Tonight was Roy's game, with 14 people buying in. I got carded to the floor, as per the custom in that room, and was seated to Jonathan's left, with John Moon, Alex, Ryan, Pete, and Bobby going around.

I saw a couple flops early and lost just a little bit of money. Meanwhile, there was action all over the place. Pete got shortstacked early, then doubled up on a very strange hand. Jon raised it a buck on the small blind, and everyone called, including me, with a 7 10 of hearts. Alex, Ryan, and Pete were all in the hand, as well. The flop came 5 7 jack. Jon checked, so did I, and it got checked around to Pete. Pete bet out two bucks, a pretty average bet. Jon then raised him $5. Everyone folded to Pete, who said, "Oh, I guess I should look at my cards now." He was joking, or so I thought. After a little while of thinking, he goes, "I'm all-in," with very un-Pete-like authority. Jon thinks for a while, then calls. Pete shows pocket jacks, for a set of jacks, and Jon flipped over 5 8 of spades, giving him bottom pair with a backdoor flush draw. Oh boy. The turn is a spade, giving Pete a temporary heart attack, as Jon was now four to a flush. It's worth noting that Pete has lost multiple times before when flopping a top set of jacks. The river was an offsuit ace, though, so Pete doubled up.

It was at this time that I told Roy to bust out the birthday present that we had gotten Jon. Roy and I were looking on ebay for something for Jon's birthday, and found a golden fish trophy. On it, we had inscribed, "Big Red- World's Greatest Fisherman." What better time to bust it out then here? If he would have won that hand, we would have had to erect a statue, as well.

A little bit later I had king 8 of clubs on the big blind. Bobby raised it a dollar, as he had been doing all night, as he had a ton of pocket pairs, and I called. The flop was ace 2 3, and I bet out 3 bucks. Bobby called. I figured he had something like ace ten or ace 9, as he called pretty quick, but never really looked like he wanted to raise it. I, of course, had nothing. The turn was a king, giving me a pair, and I bet out 3 again, wanting to see the river cheap. I was also hoping to communicate to Bobby that his kicker wasn't good enough, but he called immediately again. The river was an 8, giving me two pair. I decided to go all-in for my last 11 bucks, honestly because I didn't want to have to show my hand. Betting out on the flop with nothing then getting runner runner for two pair usually doesn't go over too well. At this point, Bobby decided his kicker was no good, and threw away his ace 9. This pot put me in decent shape, probably third behind Pete and Bobby at my table.

I didn't play any huge hands of note for a while after that. One time Bobby came raising a buck on my big blind again, and I called with 10 8 off. The flop was queen 10 5. We both checked. The turn was a queen. We both checked. The river was an 8, not that it mattered because I had tens and queens. I figured I was best, so I just threw out a dollar. He called with pocket 6s, so I took that pot.

Meanwhile, Moonie the Gentleman got knocked out. He had lost all his money earlier to Pete after raising Pete big on the flop, betting big on the turn, and then folding when Pete raised him all-in for his last 3 bucks. There was about 40 bucks in the pot, so he must have been on a total bluff. Alex also got whacked, so we had 5 of us left when the following hand came up.

The blinds were now at .50-$1. I didn't like my position, because anytime I wanted to come in raising I had to be wary of Pete and Bobby on the blinds. Anyway, Pete came in raising on my big blind- 3 dollars on top. I called with pocket 3s. The flop came ace queen 7, and I bet out 4 bucks. Pete raised me 6. Here was my thinking. I figured Pete had a lousy ace, and he was throwing out a feeler bet. Something like ace ten. I called him, figuring he would think he was beat when I made the call, and I could take it later. The turn was another queen, the perfect scare card. I checked to Pete, who bet out 6 bucks again. I was sure I could make him fold his ace, so I went all-in for another $15.50. This apparently wasn't the right time to do it, as Pete called after thinking for two seconds and flipped over king queen. I dug my own grave on this hand, making a bad read, combined with a fancy play. That's just a recipe for disaster. I don't feel bad, though, for a few reasons. First off, although I've been in the money a lot lately, I haven't been able to win because I'm always shortstacked at the final table. I made a resolution to go after some more chips early, and I thought this was the right time to do it. I trusted my read, which is usually right, but it got me broke. The second reason I don't mind is because this marked a huge turning point for Pete. Up until today, Pete would never have made the play he made against me in this hand. With second pair, he would either have flat called or folded on the flop. I've been really encouraging Pete to try more aggressive moves, and to play a little looser. The old Pete would have always had an ace in this situation, but the new Pete got me to give him all my chips by being aggressive and forcing me to make a bad read. Excellent play, Pete. i hope he wins. I told him after I got knocked out to go kick some ass.

Quote of the day: "Every time I've rubbed the fish I've had suited connectors."- Jonathan, Big Red Fish

Terrence's bankroll: $215-$5= $210

Let me just preface this by offering a sacrifice to the poker gods. I am not worthy, and I bow down to your strength and ability to make crazy things happen.

OK, now on to the game. I entered our Tuesday night game feeling really good about my chances. I've finished in the top four the last three weeks straight, and my bankroll has been steadily climbing. I'm also really limiting my mistakes, and my reads are getting scary.

I started in the lounge, with Andy, Matt, and four total scrubs at my table. I figured as long as I steered clear of the other two, I wouldn't have a problem building my stack. Two of the kids at our table, Tim and Ryan, were Alex the RA's friends. I know Tim, but Ryan was new. Tim made one final table, but overall he's really bad. He literally calls every single blind, even at an eight-handed table, and he'll call a bet with nothing on the flop, even if there's an ace out there and he may be drawing dead. Ryan, the new kid, was one of the worst poker players I've ever seen. He called everything, never raised, and he didn't know all the rules. He never knew when it was his turn to act, and he would bet two dollars into a 50 dollar pot. I was hoping a bolt of lightning came down and smote him before I went crazy. Anyway, somehow, Tim and Ryan got a fair amount of chips after people kept betting into them when they actually had hands, or they had nonsense that they shouldn't have been calling with and it actually panned out.

I took a couple small pots early, nothing really huge at first, but I was going up. At one point i had 4 7 of hearts on the small blind. There were 5 limpers, so I figured I'd pay a dollar to see a nice flop. The flop was 7 4 2. Bingo! I bet out 8 bucks, not even the size of the pot, and everybody folded, including Tim and Ryan. What the hell?? They had to have at least overcards or a straight draw. Oh well, I took all the blinds.

I was in comfortable position when we broke tables, up to about 140 or so, without taking any really big hands. I got carded into Alex's room with another pretty mediocre table. There were some solid players, but Tim and Ryan were still with me. On the other end of the spectrum was Aaron, Ryan, and Godwin, as well as some new kid named Alex to my left.

In about the fifth hand, Aaron came in raising 8 bucks, and I looked down and saw pocket jacks. I raised it another 20, which was immediately called by Alex to my left. Aaron folded, so we were heads up. I had a bad feeling about this hand, as I hadn't seen much of Alex before, but I've seen mediocre players make that instant call when they have rockets before, and that's what I was worried about. The flop came king king 3, and I checked. He bet out 20, a pretty small bet, as if he wanted to get called. I still had aces stuck in my head, plus he could have had a king to kill me, anyway. I got rid of it, and it turned out to be the right play, as Alex did have aces. So that was a good read, otherwise I could have gone broke there. That left me with about 80 bucks, as I had called a raise in one of the first few hands and then hit nothing and folded. The very next hand I picked up ace king on the button, and I came in raising 15 bucks after all the mooks limped. Alex behind me called again, and everyone else folded. The flop came 3 4 6, and Alex checked it to me. I figured if he had anything, he would have bet out here, so I wanted to protect my hand, as I needed this pot. I went all-in for my last 60 or so, and he folded and showed ace king. Haha, it's always funny when there are two guys going at it with the same hand. Anyway, that pot helped me out, and I was back in decent shape.

Up until this point, it's worth noting, Tim and Ryan were still limping on every single pot and calling most raises. That's why I had to raise so big with the ace king to get rid of them. Aaron had taken to calling Ryan "Smiley McCalls" as he would laugh like a doofus and then call everything. I think it fit rather nicely.

A hand came along where Ryan (not the retarded one), came in raising 15, and it was called by Smiley. I had pocket 8's, but I just had a bad feeling about it, so I mucked it. Aaron called the raise, and they saw the flop three-handed. The flop was 8 9 3. Aaron bet out about 15 or so, and Ryan went all-in. Smiley called it, and Aaron showed a 9 and folded. Ryan had queen jack for an inside straight draw, and Smiley had ace 6, for ace high. He is really retarded, but somehow he was a favorite in the hand. Meanwhile, I was feeling sick about folding my 8's. The turn was a ten, giving Ryan a straight and the hand, so good thing I didn't play it.

Five minutes later, I picked up pocket aces. Tim and Smiley limped, as they always do, and I raised it 15 coming in. Tim and Smiley both called, and the flop came 3 5 9. They checked to me, and I didn't want them catching something stupid, so I bet out 30. Tim folded and Smiley called. The turn was a ten, and after Smiley checked, I bet another 30. He called. The river was a ten, and I went all-in. He folded it, probably agonizing over whether his queen high was good enough. This pot really set me up in good position to do some damage.

I folded a hand and stepped out to run to the bathroom, and when I came back, Aaron had lost all his chips to Tim in a nasty pot. Tim had flopped a set of 7s and slowplayed it. Aaron caught his third queen on the turn, but it gave Tim a boat, and he took Aaron out in tenth. This was beautiful, because now I had a real chance to gain on Aaron in the point standings for Player of the Year.

Smiley went out a little bit later, thank god. And I don't want to talk about him anymore.

