OK, so I've played 5 tournament since I last wrote in here- things are just too damn busy! Right now I'm going to write about last night's Stacy Poker Tour tournament, and I'll get to the other ones if I get some time later this week. The results for the previous ones were 4th in the Stacy Poker Tour event, 2nd in Roy's game, two bust-outs over at Ryan's place, and now this Stacy Poker Tour event.

Sixteen people showed up this week, which is less than we usually get, but I actually like it because it works out to two perfect tables. I got carded into the ping pong room like I always do. At my table was Pete, Roy, Ryan, Bobby, Dan, Alex, and Greg.
Pete and Jon both showed up late, and when Pete arrived, he proceeded to take all of Ryan's money in about five minutes. Pete took a few pots off Ryan, which Ryan can't handle, so Ryan decided to go all-in for about 45 bucks when Pete had ace king. Ryan had ace 9, and he was whacked. (Keep in mind that the blinds were 1-2). I think he needs a cold shower or something after he loses a hand.

I was getting just enough hands to see some flops with, but not enough to win me much money. I stole a few pots here and there when I sensed weakness, but overall I didn't do much. I was actually down about a third of my stack. Pete and Roy had most of the chips, Pete getting his from Ryan, and Roy getting his from Alex on the following hand. Alex doubles the blind preflop. Roy calls and says, "I'm going to hit my flush." The flop comes out with three low cards, with two clubs. Roy says, "I didn't hit my flush," and checks. Alex checks, too. The turn is a blank, and they both check again. The river brings the third club. Roy says, "Oh, I hit my flush," and bets twenty, and Alex immediately goes, "I'll put you all-in," for another 210 bucks or so. Roy calls immediately, and flips over his flush. Alex had pocket kings, giving him... a pair of kings. Another example of sterling poker play. Softplay the kings all the way through, and then risk all your money on a pair, when the guy is telling you he hit a flush. Very nice.

Greg also played his usual world-class game, calling big raises with hands like 10 4 and queen 3, and he got whacked. Finally I looked down and saw ace king of clubs. I came in with a pretty big raise, and got called by Roy in the small blind. The flop was jack ten 3, with two clubs. Roy checked. I was pretty shortstacked, and I really needed this pot. I figured if Roy had anything he would have bet out at me, knowing he could likely take the pot with me being in survival mode. After he checked it, I went all-in, knowing I had a ton of outs if he did call, but not figuring that he would. He folded, and I took a nice little pot. We rabbit-hunted, and I would have had my nut flush on the river.

Down to five, we had myself, Dan, Alex, Pete, and Roy left. Everyone folded around to the blinds, which were Dan and me. Dan thought for a while, began as if he was going to make a raise, then said that he was all-in. I looked down and saw ace king, and immediately told him to count it. He had about 45 bucks, which was about two-thirds of my stack. He had seemed like he wanted to raise it, but he couldn't really make a raise without pot-committing himself, so he went all-in. I thought he had ace jack or ace queen, and I called. He flipped over ace queen, and when the board came out 9 9 9 5 3, I had taken him out in my first big hand.

At the final table we met up with Big Red, Andrew, Andy, and Joe. With the blinds at 4-8, I was just scrapping to stay alive, as I had been doing most of the night. A really nasty hand occurred between Alex and Andrew not too far into play. Andrew made a big raise in early position, and Alex called it. The flop came king queen 4, and Andrew went all-in, a big overbet. He had Alex covered. Alex called immediately and showed top two pair, kings and queens. Andrew had pocket aces. The turn was a 10, meaning Andrew needed a jack, 10, ace, or 4 to take the pot. The river paired the 4, and Andrew won it with aces up. That was a brutal hand, and it gave Andrew a big stack.

Other than that hand, we weren't getting much action, so we kept raising the blinds. With the blinds at 6-12 and me with about 70 in chips, I had to make a move, but I couldn't find a hand to do it with. I had a really good read on everyone, though, and most people seemed to be playing tight at the moment. Six or seven times I came in with a raise that just doubled the blind and stole the blinds with it. I was shocked at the respect I was getting as a short stack, because I never had anything really good. 7 8, jack 8, hands like that. But stealing those blinds kept me afloat.

Seeing as everyone was playing so tight, we raised the blinds to 10-20. This really put pressure on all but the top guys to get involved, and chips started flying around. I doubled the blind at on point with 7 8 and got called by Roy and Andrew. The flop was queen 7 4, so I had second pair. They both checked, and I made my move, going all-in, and they both folded. This was the way most hands went, and I wasn't getting called on my all-ins, although I always had something when I was moving in.

With about 80 in chips, I was on the big blind. Andy limped on the button, and Jon raised it another 30 from the small blind. I looked down and saw pocket aces- what a great time to see them! I put on my little show, and then went all-in for another 45 or so. Andy folded, and Jon, after much deliberation, called. I showed the aces, and he flipped over pocket 3's. He said that he just thought I had high cards, but I think he talked himself into that just so he could call. I had showed him earlier when I had folded an ace 9 of diamonds when I had thought about putting all my money in, because I knew he would call, and I couldn't be a big favorite over anthing. He knew I wouldn't make the move with a marginal hand, especially against him because he tends to call a lot. I thought this was a pretty bad call, although I wasn't complaining, and my aces held up for a nice double through. Overall though, Jon played better than he has been lately, and he's going to have to if he wants to make the Tournament of Champions. More on that later.

With the blinds this high, the action started getting ridiculous. Pete got involved in a hand with Andrew and Roy where they both called a raise from Andrew preflop. The flop was ace king king. Roy checked, Andrew bet, and Pete went all-in. Roy folded, and Andrew said, "I think you're bluffing," and "I feel like gambling," and then he called with queen jack on an inside straight draw. So he just called a huge bet with an inside straight draw and two undercards against a guy that will not move all-in without a king in this position. Awful, awful call. Pete's hand held up, and he suddenly had a ton of chips after being down near my level. A few hands later, Big Red came in raising. He put his chips in the pot and started grabbing other chips to make change, but he never said what his raise was. When he was done, I folded and Pete immediately went all-in, so I knew he had kings or aces. Pete, slow down so you get paid off!!! Jon was angry because he had raised more than he meant to, which is mind-boggling. This is why you should announce your raises people. Don't just reach in the pot and start moving chips. Jon had to fold, and he lost a bit more money than he needed to.

Pete went on a psycho tear after these two hands, and within 10 minutes he had raised every pot, and he had knocked out Big Red and Roy with all sorts of nastiness like trip aces and the like. Before we knew it, Pete had over 50% of the chips in play. And to think, he was down at my level not so long ago.

Keep in mind, I was not dead yet. I don't know how, because I was the shortstack throughout the whole final table. I took just enough small blinds to stay afloat, and I got the hell out of the way when Pete started strapping explosives to everyone and hitting the detonation button.

All of a sudden we were down to four of us- Pete with tons of money, Andrew with lots of money, Andy with not much money, and me with pocket change. Pete was still ripping it up, and now everyone was tight because they wanted to A- get in the money, which was reserved for the top 3, and B- get more points. I was down to 60 bucks, and Andrew came in raising on my small blind, enough to put me all-in. I looked down and saw ace ten of hearts, which was as good as you can ask for at this point in time. I went all-in, and then Pete, on the big blind, moved all-in over the top of Andrew. I love this move, and not just because it put 60 bucks of dead money in the pot. Pete had a nice hand, and he was getting 3-1 on his money to play me heads up. He knew I wasn't a 3-1 favorite, plus he showed Andrew that he was going to keep playing his rush and pushing him around. Pete showed a king jack off, so I was a slight favorite, about 58-42 or so. The flop came 3 6 jack, hurting me bad, but for some reason I still felt OK. The turn was a 10, so I could get two tens or three aces on the river to take it. Not very good odds, but I could feel it coming, I swear. The river was my ace, giving me two pair, and I tripled up. I also let out a whoop and a clap that blew Pete's eardrum out, but I was excited.

I lost some of my money back a few hands later when I limped in with 9 10 of diamonds. Pete was also in the pot, and the flop came king 9 5. He checked, and I did too, not wanting to pot commit myself on a trap. The turn paired the 5, and Pete bet out 25, which I called. The river was a queen, and Pete bet out 45, which was over half my stack. I love this bet he made, because he was basically telling me that he was pot-committed for all my chips. If he went all-in, I could have figured it for a bluff more easily, I think. I also called on the turn figuring he wouldn't have the guts to bet out on the river on a bluff, but this still felt like a bluff to me. It had to be, because the only thing I could beat was a total bluff. I was an inch away from calling, then told myself, "Don't do it, Andy is almost gone and you can lock up the money." I folded it and said, "Show your bluff," and he did. Grrrr... I've created a monster with Pete. If I hadn't showed him so much about being aggressive, he never would have made this play, and I would have had all that money. Good move, Pete, but I'm gonna get you.

A few hands later Andy went out, so we were in the money. I didn't have much left, and I moved in for my last 60 on the button with queen ten. Andrew called in the big blind with queen 9, so I was ecstatic at having him dominated. The flop had three diamonds, and I looked down to see the 10 of diamonds in my hand... and the queen of diamonds in his hand. Crap. The turn brought the flush, and the river paired our queens, so I got whacked. I got 15 bucks and 10 points for my efforts.

One of the first heads-up hands featured an all-in. Andrew went all-in right off the bat, and Pete called immediately. "Wow," I thought, "Pete must have him in deep crap." Andrew showed pocket 6s, and Pete had ace 5. Pete, what are you doing??? You fought all night to get that huge stack, and then you waste it on a terrible call when you could have just given away your big blind. Pete still had the chip lead, though, and a few hands later there was another all-in. On a flop of 5 6 10, there were bets and raised all over, and Pete went all-in. Andrew called, as he was obviously in a hurry. Pete had pocket queens, and Andrew had 8 9 for an inside straight draw. It never came though, and Pete had won his first Stacy Poker Tour event. Nice job, Pete.

I think Pete has finally reached that point where everything is clicking for him, and I like to think I had something to do with it, although he's playing nasty poker on his own. His win vaulted him to 4th in the standings, only 1 point behind Andy for third. Basically at this point, the only ones that are a lock for the Tournament of Champions are me, Aaron, Pete, Andy, and Dan. Ryan is close to clinching his spot, but his abysmal showing this week didn't help. Big Red pulled 1 point ahead of Alex for the 8th and final spot. Todd is in 6th, but not out of the woods yet. I'm now 22 points ahead of Aaron for Player of the Year, and we only have two tournaments left. If I can stick just one more top-4 finish, I think I'll have it clinched. I'm so pumped about it, because this has been my goal all semester. It's like the pros that say that it's not about the money, it's about the bracelet. I feel like that. I just want that trophy that says Player of the Year on it more than anything.

