that. I finally put him on a worse ace, as he may have figured I would raise with something like king queen, and he figured his hand was best. I called him, and he flipped over ace 9. Big read. My ace jack held up, and I took Godwin out.

Pete got knocked out in tenth, so he got a point in the standings, but I didn't get to see him play, as we were never at the same table. Godwin was ninth place, so he's also on the board now.

We got to the final table with some familiar faces. Jonathan, Roy, Aaron, Andy, and Alex were all there, as well as fag Todd, Joe, and me. Roy was shortstacked, and he lost most of his money when his 8's ran into Andy's 9's to double him up. Jonathan got whittled down to almost nothing, then went on a crazy rush, doubling up twice in a row. He went out in 6th after he went all-in on the button with 9 10 and got called by Todd's ace queen. Todd actually ended up with a boat when it was all said and done.

Down to 5 players, with 4 making the money, Aaron was the shortstack, with me next. Alex had a huge chip lead, and Todd and Andy were in good shape. It's worth noting that Todd should have been killed by Andy earlier when he went all-in on a flush draw and got called by Andy's pocket 7s. The flush came on the river, so Todd stayed alive.

Aaron was looking to double up, and he managed to stay pretty aggressive, despite being shortstacked. He raised it one time on the small blind, just doubling the big blind. Alex came over the top, as he had been doing all night, and Aaron said, "Man, you've been pushing me around all night," then pushed all his chips in the pot. It was another 130 or so to call, and I knew Alex was in big trouble, but he just can't lay down a hand when he has money in the pot. He called. Aaron showed pocket aces, and Alex had ace queen. The aces held up, and Aaron was now a force to be reckoned with.

Alex doubled up on Aaron a few hands later when Aaron went all-in with queen high on a bluff on the turn. He had raised preflop, bet on the flop, then went all-in on the turn, with a board of 2 4 7 8. Alex called and showed queen 7, so Aaron was actually drawing dead. Aaron was pissed that he made this call, but Aaron always gets pissed when people call him. Don't bet on nothing, then! Especially against a calling station like Alex.

Alex reverted back to his old ways of calling everything, though, and he lost most of his chips back to Aaron. I stayed tight, not finding a hand to play, and not wanting to be the last one out of the money. Andy got knocked out by Todd when Todd's top pair held up against Andy's second pair and a straight draw. Now we were down to 4.

The blinds were at 8-16 at this point, and I only had about 100 total, so I needed to make a move. Finally, after watching Aaron go all-in about 10 times, I saw ace 6 in first position. I was down to about 80 chips at this point, so I figured I had to make a move. I went all-in, and was called by Todd, who showed king queen offsuit. The flop was 2 6 9, so I had paired my sixes, but I could still easily lose. The turn was a 4 of spades, which put three of them on the board. Todd had the king of spades, so he needed a spade, a queen, or a king to beat me. The river was the 6 of spades, giving me trips but him a flush, so I was out in 4th. I got 15 bucks for my efforts, not much, but it's better than losing 5.

Down to threehanded, Alex got knocked out when he had top pair against Aaron's top two pair. Aaron then beat Todd heads up when Todd called with queen high after the flop. Good play, Todd. I need to find a way to keep this kid from playing, because he's a real pain, as well as being a bad card player. He got 30 bucks though, so I'm sure he's happy. Aaron took $50, and all the points that come with it, so he distanced himself from me a little bit in the Player of the Year race, although I gained on pretty much everyone else. In the end, I can't complain because I added another money finish, as well as solidified my standing in the Tournament of Champions.

Quote of the day: "Well those cards didn't help me."- Alex, after the flop came in one hand. He then proceeded to raise someone $50.

Terrence's bankroll: $205+10=$215