At this point, we just needed one more player out to head to the final table. Godwin and Alex were the short stacks, while me, Tim, and Ryan had most of the money. Godwin got involved in a pot with Tim where Godwin came in raising and Tim called. The flop was 2 4 7. Godwin went all-in for about 60 bucks, and Tim immediately called. I figured Godwin was in trouble with how quickly Tim called, but I forgot it's Tim. Godwin had pocket 5's, and Tim had ace king. So just to recap, he just called Godwin's shortstacked raise preflop, then called with ace high after the flop. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how idiots play poker. The turn was a blank, and the river was a king, knocking Godwin out. That boy can't catch a break.

We went to the final table in the lounge, where the other four players were Andy, Dan, Pete, and Todd-fag. The first ten hands or so, I became the table captain, raising a lot of hands and taking down a bunch of pots. I quickly went from being a middle stack to being one of the chip leaders. Pete didn't have much, and he was getting blinded down.

On one hand, i had jack 8 on the big blind. Four people limped in, and I checked. The flop came jack jack 5. I checked it, and it checked around to Tim. He bet 20. I called it, and everyone else folded. The turn was a 2. I checked and he checked. The river was an ace. I thought he may have paired up, plus I knew I had the best hand, so I figured I'd throw out a nice little value bet. I bet 30, and Tim called and showed pocket 7s, so that was a nice little pot.

One hand that was great happened between me and Tim again. I picked up ace king of diamonds in first position, and I decided to get sneaky. I limped in, and so did 4 other guys. It went around to Tim, who was on the big blind, and he raised it another 8 bucks, which was the minimum. He'd been doing crap like this all night, just pissing everyone off. I immediately went all-in for another 200 or so. Everyone folded around, and so did Tim. That was a big hand for me, because there was already about 60 bucks in the pot, plus it sent a statement to Tim to stop being retarded. I even said when I went all-in, "I'm all-in, with your stupid raises. Keep trying that." I think the whole table took notice after that.

On my big blind a few hands later, I had king ten. Todd raised it 20, and Tim and I called. The flop was king jack 4. I checked it, knowing Todd was going to throw out a bet, and also knowing I had him beat. He bet 20, and I went all-in, which put him all-in for another 85 or so. He thought about it then called with a pair of jacks, and my kings held up. I'm so glad I knocked out that weasel fag. Every time I see him I want to punch him in the face. Pete shot me a look like, "Way to go," when I did.

At this point, I was feeling great about how I was playing, plus I was controlling the table. Tim was losing all his money by calling every blind, Andy was getting blinded down, Dan had an average stack, Pete was down near nothing, and so was Alex. Ryan had made himself a good amount, and he was at the top with me.

Alex went out soon when he ran into Dan's pocket aces. Pete went out a few minutes later in 6th when he had 9 5 on the bid blind, flopped top pair, and ran into a better kicker from Tim.

Down to 5-handed, I stayed aggressive, raising a lot of pots and stealing a lot of blinds, which were pretty sizeable at 10-20. Maybe my best hand of the night came when I had 6 7 off on the button. It got folded around to me, and I came in raising 40. Dan, the big blind, called it. The flop was ace 10 8. I had an inside straight draw, but I thought I could represent the ace and get Dan off whatever his hand was. He checked, and I bet out 40. He called it. The turn was a 4, giving me a double belly-buster (I love that term), but I still wanted to get him out now. He came out betting 60, and I figured he had an ace and wanted to see where he stood. It sure looked like an information bet, and usually guys will fold if their information bets get raised big. I put him on ace 9. I raised him 100. After thinking for a while, he folded and said, "Ace king is good." He then showed me the ace queen. Wow. I didn't think he was that strong. I figured I could get in his head a little bit, so I turned over my 6 7, which I don't normally do.

Tim went out a little bit later when Ryan busted his pocket kings by hitting two pair with jacks and 3s (The Pete!) on the flop. Tim hadn't raised preflop or anything, so he deserved what he got.

I was the chip leader now, and Ryan was the only one with a comparable stack. He took Andy out a little bit later, and we were down to 3. Dan was the shortstack, but he wasn't in a ton of trouble. The blinds were now at 20-40, so being aggressive was key. After trading blinds back and forth for a little while, Dan came in raising 50. I looked down and saw ace 2 of hearts. I was pretty sure I had the best hand, as most pots were getting raised. I went all-in, hoping he would fold, but figuring I'd be a slight favorite if he was to call. He said, "This is the best thing I'm gonna get all night, so I call," and he flipped over king queen of diamonds. He was getting shortstacked, so I like his call here. He needed to take a chance to double up, and he couldn't figure me to be a big favorite over his hand. The flop was 4 9 jack, so I was good so far, although he had picked up a straight draw, too. The turn was a queen, giving him the lead, and I couldn't hit an ace on the river. This hurt me pretty bad, but I still like the play I made there. I lost almost 300 in that pot, and I was down a bit, but I stayed aggressive and got my stack back up very quickly.

I worked my way back up by raising almost every pot. Ryan raised occasionally, but he mostly sat back, as he had the chip lead. I stole a lot of blinds, and I saw ace 7 on the small blind after Ryan folded. I raised it 50, and Dan called. The flop was 2 3 7, which looked great to me. I bet out 80, and he went all-in. I called, and he showed jack 3. My 7s held up, and I was heads up with Ryan.

This is the same Ryan that I made some disparaging remarks about in an earlier poker diary, so I felt pretty stupid about denigrating his play, especially after he played well in the last couple weeks. I have to say, he's playing some really good poker now.

Anyway, Ryan had the lead, but not by much, so it looked like it would be a good battle. The blinds were 30-60. I raised a bunch of pots, and when he came back over the top, I usually laid it down, so we stayed about even with me taking a lot of small pots and him taking some slightly larger ones. He took a big hand off of me when he flopped a set of 7s against my pair of tens, and then he took another big one when he flopped a straight with ace 5. I had ace 4, giving me top pair and the straight draw, so I paid him off pretty good.

I fought my way back to nearly even, though, and I tried not to raise as much on the small blind, as I was getting hurt when he would trap me after the flop. I limped in with jack ten, and he checked. The flop came jack 7 4. I bet out 80, which was my standard bet. I didn't want to get cute here, but I wanted him to think I was betting just like I always do to steal the pot. He came over the top for another 160, which looked great. At this point I put him on a jack 8 or jack 9. I don't think he would have raised with two pair here, and if he had a better jack he would have raised preflop. I went all-in for another 515, and after thinking about it for a while, he finally called. He showed me jack 9, which meant my read was beautiful. I was a big favorite here, with his only chance being a three-outer or a runner runner straight. Right when the cards were turned over I yelled, "Let the best hand hold up one time!" The turn brought a 9 of diamonds, breaking my heart. I let out some kind of wounded animal cry, probably similar to what Mike Matusow did after the queen fell on the river against him in the World Series. I still had outs, needing a ten or an 8 for a straight on the river, but it was a blank, and Ryan won the tournament.

Ryan definitely played awesome all tournament, avoiding going on tilt (just say no!), and holding back bad Ryan for the most part. I couldn't really have played much better, and I felt like I outplayed everyone in the whole thing. I'm just dying over losing to three-outers over and over again. I'm seriously playing the best poker of my life, but I have no wins to show for it. That's OK, though. This tournament put me in a tie with Aaron for first place in the Player of the Year standings, as well as getting me $30. One of these days, the poker gods will lift their curse on me, and I'll roll off a nasty winning streak.

Quote of the week: "I'm gonna call you Smiley McCalls from now on."- Aaron, to the new kid Ryan.

Terrence's bankroll: $210+$25=$235

Let me just preface this by offering a sacrifice to the poker gods. I am not worthy, and I bow down to your strength and ability to make crazy things happen.

OK, now on to the game. I entered our Tuesday night game feeling really good about my chances. I've finished in the top four the last three weeks straight, and my bankroll has been steadily climbing. I'm also really limiting my mistakes, and my reads are getting scary.

I started in the lounge, with Andy, Matt, and four total scrubs at my table. I figured as long as I steered clear of the other two, I wouldn't have a problem building my stack. Two of the kids at our table, Tim and Ryan, were Alex the RA's friends. I know Tim, but Ryan was new. Tim made one final table, but overall he's really bad. He literally calls every single blind, even at an eight-handed table, and he'll call a bet with nothing on the flop, even if there's an ace out there and he may be drawing dead. Ryan, the new kid, was one of the worst poker players I've ever seen. He called everything, never raised, and he didn't know all the rules. He never knew when it was his turn to act, and he would bet two dollars into a 50 dollar pot. I was hoping a bolt of lightning came down and smote him before I went crazy. Anyway, somehow, Tim and Ryan got a fair amount of chips after people kept betting into them when they actually had hands, or they had nonsense that they shouldn't have been calling with and it actually panned out.

I took a couple small pots early, nothing really huge at first, but I was going up. At one point i had 4 7 of hearts on the small blind. There were 5 limpers, so I figured I'd pay a dollar to see a nice flop. The flop was 7 4 2. Bingo! I bet out 8 bucks, not even the size of the pot, and everybody folded, including Tim and Ryan. What the hell?? They had to have at least overcards or a straight draw. Oh well, I took all the blinds.

I was in comfortable position when we broke tables, up to about 140 or so, without taking any really big hands. I got carded into Alex's room with another pretty mediocre table. There were some solid players, but Tim and Ryan were still with me. On the other end of the spectrum was Aaron, Ryan, and Godwin, as well as some new kid named Alex to my left.