The bankroll reflects all the games I haven't written about yet.

Quote of the day: "Oh, I got my flush!"- Roy after indeed getting his flush and taking Alex's money despite telling him so.

Terrence's bankroll: $280-$5+$15-$10+$10=$290

Roy's game was last night, and I was really looking forward to it. For one thing, I've been playing lights out lately, but I was coming off back-to-back top 2 finishes there, narrowly missing back-to-back victories when my pocket tens fell to Yush's ace 4 of hearts last week.

Moonie the Gentleman had a birthday this week, so to pay tribute to him, we wore collared shirts with gym shorts. I went all out and wore a button-down shirt and tie, because I'm a classy guy, plus I was trying to channel my inner Devilfish.

Moonie, Pete, and Jon all showed up late (as the latter two did on Tuesday also), so we had 7 people and 10 chip stacks at first. The seating was like this: Yush, Moonie, me, Ryan, Han, Yum, Pete, Jon, Bobby, and Roy.

I had been talking to Pete Tuesday night about how I have a great tournament strategy, but I don't allow myself to build up chips early on, so I'm always a shortstack later in tournaments. We were talking about how if I could just get my hands on some chips early, I could dominate people. So I went into this game determined to stake myself to an early lead and build off of that.

I tried to get involved a lot more early on, so I saw a lot of flops. It didn't hurt that I had some reasonable hands like 78 suited, 9 jack suited, and a lot of similar things. I took a few pots early, but nothing huge. One came when Roy came in raising, and I saw pocket kings. Now usually, I don't screw with Roy, but pocket kings are pocket kings. I also know that he loves to play against hands like that, because people laid them down. I made a bit of an overbet, reraising him 7, because he was shortstacked and I wanted him pot-committed if he was going to play. Otherwise, he could try his sneaky stuff, and I was more than happy just taking a small pot right here. Roy folded, so I did. Still, I was going up, and I was up to about 80 bucks (we start with 50) after I took a nice pot off Bobby who was chasing a straight and a flush all the way to the river. I made the turn expensive for him, but he had so many outs that he was justified in calling anyway. I checked it down on the river and took it, though.

Here comes the monster hand of the night. The blinds were still at .25-.50, and Yush came in raising $5 from early position. This was a huge raise, but Yush is known for betting big when he has a good hand. I looked down and saw pocket aces. This was huge because I could severely damage Yush, my nemesis from the past two weeks. I knew he had to have a very strong hand, so he would probably call a big reraise. I decided to raise it another 14 bucks. Everyone else oohed and aahed and folded, and it got back to Yush. Yush reraised me 14! Wow, I thought, the bastard has pocket kings and I'm going to break him right here. I went into my Academy Award mode here, shaking my head a little bit, saying, "What are the odds," and shaking my head. Haha, I love this stuff. Finally, I said, "Alright, I'm all-in, another $42.50." It got back to Yush, and he thought for a while, then called. He had slightly less than me, $1.25, so if I found a way to lose this hand I was still in but barely. He flipped over pocket tens, surprising me a bit that he saw them through this far. I thought for sure he had kings or queens, but tens of course have to scare me. Especially tonight, because every flop had at least one ten on it. The flop came something like 9 4 2, the turn was a jack, and the river was a 6 or something, so I won the hand and took Yush out.

I now had a giant mountain of chips, over 150 in all. To make things even better, my stiffest competition, Roy, was very shortstacked, and I had just knocked out Yush, another contender. Bobby had a big stack of chips after sticking a straight on Han, who had a set of jacks. Other than that, everyone was down a little, although Yum may have been up slightly.

I few hands after the aces hand, I looked down to see pocket 9s. The blinds were up to .50-1 now, so I raised it to 5 total coming in. Bobby quickly reraised to 20 when it got to him. Everyone else folded back to me. Now, with a big chip stack, you'd normally want to push back with a big hand, but I have such a read on Bobby it's ridiculous. His raise was a bit of an overbet, and I was pretty sure he didn't want to see a flop. I ruled out aces immediately. At first I thought he had pocket kings, but that bet was just too big for kings. I was pretty sure I was beat, and I wasn't getting enough implied odds to stick a set on him, so I folded and said, "Queens are good." Bobby revealed that he did, in fact, have queens, so I think I got in his head a little there even though he took the pot.

Han finally got taken out, after being down to .50 and tripling up twice. He also split a pot in which he was all-in when he, Yum, and Bobby all had ace king. Ryan also got knocked out after he went on his patented psycho tilt spree and called all his chips with ace high after the flop. Roy was then taken out by Moonie when Moonie had pocket aces against Roy's top pair. By this point, Jon was still nowhere to be found, so we were blinding him down at twice the rate of everyone else. I also forgot to mention, but I bought in for four people tonight- myself, Pete, Jon, and, Bobby, because I lost 5 bucks bowling against Pete and Jon the night before, and Bobby had spotted me 5 over the weekend. So 20 of the 50 bucks in the pot was mine.

We moved up to the table when we got down to five. Still remaining were me, Bobby, Yum, Moonie, Pete, and Jon (who didn't really count because he wasn't there.) At the final table, I decided to really dictate the action, and I came in raising on most pots.

Moonie took a huge pot when he knocked out Yum, who went all-in on a total bluff. Bobby had been dwindling a little bit, and I still had a lot of chips, although Moonie was close now. Pete was also wasting away.

At this point, we had been playing for about three hours, and guess who shows up? Big Red, and he still had a little bit of chips. I picked up pocket 9s after he had been there for about ten minutes, and I cam in raising 8. Jon flat-called it on the big blind, leaving him with ten bucks more. I know he hadn't been playing all night, but I don't know what you can be smoking to make this play. If he had a hand, he knew I had to call if he raised all-in, and if he didn't, why was he calling anyway? The flop came 8 5 4, and I went all-in. He thought about it, then called with ace 7. My 9s held up, and Jon was dead, deservedly so. He's really been playing strangely lately, but this hand has to take the cake. Just a fundamentally awful play. But I was fine with it, because there was one less player and an extra chunk of chips in my stack.

We were now down to four, and I really turned on the jets. I was raising almost every pot, and the only one doing battle with me was Moonie. He was calling almost every raise I made, but I usually took the pot post-flop. Bobby, who plays very tight shorthanded, was folding everything, and Pete, who was shortstacked, was biding his time to find a hand to go in with. That left me to steal all the money.

Then this hand came up. I consider this hand to be even bigger than the one with Yush earlier. I got pocket aces again, and I came in raising, like I had been all night. Moonie called, as he had been doing. The flop came king jack 7, and Moonie bet out 20, a pretty big bet. I was a little worried that he may have hit top two pair, and I thought if I raised he was gonna stay with me, so I decided to just call. The turn was a jack, and Moonie bet 20 again. "Crap," I thought, "I let him catch trips with his second pair." I thought that there was still a chance he was just betting on the king, though, and I called. The river was a king, so the board was king king jack jack 7. Now I knew I was screwed. Whatever he had, it was now a boat. I know Moonie wouldn't be betting out each time with nothing. When the king hit, though, Moonie got a disgusted look on his face, and he checked. The pot was sick at this point, and the winner of it had a great chance to take the whole thing. "I need to get this pot," I thought. I also figured that Moonie could easily figure me for a king, as I had raised preflop and had been calling the whole way. I said out loud, "I think you got the jack," then bet out 60, which was about 3/4 of Moonie's total chips. It was also more than half of what I had left. Moonie thought for a little bit, and then tossed it in. He told me after the hand that he did have the jack.

Now I was in complete control, because Moonie was crippled. Bobby wasn't opposing me at all, and Pete had no money. Pete got whacked a little while later to finish 4th, one out of the money. When we got to the three of us, we raised blinds, which had been too low for too long. I got even more aggressive, raising and stealing everything, although I was getting nice cards. In a six hand stretch, I had two nut flushes, one of which I flopped, two nut straights, one full house, and one trips. I got paid off on about half of them. On one hand I had ace 5 and came in raising. Both players called and the flop was ace 5 10. I checked it, hoping to trap them. The turn was a 5, and I checked again with my boat. The river was an 8, and I bet out 24. Moonie called it, saying, "What you got." I told him, "Aces over fives," and took the pot. I think Moonie just had a pair of tens. "Wow," he said, "you should just have all my chips for that."

I knocked Moonie out a little bit later, and I was heads-up with Bobby. It's kinda funny because we were talking about how we never got heads-up against each other just this weekend, and here we were heads-up. I had the chip lead on him, although it wasn't a ridiculous lead, something about 310-190. At this point I felt supremely confident, because we had played a small practice heads-up match this weekend, and I had put on a clinic and beaten him. I know he plays far too tight when it gets shorthanded, so I resolved to just push, push, push. And that's what I did. The blinds were 4-8. I stole a ton of blinds, and when we got to the flop I was betting out and taking it. If he did happen to call on the flop, I was almost always able to bet him out by increasing my bet along the way, and he was consistently folding top pair to me, even when I had nothing. I had him so intimidated that he wasn't ever betting or raising. I mean ever! He would hit top pair and check it, then call when I bet. I would keep betting and he'd toss it. One time there was a flop of 7 4 2. He bet out and I called, knowing there was no way he could hang on to this hand when a high card hit. The turn was a queen, and he checked. I bet out, and he folded, saying, "Damn queen." He never knew when I had it and when I didn't, and he even told me, "I have no read at all on you." That's always nice to hear. I had whittled him down to about 70 bucks when this beautiful hand came up. I had pocket deuces, and I decided to just limp in, hoping I could hit a set and get him to give me some chips, otherwise I could steal it later. The flop came king jack 2, and he bet out. I knew he must have had a king with a strong kicker to be betting out, if not two pair, so this was perfect. I called, which already scared the heck out of him. The turn was a blank, and he checked it. I knew he wasn't ona draw, so I figured I'd let him try to hit something else, or at least feign weakness so he would pay me off on the hopes that I was bluffing at the end. The river was an ace, and he checked. I made a reasonably large bet, and he called me, saying he had kings. I showed him my set, and he just laughed, almost conceding the match. I had him down to about 30 at this point, and I thought it was over. But then I got no cards, and you can't really steal from an extreme shortstack, because you can double him up easily. He actually got a little bit aggressive, and he battled all the way back to about 150 in chips. I got my head screwed back on though, and I whittled him back down to about 25. I had ace 5, so I raised him all-in, and he called, flipping over ace ten. Grrr. For some reason, I can't remember how, but my hand caught, I think with a straight, and he was done. I got my 8th yellow chip, which now has the all-time lead, besting Roy and Jon by one apiece. There's a lot of poker to be played, though.

