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