Last night was, for all intents and purposes, the biggest tournament of the year for me (And for all you aspiring smartasses out there, yes I know the year only started a few days ago, and no that's not what I mean). The game consisted of Tom, Charlie, Foti, Timmy, and myself. The buy-in was $100, and it was winner take all. We started with 500 in chips, with the blinds at 1-2, and they raised every half hour. Plus, we drew for seating, which we never do anymore. So everything was in order for an awe-inspiring bloodbath.

Charlie got a new poker table that was really nice- it had the soft green felt, cup holders, and it was a pretty big oval. Seating was as follows: Timmy, me, Charlie, Foti, Tom. The tone was set early on that overbets were still the cool thing in that room. With blinds at 1-2, the standard preflop raise was 15. With so many chips, though, you could afford to take a shot here and there. The first hand that I got involved in occured on my big blind on about the 8th hand. I had 7 10 off, and saw a flop with Foti, Charlie, and Tom limping in. The flop came 7 8 10 rainbow, giving me two pair, and I bet out 15. Charlie called, as did Foti, and Tom folded. Charlie could have anything, and I was pretty sure he was drawing. He definitely didn't have me right now. I figured Foti for 8s with an overcard, and he was getting a decent price to try to improve and take a big pot. The turn was an ace, and I figured this was a decent card for me, as it didn't complete any straights, plus I figured anyone would have raised coming in with an ace, as there had been a ton of preflop raising going on, especially from Foti, who raised something like 5 out of the first 7 pots. I bet out 50, trying to drive out any draws that were lurking. Charlie folded, and then Foti raised 100. I tried to go back on my read of him. I had put him on a pair and an overcard, and if he did have something like ace 8, he had just nailed me, but again, he was raising all the time preflop. I changed my mind and decided he had something like ace 9, where he had the open-ended straight and had hit top pair. I called the raise. The river was a queen. I checked, and Foti, after thinking for a few seconds, checked also and flipped over ace ten, for a better two pair than me. Foti played this hand really well, as I hadn't expected him to have an ace in his hand when he didn't raise preflop. This hit knocked me down to about 320 to put me in a quick hole.

I hung around for a while at just over 300 when I picked up jack queen of diamonds in the small blind. It got folded around to Timmy, who raised it ten on the button. This was a weird raise, as everyone had been raising at least 15, and I figured Timmy was getting cute with kings or aces. I called it, figuring if I hit the flop I could take a big pot off of him, as Timmy will pay off most hands. The flop came 4 8 9, giving me two overcards, an inside straight draw, and a backdoor diamond draw. I checked, as did Charlie, and Timmy bet 20. I still put him on aces or kings, and I made a pretty loose call, but my implied odds were through the roof if I hit. The turn was the ten of diamonds, the perfect card for me. I had the nut straight and an open-ended straight flush, and I didn't figure there was any way Timmy could put me on it. I checked to him, and he bet 50. I raised him 100, and after shaking his head and sighing, he called. Now I was positive he had aces or kings, and he just couldn't fold them. It's worth noting that Timmy had already had aces cracked once that night due to slowplaying. The river was a queen, a card I didn't like, as it made the straight obvious, and I bet 150. Timmy shook his head, cried about his aces being cracked again, showed them to the table, then folded. I was definitely hoping for a call, but it was a huge pot to get me back on my feet.

Charlie was calling everyone's raises from any position, and his chip stack reflected it, as it kept dwindling down. He called a raise from Timmy, and when the flop came ace ten 2, they both got all their money in the middle. Charlie had ace 2, Timmy had ace ten, and Charlie was toast. Charlie said he knew Timmy had ace ten, which makes his play even better (?), but I guess that's why he was the first one out.

I took a nice pot off Foti when I had king 8 on a flop 8 9 9. I bet 15 and Foti called. The turn was an ace. I bet 25, and Foti raised me 50. I thought he was full of crap, so I called. The river was a king, giving me kings and 9s (because the 8s were counterfeited). I checked to Foti, and he bet 75. I still felt like he didn't have a damn thing, and I called him. He said, "Jack high," I showed him my hand, and took the pot. This one made me somewhat comfortable for the first time all night, putting me up to about 675.