In about the fifth hand, Aaron came in raising 8 bucks, and I looked down and saw pocket jacks. I raised it another 20, which was immediately called by Alex to my left. Aaron folded, so we were heads up. I had a bad feeling about this hand, as I hadn't seen much of Alex before, but I've seen mediocre players make that instant call when they have rockets before, and that's what I was worried about. The flop came king king 3, and I checked. He bet out 20, a pretty small bet, as if he wanted to get called. I still had aces stuck in my head, plus he could have had a king to kill me, anyway. I got rid of it, and it turned out to be the right play, as Alex did have aces. So that was a good read, otherwise I could have gone broke there. That left me with about 80 bucks, as I had called a raise in one of the first few hands and then hit nothing and folded. The very next hand I picked up ace king on the button, and I came in raising 15 bucks after all the mooks limped. Alex behind me called again, and everyone else folded. The flop came 3 4 6, and Alex checked it to me. I figured if he had anything, he would have bet out here, so I wanted to protect my hand, as I needed this pot. I went all-in for my last 60 or so, and he folded and showed ace king. Haha, it's always funny when there are two guys going at it with the same hand. Anyway, that pot helped me out, and I was back in decent shape.

Up until this point, it's worth noting, Tim and Ryan were still limping on every single pot and calling most raises. That's why I had to raise so big with the ace king to get rid of them. Aaron had taken to calling Ryan "Smiley McCalls" as he would laugh like a doofus and then call everything. I think it fit rather nicely.

A hand came along where Ryan (not the retarded one), came in raising 15, and it was called by Smiley. I had pocket 8's, but I just had a bad feeling about it, so I mucked it. Aaron called the raise, and they saw the flop three-handed. The flop was 8 9 3. Aaron bet out about 15 or so, and Ryan went all-in. Smiley called it, and Aaron showed a 9 and folded. Ryan had queen jack for an inside straight draw, and Smiley had ace 6, for ace high. He is really retarded, but somehow he was a favorite in the hand. Meanwhile, I was feeling sick about folding my 8's. The turn was a ten, giving Ryan a straight and the hand, so good thing I didn't play it.

Five minutes later, I picked up pocket aces. Tim and Smiley limped, as they always do, and I raised it 15 coming in. Tim and Smiley both called, and the flop came 3 5 9. They checked to me, and I didn't want them catching something stupid, so I bet out 30. Tim folded and Smiley called. The turn was a ten, and after Smiley checked, I bet another 30. He called. The river was a ten, and I went all-in. He folded it, probably agonizing over whether his queen high was good enough. This pot really set me up in good position to do some damage.

I folded a hand and stepped out to run to the bathroom, and when I came back, Aaron had lost all his chips to Tim in a nasty pot. Tim had flopped a set of 7s and slowplayed it. Aaron caught his third queen on the turn, but it gave Tim a boat, and he took Aaron out in tenth. This was beautiful, because now I had a real chance to gain on Aaron in the point standings for Player of the Year.

Smiley went out a little bit later, thank god. And I don't want to talk about him anymore.

At this point, we just needed one more player out to head to the final table. Godwin and Alex were the short stacks, while me, Tim, and Ryan had most of the money. Godwin got involved in a pot with Tim where Godwin came in raising and Tim called. The flop was 2 4 7. Godwin went all-in for about 60 bucks, and Tim immediately called. I figured Godwin was in trouble with how quickly Tim called, but I forgot it's Tim. Godwin had pocket 5's, and Tim had ace king. So just to recap, he just called Godwin's shortstacked raise preflop, then called with ace high after the flop. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how idiots play poker. The turn was a blank, and the river was a king, knocking Godwin out. That boy can't catch a break.

We went to the final table in the lounge, where the other four players were Andy, Dan, Pete, and Todd-fag. The first ten hands or so, I became the table captain, raising a lot of hands and taking down a bunch of pots. I quickly went from being a middle stack to being one of the chip leaders. Pete didn't have much, and he was getting blinded down.

On one hand, i had jack 8 on the big blind. Four people limped in, and I checked. The flop came jack jack 5. I checked it, and it checked around to Tim. He bet 20. I called it, and everyone else folded. The turn was a 2. I checked and he checked. The river was an ace. I thought he may have paired up, plus I knew I had the best hand, so I figured I'd throw out a nice little value bet. I bet 30, and Tim called and showed pocket 7s, so that was a nice little pot.

One hand that was great happened between me and Tim again. I picked up ace king of diamonds in first position, and I decided to get sneaky. I limped in, and so did 4 other guys. It went around to Tim, who was on the big blind, and he raised it another 8 bucks, which was the minimum. He'd been doing crap like this all night, just pissing everyone off. I immediately went all-in for another 200 or so. Everyone folded around, and so did Tim. That was a big hand for me, because there was already about 60 bucks in the pot, plus it sent a statement to Tim to stop being retarded. I even said when I went all-in, "I'm all-in, with your stupid raises. Keep trying that." I think the whole table took notice after that.

On my big blind a few hands later, I had king ten. Todd raised it 20, and Tim and I called. The flop was king jack 4. I checked it, knowing Todd was going to throw out a bet, and also knowing I had him beat. He bet 20, and I went all-in, which put him all-in for another 85 or so. He thought about it then called with a pair of jacks, and my kings held up. I'm so glad I knocked out that weasel fag. Every time I see him I want to punch him in the face. Pete shot me a look like, "Way to go," when I did.

At this point, I was feeling great about how I was playing, plus I was controlling the table. Tim was losing all his money by calling every blind, Andy was getting blinded down, Dan had an average stack, Pete was down near nothing, and so was Alex. Ryan had made himself a good amount, and he was at the top with me.

Alex went out soon when he ran into Dan's pocket aces. Pete went out a few minutes later in 6th when he had 9 5 on the bid blind, flopped top pair, and ran into a better kicker from Tim.

Down to 5-handed, I stayed aggressive, raising a lot of pots and stealing a lot of blinds, which were pretty sizeable at 10-20. Maybe my best hand of the night came when I had 6 7 off on the button. It got folded around to me, and I came in raising 40. Dan, the big blind, called it. The flop was ace 10 8. I had an inside straight draw, but I thought I could represent the ace and get Dan off whatever his hand was. He checked, and I bet out 40. He called it. The turn was a 4, giving me a double belly-buster (I love that term), but I still wanted to get him out now. He came out betting 60, and I figured he had an ace and wanted to see where he stood. It sure looked like an information bet, and usually guys will fold if their information bets get raised big. I put him on ace 9. I raised him 100. After thinking for a while, he folded and said, "Ace king is good." He then showed me the ace queen. Wow. I didn't think he was that strong. I figured I could get in his head a little bit, so I turned over my 6 7, which I don't normally do.

Tim went out a little bit later when Ryan busted his pocket kings by hitting two pair with jacks and 3s (The Pete!) on the flop. Tim hadn't raised preflop or anything, so he deserved what he got.

I was the chip leader now, and Ryan was the only one with a comparable stack. He took Andy out a little bit later, and we were down to 3. Dan was the shortstack, but he wasn't in a ton of trouble. The blinds were now at 20-40, so being aggressive was key. After trading blinds back and forth for a little while, Dan came in raising 50. I looked down and saw ace 2 of hearts. I was pretty sure I had the best hand, as most pots were getting raised. I went all-in, hoping he would fold, but figuring I'd be a slight favorite if he was to call. He said, "This is the best thing I'm gonna get all night, so I call," and he flipped over king queen of diamonds. He was getting shortstacked, so I like his call here. He needed to take a chance to double up, and he couldn't figure me to be a big favorite over his hand. The flop was 4 9 jack, so I was good so far, although he had picked up a straight draw, too. The turn was a queen, giving him the lead, and I couldn't hit an ace on the river. This hurt me pretty bad, but I still like the play I made there. I lost almost 300 in that pot, and I was down a bit, but I stayed aggressive and got my stack back up very quickly.

I worked my way back up by raising almost every pot. Ryan raised occasionally, but he mostly sat back, as he had the chip lead. I stole a lot of blinds, and I saw ace 7 on the small blind after Ryan folded. I raised it 50, and Dan called. The flop was 2 3 7, which looked great to me. I bet out 80, and he went all-in. I called, and he showed jack 3. My 7s held up, and I was heads up with Ryan.

This is the same Ryan that I made some disparaging remarks about in an earlier poker diary, so I felt pretty stupid about denigrating his play, especially after he played well in the last couple weeks. I have to say, he's playing some really good poker now.

Anyway, Ryan had the lead, but not by much, so it looked like it would be a good battle. The blinds were 30-60. I raised a bunch of pots, and when he came back over the top, I usually laid it down, so we stayed about even with me taking a lot of small pots and him taking some slightly larger ones. He took a big hand off of me when he flopped a set of 7s against my pair of tens, and then he took another big one when he flopped a straight with ace 5. I had ace 4, giving me top pair and the straight draw, so I paid him off pretty good.

I fought my way back to nearly even, though, and I tried not to raise as much on the small blind, as I was getting hurt when he would trap me after the flop. I limped in with jack ten, and he checked. The flop came jack 7 4. I bet out 80, which was my standard bet. I didn't want to get cute here, but I wanted him to think I was betting just like I always do to steal the pot. He came over the top for another 160, which looked great. At this point I put him on a jack 8 or jack 9. I don't think he would have raised with two pair here, and if he had a better jack he would have raised preflop. I went all-in for another 515, and after thinking about it for a while, he finally called. He showed me jack 9, which meant my read was beautiful. I was a big favorite here, with his only chance being a three-outer or a runner runner straight. Right when the cards were turned over I yelled, "Let the best hand hold up one time!" The turn brought a 9 of diamonds, breaking my heart. I let out some kind of wounded animal cry, probably similar to what Mike Matusow did after the queen fell on the river against him in the World Series. I still had outs, needing a ten or an 8 for a straight on the river, but it was a blank, and Ryan won the tournament.

Ryan definitely played awesome all tournament, avoiding going on tilt (just say no!), and holding back bad Ryan for the most part. I couldn't really have played much better, and I felt like I outplayed everyone in the whole thing. I'm just dying over losing to three-outers over and over again. I'm seriously playing the best poker of my life, but I have no wins to show for it. That's OK, though. This tournament put me in a tie with Aaron for first place in the Player of the Year standings, as well as getting me $30. One of these days, the poker gods will lift their curse on me, and I'll roll off a nasty winning streak.