Quote of the day: "That is one ugly bike."- spoken by me at Cosmic Cantina after the game. I went with Yush, Pete, and Bobby, and while we were waiting on line, I commented how ugly this bike was that I saw. It turns out that the guy in front of me owned the bike, and he got out of line and left on it when I said that. Oops.

Terrence's bankroll: $290+$20=$310

OK, now that you have that image in your heads, I will excite you with tales of poker glory.

Eighteen people showed up this week, with Jonathan getting there late again. I got carded to the ping pong table, as per my usual custom, and found myself with a strange mix of very good players and very terrible players, with not much in the middle. Seated to my left were: Greg(the guy who will call any amount of money preflop is he has already put chips in the pot), Andrew, Dan, a new kid named Stephen, Sam, Andy, Josh, and Matt Gibby. I wasn't crazy about being on Greg's right, because he'd call anything I bet, which kind of limits me. I was hoping he got whacked early. On the whole, my table was full of guys who play very tight, as well as guys who are call stations. Nobody that strikes fear in my heart, in other words, although there isn't really anyone that does that, although I watch myself around Roy.

I kept finding myself with low to mid-pockets early on, and I didn't feel like getting crazy with them, mostly limping and trying to hit a set. I couldn't hit anything but overcards though, so my money kept leaving. On one hand I held jack 8 off, with the jack being a spade. I had limped in late position, and was in the pot with Andy and Josh. The flop came ace 3 6, all spades. They both checked, so I threw out a bet of 6 to try to steal it. Andy folded, and Josh called. The turn was a 9 of spades, so I had the flush to the jack. Josh checked pretty quickly, and all of a sudden I didn't feel so good about my flush. I checked it, too. The river was an offsuit 7, and Josh bet out 15. My read from earlier was that he was slowplaying something big, but the only thing that could beat me was the king or queen of spades. For some reason, I talked myself into calling him, even though I had read him as having me beat. He did, having the queen 8 of spades, which means he actually flopped it and had me drawing dead from the get-go. That was my one bad play of the night.

I was down to about 20 bucks, and I was the shortstack at my table. Despite being so low, I felt good about how I was playing, because I made some really nice reads and laydowns that kept me from going broke. At one point I had king queen, and saw a flop of ace king queen come down. Sam and Josh were in the pot, and I know Josh isn't capable of folding an ace under any conditions. I checked it to him and he bet out. Against anyone else who I thought I had beat, I would have raised all-in, but I just called, wanting to see a safe turn first. The turn was a 10, and I checked it again. Josh bet big this time, and I thought for a while, then said, "Ace jack is good- I'll lay this down for you," and showed him the king queen. He was stunned that a human being could fold one pair, let alone two, and he showed me his ace jack, just as I suspected. After that, Josh had a decent stack, as did Gibby, and Greg actually had a good amount of chips, too. Dan and Andy were both shortstacked, Dan from losing a lot of chips to Stephen, who badly misplayed two hands and got lucky, and Andy from losing a couple coinflips to Sam. The blinds were still low, so I had a little bit of time, but I needed to double up badly. Stephen, who made a lot of bad plays early but justified them by saying, "I need to figure out what you guys are playing," had been raising on my big blind all night. He came in raising again, ten bucks over the 2-4 blinds, and everyone folded to me. I saw the ace 8 of spades. Stephen had pot-committed himself to call me even if I went all-in, and he told me this as if I didn't know, like a dumbass. This kid was really pissing me off, as he had been talking trash to Dan after getting really lucky, and Dan doesn't talk crap to anyone so I don't know why he did it. Plus, if you're the new guy at the table, you better not ruffle any feathers unless you want your ass beat. So, needless to say, I didn't like the guy. I decided that my ace 8 was good preflop, and I was beyond the point of folding things that were marginally better. I needed to double up, and this seemed like an ideal time to go for it. I went all-in and he called with king queen off, so my read was good. Still, I wasn't out of the woods. The flop came all low stuff, and the turn was an ace. He could have caught a ten on the river to hit a straight, but it didn't come, so I was back up to over 40 bucks. The next few hands I won were all small pots, but 12 bucks at a time adds up. I limped with ace ten of spades at one point, then stole the pot when it got checked to me. I did that a couple of other times, too, and all of a sudden I was back up to about 70 bucks.

Greg had lost a lot of his money, and he had only about 45 bucks when the following hand came up. I had pocket 7s in first positon, and I limped in. Most of the guys at this table weren't the raising type, but they would call raises, so limping was pretty safe. Greg, Sam, and Andy all limped in behind me, and the flop came 10 7 3. I checked it, hoping to trap, and Greg went all-in. Sam and Andy both folded, and I told Greg to count his stack. It was about 45, and I called and showed my set of 7s. He didn't even turn his cards over, and instead gathered up his things and left. He said that he just had a pair of 3's, so he was drawing dead to the last couple threes in the deck. This felt good, not only because I had eliminated the long-lost cousin of Smiley McCalls, but I had done it with a nasty hand where he had no chance. Also, Greg walked in eating cheese doodles, greasing up my chips and my nice KEM cards, and I wasn't too happy about it. Plus, he never knows when it's his turn to act or deal. So yes, I was glad to take his money.

This put me up to about 130 in chips, and I was comfortable for the first time since we started. Pete popped in, as he had just been whacked when his ace king couldn't hold up against Alex's pocket queens. I've been trying to tell Pete that ace king is a lousy hand to get all your money in the pot with preflop, but he keeps getting busted with it anyway. Nevertheless, Pete is playing a whole lot better since the beginning of the year. We were down to 5 people, as Dan, Andy, Andrew, and Greg had been whacked. Stephen, trash-talking newbie, was now the shortstack, and I really wanted to take him out, as he had been a little condescending when I doubled up off him earlier. Note to everyone out there: If I have one chip in front of me, you better wait until you see it out of my hands, because I'll come back and take all the money just to prove you wrong. Everyone at the table seemed to think I was done, even though I do this every week, and again I had to come back and amaze them with my ultimate shortstackedness.

Sam came in with a small raise, doubling the 3-6 blind to 12, and was called by Andy, Josh, and Gibby. I looked down to see 6 7 offsuit, not the greatest hand in the world, but something I'd love to see a flop with because my implied odds are incredible against all these guys. Also, if I don't hit anything spectacular, I can just fold it and get out cheap. And for some reason, I had a feeling when I looked at it that it would win me a huge pot. I called the 12 bucks, and then Stephen went all-in for another 10 on top. This added to his string of lousy play, as he had to get extremely lucky to survive against five other players- even if he had pocket aces he was only about 50-50, if that. The raise was so cheap in comparison to the pot that everyone called it, and the flop came out. 5 8 9 with two diamonds. BOOM. Did I mention I had a feeling about this hand? After flopping the nut straight, naturally I checked, figuring someone would bet out at it, most likely Sam, whom I figured for an overpair. Sam came out with 20 bucks, and everyone else folded. I thought about it for a second, then went all-in for another 52, which Sam called. He had pocket jacks, and Stephen turned over ace 2 of diamonds, giving him a flush draw, something I didn't want to see, although I basically had the side pot clinched barring a running straight or boat. The turn was an ace, pairing up Stephen, not that it mattered, and the river was a black queen. This pot was huge in more ways than one. First, I took the chip lead at the table, after everyone had been talking about my imminent death. Second, I knocked out Stephen, teaching him a lesson. Third, I proved that I had a good read on Sam, despite not playing with him much. And fourth, and maybe most importantly, everybody became a little scared when they saw me with all those chips.

We now had to wait for the other table to finish, as they still had six players left. I went in to watch them play, and they were down to Roy, Aaron, Jon, Alex, Jeremy, and Donald. Roy had a big stack, Aaron and Jon were comfortable, Jeremy and Alex were the shortstacks, and Donald was up a little bit. A truly sick hand came up between Roy and Aaron, with Jon playing a minor role in it. As you probably know from reading this, Aaron is the only one with a chance to catch me in the Player of the Year standings, so if I could just manage to get about 10 points total in the next two weeks, I had it clinched. Aaron came in raising from middle position, tripling the big blind, and Roy and Jon called from the blinds. The flop was 5 5 3, and both Roy and Jon checked. Aaron bet a moderate amount, and Roy called. Jonathan sat there and thought for about 5 minutes, then folded. While he was thinking, Pete and I could see his cards- 6 8. I have no idea what he was thinking about for so long facing a bet and a call, but who knows what goes on inside the mind of a fisherman. He later said he didn't realize it was on him, but we all choose to believe he's lying. Anyway, the turn came down a 6, and Roy bet out 30 bucks. Aaron debated for a while, talked to himself, then called it. The river was a queen, and Roy checked. Aaron bet out 80, a pretty huge bet, and Roy went into the tank. After about two minutes, he called it. Aaron said, "I got nothing," and flipped over 8 9 for a busted straight draw. Roy flipped over 3 10, for a pair of 3s. What a call. This may be the best call I've seen all year, as there wasn't anything Roy could beat except a bluff. He had such a good read on Aaron, or "the Sklansky clone," as he calls him, that he was able to make that call. Hats off to you, Roy.

This hand put Aaron on tilt a little bit, and after a raise from Roy and an all-in by Alex, Aaron called it. Roy folded, and Alex flipped over ace queen off, which everyone knows can't ever win. Aaron had ace 9 of diamonds, a really suspect hand considering he had a raise and an all-in in front of him. Naturally though, the flop brought a 9, and the river brought a flush, so Alex was done. Jeremy had gotten whacked a little bit earlier, so we were down to our final eight.