For most of the early action, Tom and Foti had the chip lead. Now I was getting close, and Timmy was on the end of his rope. He raised preflop, then moved all-in on a flop of 10 9 4 after Tom and Foti checked to him. Tom called immediately and flipped over pocket tens for top set. Timmy had jack queen, which was really the best thing he could have had against the set, because he had 8 outs. He didn't catch, however, and he was out fourth.

Once it got three-handed, the quality of play rose exponentially. Nothing against Charlie and Timmy, but they're not really in the same league as Tom, Foti, and myself. Tom had the chip lead, and me and Foti were fine, so we got to work. I believe the blinds began at 5-10 when we got three-handed. All of us were bobbing and weaving, stealing blinds and taking stabs without any really nasty hands. This lasted at least an hour and a half, and I was up slightly from when we began three-handed play when the following hand came up: I picked up pocket queens on the button, and came in raising 40 bucks. Tom called from the big blind, and we saw a flop of jack ten 5. Tom checked, and I bet 60, which Tom called. I was pretty sure I was still good, and figured Tom for something like king queen or ace ten. The turn paired the 5. Tom checked again, and I bet 80. Tom then raised me 200, and I had some thinking to do. I went into the tank for about three minutes, and went over all the possible hands Tom could hold in my head. I ruled out trip 5s, as the only real hands he could have to play with are 5 6 or ace 5, and I couldn't see him check-calling my bet on the flop with either of those. I also couldn't see him making this move with tens of any kind. I ended up narrowing it down to either a complete bluff, in which case he may have thought I was stealing with something like ace king after I missed the flop, or either jack ten or ace jack. Both hands would give him top pair, and if there was a chance he was against queens or kings, he could still hit an ace to bust me. The raise he made seemed like a worried one, though. I thought maybe he had hit the flop intending to slowplay, and then when the 5 paired he needed to find out if his hand was good. I ended up putting him on jack ten, with the ace jack still a strong possibility. I moved all in for another 265 over his raise, and then he went into the tank. Right when he did, I knew I had him, because trips, a boat, or aces or kings would have called me pretty quickly. Finally he called, saying, "I'm calling, but I think that 5 pairing up may have fucked me." I said, "Jack ten?" Unfortunately, he thought I was stating that I had jack ten and that I slowrolled him by flipping the queens, but I really didn't intend that at all. I was just asking if he had jack ten, which he did, but he realized the miscommunication and quickly forgot about it. Seeing as he had jack ten, all I had to dodge were four outs, although that's a lot if anyone has read my past entries. The river was a complete blank, though, and I doubled up to over 1100. This also took a substantial chunk out of Tom's lead, and I think I actually took over the chip lead at this point.

I like how Tom played the hand on the flop, just check-calling with the intention of raising later, but the 5 on the turn was one of the worst things he could have seen. Now, if I had an overpair, I had landed a better two pair than him. I think I would have bet out on the turn if I was him to see where I was at. If I came over the top, you'd have to know you were beat. The check-raise still isn't an awful play, though, if you think you still have the best hand. The one part I don't like is Tom's call after I moved in on him. He said he thought I may have been bluffing, but with the amount of money in the pot, it was very unlikely that I could make that move on a stone-cold bluff and hope I didn't get called. At that point, I think it was clear I had an overpair, and even with the money in the pot, he wasn't getting good odds at all to hit a 4-outer.

After this hand, Tom looked me in the eye and said, "You're not taking me out." I didn't feel like putting a bulls-eye on my back, so I just kinda smiled at him and didn't respond. Once I got the chip lead, I changed gears a little bit and started raising a lot, taking a lot of blinds in the process. It's so liberating to have Charlie knocked out, because you know that stealing the blinds is a valid way to make money. This doesn't happen when Charlie is in the game, because he calls raises with anything, especially if they're suited. Most times that I was the small blind, I limped in, and every so often Foti would raise it, forcing me to fold my marginal hands. He made a pretty decent living off of it, too, so I made up my mind to limp with a big hand on him later if I could to really stick him.