Endnote: I got a new deck of cards off ebay, two of them actually. They're called KEM cards, and we used them for the first time tonight. They're the type that casinos use. They don't bend or crease or anything, even when you look at your cards by bending them back. They're supposed to last much longer than regular cards, too. They're silky soft and beautiful to shuffle. I highly recommend them.

Quote of the week: "I'm gonna call you Smiley McCalls from now on."- Aaron, to the new kid Ryan.

Terrence's bankroll: $210+$25=$235

Thursday night had the usual helping of poker on the floor, Roy with too many chips, and Jonathan's big red feet too close to my chips. We had ten of us to start with, so we had one large table on the floor. I use table loosely here. I was seated on Jonathan's right, with Yush to my right, then Roy and Pete going around. The setup wasn't so bad, as I was finally after Roy, although not right after him.

For the first hour I had nothing to play. I mean nothing even remotely playable. If I would have found a 5 8 suited I would have played it, but it was nothing but 9 4 off and queen 2 off. Roy was dancing around in a lot of pots, making a lot of preflop raises, but it was hurting him early, as he was down to about 9 bucks in chips. The first real notable hand came when Roy came in for a small raise, and he was called by Jonathan and one other guy. The flop was something like 4 5 7, and Roy bet out a dollar or so. Jon called, and the other guy folded. The turn was an ace, and Roy bet out another dollar. Jon then raised him all-in for his last three bucks. At this point, I'm figuring, "Great, Roy is completely pot-commited here(there was about ten bucks in the pot, and only three in front of him), and Jon has to have him to make this move." Wow, was I wrong. Roy called, and showed ace 3, I believe. Jon turned over jack high. Wait a minute. Jon turned over JACK FRICKIN' HIGH! That meant he was drawing dead to Roy's aces, so Roy doubled up on jack high. This drove me absolutely nuts, as Roy has been killing the Thursday game lately, and he was finally down to the point where if no one tried anything stupid, he was almost sure to go out. Guys, if you feel like bluffing, don't do it to a pot-commited shortstack, especially if that pot-commited short stack is Roy.

For some reason, my brain is telling me that this was the very next hand, but maybe it wasn't. Roy got involved in a pot with Ryan in which Roy bet the flop, Ryan raised, Roy reraised, and Ryan went all-in. Roy called it, once again being pot-commited at this point. The flop had been 7 8 9, or something like that. Roy had jack 8, giving him middle pair and a straight draw. Ryan turned over queen jack, declaring, "I have the straight. Oh God, I thought I had the straight." So Roy dodged a queen and a ten to double up yet again, this time when his opponent had queen high. QUEEN HIGH! If I had a gun, I would have shot everyone that paid Roy off, then myself, right there on the spot. But alas, I did not possess such a needed tool.

Speaking of tools, everyone seemed to go off the deep end in response to Roy's tricky and erratic play. I didn't, because I wasn't playing. One hand occurred in which Roy raised preflop and was called by Jon and Ryan. Yes, the same Jon and Ryan that doubled Roy up without so much as ace high. The flop came ace blank blank. Roy bet out, Jon raised, Ryan reraised, and Roy folded. Jon called the reraise, which was a sizeable one, and when the showdown came, both players had ace 2. Do you really want to risk your whole tournament on top pair with no kicker in a three-handed pot? Oh, yes you say? Then be my guest.

I still had not seen anything to play, but I was enjoying watching everything happen, like the hands get played out and the creases in the carpet change direction. Another burst of lunacy occurred right after the ace 2 hand. Pete came in raising, Roy reraised him, Jon reraised Roy, and was then called by Donald. Pete folded and so did Roy, so Jon and Donald took the flop. There was about 30 bucks in there, with Jon and Donald about even with 20 bucks left or so. The flop came queen 9 4, all spades. Donald checked, and Jon went all-in. Donald called immediately and turned over pocket queens. Jon showed pocket jacks, but he had a spade. Donald seemed very happy with himself, but apparently no one told him that flopping top set is the only way to assure yourself of defeat in our games. Sure enough, the turn was a spade, and Donald was close to toast.

We had seen about 6 all-ins happen, with the shortstack winning every one. Some of them were memorable, such as Ryan's jack 4 beating Bobby's ace king, while others left no memory. Suffice it to say, there was money flying around all over, but no one would die. Ryan had gone all-in about 5 times, but was still alive, even though it was painfully obvious that he was trying to give his chips away. In one hand, Roy raised preflop, Yush called, and Jon called, then Ryan went all-in for another 25 bucks or so. This was a big bet, considering the pot had only 8 bucks or so in it. Roy folded, as did Yush, and Big Red sat and thought about it. He finally decided to call it, and he turned over ace ten of diamonds. Personally, I don't know how you make this call for half your chips when there's a good chance that you're dominated. At best, you figure to be a 54-46 favorite, which is what Jon was, but I don't know any experienced tournament player that wants to get his money in on what amounts to a coin flip this early in a tournament. Jon later told me that he likes coinflips- I'm serious, he really did- maybe because he's famous for catching cards on them. This time, though, a king hit the river and doubled Ryan up with his king queen of clubs.

Our first casualty was Pete, who had been playing well all night while slowly building his stack, but there was the not-so-small matter of Roy, Owner of Pete's Soul, sitting on his left. Roy was calling every single raise Pete made, and repeatedly took the pot off him later in the hand. Despite this, Pete was in good shape, but he needs to realize, DON'T SCREW WITH ROY, BECAUSE HE KILLS YOU. Roy ended up taking Pete out after Pete made a gross overbet into a flop of queen queen 4, with the turn being a 9. Roy called and flipped over pocket 9s for a boat, and Pete was drawing dead with his pocket 8s. Pete, please stop messing around with Roy. It's bad for your wallet, man.

After Pete went out, everyone apparently had a hot date, and 4 more guys went out in the next 10 minutes. Up until this point, I had only two playable hands, and they were both pocket jacks. Once, I found them after Godwin raised 4 dollars into blinds of .25-.50. This huge bet caused me to fold it, as Godwin is a tight, solid player who doesn't make big overbets with marginal hands. The worst thing I figured him for was ace king, and there was a good chance I was a 4-1 dog to aces, kings, or queens, so I folded. He did have ace king, suited, so I'm happy with the laydown, especially considering Jon and Donald both called the big raise behind me. The other time I got pocket jacks I was staring at this situation. Blinds of 1-2. Ryan raises big, Bobby goes all-in, Roy goes all-in on top of him (at this point, Roy was the chip leader and had everyone covered). The action came to me, and I cursed and stomped my feet and threw down my pocket jacks yet again. It turned out I was up against two ace kings, one of them suited, and pocket 9s, so again, a good laydown.

My one other playable hand was ace king, which I reraised Roy preflop with. He called, and the flop was 10 10 4. Roy went all-in immediately. This was early in the tournament, and Roy was shortstacked, so I could call and knock him out, but it would have cost me more than half my stack, and I'm not a big fan of calling half my stack with ace high. I knew if Roy had a pair, I was a 3-1 underdog to win, and if he didn't have a pair, I was a 3-1 favorite. If he had a ten, I was done. I had figured him for mid-pockets with his preflop actions, and his post-flop play reinforced that read in my head. I laid down the hand, and he showed pocket 7s, so that was a good read. Someone decided to rabbit-hunt, though, and an ace would have hit the turn. Grrrr... Still, it was the right play.

My reads are getting pretty nasty lately, I must say. All the time I was folding, I got to sit back and observe how everyone was playing. I got a really nice read on Jonathan, and I even called him out on a hand at one point. He had reraised the pot to 5 bucks preflop, which was big at the early juncture of the tournament at which he did it. Roy and Bobby called it. The flop was ace 4 6, and Bobby and Roy both checked. Jon bet out another 5 bucks, and they both folded. Roy did so after pondering for quite a while. I immediately said, "Pocket kings are good," because I just knew that's what Big Red had. I had been hoping Roy would come over the top, because Jon would have had to lay it down with the ace on board, or maybe he wouldn't have, who knows. After I made my comment, Jon flipped over pocket kings for all to see.

We were down to 5 people, and I was somehow still alive despite not yet winning a pot or seeing more than one flop. My first pot was won with ace high, but it didn't get me much. Did I say my first pot? It was also my last pot, as I got knocked out in fifth. I had king jack in first position, which was close to being the best thing I had seen all night. The blinds were 1-2, and I had 10 bucks in my stack. I went all-in, not wanting a caller, because I would probably be behind anything that would call me, but I also needed to double up bad, because I couldn't blind my way into the money, and anyway, I was here to win, not get third. Bobby immediately called right behind me, and the other two folded. He flipped over the hand of the night for me- pocket jacks- so I was in some trouble, but it wasn't impossible. After it was all said and done, the board was high card 8, so Bobby took it and I was out. How ironic is it that I got knocked out by pocket jacks after having to lay them down twice in one night. Just about every hand that meant anything to me involved pocket jacks. Poker gods, you are a cruel bunch. I would just like to offer you peace, and my assurances that I won't badmouth you in the future. Just please be merciful with me, as you have a habit of beating me over the head.

Roy ended up cruising to another victory, and I'm in a ridiculous hole in the yellow chip count. Hopefully next week, people don't give away their money to him- *cough cough Jon, Ryan cough cough*- and I get some cards to play with. I actually felt like I played well tonight, despite not really playing, because I made correct laydowns all the time. Some may fault me for not mixing it up and trying to steal some pots, but believe me, there were not any pots to steal, as there were people calling huge raises all over the place time and time again.