We moved to the ping pong room because it has more space, and drew for position. The seating was as follows: Josh, Roy, Gibby, me, Aaron, Sam, Jonathan, and Donald. The very first hand I picked up a king ten and came in limping. The flop brought a king, I bet out, got one caller, then took it on the turn with a bet. The next hand, I had queen ten of clubs. I limped again, and the flop came 2 5 10. I bet out, got a caller, then took it on the turn with a bet. At this point I'm figuring I can do no wrong, and I need to ride my rush. I look down and see 7 10 of hearts in first position, and I come in raising this time (Don't try this at home, kids). Aaron behind me called, and Roy also called from the small blind. The flop came 2 5 9, with two hearts. Roy checked to me, and I bet out 25. Aaron quickly called, and then Roy did, too. OK then. The next card was a 6 of diamonds, giving me an inside straight draw to go with my flush draw. I decided to stay strong, and I bet out 40 bucks, which Aaron quickly called again, as did Roy. At this point I was afraid someone was on a higher flush draw than me, and I had it in my head that Roy had a set and was riding us along. I told myself that if the river didn't help me, I would shut down. Lo and behold, though, the river was an 8 of clubs, giving me the nut straight. This was the best card possible, because there was nothing that could beat me, and I didn't have to worry about a possible better flush than me. I figured, I've been betting the whole way and they've called, let's throw out a huge bet so they think I'm bluffing. I bet 80, and Aaron got into his whole hands-shaking routine. He went all-in for another 130, and Roy folded after thinking for a second. I stood up to make sure I saw the board right, as it was on the other end of the table, and then said, "I call, I've got the nut straight." Apparently, Aaron didn't like my mortal nuts, and he showed pocket 7s, said something to the effect of, "One card in the deck to help you and you get it," then left. Nevermind that I had 12 cards in the deck, plus I had been the aggressor the whole way, but oh well, it's the typical Aaron sendoff. This really clinched me as the Player of the Year, which has been my goal from day one. I can't wait to get my trophy! There was no time to celebrate, though, as I still wanted to win this thing.

After this pot, I was looking beautiful, and it wasn't just because of my pretty face. I had won the first three hands of the final table and served notice that I would be stomping people's heads into the wee hours of the night. Gibby was the next one to go. I believe Roy took him out when Roy had pocket aces and Gibby had a pair of kings, so we were down to six.

Josh had been playing surprisingly well tonight, although he's still psychotic and thinks any ace is good enough to call all your chips with. In about three straight hands, he got all his money in with ace 2. Twice I called his hand out, the third time I thought it but figured he couldn't possibly have it again, but he did. Jonathan had seen a sharp drop in his chippage, and he was in all-in mode, or at least he should have been. He came in with a small raise, doubling the blind. This would have been fine, except it was almost half his stack, and Lord knows why he wouldn't go all-in. Roy called for the discount, and they saw a flop of jack 5 7. They both checked, and the turn was an 8. Roy made a minimum bet, and Jon called, leaving himself with hardly any money. Again, why not go all-in? The river was a deuce, and Roy checked. Jon went all-in, and Roy called, basically because he had to. Roy had a pair of jacks, and Jon had ace king for ace high. Personally, I can't tell if Jon's recent rash of questionable decisions is his attempt at flicking off the poker gods, who have been great to him, or his attempt to unwittingly shatter the Unintentional Comedy Scale. Either way, it makes for great entertainment.

Now we were down to five, with the top four getting paid. Three players limped on my big blind, and I looked down to see 3 4 off. Not the greatest hand, but hell, I'll see a multi-way flop with it, especially when it doesn't cost me anything. The flop came 3 4 6, and although I was looking good, I knew I was extremely vulnerable. I threw out a pretty big bet, something like 25, and Donald moved all-in on me for another 80 or so. Everyone else folded it to me, and I had a decision on my hands. I tried to eliminate all possible holding that Donald could have. I ruled out a better two pair than mine, as he wouldn't limp in late position with either 3 6 or 4 6. I ruled out an overpair, as he would have raised coming in with it. I ruled out a total bluff, because he had seen how I had been taking everyone's money. I settled on one of two things. Either ace 6, for top pair, top kicker, or 5 6, for top pair with an open-ended straight draw. I had both of these hands beat, so I called after much deliberation. He flipped over pocket 5s, something I hadn't really thought of, but it was basically the same as 5 6, so my read was good. He had a ton of outs, though. Luckily, the turn was a 3, giving me a boat, so he was now down to two outs, the two 5s, and he couldn't hit either one, so he was out. This was another big pot, and it also got us into the money. As a side note, I can't blame Donald at all for making this play, as he had a ton of outs, and he needed to make a move. He played really well tonight, and I wish he could come out every time.

Down to four, it looked like Roy and I were all set for a head-up match of mythic proportions. I had the chip lead, and he had a ton of money, too, so it seemed to be just a matter of time. I got into hyper-aggressive mode, stealing blinds all over and using my momentum in my favor. I kept steadily going up, while the shortstacks dwindled. Roy got involved in a hand with Josh in which Roy had top pair, Josh had second pair, all the money went in the pot, and Josh caught trips on the river to double up. Needless to say, Roy was none to happy about it. Soon after, though, Roy took him out when his top pair did hold up.

As I said, I had been raising almost every hand, and I know Roy was just waiting to stick me, heads-up match be damned. I looked down and saw pocket kings on the button and raised it. Sam folded and Roy called. Now, although everyone loves to see high pocket pairs, I hate playing them against Roy because he's capable of taking all your money with a hand you wouldn't dream you're up against and leave you wondering what happened. The flop came 2 9 jack, and he bet out at me. I figured him for either top or middle pair, but for some reason I decided to play it safe and just call to see the turn. When I say play it safe, I mean play it like an idiot. The turn was a deuce of spades, and Roy bet out big. Now I had no idea what he had, because I failed to make the correct play, raising, on the flop. Again, I flat-called it, somewhat worried about the deuce, but mostly just unable to put Roy on anything concrete. The river was the ace of spades, putting the third spade out there, as well as an overcard to me. He went all-in, which was a huge bet because we had so much money. Now I had to think- what could he have to be making this play? Roy, to my knowledge at least, has never tried to make a huge bluff on me, because he knows I'm good at reading people. So he had to have something. I immediately disregarded the ace, as he wouldn't have been bluffing the whole way, only to catch an ace and think it was good enough after I was calling. The spades worried me a little bit, as he could have done the same thing I had done in the earlier hand with him and Aaron, and caught runner runner after betting strongly. In the end, though, I put him on trip deuces, as he would know I didn't backdoor a flush, and he thought he might get paid off with what seemed like a bluff bet if I held top pair or an overpair. I folded the kings, and I found out later that he had indeed, hit the runner-runner flush after betting strongly, so I felt good about my laydown.

A few hands later, I came in raising with ace jack, and Sam called. The flop was jack 10 3, and I made a big bet. Sam went all-in, and I asked him to count his chips. He did, and then he turned his hand over for some reason, exposing pocket queens. What the hell do we do now? I was planning on making the call, but now that I knew what he had, I couldn't call it. Roy was called in to make a decision, as I didn't want to give one myself as I was obviously not impartial. He said the fairest thing to do would be to chop the pot, giving everyone their money back, and replaying the hand. I didn't have a problem with it, nor did Sam. Technically, I believe if you expose your cards when someone still has a decision to make, your hand is dead, meaning I would have won the pot, but I wouldn't want to win like that. We rabbit-hunted, and the turn gave me my trip jacks, so I would have won! I don't get on tilt easily, but this came close to doing it for me. I left the room to get a drink and cool down, and then we commenced playing again.

Sam and Roy got tangled up in a nasty pot on my big blind. Sam came in with a big raise, something like 60 bucks over the 20 dollar big blind. Roy went all-in, which was enough to put Sam all-in. I folded after looking at one card and seeing a 7, and Sam called. Roy flipped over pocket queens, which I thought was the worst hand he could possibly have by making this move. I knew he wouldn't do it with ace king, and even jacks he wouldn't push that hard with. Sam turned over king queen off, so Roy was a good favorite going into the flop. The flop was ace king 3, all spades, so Sam had hit his king, plus he had the queen of spades, leaving Roy with one out. The turn was another spade, so Sam took the pot and crippled Roy. Sam was sleeping with angels all night, winning three or four coinflips at the first table to stay alive, and then hitting this pot after a bad call.

Roy was now down under 200, and I stayed aggressive and kept taking a lot of blinds. Sam ended up taking Roy out when Roy was down to about 60 bucks. I believe Roy had top pair, Sam had middle pair, and again Sam caught a card to win it. I was really disappointed, because I wanted to have a heads-up match to tell my grandkids about with Roy, but it didn't detract from my focus on winning this thing.

Now that we were heads up, I had a slight edge on Sam, about 1000-800. I took a few pots early, and had it to about 1100-700. I picked up pocket 3s and raised coming in, as I had been doing a lot with the blinds now at 20-40. Sam called, and the flop was ace jack 10. Definitely not what I wanted to see with pocket 3s, but Sam checked. Given this shot to take the pot, I bet out, and Sam called. The turn paired the jack, and again Sam checked. I knew he didn't have a jack, as judging from his past play he would have bet out, so I figured I had to represent it, as the pot was already a decent size. Again, he called. At this point, I was positive he had a lousy ace, or "the Josh" as I will now call it, and he wasn't capable of folding it. The river was a 9, and he checked again. Now I had to think if I could get him off this hand or not, as the pot was huge, but we were nowhere near pot-committed. Given my read, I thought I could make him fold, and I moved all-in. He thought and thought, and then called me, showing ace 7, which was good. This hurt me real bad, putting me down to about 400 in chips. The next few hands, we both kept hitting top pair, only his kicker was better every time. Somehow, I avoided going broke, and I found myself down to 200 bucks. I even hit trip kings one time, and so did he, but I was able to get away from it.

The chip count was now 200-1600, and I was in real bad shape. Still, I wasn't going to give up, because I know I'm better than Sam, and even with the 20-40 blinds, all I needed was one double up to take it. He limped in one time, and I went all-in with king 9, figuring I had the best hand. He folded. A few hands later, he limped in, and I found an ace 7 and went all-in again. He quickly called, and I was like "Oh, crap, he got me." But he turned over jack queen- I'm not sure why he called me, or why he didn't raise it preflop with a big stack, but oh well, I needed to double up. The flop was 3 4 6. "Low cards!" I implored the deck. The turn was another 3. The river was a deuce, and I had survived with my ace high.