Tom went on tilt every so slightly after the big hand against me, and he was really dropping in chips. He didn't go on tilt the way most people do, throwing chips all over with marginal holdings, but he clammed up and didn't play many pots. This wasn't a valid strategy at this point in the game, as blinds were at 10-20 and then 15-30, so if you kept losing blinds you would get whittled away rather quickly. The next big hand again occurred between Tom and I when he was the small blind and I was the big blind. He limped in, and I looked down to see jack ten, a nice hand. He had 235 left, and I considered raising all-in, as there was already 60 dollars in the pot, and it was very unlikely he would call. I decided against it, though, and checked. The flop came 5 8 10, and Tom, being first to act, moved all-in. Wow. I had top pair, but it was still an intimidating bet. Again I went into the tank. First thing I did was try to eliminate as many hands as I could. He couldn't have an overpair or a set, because he would have tried to slowplay these hands, check-raising me on the flop. He could have some kind of draw, with 6 7, 7 9, or 9 jack, but I couldn't see Tom making this move with a draw after playing his heart out for four hours. I decided he had to have second pair, as it wouldn't be good enough to slowplay, but it's a hand that if you move all-in with, the only thing that can call you is top pair, and Tom didn't really have enough money to see where he was at with feeler bet. I said out loud, "Tom, I think you've gotta have 8s with an overcard. If you do, I've got you beat, but I can easily get drawn out on." I looked at him a little longer, then said, "I think you've got king 8. I call." I flipped up my jack ten, and Tom looked at me and said, "Terr, I've always respected you as a poker player, but that was fucking insane." Then he flipped over king 8. Talk about a hell of a read- I called his hand dead-on based on one bet. Still, i had to dodge 5 outs twice. The turn was a blank, and the river was... an 8, giving Tom trips. Tom got excited and pumped his fist, rightfully so, as he would have been out without it, while I went into the other room to pace around and curse under my breath for a little while. When I got back, all I could do was smile and shake my head for the next ten minutes. The poker gods can be some sadistic tyrants sometimes. How can I not be rewarded for making a read that maybe no one else can make? I knew I couldn't dwell on it, though, because Tom and Foti were at the top of their games, and I would be dead if I didn't completely focus. I got back in the game, picked up a few pots, and we were back in business.

A big hand came up when Foti came in raising 80 on the button. Tom moved all-in for another 280, and I looked down to see pocket jacks. This was a really tough spot, because Foti hadn't been raising a lot on the button, so I gave him credit for having a hand. Tom has been known to make his stand with small pocket pairs before, so I figured I either had him crushed or was in a coin flip against something like big slick. I studied them both, and decided Foti wouldn't be calling if I moved in, so I decided to go for it. I went all-in on top of Tom's raise for 700 more or so, and Foti folded. Tom flipped the devil hand, and we had ourselves a race between two of my most hated hands. The second card off the flop gave Tom his queen, and the river gave him two pair with his ace, so he doubled up through me. WHY WON'T HE DIE??? That promise he made was coming back to haunt me.