Quote of the week: "He called with a jack high!"- Ellix Powers

Terrence's bankroll: $235-$5=$230

OK, so since I last wrote I played in one Stacy Poker Tour event, one tournament at home and spent a day in Atlantic City. I'm just going to write about tonight's Stacy Poker Tour event and save the others for later, but I'll add in the necessary bankroll changes at the end.

We had twenty people show up tonight, a little less than the norm, but nothing terrible. We started with three tables, of 6, 7, and 7. I was at a pretty brutal table with(clockwise from me) Godwin, Pete, unknown guy, Bobby, Big Red, and Aaron. The first hand I was in the big blind with ace 5 and 3 limpers. The flop came 3 4 6, so I bet out 6 bucks and took it down. It's nice to have the early chip lead, as insignificant as it may be. I played very solid for the next hour or so, and the blinds were low, so I got to sneak around a bit. I was on the big blind one hand with 3 6 offsuit. Pete limped in and everyone else folded. The flop was 4 5 jack. I bet out 6 bucks, just looking to take it down there, because if Pete didn't hit a jack he was gone. He called. OK, so Pete has a jack, but it's not really strong or he would have raised it. The turn was a beautiful 2. I bet out 6 again so as not to raise suspicion, and Pete called it. The river was a jack, which was beautiful, because I could probably get Pete to give away lots of money. I bet out 10, and he raised 10, a value bet if I've ever seen one. I knew he had a jack, but Pete's capable of laying down a big hand to a big raise. On the other hand, he usually thinks I'm up to something and will call me if he has a hand. So I decide to get cute and reraise him another 10, knowing he had to call, and maybe inducing him to lose lots more money. When I reraised 10, Pete became confused and starting muttering to himself, because he knew I couldn't have been bluffing, but he just had to pay it off. He called, and I stuck my straight directly up his butt. That was definitely my favorite hand of the night.

I had the chip lead at the table for a while, although Aaron stole ahead after he also won a big hand with 6 3, flopping trips to Bobby's top pair and doubling up. Aaron got moved to the lounge (we were in the ping pong room) so I had the big stack at our table. Pete was low, Jonathan was about even, and Bobby was low, too. I had ace 5 on one hand when unknown guy limped in. I raised it 20, looking to take it down because he had been raising a lot of pots and I figured I had him beat. He thought about it for a while, then called. The flop was 10 8 3, and he checked. I put him all-in for his last 40, knowing my ace was good and not wanting him to catch something. He thinks about it for a while, then calls. He flips over jack queen, giving him an inside straight draw as well as queen high. Wow. Nice call there, guy. Of course, the turn was a king, making him open-ended with about 100 outs, and the river was the inevitable 9, giving him the straight. That knocked me down to about 70, but I knew I could fight back. Godwin got whacked a little bit later to send us to the final table, and I also got word that Aaron had gotten whacked in the lounge, so he was out of the points. i was 12 behind him going into the day, so I had a good chance to catch up and maybe even surpass him for the first time.

At the final table, Pete, Andy, and I were the shortstacks, while Ryan, Dan, and Todd had big stacks. Jon and unknown guy were somewhere in the middle. On the second hand, I picked up jack 9 and limped. I had just taken Godwin's last chip with jack 9, plus I had three limpers in front of me, so I figured if I hit a flop I could clean house. The flop came queen ten 8, BOOM, giving me the nut straight. Andy, the first to act, bet out 40, and was quickly called by unknown guy. Todd-ass said, "Oh, that looks like two pair to me," not that he had any business talking because A) he wasn't in the hand and it's bad etiquette to talk during a hand, and B) he's a weasel bastard who has nothing good to say anyway. I figured Andy had either queen or two pair, and unknown guy was on a flush draw. Of course, it didn't matter, because all my money was going in the pot, but I like to know what my odds are of getting drawn out on before I make a move. I raised it another 26, and Andy reraised all-in, which was called by unknown guy. Andy flipped over queen 8, and unknown guy had pocket aces, which he played like a Mongoloid, as he let 5 people limp in with them. I just had to avoid a four-outer, and for once I did, so I had tripled up.

The very next hand my good friend Peterman tripled up as well when his pocket queens held up. I had a funny hand with Pete a little while later. I was in the small blind with 3 6 offsuit again, and everyone folded to me. I limped in, and Pete checked. The flop was king 9 5, and we both checked. The turn paired the 9, and we both checked again. The river paired the king, and I bet out 15, just trying to steal it. Pete called and flipped over queen high to beat my 6 high. That was just hilarious, and it was well worth the 15 dollars to see Pete call me with queen high.

After tripling up, I had enough chips that I could start going after people, and I cold-called a raise from Dan, who is pretty solid, in early position. I had limped with ace 9 of diamonds, then called another 25 bucks from Dan, as did unknown guy in the small blind. The flop came queen 3 5, which looked pretty safe, unless Dan had a monster. Unknown guy checked, so I figured it was a good time to take a stab at the pot. I bet 35, a little less than half the pot. Dan folded, and so did unknown guy, so I took a nice little pot there. The next hand in the big blind I had queen ten of diamonds (diamonds are forever, right Pete?), and again called a 20 dollar raise from Dan. The flop was queen 2 4, and I checked, figuring Dan might be steaming a little after losing the last pot, and he bet out 20. I called it. The turn was a 9, and again I checked. Again he bet 20, and I called. The river was a rag, and I checked again, and so did he. He had pocket 7's, so my queens were good.

It was at this point that everyone decided they had lost their minds. Ryan began going all-in on every pot, even though the blinds were 5-10 and he had over 200 in chips. Ryan, you're killing me, man. Todd doubled him up when he called with ace 3 for some reason, and Ryan's pocket 8's held up. Ryan then gave that money back to Todd (I forget how). The two of them were going all-in on almost every flop, so I started mucking queen jack suited because I knew I couldn't call the all-ins. Under the gun, Todd looked at one card then declared, "I'm all-in." Dan folded, and Ryan called it. Jon and I both folded, and Pete looks down, and says, "I call; I'm all-in." Pete turns over aces, Ryan turns over pocket 7's, and Todd turns over jack queen. The flop came 5 jack queen, giving Todd two pair. Pete couldn't pair the board or hit his ace, and he went out in 6th. Ryan also took a huge hit, and suddenly Todd-weasel had a ton of chips.

Now is the time for a little note and piece of advice to all aspiring doofuses (or is it doofi?) out there. If you don't want to play, please don't waste anyone's time. You know that the tournament usually gets past 1:30 in the morning. If this is a problem, please don't play. If for some reason you want to go home, just let me know and we'll take your chips out of play. Just don't ruin everyone's night by fagging around.

Another thing- don't bring anything that doesn't have to do with poker to the tournament. If you have a cell phone, or an ipod, or anything else that will distract you, leave it home. If you want to watch the baseball game, there are plenty of better places to do it than at a poker tournament. I just say this because Todd never knew when it was on him, because he was trying to find the song from Top Gun on his cell phone. I would like to thank him for enriching my life with the notes of that song. I may soon be forced to bring out the cops in riot gear like they did in the Yankees game tonight. Consider yourselves warned.

Back to the poker. Ryan and Jon both limped in on my big blind, which I believe were at 10-20 at this point. I looked down and saw pocket jacks, so I raised it 80, enough so that if they decided to get crazy, i would be pretty pot-committed to call their all-in, so they knew if they played it was for all their chips. Ryan went all-in on top for another 61, and I called. He flipped over 9 5- questionable to say the least- OK, no, crazy might be a better word. The flop hit me a jack, and so did the river, so in the end I had quad jacks and he had 9 high. Funny how that works sometimes.

Now we were down to 4, and I was in a solid chip position. Todd was still raising like a maniac, and Jon wasn't playing many pots. I was just waiting to trap Todd, and I found pocket aces on the small blind. The other two had folded, so I limped, praying he would go all-in again. He just checked it though, and the flop came 7 6 2. I bet out 20, and he called. The turn was a 5 I think. I bet out 20 again and he called. The river was a jack, and again I bet out 20, and this time he folded. He must have missed his straight draw. Still, it was a good pot.

A few hands later Todd raised it 40 on my big blind, and he was called by Dan. Jon looked at his cards, then started doing that creepy fondling of his chips (chip molestor), and I said, "Don't do it, Jon." He didn't listen to my advice, and he raised all-in. I folded, because I had nothing, and Todd immediately called. Dan folded it, and Jon flipped over ace ten of diamonds, which I don't really like at all because not only had Todd raised, Dan had called. Todd had ace queen of hearts, and the flop brought all low nonsense, so Todd's hand held up.

Shortly after we got three-handed Todd took out Dan when he spiked an 8 on the turn after calling Dan's all-in with king 8. Dan had pocket deuces, so he went out in third. I have to say, out of all the new guys we play with, I probably respect Dan's play the most. Aaron is good, too, but Dan is very solid, and he seems to respect the game, too.

I was now heads up with Todd-thing, my hated rival. He had about 1400 in chips, and I had about 600, so it was a little more than 2-1. We made the blinds 40-80, which were pretty steep, so there was a lot of action early. I gained on him a little bit to about 1200-800 after I picked up king queen on the small blind and limped. He raised it 150, and I went all-in. He folded, so I took a nice pot. The very next hand, he came in raising 150 again, and I looked down to see devil hand of spades. I know I hate that hand, but what are you gonna do heads up? If you know you have the best hand, you gotta play it, so I raised all-in. He called and flipped over king ten, a sketchy call at best. The last card on the flop gave him a pair of tens, and I couldn't hit anything to beat it, so I was out in second. God, I hate that kid, especially the way he lucked out about 6 times tonight.

