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