Now up to about 500, I had some breathing room. I scratched around for a while, going up about 100, when the biggest hand of the match came up. I limped in with king ten of clubs (as he wasn't letting me steal the blinds at all now), and he checked. The flop came king queen 8, and I bet out 60. He raised me another 120, and I put him on either a pair of queens, or a lousy king. I went all-in for another 320 on top, and he said, "I'm gonna be stupid and call." At this point I knew I had to be ahead, and he flipped over king 3, for top pair with no kicker. I stood up to deal the rest out, which I SHOULD NEVER DO AGAIN, because i always lose for some reason when I do, and dealt the turn. It was a 3, giving him two pair, and sending shockwaves through the small crowd of onlookers that we had gathered. I knew I needed a 10 to take the pot- actually I hadn't even thought that if the board paired up I would have won, and I sent out a quick prayer to the poker gods before I dealt the river. It was a 10! My head almost exploded from sheer shock, and I pounded my fist down on the table. This wasn't the smartest thing to do, because my ring gouged out a chunk of my pinky. Still, it was worth it. What a hand.

Now I finally had the chip lead back, and I knew there was no way I was going to let him win. "No more stupid bluffs," I told myself. I started getting nice cards, too, and I took a big pot when I had jack ten suited and hit a flop of 7 8 9. Bingo! Sam actually bet out, which I just called. The turn was safe and he checked. I figured he might fold if I bet, so I let us see the river. It paired the 7, which was good, because although he could have gotten a boat, I knew he would have bet out with two pair or a set on the turn. He checked, and I bet 120. He called it with top pair, and I chopped him down.

The chip count at this point was about 1300-500. I picked up 4 8 offsuit, and I limped in on the button. This isn't a good hand, of course, but he was rarely raising and I had position. The flop came 3 5 7, giving me an inside straight draw. He made a minimum bet, and I called it, figuring I could bust him if I hit the 6. The turn was a 6, and we both checked. The river was a queen, and he bet out 100. I raised him another 300, which just left him with about 50 bucks. He thought about it, then called and showed queen 7 for top two pair. Nasty hand, although he had to figure I had the 4 at least.

The title was mine for the taking now. Sam folded his next hand, so he was down to about 40 bucks. I was the small blind, and I called his all-in before we even dealt the hands out. I dealt him pocket tens, and I had 6 7 off. I flopped an open-ended straight draw, but it didn't come through, so he doubled up. He folded the next hand, and I put him all-in on the following hand. He folded, so we were right back to where we started. I had a queen ten, so I raised him all-in, which was only another 10 or so. He called, and flipped over pocket 5s. Dammit, how is he getting these kinds of hands with no money? I hit a queen on the flop, though, and it was all over. I had finally won my first Stacy Poker Tour event, gotten the monkey off my back, come back from an amazing deficit twice, and knocked out my nemesis, Aaron, for the first time. It was a great night, and I clinched the Player of the Year title by a mile to boot. I also got $40 for my troubles.

Quotes of the day: "Terrence is so intense when he's in the hand."- Roy "Hey Terrence, you're looking kind of low there." "Yeah, Josh, last time I was this low I came back and took you out." "Don't bring that up again."- an exchange between me and Josh early in the tournament

Terrence's bankroll: $310+$35= $345

Thursday night's game had a lower turnout than normal, just seven people, so we ended up playing two games to make up for it.

Me, Pete, Roy, Bobby, Big Red, Yush, and Johnny Moon played the first one, and Alex took Yush's place in the second one. In the first one, for some reason I didn't have my head really in the game, and I was playing very foolishly. I also made a couple bad reads and lost most of my chips when I made a couple moves I wouldn't have if my reads were correct. The first bad read came early on. I was up a little bit, but nothing big. I came in with a small raise in late position with jack 9 suited, and Bobby reraised me. I called it, figuring I could win a big pot if I hit something big. The flop came jack 6 4. Bobby bet out, which he doesn't do unless he has something. For instance, even if he had ace king and had reraised here, he would check this flop. So I put Bobby on high pockets, above jacks. I thought it would be possible to move him off them if any scare cards came, so I stayed around and called. The turn was a 7, and again he bet out, and again I called. The river was a king, and he bet again, but it wasn't quite as big as it had been earlier. I put him on queens, and I made a big raise, about four times his bet. He wasn't too happy about it, and I figured my read of queens for him was right. But then he called and showed pocket aces, and took the pot. This took about 2/3 of my chips. If I knew he had aces, I never would have made this play because Bobby can't fold aces.

My big problem, though, was that I was seeing every flop. I mean every one. There was something wrong with me. I was calling raises with 3 5 suited all over the place. All my money just kept leaving my stack. I had this strange mentality that I could hit the flop and win the pot, and even if I didn't I always thought I could bet people out of it. Maybe it was because there weren't as many people and I wasn't inspired, but I think I've just had too much on my mind lately with a girl situation. Not to make excuses, but I'm horrible when I'm playing with girls on my mind. Absolutely terrible- easy money.

Anyway, I had about twenty bucks left, and I came in raising with pocket 7s in mid-position. Pete called from the big blind, and we saw a flop of jack 5 6. I figured this to be a good flop for me, and I checked to Pete, planning on check-raising all-in if he bet. He bet out eight bucks, which was a good-sized bet, and I felt like he was just looking to take the pot right there. I went all-in for another twenty or so, and he called after thinking for a minute and showed jack 3, aka the Pete. I got bent out of shape that he was calling my raises with a hand like that, but I was just being an idiot because I was pissed at myself for playing so badly. Plus, that is his hand, so how can I complain? Anyway, the jacks held up, and I was toast.

Roy went out a little bit later, as Pete had made a huge bluff on him to take most of his stack, and he couldn't fight back. We ended up ordering a whole mess of food from Papa John's, so we ate while everyone finished up. The final three were Pete, Moonie, and Yush, and Pete ended up taking down Yush heads up to win his second yellow chip of the year.

We decided we were going to play again, and I decided that I was going to win no matter what. Me and Pete had been trash-talking back and forth all week about who was going to win, and he had backed it up, so I had to answer. I told him after the first game, "You're all done now- I'm going to win this game." I decided to stop thinking about girls and whatever else was in my head and focus on just playing nasty poker. I took my hat off, too, because I've been two for two when I don't play with my hat lately.

I took a couple nice pots early on, and found myself around the chip leaders. I then got involved in a pot with Moonie, who was the other chip leader. First, let me say that Moonie made such a sick play in the first tournament that I can't do it justice by describing it, but I'll try. Moonie came in raising a few dollars, and Bobby came over the top for a pretty big amount, something like 9 dollars more. Moonie reraised 30, and then Bobby went all-in for another 8 bucks. Moonie was totally pot-committed, he was getting something like 9-1 on his money, and I said, "Even if he has 2 3 offsuit he has to call this." A second later, Moonie called and said, "Sorry Bobby, I gotta call now." Then he flipped over the 2 4 of spades. Bobby had pocket kings, making him a huge favorite. The flop came 2 5 6, giving Moonie a million outs to bust the kings, but he couldn't catch anything else, and Bobby doubled up. Moonie really got my respect after that hand by making such a ballsy play at Bobby.

Anyway, I came in raising with ace ten of spades, and Moonie called it. We started with 60 in chips, and I raised it about 3 bucks over the blinds. The flop came king jack 3, and I bet out 8 bucks. Moonie called it. "OK," I figured, "Moonie has the king, but it probably has a weak kicker like a 9 or something, because he isn't raising." Either that, or he was on a draw with something like queen ten. The turn was another jack, which I saw as a good card for me, because I didn't figure him for the jack. I bet out 18 bucks, and again Moonie called. "Damn him, why won't he fold his lousy king?" I thought. The river was a 5, and I just knew I would win this pot if I made a big bet at him. At this point, there was over 50 bucks in the pot, and I had about 50 left. I went all-in, and Moonie went into the tank. Finally, he said, "This hand never works for me," and folded. This pot gave me the chip lead for the time being, and knocked Moonie a bit.

Jonathan was the first one to get whacked a little bit later. He got drawn out a couple times, which he complained about, but drawing out is the foundation of his game, so I don't know why he was so upset. Also, he made a bad play on Pete, who was calling bets all along, when Jon went all-in after Pete had caught his flush. Pete was obviously on a flush draw, and when it hit, Jon said he was pot-committed, but he knew he was beat, so I don't know why he threw another 18 bucks away knowing he was beat. Anyway, I feel bad for Jon, because it has to be hard to play when you've had a giant fork sticking out of your back all year long. After Jon went out, it was another three hours before the next one would go.

For those next three hours, we battled like few times before. A lot of people got shortstacked, including Roy, Pete, and Alex, and they just would not die. I took a lot of pots by staying aggressive and using my stack to push people out of pots. My next big hand that I got involved in was with Johnny Moon again. Moonie had gotten a whole lot of chips back again, and he made a small raise. I called with the jack ten, and we saw a flop of king queen 6. Moonie bet out pretty big, and I thought he was trying to buy it with either a mid-pocket or just ace high. I doubled his bet, trying to see where I stood, plus I was looking for a free card to hit my open-ended straight. Moonie called it, and the turn was a jack. That paired me up, and Moonie came out betting again! This was a bit confusing, as I knew he didn't have 9 10 or 10 ace. He could have hit two pair, but I think he was just using that card to scare me, so I came over the top for another 30, and then he went all-in. I had to lay it down, and it hurt because he took a big chunk out of me there and took a nasty chip lead. I got dropped to third in chips behind Bobby, but I was still alright.

I stole a couple pots in a row to get back back in a comfortable position, and then I had a nasty hand with Bobby. I had raised with jack 6 one off the button trying to steal the blinds, but Bobby had called me on the button, so we saw the pot heads-up. The flop came 8 9 10, leaving me open-ended. I bet out, and Bobby called it. The turn was a 6. I said, "Well, let's see if you got the 7," and I bet out bigger this time. He called again, but I knew he didn't have the 7, because if Bobby thinks he has you beat, he'll raise it. I figured there was no way he could call me on the river with such an obvious straight out there, so before the river came I pulled a John Juanda and said, "Before the river comes, I'm all-in." I wanted Bobby to know that I had a made hand, and that he couldn't even think about calling with something like two pair. The river was a 3, and Bobby immediately folded. He told me, though, that he had king jack suited, so he was on both a flush and a straight draw. I hadn't even noticed the flush draw out there, but I think he picked it up on the turn, so I had disregarded it. Anyway, it's a good thing that he didn't hit anything, or I would have looked like a jackass. Little did he know, the king high was good, but how can you call with that? This pot got me back into second in chips, and inched me closer to Moonie.

