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