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