I kept running the table over, taking lots of small pots, when I got in possibly the sickest hand of the year. Pete came in raising it to 5 bucks, and I looked down to see pocket 9s. I asked Pete for a chip count, because he was shortstacked, and he had about 23 left if I remember right. I decided against raising him all-in, because I had both Bobby and Moonie behind me, so I didn't want to give away a lot of chips if they picked up a big hand. I decided to just call it, and when it got to Moonie, he raised it another 10 bucks. Pete folded, and with the size of our stacks, it was an easy call to make, as I figured I could hit a set and take a monster pot off him, as I knew he had to have at least ace queen, if not a pocket pair, to reraise here. Plus, for some reason, pocket 9s seems to hit a set more than any other pair for me. The flop came 8 9 queen, and Moonie bet out 16. To quote Mike McDermott, "I wanted him to think I was pondering a call, but all I was really thinking about was Vegas and the fucking Mirage." I figured Moonie for a really strong hand, so instead of slow-playing it, I figured I could raise him here and get him to play back at me. I doubled his bet, as I had done earlier when he came back over the top, as I wanted to encourage him to reraise. He did, and I put him on at least ace queen, if not aces or kings, which meant he was drawing mighty thin to beat me. I knew I had the best hand, as only ten jack or pocket queens could beat me, and there's no way he would have reraised with jack ten when there were two people already in for a raise. Plus, he would have slowplayed it if he hit the flop because he knows I would probably bet out at it. Anyway, Moonie reraised me another 35, and after thinking for a minute, I reraised all-in for another 75. This pot was monstrous already, as we were the two chip leaders. He called me almost immediately, and I saw my life flash before my eyes as I expected him to flip over pocket queens. "Pocket queens?" I said, and he said no. I flipped over my pocket 9s, and he flipped over pocket 8s for his set! That meant that he had only one out in the deck to beat me, but it didn't hit, so I doubled up and took a ridiculous chip lead. Moonie took a huge blow, and he was shortstacked like everyone else. Bobby had about what he had started with, and everyone else was down. I had about 70% of the chips in play, and I knew then that I would win.

For some reason, despite having no chips, nobody felt like losing anytime soon. The shortstack kept surviving all-ins, and Roy made an art form out of surviving with less than ten bucks, which he did for at least two hours. A particularly rare hand came up between Roy, Alex, and Bobby. Bobby came in raising, and he was called by Alex. Roy went all-in for another little bit, and they both called. The flop came king 6 8. Bobby immediately went all-in, and Alex folded, and showed... pocket aces! What a weird play. He just called both raises preflop, and then folded to a bet. Alex plays very strangely, and to be honest, I'm not sure he realized that he should be raising, as he never does it. He had lost most of his chips early on when I stuck a straight on him when he had flopped the top set of queens and slowplayed it. But regardless, he folded the aces, and Bobby flipped over ace king for top pair, top kicker. Roy, who was all-in, showed me his hand while Alex was pondering a call, and he had pocket kings! That meant we had pocket aces, pocket kings, and ace king in the same hand. I checked the odds on each hand when I came back, and ace king was about a 4% chance to win. Pocket kings were only about 10%, but Roy had landed the case king on the flop, and he had Bobby drawing dead.

I tried to use my stack to take people out, so whenever someone came in raising and I found myself with a very good hand, I just went all-in. I was fine with coin flips, as I had a huge lead and could afford to lose a couple pots to knock people out. Unfortunately, I can't win coin flips, and I lost about three or four of them, and the low stack kept surviving. I regained the chips by stealing a lot of pots, but it was frustrating not being able to kill anyone. I lost when I had ace queen against pocket tens for Moonie, pocket 3s against ace jack for Pete, and one or two others. While all this was going on, Moonie was quietly establishing himself as the guy who would challenge me, as after his double up he took a bunch of pots and got comfortable again. He also stuck a straight flush on Bobby, but that just added insult to injury, as Bobby was dumping money all over the place.

I was raising most pots, not because I wanted to steal the blinds, but because I kept getting good hands. The blinds were still at 1-2, and it just didn't pay to try to steal. This is one of the reasons that the short stacks were staying alive- they didn't have a ton of pressure to put their chips in with such a safe blind structure. This really applied to Alex, who didn't raise all night, and who didn't play many hands to begin with.

I would say I raised 1 out of every 2 pots, and 80% of all pots I raised, Bobby would call. Maybe he was still a little on tilt from the blind all-in earlier, but he would never reraise me, just call. I had been trying to help Bobby after the first tournament, telling him he had to be more aggressive and stop being a call station, but he just kept calling. I would keep taking the pot after the flop hit with a big bet, and he was losing most of his stack.

Finally, I picked up aces. I figured, "Why not raise it big here, as Bobby is calling everything anyway? If I slowplay it, they'll be suspicious, because I'm raising everything. So I raise it about 8 bucks over the blind, and Bobby predictably called. Everyone else folded, and the flop came 2 4 9. I bet out big, and Bobby called again. Bobby is known for calling big bets with just overcards on the flop, so I figured he would call almost anything short of an all-in here. The turn paired the deuce, which didn't scare me at all, so I bet out big again. I figured if Bobby had a pair, he only had two outs to beat me, and if he didn't he was drawing dead, as there was no draw for him to be on. The river was another deuce, making the final board 2 2 2 4 9. I went all-in, and Bobby called. I showed the aces, and he got up and left. He told me that he had the 9s.

I think part of the reason Bobby was calling everything was that he had a test at about 9 a.m., and it was already about 4 at this point. I went to the bathroom at one point, and saw him with the stall door open, peeing with one hand, his study sheet in his other. That's dedication.

Finally, people started getting whacked. Roy went out right after Bobby, so we were down to me, Moonie, Pete, and Alex. Pete doubled up on me on a pretty nice hand. I raised on the button with jack 5(the blinds were up now), and Pete called on the big blind. The flop was 7 8 2, and after Pete checked, I bet out. He called, and I figured he had a 7 or 8. The turn was a jack, giving me top pair, so after he checked, I put him all-in, and he immediately called. He had 9 10, so he had hit the straight. This got him up off the felt, and he seemed a lot more confident after it.

With that confidence came some talking, and Pete said, "I'm gonna raise this next pot," before th cards even came out. It was on my big blind, and I knew he was just trying to get at me a little bit. Moonie limped in in first position, and Pete looked at his hand, then did raise. I had nothing, so I tossed it. Moonie then went all-in, utilizing the classic limp-raise maneuver that I love. I figured he had to have aces or kings, and when Pete immediately called, I figured he was in big trouble. Moonie showed kings, and Pete had pocket jacks, a hand that doesn't work for him even if he flops four of a kind. The kings held up, and just like that, Pete was dead.

Alex went out a little bit later, which was good because he was driving me nuts limping and folding everything. He had no money, and he was limping in with king queen suited and pocket 8s. Totally mind-boggling.

Heads up with Moonie, I felt good, because I had over a 2-1 chip lead on him. We traded a few pots back and forth to start, and he gained on me when he came over the top of me a couple times. I quickly got it back though when I hit ace on the flop, checked it, and induced a call when he hit a pair later on. Moonie had pocket 8s one hand, while I had ace queen, and he was raising like crazy the whole way. I hit an ace on the flop and called him down, and was almost surprised that I had won it when I did.

The deciding hand came when Moonie came in raising 20 bucks, and I looked down to see ace 7 of spades. I thought about going all-in, but his raise seemed to signal strength to me, and I thought I may be beat. I also figured that if I went all-in, he would call, and I didn't figure to be beating anything with ace 7. After figuring all that out, I decided just to call. The flop came ace 7 4, and Moonie bet out 25 bucks. That left him with only about 50 more, so I went all-in, figuring him for a better ace, but I knew he couldn't beat top two pair. He called and showed ace queen. The turn was a 4, so he could split the hand with another 4, or win it with a queen, so he had only five outs to tie or win. The river was a jack, and I got my third yellow chip of the year and 25 bucks, 5 of which Alex owes me because he had no money.

Overall, I'm happy with how I turned things around after playing terrible in the first game, and I learned a couple things, too. First, I have to put all my emotions aside before I play, otherwise I have no chance. If I'm not concentrating fully on the game, I make bad reads and bad plays. This includes girls and any other emotional things that may arise. Second, I do better without my hat, prior to my previous belief. I used to never play without my Carolina cap on, but I've played without it three times, and all three times I've won. This was against fields of 7, 10, and 18. So I'm thinking of ditching the hat for good during poker. Third, I developed a new sense of respect for Moonie. He's trying things that I would never have expected from him, things that he wasn't capable of a few months ago. And finally, I found that I'm capable of making some crazy kinds of plays, and not just for no reason- after calculating everything and taking all the elements into account- but that it's not advisable to make plays like the blind all-in more than every once in a blue moon, as it's easy to look stupid by doing it.

Oh, and by the way, we finished playing at 6:30 a.m.

Quote of the day: "I'm gonna raise this next hand on your big blind."- Pete, right before the hand that Moonie the Gentleman whacked him. Moral of the story- don't be a tough guy.

Terrence's bankroll: $345+$15=$360

The final Stacy Poker Tour game drew twenty people, slightly more than we've had lately. Going in, I had Player of the Year wrapped up, and the only real intrigue was settling the bubble spots to see who would make the Tournament of Champions. Jon was clinging to 8th place, but Alex and Roy were close behind.

Jon, being the swell guy that he is, decided not to show up, opening the door for either Alex or Roy to jump him and make the Tournament of Champions. Unfortunately, both Roy and Alex had bad nights, and Jon hung on to make the tournament.

Twenty is a bit of an awkward number to start with, as we don't have tables big enough for ten, so we started with three tables of 7, 7, and 6. I got carded to the ping pong room (big surprise). Starting from my left, there was Dan, Andy, Aaron, Sam, a new kid named Drew, and Roy. This was almost the exact same table we started with last time, but it set up a little bit better for me. I love sitting after Roy, because when he's after me he can target me a little bit. I prefer to be seated before Aaron, because you can just keep checking to him and let him bet himself to death. Dan and Andy both play pretty tight, so if they got involved, I would know that I had to have a good hand to beat them. Also, I can check-raise them and get them to lay down almost anything.