As far as my own play goes, I'm really happy with how I played tonight, as I can finally say I played a flawless night of poker. I didn't make one bad call or one bad read all night, and I was in total control of my game, even when I got a little shortstacked. It doesn't help that the best hand failed to hold up AGAIN- remember the 3 outer against Ryan in my last heads up. I still haven't broken through with a win, but I have taken the lead in the Player of the Year standings up to this point, by 4 I believe over Aaron. That also makes 6 straight top 4 finishes out of 20 people or better each time. I got 30 bucks for my showing tonight.

In the Stacy Poker Tour event right before fall break, I finished 4th and took 15 bucks for my troubles. That is where the extra ten comes from in the bankroll.

Quote of the day: "I'm calling you- I have queen high."- Pete after reading me well enough to call me, correctly, with queen high after the river.

Terrence's bankroll: $230+$10+$30=$270

Tonight was the Thursday night game at Roy's, where coincidentally, Roy has been kicking ass and taking names all semester. I have been thinking all week about how bad I wanted to win Thursday's game- even more so than Tuesday's game, which has been high on my priority list. I just can't stand to see myself in such a hole in the yellow chip count to Roy, and I need a victory to inch closer. Despite all this, my confidence is at an all-time high because I'm playing the best poker of my life, and I'm finishing in the money basically every time.

I had also made two vows to dethrone Roy this week- one to Pete at lunch today, and a joint pact with Yush to kill Roy and prevent his madness from continuing.

Before we started, me and Roy, being the fiendish devils that we are, decided to rig the deck so that we messed with Pete and Bobby's head. I fixed it so that Pete got king queen of spades, Bobby got pocket aces, and Roy got 3 5 of spades. Bobby raised preflop, which Roy called from the big blind and Pete called in middle position. The flop came ace 2 4, all spades. Roy and Pete checked, then Bobby bet out 8 bucks. Roy raised it 20, Pete went all-in, then Bobby called, as did Roy. Bobby showed the set of aces, Pete showed his nut flush, and then Roy just put the 3 5 of spades right in Pete's face. Pete went absolutely ballistic, jumping onto Donald's back and screaming like a banshee/monkey/mental hospital inmate. I put out the turn, a jack of spades, and by now the entire room was psychotic. Everyone was yelling and screaming in disbelief, no really, I'm serious. Pete jumped up on Roy's bed, coming perilously close to flying out the window and crushing some poor pedestrian outside with his weighty 60 pound body. The river was the 10 of spades, of course, giving Pete the royal flush. Again he went nuts, screaming and jumping, then it dawned on him and he was like, "You rigged this, you son of a bitch!" I was rolling on the floor, clutching my sides because they hurt from laughing so hard. Half the people in the room were crying from laughing. It was just insane. After that, we gave everyone their chips back and redrew for position. This was maybe the single greatest moment in the history of Poker Night at Roy's, surpassing Jonathan receiving his fishing trophy and Caysh getting his magazine tossed.

On to the game- the table was seated like this(clockwise): me, Alex, Ryan, Pete, Yush, Jon, Roy, Godwin, Donald, John Moon, Bobby. This arrangement was fine by me, because I had Roy and Big Red directly in my sights across the table, and I had Pete and Alex, two tight players, playing behind me. It's also worth noting that we played with $40 in chips tonight, and I think it worked really well. It seemed to stimulate a ton of action, and no one was in big trouble because of one bad hand early on. Roy, I recommend we keep this structure in the future. I know you like it so you can dance around, too.

I didn't play much of anything for the first round- I was selective because we were playing 11-handed, and hands really go down in value at a table that big. I picked up pocket kings about half an hour in, and I came in raising 4 bucks. Donald was the only caller, and the flop came jack jack 8. He bet out 5 bucks- kind of suspicious. I figured he would think I hadn't hit that flop, so he could get me to fold. That meant that he didn't have a jack in all likelihood, as I figured he'd slowplay trips on me when I was the aggressor. I flat called the 5, which wasn't the greatest move, as I should have made an information raise to see where I was at. The turn was a 9, and he bet 5 again, which I called. This bet made me worried, because you can't make a $5 bluff into a good-size pot when your opponent has already called $5 on the flop. I called it again- I know, very weak- and the river was a rag. He bet 5 again, and I made a crying call, almost sure I was beat. He only had 8's though, so my kings were good. That pot got me off on the right foot, and I stayed patient from there.

A few things to note that were going on- Yush was destroying everybody- I mean everybody. I think the first 9 pots he was in, he won. No joke. Roy was playing his usual crazy poker, raising with 3 4 of hearts under the gun, and smoking Godwin's trips when he caught his flush in the river. He had also amassed a good stack of chips. Some of that was from having pocket aces and kings in back to back hands, the kings taking out Pete when he overplayed his ace king suited. Think, Pete, you're better than that! Ryan and Bobby got whacked early by John Moon and Godwin respectively, who were both playing very well. Big Red was his usual crazy self, calling 8 dollar raises with king ten offsuite, then bluffing away most of his money on an inside straight draw to Roy. He even made a value bet when he caught a ten in the river. Stop giving Roy chips, dammit!

I picked up pocket queens in late position after seeing a couple limpers. I raised it 6 bucks, and Yush called from the small blind. The flop came king rag rag, and he bet out 12 bucks at me from his mountainous stack. Yush is usually pretty straightforward against me, so I read him having king jack, and laid down the queens. He told me later he had ace king, which I'm surprised he didn't reraise with preflop, but it's fine because it saved me some money.

One bad note about playing at Roy's- I'm going to be a quadriplegic soon from playing on the floor. My back just can't take it. You have to be kind of hunched over, and when you need to deal or drag a pot, there isn't an unpainful way to do it. Maybe I'm just too old, haha.

I took a good pot off Big Red when I limped in with king 3 of hearts(I'm not sure what possessed me to play that, but everyone had limped, so I liked my implied odds). I hit a king on the flop, checked it, then bet out on the turn when I also picked up an open-ended straight draw. Jon called, and I hit my straight on the river. I bet out 8 bucks and he called with pocket tens, paying me off. Roy later told me he had folded the 8 on the turn, so that's good or I would have been in trouble. I honestly didn't play any other memorable hands on the floor, so we moved to the table with me, Roy, Yush, Jon, and Godwin still remaining. Roy and Yush had all the money, but I saw a definite opportunity to come back. Yush, despite playing very well, is usually pretty straightforward to read. Also, he doesn't push people around much preflop with his chip stack. Roy was kind of complacent, calling a lot of blinds to see flops, not raising much, and overall just playing very loose. The other two were in the depths with me, so I felt if I could double up once I'd be on my way.

The 5-handed battle went on for a seriously long time. It was a war, with no one wanting to die. I got down to 16 bucks after coming in raising with king queen suited, hitting an open-ended straight draw on the flop, then pissing away 20 bucks chasing it. The very next hand I had king queen, raised all-in over Roy's raise, and had his king jack dominated. That double up was huge, but I was still on life support, with only about 30 bucks left. Godwin was also hanging tough, nursing the same size stack as me. Jon seemed to not be playing much, and anytime he won a pot, it was after making what looked like a steal bet on the river of a pot that wasn't bet at. I was just waiting to get in a hand with him to let him walk into me.

The blinds were 2-4, which was meaningful when you have three shortstacks. One big hand was after everybody limped on my small blind and I looked down to see 4 7 offsuit. Everyone seemed very week to me, so I went all-in for my last 30 or so. They all folded, and I had won about a third of my stack in one nice move. Roy came in raising a few pots later, and I saw ace 8 of diamonds, so again I raised all-in after not figuring him for much. He folded it, and I took another nice pot. I kept nickel and diming my way back until I picked up king ten on the button. I limped, as did Yush, and Jon checked. The flop was 3 jack king. Yush checked, and Jon went all-in for 30. This left me with 4 dollars, so I had to be sure I had it to make the call. I figured Jon for at best, a jack, but there was no way he had my king beat. He had just been doing too much stealing. I moved all-in over the top of him, then watched in horror as Yush started getting his chips ready. I thought he may have hit a set of 3s or something, and when he called I thought I was dead. He flipped over king ten also, and Jon flipped his ace 4 for ace high. The turn and river were blanks, so Yush and I had jointly destroyed the Large Red Menace. This is the pot that got me healthy again, and from there I got more aggressive.

Godwin was still struggling, but surviving, as his ace 5 somehow cracked Yush's pocket aces when all the money got in preflop. Yush had raised it ten bucks, and Godwin reraised all in for another 18. Yush said, "I call you, sir," and flipped over his rockets. That's what I like about Yush- what a classy guy. Him and John Moon should hit the campaign trail, wave at people, and kiss babies. The flop came 3 4 6, the perfect flop for Godwin, and the turn was the 7, giving him the straight to double up.

I had a pot with Yush where I raised it 10 preflop with ace 3. I then bet out 12 bucks on a flop of 4 5 7, which Yush called. The turn was a 2, giving me the wheel. I checked it, hoping Yush might bet out, but he checked it behind me. The river was a king, and I bet out 26, which Yush called. This hand made me really comfortable, and allowed me to do things I couldn't have done earlier without so many chips, like check-raise more often and see more flops with playable hands.

Roy had lost a lot of chips in a hand with Yush in which the following occurred. Flop- Yush check, Roy bet 10, Yush call. Turn- Yush check, Roy bet 30, Yush call. River- Yush goes all-in. Roy agonizes over it for a full two minutes, then mucks it, saying that he was sure Yush had missed his flush and was bluffing. We found out later that Yush was bluffing, but Roy only had a pair of 6s, so it would have been a hell of a call to make.

This knocked Roy down to mine and Godwin's level, and he was taken out soon thereafter. Finally, the evil Roy was slain! Seriously, though, Roy has been playing awesome, clever, nasty poker lately, and I was glad to not have to deal with him anymore.