On about the second hand of the tournament, I picked up pocket kings, and I made a decent raise preflop. I got one caller, and I took the pot with a bet on the flop. I took a bunch of pots like this early on, as I was getting nice cards. Three guys limped into one pot, and I looked down to see ace king. I made a big raise, something like ten bucks, to drive out all the stragglers, and I got it down to just me and Sam. The flop came 2 king queen, with the king and queen both spades. A good flop, but also one that had a lot of drawing potential against me. Sam bet out 10, and I wanted to cut him off right there. I raised him 20, and he called. The turn was a 5 of diamonds, and he checked it to me. I bet out 20 again, and again he called. I figured he had to have either king jack, ace queen, or a nasty spade draw. The river was a 7 of clubs, and he checked it again. I bet 20, and he started thinking. He said, "I'll fold if you show me what you have." As anyone that knows me will attest, I wouldn't show you my cards if you put a gun to my head. So I told him, "It costs 20 bucks to see these cards." Sam sighed and folded, showing a jack ten of spades, giving him an open-ended straight flush on the flop, and I mucked my big slick.

That pot gave me the chip lead at the table, and Sam ended up getting knocked out a minute later. A few hands later, I picked up pocket jacks UTG+1. Roy, who was under the gun, raised it. Roy is not someone I like taking pocket jacks against, as there's no way I can win a big pot off him, but there's plenty of ways I can lose a big pot. I decided just to call, and see how he played the flop. Everyone else folded, and the flop came down queen ten 5. Roy checked, and I did, too. The turn was a deuce, and Roy bet out 12 or so. I was pretty sure my jacks were good, as he would have bet on the flop if he had me beat. I called his 15, figuring he wouldn't bet out on the river unless he had a monster or was bluffing, and I really didn't think he had a monster. The river was something low, I can't remember what, and he checked. I checked it, too. He had pocket 8's I believe, and my jacks were good.

A little bit later, we broke up the table to recombine to two, and I found myself in the ping pong room again, with mostly the same guys. To my left was Greg, who had somehow survived his first table. Following him was Andy, then Dan, Roy, Joe, and Drew.

I hated this table set up, because with Greg sitting after me, I knew I couldn't make as many plays and that everything would be called. Sure enough, I got involved in a hand early on with Greg that went like this: I had ace jack of hearts in on the button, and I came in raising 12 bucks with the blinds at 3-6. Greg called from the small blind, and everyone else folded. The flop came jack ten 9, and after he checked, I bet out 20, wanting to eliminate any draws, but of course Greg called it. The turn paired the ten, and I bet out 25 this time. Greg called again. I knew that he didn't have a ten, because if he sees trips he wets his pants and puts all his money in the pot. I figured I still had him beat, but I still had to be careful. The river was a 6, and Greg went all-in. What?! I had top pair, top kicker, but there was a whole lot of dangerous things out there. I thought it over, and decided that Greg is too stupid to make this move on a bluff, he must have the ten or the straight after all. I also figured that if I lost that pot I would be crippled, but if I folded, I would still be OK and I could rebound. I folded it, and Greg announced that he had pocket 6's for a full house. Which means he had been calling my bets the whole way with an underpair to the board, and had caught his 22-1 shot on the river. Being the understanding guy that I am, I went off on him, saying "How can you call when you can't possibly beat anything?" I also said, "How can you call after the turn when I bet again? There was a jack, two tens, and a 9 out there." He replied with one of the most dumbfounding things I've ever heard. "I had two pair!" he said. Apparently, he doesn't realize that when the tens paired up, it also gave me a pair. Now don't get me wrong, I sympathize with retarded people. They live very difficult lives. But there's no excuse for this.

I was hanging around at about 110 bucks in chips when a really nasty hand came up between me and Joe. Joe came in raising 12 bucks on my big blind, and I had king jack suited. I called, and the flop came king jack 2. I checked it, hoping to check-raise him, but he checked it, too. Weird. The turn was a 5, and I checked it again. He did, too. The river was a ten. I bet out 25, and he raised me 25. I was a little bit scared of ace queen, but Joe had been playing hands like this all night. Waiting until the river, then raising someone's bet and taking the pot. I went all-in for another 44, and after thinking, Joe called. He had ace king, so my two pair was good. This double-up set the stage for me to crack some heads at the final table, which we got to a couple minutes later.

Some new kid named Albert came into the final table with a mountain of chips. He had to have about 40% of the total chips in play, but from what I heard, he got them by being incredibly lucky, catching a runner runner full house to beat a made full house. Andy was second in chips, as he had taken all of Sam's money earlier. I was slightly above average. Dan was about average, and Donald was up a bit. Drew didn't have much money, as he had been doing nothing but going all-in when he had a hand. Some people think going all-in is the greatest thing, but you're bound to lose by playing that way. If you can't play after the flop, you can't win. The blinds were 3-6, and this kid Albert was raising 25 bucks on every pot. I was just sitting there laughing, telling him, "I can't wait until you double me up." The kid actually took Aaron out though, when he had top pair and Aaron only had middle pair. The way he was playing, though, it was only a matter of time before he lost his money. Andy kept butting heads with him, and he was the one that got all his money. Andy got the kid to go all-in once when he had the nut straight, and he doubled up off him. Keep in mind that he was already second in chips. A few hands later, the kid made a bluff after calling big bets on the flop and turn. Unfortunately for him, his king high was no good against Andy's nut boat.

With the top four getting paid, everyone was a little cautious about going out on the bubble. I tried to be the first one in the pot whenever I played, and I even folded ace queen of clubs to a big preflop raise under the gun from Donald. I didn't feel like playing a coin flip for my tournament life, plus ace queen is the devil. Aaron, who had been knocked out, was peeking over my shoulder, and he let out a disgusted sigh when I laid down the hand, but maybe that's why I'm in first and he's in second. Aaron seems more like a cash game player without a sound tournament strategy, as he basically either wins or bombs out out of the money. Just an observation. He's still better than most guys we play with, though.

Finally, Andy came in raising, and I had pocket kings (for the third time). I gave him my acting job, then went all-in. He called, as I expected, because he had such a big chip lead. He had ace 7, and my kings held up to put me back in comfortable position.

A little bit later, a sick hand came up to put me into the money. Andy came in raising under the gun. Dan went all-in, as he had been doing a lot, and Drew called from the big blind, so he was all-in, too. Andy called. Andy had pocket 8's, Dan had pocket 4's, and Drew had ace queen off. The flop came 4 8 5, so Drew was toast, and Dan had one out. The river was Andy's fourth 8, though, and he took out both guys. Dan got the fourth place money because he had more chips.

Donald got taken out about ten minutes later, so I was heads up with Andy. He had about a 6-1 chip lead on me, but that doesn't bother me. I won a few hands in a row, extracting as much as I could from him with top pair, and then I doubled up when I hit a straight and he called with two pair. This got me almost even, as he had just over 1000, and I had just over 900. The tables turned, though, and he starting hitting two pair against my top pair, and I kept paying him off. I got back down to about 500, and I lost the rest of my money on a bluff (D'oh!). I had king jack, and I came in raising. He called, and the flop was queen 9 8, giving me an inside straight draw. He checked it, and I bet out, hoping to take it right there. He called, though. The turn was a rag, and he checked again. I bet out a little bigger this time, and he raised me, doubling my bet. I couldn't just call and chase an inside straight, and if I folded I was down to about 320. I thought I could try to move him off his hand, and I went all-in for another 240. He called and showed jack ten for the nut straight. Haha, good read Terrence. I still could catch a ten for a better straight, but it never came.

I got $25 for my efforts, and I put myself over 50 points ahead of Aaron in the Player of the Year standings.

Next week is the Tournament of Champions: me, Aaron, Andy, Dan, Pete, Ryan, Todd, and Big Red.

Quote of the day: "I had two pair!"- Greg

Terrence's bankroll: $360+$20= $380

I’ve missed a few games that have happened in the past week, but the semester’s winding down, so too bad. We slapped a game together on Tuesday because the Tournament of Champions got pushed back, so there were six of us playing. I was the second one out when Albert, psycho kid who lost all his money bluffing a week ago, kept going all-in over the top of me. Finally I called him with pocket jacks, but his king 8 caught a king on the flop and another one on the river for good measure, so I was done. Donald went on to win, busting up Pete, who got second.

In the previous game at Roy’s on Thursday, I got first when I took a few big pots early, including busting Yush when I had pocket aces against his pocket tens. All the money got in preflop, and we were 1-2 in chips, so I had a huge stack. I busted Roy when I flopped a boat to his top pair when he was shortstacked, and I got heads up with Jeff, a tight player who has been at Roy’s a couple times before. I had the chip lead, and I just stayed aggressive and stole a lot of pots. The blinds were 4-8 when he came in raising the minimum. I looked down to see 2 7 offsuit, and I reraised 20, thinking I could steal it again. He called me, and the flop came 2 3 7. I bet out 25, he went all-in for another 80 or so, and I called. He just had ace 5 for an inside straight draw, and even though he hit an ace on the turn, he couldn’t get any help on the river, so I won and got 30 bucks and another yellow chip.

I came home for Thanksgiving break, and after attending my first beer pong tournament with Tom, Timmy, and Mike, we went back to Tom’s to play some cards. Charlie came also, so we had five of us buying in for ten bucks apiece- winner take all. I was playing pretty tight early, but I was going up slowly. Tom got knocked out when he called Timmy’s all-in. Tom thought Tim was bluffing, but Tim had trips with an ace kicker, so Tom was dead. Mike went out a little bit later when the devil hand didn’t work for him. Down to three, Timmy had the chip lead, and me and Charlie were about even. I lost a huge hand when I raised it big preflop with ace king after Charlie and Timmy limped. They both called, and the flop came 3 5 9, all clubs. I had the king of clubs, and after Timmy checked, I did too, figuring I could get either a free card, or I was going to check-raise if Charlie bet. He bet 30, and Tim raised him another 60. I went all-in on top of that for about 140 more, and Charlie called. Tim folded, and Charlie flipped over jack 4 of clubs for a flush. Needless to say, I wasn’t too happy about it, because he’s calling huge raises with jack 4, and he later said, “I didn’t think you had nothing” (preflop). I tried to explain that it didn’t matter, because what does jack 4 beat anyway? If you think I had nothing, then reraise and I have to fold. So I was really angry at that, and partly because Charlie was seeing every single flop, no matter how much it cost him. Then Timmy started getting stupid and going all-in every hand, and when he limped into my big blind, I went all-in with ace 8. He said, “I know I shouldn’t call this, but I’m going to anyway,” and he called with king 6. Of course a king hit to reward idiocy, and I got knocked out. I was really pissed after this, and went home a little after that.

Now for the real game. On Saturday, Erik had a tournament at his house- 12 people, $25 buy-in. The payouts were $250 for first, and $50 for second. These guys love making it top-heavy. We had two tables of six, and I found myself with basically all the best players. From my left, there was Erik, Foti, Tom, Dan, and Josh. The other table was a bunch of scrubs and Jay, which is redundant. I was glad to be at Erik’s table, because he’s been talking a lot of trash about how he’s going to take my money when I come back, even though I beat him every time we played this summer. I made it a point to stick it to him when I could. We had $10,000 in chips, and the blinds started at 25-50, which is a beautiful thing, as I had plenty of wiggle room. About five hands in, I was on the small blind and saw pocket jacks. Three guys had limped in, so I wanted to thin the field some. I raise it another 400, and only Tom called. The flop came queen 8 5 with two clubs, and I bet out 600. Tom raised it another 1200, and I called. I was pretty sure I had him at this point, because Tom knew I would lead out on the flop no matter what came out, so I had a feeling he would come over the top. The turn was a rag, but no club, and I checked to Tom, who quickly bet 2,000. I thought for a minute, and then called again, still convinced that I had him. I was also pretty sure he was going to make another big bet on the river, regardless of what came out. The river was another rag, so there were no straights or flushes possible. I checked again, and Tom went all-in. I had only about 400 more than him, so this was basically for my tournament life. I went into the tank for probably over three minutes, trying to analyze what he could have. I ruled out queens or a set, as he wouldn’t bet them that big the whole way through. The way his betting escalated the whole way, I really got the feeling he was bluffing. I thought he may have had a busted club draw, or something like ace 8 or ace 5, meaning he paired the flop with an overcard, but he knew he was beat, so he tried to bluff. Tom also knew that I could fold most things, no matter how good they look, if I think I’m beat- plus I had played the hand very weak throughout, checking to him after the flop. Everything I saw led me to believe he was bluffing, but still, this was a huge pot, and all I had was a pair of jacks! Finally, I said “I call,” and pushed my chips in the pot. Tom said, “You got it,” and I flipped over my jacks. The whole table started buzzing, and I got a lot of compliments from the other guys at the table for my call. Even Tom acknowledged it. This was probably one of my best calls this year, if not the best.

Right off the bat I was up to $20,000, and I had control of the table. About ten minutes later, I came in raising on the button with jack ten of spades. Foti called from the big blind, and we saw a flop of 2 4 10, giving me top pair. Foti checked it to me, and I did something I wouldn’t normally do, but I know Foti will bet out if he senses weakness. I checked it, even though my hand was extremely vulnerable, hoping he would throw a bet out if a rag came. The turn was a 7, and he bet 1500. I called. The river was another rag, a 9, I think, and he bet out four thousand. Again I went into the tank, but I was pretty sure I was good. I was just worried that he was looking to check-raise me with something like king ten or ace ten on the flop, but in the end I decided that my initial read was right, and I called him. He didn’t even have a pair, so I took half his stack, and got myself to about $25,000.

From there, I just played smart, not getting involved in ugly hands just because I had the chips to do it, and I kept steadily going up. Erik had been staying pretty quiet, and he was down a little, but not in bad shape, at around $8000. With the blinds at 150-300, I raised it to 900 on the button with ace 8. Erik reraised on the small blind, another 1500. I called him, loving the fact that I had position and the chip advantage over him. The flop came king jack 3, and he checked it. I didn’t see it as a trap, though, so I bet out 1200. He called. The turn was a 7, and he checked again, with a big doofy smile on his face. I don’t know what the hell that means, but it didn’t worry me. I bet 1200 again, prepared to throw out a huge bet on the river if he called again. He reraised me 2400, though. I asked him how much he had left, and he counted and said that it was 4100. I thought for a minute as I got my chips ready on what he could possibly have. I thought pocket queens or tens were a possibility, although he should have made a move on the flop to see where he was at. Ace queen also flashed through my head for a second, but I dismissed it, as I didn’t think he would try to put a move on me with nothing after the turn. I finally decided he had either queens or tens, and that he wouldn’t call if I put him all-in. If he really liked his hand, a) he wouldn’t have a big dumb smile on his face, b) he would have raised more, effectively pot-committing himself and communicating that message to me, and c) he easily could have waited until the river to stick me, because I had been betting out the whole way. He still had fold equity by raising a moderate amount, so I saw his raise as an information bet. I took the stack, and said, “4100 more.” He studied me a little bit, thought for a bit, and then folded. I took the big pot, which included half of Erik’s chips. “What did you have?” he said. I responded with my customary, “Get lost, I ain’t telling.” I did promise that I would tell him later, plus he knows he can read about it, anyway. The hand was really eating him up, though, as every couple hands he would squirm in his seat, breathe irregularly, and say, “What did you haaaaaave?” I just laughed, and told him not to mess with me. I love teaching people lessons for talking trash. He later told me that he had ace queen suited, which means he was putting a move on me, although he had the best hand.

We had eight people at the final table- five from our table and three from the other table. It was pretty amazing that we still had five left after the poker genocide I inflicted upon them, but here we were. From my left was Josh, some kid who had to be 12 years old, Dan, another young kid, Jay, Erik, and Foti. Foti had been going all-in over and over again, even though he wasn’t ridiculously shortstacked. I guess that’s what happens when you go from winning over a grand in AC to playing $25 buy-in tournaments with 12 guys. One of the young kids had most of the chips from the other table, and Jay had a decent stack, too. I had the chip lead overall from those big pots that I had taken earlier, but there was still a lot of work to be done.

I sat back a little bit early on, just trying to see what these new kids had up their sleeves. One kid agonized every time someone bet into him- I can’t believe he always had something playable. He was quickly whacked, though, when his pocket queens ran into two guys with trip tens. Those two guys were Jay and the other kid, but Jay had a queen kicker; the other kid had a jack. Jay doubled up and knocked out the one kid, and a while later he took out the same kid on the exact same hand. Trip tens, queen kicker for Jay, jack kicker for the other kid. Kind of a rough way to go, especially because the kid wasn’t bad. I took a good pot off him when I picked up ace king, he raised 1200 coming in, and I went over the top for another 3500. He called, and the flop came 10 10 5(10s were everywhere). I bet out 4500, and he folded it, so I took a healthy pot.

I picked up pocket kings when Foti came in raising on my big blind once, and I went all-in but he showed ace 9 and tossed it. Erik had been raising my big blind the whole time during the final table, and finally I picked up pocket 9s when he came in raising two grand. He had 7 grand left, and I raised it that much. After thinking for a bit, he called and showed ace jack, so we had a coin flip. All low garbage came, so my 9s held up. Erik had finally won a coin flip earlier, though, when his ace king caught a queen on the river for a straight to beat Foti’s pocket 5s. Foti ended up getting whacked when he had pocket 4s against the kid’s pocket 9s, and the 9s held up. Erik played well overall, but he needs to learn not to mess with me, because I’m a bad man.

Josh had been hanging around at about 7 grand for the entire final table, not getting too involved, and he was part of the final three with me and Jay. I had the chip lead, Jay had a big stack, and Josh was kind of shortstacked. I went into hyper-aggressive mode, raising almost every pot (the blinds were at 500-1000 to start), and I was building my stack pretty steadily. Jay was playing really tightly, just trying to make the money, I think. Josh started calling all my raises from the small blind, and I never seemed to be able to hit a flop. He would call me when I stabbed at the pot, and he usually had something like middle pair, so he kept taking pots off of me. This didn’t stop me from raising, though, and I kept taking small pots to stay in a decent chip position. I took a pot from the big blind once when both guys limped, I saw 2 7 off, and I figured if they had anything they would have raised, so I made it another 4 grand to go, and they folded. Tom was behind me during the final table, so he saw what I had, and he said, “Nice bet,” when I took the pot. That’s no limit, baby.

Josh was also taking pots off Jay, who was wasting away. He was down to about 8 grand in chips, which wasn’t much considering there was 120 grand in play, when he came in raising on the button, 3000 over the big blind, which was now 1000-2000. I looked down to see ace 9, and I was torn. On the one hand, ace 9 is really nice three-handed. On the other, Jay hadn’t been raising any pots, and I had to figure he had something fairly decent to be raising. I tried to figure out what he could be raising with, and I figured something like jack queen or jack ten were well within the scope of possible hands he had. I raised him another 4500 all-in, and he called and flipped over 8 10 off. Kind of a strange call, considering he wasn’t pot-committed. My ace high held up, and we were down to two.

Josh had the chip lead, probably around 70-30 from all the times he caught me stealing, plus the money he got from Jay, but I knew I was still alright. I hung around, then picked up king queen, and came in raising four grand over the blinds, which were now at 1500-3000. He called, and the flop was king 10 6. He bet out 4 grand, and I called him, planning to raise later. The turn was a 2, and he bet out six grand. I went all-in for another 14 grand on top of that, and he started thinking. All day, he had been talking to me after I made a big bet at him, and I hadn’t said a word. I also never told him what I had afterwards. I decided I needed to get in his head a little bit, as maybe he would stop calling so many raises, plus I could confuse him a little, so I started talking. He told me that he had top pair, and I said, “Wow, top pair, you should call then.” He gave me a funny look, as I hadn’t said anything up until this point. I knew my hand was good, and that he had a worse kicker, so I wanted a call. Fourteen grand more would have been really nice. He ended up laying it down, though. After begging me to tell him what I had, I showed him the queen of clubs (thanks John Juanda), and he responded, "That's not cool."

We played about thirty hands heads-up, and I had nearly gotten it back to even, when we decided to make a deal. As it was, first was getting $250 and second $50, so there was a steep dropoff. Even though he had a slight edge, he agreed to chop it down the middle, partly because I was starting to bust him up, I think. I usually don't like making deals, but there was a cash game going on after we left with me, Tom, Charlie, Foti, and Laureen, Charlie's girlfriend, so I wanted to get in on that, too. Josh wanted to play it out, just to see who would have won. I did, too, but Tom and them were looking to go, so we decided to hold off until another day. In the end, I was up $125, and perhaps more importantly, I whacked Tom and Erik, got into Erik's head in a serious way, and took most of Foti's money in the process of manhandling my first table, which was comprised of the six best players.

P.S. In the cash game, we played all sorts of crazy nonsense like follow the queen, chicago, shipwreck, guts, and acey deucey. I ended up down two bucks for the whole night, which lasted until four in the morning. I was down over 100 at one point, but somehow won a bunch back playing acey deucey, the most evil game this side of Russian roulette.

Quote of the day: "But that hand against Terrence is never going to leave my head."- taken from Erik's poker diary, in response to the hand that I held ace 8 on.

Terrence's bankroll: $380+$25-$5-$10+$125-$2=$513