I was gaining confidence by the bucketload as we went on, because I have such a good read on Godwin and Yush. Godwin had made a comment earlier about how he didn't mind getting in a pot with me, so I made it a personal goal to make him mind very much. I got in his head, and the following hand is what portended his end at the final table. I came in raising with ace 6 of hearts, and Godwin called. The flop was king 3 7, with two hearts. Godwin bet out 16, and I saw this as a sign of weakness, because the bet was bigger than the norm. Regardless, I knew what I needed to win the pot, a heart, but I also thought I may be able to steal it off him later if I don't hit my heart. The turn was a 10 of hearts. Godwin checked it, maybe putting me on a flush draw, and I checked it behind him, trying to induce a river bet. He obliged, firing out 25 bucks on the river. I raised him 50, and he agonized for a few solid minutes, then folded. When I say agonized, I think he literally was in physical pain. He had his head down in his arm, and he said something like, "He checked the turn, what could he have. Does he really have that good a read on me?" At this point, I knew I was deep in his head. He ended up folding, but that pot had crippled him. He got taken out a little bit later when he went all-in blind on my big blind. I called with queen jack, and I hit a queen to win it over his 10 8, which paired the 10.

Heads up with Yush, who had been steamrolling everyone all night, promised to be a good match. Since we had reached the final table, I had been manipulating him pretty well, and I started out aggressive, taking the first 4 pots off him. I just kept whittling him down by raising preflop, then betting out on the flop if called, although I usually caught a piece of the flop, too. I threw in a couple checkraises, one with ace ten of hearts and a board of jack 2 2, with two hearts, and another with top two pair, 7s and 9s.

I had Yush down to about 30 bucks, and he just would not die. We battled for over half an hour, and he doubled up twice, but I finally got him when I had 10 7 of spades on the big blind. The flop was 7 2 4. I bet out 16, and Yush raised all in for another 18. I called, and he showed ace queen. The turn was a 10, clinching it for me, and the river was another 7, giving me the boat, and the precious yellow chip.

I was finally off the schneid, and it took no small amount of work and skill to fight out of the hole I was in. I have to say, almost everyone we play with on Thursday is getting much better as poker players, especially Yush, John Moon, and Godwin. They acquitted themselves very well tonight.

Hopefully this will be the beginning of a winning streak. I would love that, because if I can win on Tuesday, I'll really put some distance between myself and Aaron in the standings.

Quote of the day: "I call you, sir."- Yush with his pocket rockets.

Terrence's bankroll: $265+$25=$290

Friday night me and the guys decided to play a game- Me, Pete, Jon, Roy, Ryan, and Bobby. I played alright for a while, and got down to three-handed with Pete and Ryan. Ryan had a big chip lead, and I was the short stack. I fought back and got into second chip position and then had the following interesting hand. I had about 60 dollars total, which is what we started with, so I had 1/6 of the chips in play. I limped in on Ryan's big blind (the blinds were 2-4), and he says, "I want to see how attached you are to your hand," and he raises 8 bucks blind! He promised he hadn't looked at his cards. I had the queen 8 of spades, which beats an average hand, so I decide to move all-in. The odds of him having something he can call with are very slim, plus Ryan has been bullying us around, and I needed to take a stand. Ryan looks down and sees pocket aces! He swore up and down that he hadn't looked at his cards, but I was kind of skeptical- but then again, there are some crazy mystical powers attached to playing blind. Anyway, I flopped a queen, but couldn't improve any further, and I was out in third.

We decided to play another game afterwards, and truth be told, I wasn't really feeling it. After a few hands I kind of lost the desire to play- my head was pounding, and I just didn't feel like I could play at the level I wanted to from start to finish. I picked up queen jack very early and limped. The flop was queen 7 4. Bobby checked, as did I, as Pete had raised preflop. Pete bet out 4. Bobby called it, and I raised it 12. Pete reraised 17, and at this point I figured I was in big trouble, against either an overpair or a set, but I didn't feel like fighting back from a short stack early. I went all-in, and he called with his set of 7s, so I was dead. Pete then went on to lose to Roy heads up, so everyone was very surprised.

After it was all said and done, Pete came over to cry on my shoulder. We decided we needed to have a heads up deathmatch to get our frustrations out. I took the first one, and then in the second one i rigged the deck while Pete was going to the bathroom. I gave him pocket kings, and myself pocket queens. We got all the money in on the flop, and I hit a queen on the river. Pete almost spontaneously combusted, and, good friend that I am, I waited about 15 minutes to tell him. Pete went on to win the second one, and I won the third at about 6:30 a.m. What is wrong with us?

Quote of the day: "I would jump out the window, but we're on the first floor, so I'd have to turn over so I landed on my head and broke my neck."- Pete, after getting tricked yet again by a rigged deck.

Terrence's bankroll: $290-$10=$280

My first day back from fall break consisted of relaxing and laying around... not. I went down to A.C. with my mom, grandma, and step-grandmother (is that a word?) with plans to meet Tom, Foti, and Kris later.

We got there at about 1 p.m. My caravan doesn't really play much poker, so we stayed around the slot machines for awhile. Mom gave me $30 to play with, and I went around the quarter slots for a while, picking out machines that caught my eye. For some reason, I tended to gravitate towards the Red, White, and Blue machines.

Here's my feeling on slot machines. People that play them are half-dead zombies that derive no pleasure from them except for knowing that they are paying for the casino employees' meals. I was determined not to be one of these casino cadavers, so I put my own mark on playing the slot machines. First of all, I figure if you're going to play, you sure as hell better pull the arm, and not press a button to spin the reels. That's half the fun of it, anyway. Also, when playing with multiple credits, don't hit the Play for Max button. Hit the credit button two or three times, then pull it. Also, I firmly believe that these machines are cocky- they know they are going to take your money. Therefore, I try to intimidate them when I play. Each time I pulled the reels, I would yell some directive at the machine to get me a winner, otherwise bad things would happen to it. Some machines decided they were above being insulted, so they didn't pay me. I quickly left and played with their friends, instead. This all resulted in a nice run for myself, including hitting a red, white, and blue 7, although not in that order, because that would have paid a few grand. As it was, I ended up turning my $30 into $140 in about an hour. I highly recommend my method of playing slot machines to anyone willing to give it a try. You'll get some funny looks from the octagenarian crowd who don't like the youngens invading their domain, but they can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. You're there to win, right?

At about 3:30, I went down to the poker room of the Borgata, because I knew Tom and Foti would be there soon. I sat in on a $4-$8 Omaha hi-lo game with a full kill. For those who are wondering, a full kill means that if there is a scooped pot of over $60, the limits double, so it becomes an $8-$16 game. This happened more often than I thought it would, so we were usually playing for pretty high stakes, as it cost you $48 to see a pot through to the river, assuming it's unraised, which is unlikely. I had sat in with $140, not a ton of money considering the limits, but I also didn't want to burn all my money (I came down with $400) just playing Omaha, as it is well-known that my specialty is Texas hold 'em.

For most of you who don't play Omaha, or even limit poker for that matter, it's a very different animal than no limit hold 'em. Bluffing is near impossible, as there are frequently 6 players to a flop, and the bets don't get big enough to drive everyone out. It's also a "nuts" game, in that you frequently need the nuts, or at least very close to it, to win. If you play bad cards, it'll catch up to you. The real meat of the game is knowing when to call and when to get rid of your hand. Overall, I played well, but I ended up down $100 due to a couple rough hands.

The first nasty hand I got involved in was in a killed pot, so it was at $8-$16. I called the blind with ace queen jack 3, with the ace suited, a very nice hand because of its high and low qualities. There were about 5 of us on the flop. The flop was queen queen 10, giving my trips with an ace kicker. As great as this looks, I knew I still probably had to improve to a boat to win the hand. The big blind bet out 8, which was called by two other players. I also called. The turn was an ace, giving me queens full of aces. The big blind once again bet out, and one of the original callers stuck around. I raised it, making it 32 to play, and the original bettor called. I knew he was a good player, as he had been laying low most of the time and not chasing nonsense. The other caller folded. The river was a blank, so there was no low out there, and the only hands that could beat me were pocket kings or aces. The big blind checked, and I bet 16, pretty sure that I had the hand, and the $200 pot, won. He called, and I announced my boat. "That's no good," he said, and turned over pocket kings for kings full of queens. I was shocked, as I figured either of the hands that could beat me would have reraised on either the turn or the river, but I guess he must have somehow put me on pocket aces, probably because I waited until the turn to raise. Anyway, that put a big-ass dent in my stack, as well as my psyche, but I recovered pretty quickly.

A few hands later, I flopped the nut boat with queens full of jacks, and I took it down on the river. Unfortunately, it wasn't in a killed pot, so the pot was half the size it could have been. About twenty minutes later I lost a lot of money when I chased my nut low draw to the river in a killed pot. I held ace 2 4 5, a beautiful starting hand in hi-lo, and saw a flop of 3 6 10. This gave me a wrap straight draw, which is very powerful, as well as the nut low draw with no counterfeits. In front of me, the action got raised and reraised, and the betting was capped at $32 with 4 people involved. Already there was over $150 in the pot. The turn was a jack, so there still wasn't a low qualified on the board, and again the betting got capped at $64 this time. With 4 players involved, I had to stay around, as my pot odds were great, plus I figured the betting would again be capped on the river, whereas I could get out if I missed my draw. Also, I didn't figure anyone for having a low draw that could quarter me. It seemed like everyone was playing the high hand, with sets and two pair all over the place. The river paired the ten, so I didn't hit my low, and had to fold when it got around to me. Sure enough, one guy had pocket 6's, one had pocket 10's (for quads), and another had pocket aces (he was an idiot that didn't really know how to play, as pocket aces don't have quite the same value as they do in hold 'em, especially when that's all you hold in a big raised pot. This pot alone cost me $104 bucks, and I would have won about $250 had my damn low hit.

The final big hand that whacked me came when I had king king 2 3 and saw a flop. The flop was king 4 7, all hearts. I had top set, but I wasn't crazy about it, because certainly someone had a flush. The three players before me checked, and, being in late position, I threw out a bet to see where I stood. I got two callers, leading me to believe I was probably against a made flush and a low draw, but a part of me was hoping I was against two low draws. The turn was an offsuit queen, so the low hadn't qualified, and both players checked. I bet out again, hoping if someone had a low flush, he would dump it, plus I also wanted to make those low draws pay to chase. I got only one caller this time, and at this point I figured him for a low flush that he couldn't fold. It was this fat guy that looked like Mr. Belvedere. The river was something high, and again he checked. I checked it, knowing I wouldn't get called if he just had a busted low, but that a flush would call me. He flipped over the 10 6 of hearts for his gay flush, and my top set went bye-bye. Somehow after all this I still had $40 left, but I sat out with it because Tom and Foti had just arrived. Kris got there only a few minutes later.

Tom had gotten wind of a $100+$20 buy-in tournament over at the Taj, so the four of us decided to head over there. The tournament had 87 people in it, and we got $5000 in chips to start. The blinds were at $25-$50 to start, and they went up every 20 minutes. This didn't sound too bad, but they instituted an ante only three levels in, so you kind of had to get moving early. My first two hands, I had ace 7 and ace 8 suited. Each flop was something like king queen 2, so I folded right away. I also wanted to see what kind of table I was up against, and I quickly found out that it was mostly composed of maniacs. Raising, reraising, all-ins, it was all there within the first five hands. This one Chinese guy was going all-in like it was his job. I decided that I had to wait for some decent cards, as no one could get these people to fold anything, and I sure wasn't going to try.

In about the 6th hand, we had this sick hand at our table that got the attention of everybody in the card room. Giant fat guy (not Mr. Belvedere) next to me raised it preflop. Crazy Chinese guy and subdued Chinese guy next to him both called. The raise was something big, like $1000. The flop was 4 5 6, with two hearts. Crazy Chinese guy checked, so I already knew something was up, and I thought he may have hit a set. Subdued Chinese guy went all-in, and Dumpy next to me took a while agonizing, then decided to call, which put him all-in. Crazy Chinese guy immediately shoved his chips in the pot, and turned over his set of 4s. Subdued Chinese guy had a heart flush draw, and Dumpy had pocket queens, leaving him one out, the queen of spades, to win. The turn was a 3, leaving the set of 4s in the lead, but also putting an open-ended straight on the board. The river was an offsuit 7, so everyone had to play the board and split the pot. The whole table was in an uproar over that one.

About 30 minutes into it, I still hadn't gotten any cards, but I heard Foti go all-in behind me at his table. He had ace jack, and he was up against pocket 5s. The 5s held up, so Foti was our first casualty. I was getting blinded down, and I couldn't find anything to play. All I was getting was 10 3, queen 2, 6 2- nothing even remotely playable. Finally I got queen ten of clubs and came in raising, figuring I needed to make something happen. Dumpy called, and the guy behind Dumpy went all-in. He was the one guy at the table who had been playing tight like me, so I knew he had a hand. it got back to me, and I folded. Dumpy called with something retarded like ace 6, and the other kid had pocket aces. He doubled up and took a lot of money from Dumpy.

We had this guy moved to our table who I will call the Sea Captain. He was this big black guy with a U.S. navy hat on. He also didn't know what he was doing, and he called every single hand, regardless of his cards. He started picking up nasty hands like pocket tens and pocket 9s though, and when he didn't he was getting two pair with his 5 8 to whack people. It was amazing. Somehow he built a huge stack by playing doofus poker.

I still couldn't catch anything, and I was also having trouble concentrating because of this extremely smelly guy next to me. He seemed like he was Egyptian or Iranian or something, but one thing is for sure- he stunk. Every time he moved, a new pocket of stink came at me, and it was hard to deal with. Everyone out there, I know you love poker, but you need to take 10 minutes out of your day for personal hygiene- it's not too much to ask, and being smelly is just as bad, if not worse, than slowrolling someone or stealing their chips. Don't be smelly.

I somehow survived until the first break, having folded literally 16 hands in a row. During this span, I told the dealer, "If you give me 9-high, I'll go all-in, I promise." I really meant it, too. In that span of hands, I couldn't even find 9- high. At the break, Tom, Kris, and I went to go get some food, and we got some giant hot dogs from a little store outside the card room. Tom had a very nice stack, somewhere in the 12 grand range, while Kris had about what he started with, which was fine. I had 700 in chips, which wasn't good considering we were at 200-400 blinds with a 100 ante.

When we got back from the break, I told my new dealer, "Give me 9-high and I'll go all-in," just like I told the last dealer. On the third hand in, I finally got my 9-high, a 9-5 offsuit to be precise, and I lived up to my end of the bargain by going all-in. Easily the worst hand I've ever gotten all my money in with. I got called by Dumpy, who was still at my table. Actually, I think he raised, and the big blind called because he only had about 100 left. Dumpy had pocket queens, and the big blind had 10 6 off. The flop came 10 10 3, which meant I was drawing dead, but at least Dumpy was gonna get his queens cracked. I was done in about 50th place, having not won a pot the entire tournament. This marks my 2nd time in a 100 dollar buy-in tournament, and the second time I haven't won a hand in it due to the worst cards of my life. I milled around for a while, watching Kris and Tom. Tom was kicking everyone's ass at his table, while Kris was playing smart but not getting much in the way of cards.

Kris ended up bowing out in 28th, which wasn't so bad, and we stuck around to watch Tom for a little while. Finally, we got restless, though, and we went to play some on the side. I sat in a 1-2 no limit hold em game, and I had about 140. I played too timid early on, calling a couple bets I probably shouldn't have, but not playing my game and being aggressive. Finally, I told myself to play some good poker, and I limped with pocket 8s in early position. This Chinese guy raised it 15 bucks behind me, and I called. That was a pretty standard raise at the table, and didn't signify a monster. We saw the flop heads-up, and it came down 7 5 4. I had an overpair and an inside straight draw. I checked it to him, pretty sure he would bet out. He bet 25. I thought for about 10 seconds, decided he had high cards and was taking a stab at it, then I raised all-in for another 70 or so. He laid it down, so I took my first nice pot.

A little while later I picked up ace ten of hearts and I limped in in middle position. One guy raised it 15, and 5 others called it. I figured the pot odds were right, so I saw a flop. It came down 10 10 5, SO NICE. I checked it, because I knew someone would have to take a crack at it, plus there was a good chance someone had queen ten or something. The original raiser bet 25, and I was the only caller. The turn was a 3, and again I checked. He bet out 40, and I thought for a second then raised him all-in for another 45. He called and showed pocket jacks, and the river couldn't give him his two-outer. That was a really nice pot, and put me ahead since I had sat in.

Somewhere in all of this, a guy at my table that looked like the comedian Gallagher asked me, "Do you go to Carolina?" He asked because I had on my Carolina baseball jersey, my Carolina hat, and my school ring. I told him that I was a senior and he revealed that he taught computer science there. He then invited me to play in a game his friend ran in Chapel Hill, a 5-10 limit hold 'em cash game. I gave him my information so he could contact me, so that could be a break from the small buy-ins we play with in the dorms.

I ended up leaving with about 50 bucks more than I sat with, as I had gotten word that Tom was down to the final table. Tom ended up getting down to the final 5, where he went all-in with pocket deuces. He got called by king queen, and when the flop came down ace 2 4, we thought he was set. Running clubs on the turn and river gave the other guy a flush, though, and Tom was done. Had he won that pot, he would have been second in chips with a great shot at making the big money (First place got $3200). He got $440 for his efforts, which wasn't bad, but he had played for a while and was so close to hitting the big money that it kinds of hurt.

From there, we went back to the Borgata to play a little more. First we had dinner, where I took my first shot of Jack Daniels with my cheesesteak. After the numbness in my face wore off, I was good to go, but I had already been dealing with a big headache.

I sat in at another 1-2 no limit game, while Tom and Foti played 2-5 no limit. I didn't have the kind of cash to play in that game, plus I'm not crazy like them, so 1-2 was fine. Kris sat at another 1-2 table. My very first hand, I hit top pair and won about 40 bucks. A few hands later, I had pocket queens, came in raising 15 bucks, and was called by 3 guys. I was ecstatic when the flop was 2 5 7. I bet out 25 after two guys checked. The next one to act raised me 50, and I had a real decision to make. Had he hit a set? Or was he slowplaying bigger pockets? I decided my queens were good, and that he had just put me on ace king or something similar. I went all-in for another 100 or so, and he laid it down. My heart was beating like crazy after that one, but I played it right and took a nice pot. I soon got on a ridiculous cold streak where I again couldn't find anything to play. I didn't lose much, except for the meager blinds, but this went on for about two hours. I ended up sitting out up about 70 bucks, which wasn't bad and helped offset my tournament losses some.

While I was playing, Tom kept coming over to give me reports on his and Foti's play. Foti at one point was up to near $2,000, then he was down $800, then back up. I don't know how he can play his style and not lose his mind. I don't think I could handle swings like that on my bankroll. Tom ended up losing about $500, which was basically his tournament winnings. I ended up down $100 bucks, although that was after food and the $7 shot I took. That also didn't figure in the slot winnings, which I split with my mom. All in all, it was a good trip. I just wish I could get some decent cards in these big tournaments so I can rip people up like I know I can.

One more note- the players in Atlantic City are not that great. Everyone has this image of brutal games with experts everywhere down there, but it's not really true. In the tournament we played in, the players, on the whole, were very poor. The quality of play is much better in our Thursday game, I think. That's not to say that there aren't good players, because there are, but they are not the norm. Anyone going down there shouldn't be afraid if they know they can play. I think the reason people lose is because they're not used to playing with so much real money. The players themselves aren't anything to be scared of.