Foti took a fair amount of chips off Tom, giving him a nice chip lead, while I was still fighting to recover from the big hand with Tom. I found myself on the small blind with 8 3 offsuit, a modest hand by any accounts, and saw a flop with Foti. It came 8 10 5, giving me mid-pair with no kicker. There was so much stealing going on that I felt a little uncomfortable that there were no police officers present, so I had to throw out a bet to see where I was, otherwise Foti would make a small bet, and I'd have to play weak-tight and call, while gaining no information, or fold, when I may have had him beat. I bet 60, and Foti raised me 75. I thought for a bit, then called, thinking that Foti wasn't that strong and I could take the pot off of him. The turn was a queen, and I checked. Foti bet 200, a pretty big bet at this stage. Of course, with the 8s, I was now sure I was beat, but I tried to figure out what he had. The bet was so big, it seemed like a protection bet, as he wanted me out of the pot. It certainly wasn't a value bet. I figured he probably had tens with a good kicker, or perhaps even two pair, but he didn't want me hitting the straight. Still, the bet seemed like Foti was a bit worried about his hand. I decided that there was no way he was calling me if I moved in on him, as it would look exactly as if I had hit my open-ended straight with the queen and was moving in with the nuts on him. I moved all-in for another 480 or so, and Foti started to study me. He set aside the chips he needed to call me, and while he did it, I just kept staring at the table while resting my head on my hand. I didn't want to give anything away. I knew that I had an image as being the tightest player at the table, even though I had been raising a lot. Whenever I had to show my hand, I had a monster, so they respected my raises. I even flashed my hand to them a couple times when I raised four straight pots after getting the devil hand twice, ace ten once, and king queen once. I also knew that if Foti called and lost, he would be in a huge hole, so he couldn't just call this as a knee-jerk reaction with a good hand. After thinking for what seemed like forever, Foti said, "I'll throw this one away," then folded. Tom said, "Smells like jack 9 to me," which would have been the nut straight. "You'll read about it later," I told him.

This pot put me back over a grand in chips, and we went to battle once again. Tom got whittled down to about 275, and after Foti limped on the button, Tom limped as well. I looked down to see 2 10 of hearts, but both of them seemed weak to me. I had taken quite a few pots by raising on the big blind after they had limped, and with the blinds at 15-30 and 90 bucks in the pot, the incentive was there to try it again. I raised it 100. Foti glared at me as if I had said something about his mother or Greece, and then he folded. He definitely wasn't happy about it. Tom stared me down, then moved in for another 115. This didn't make me happy at all, and I said it right when Tom moved in. I started calculating the pot odds I had, and found that I was getting about 435-115, or close to 4-1 on my money. The only way I could fold was if I put Tom on an overpair, and I definitely knew he wasn't that strong, because he couldn't afford to get cute with the blinds this high. As I was counting, Charlie, who was watching, was marvelling at how I was figuring out the pot odds. It's really not that difficult, but that's why Charlie's a mess at the table- he doesn't understand the numbers of it. I said to Tom, "I've got nothing, but I have to call you." I called, and he said "I do, too," which definitely made me happy. He flipped over 8 9, and amazingly, I was ahead! The flop came ace ace 4, helping no one, and the turn was a ten, meaning Tom was drawing dead going into the river. When he paired his 8, it didn't even matter, so I had finally killed the bastard and taken a big pot with the Brunson.

I really don't like Tom's play here of moving in over the top of me. Maybe he thought he had more than he did, but I don't think he thought it out enough to realize that I had to call with virtually any hand I had. Foti revealed that he had ace 3, and thought I was stealing also, so it's a good thing he folded and didn't hit his trip aces on me. Even if Tom thought I was stealing, though, 8 9 can't beat anything, and I don't know why you'd work so hard all night to put your money in with 8 9 against someone who is getting the right odds to call you. It reminds me of a hand that happened between Pete and Jonathan earlier this semester, in which Jon moved all-in on the small blind, putting Pete all-in. Pete, who was somewhat shortstacked, called with queen 9, explaining, "I thought he was just trying to bully me." That doesn't justify putting all your money in with queen high, though, because it doesn't beat anything! The same is true with Tom's hand. You know you're going to have to show down the hand to win it, so why put your money in with a hand that doesn't hold up in an all-in situation?

Nevertheless, I was happy to have taken the pot, and also a little embarrassed that they caught me with my hand in the cookie jar. Tom wasn't happy at all that I called him, but I really had to given the pot odds.

Once we got heads-up, Foti had about a 1500-1000 chip lead on me. It was now about 3:45 in the morning, and despite being very confident, I really didn't want to play this hard and this well to go home down a hundred bucks. I proposed to Foti that we make a save, with second place getting their money back, and first taking the rest. He agreed to it, so we were basically freerolling for 400 bucks. Tom said he didn't understand why Foti made the deal, considering that he had the chip lead at the time, but in one hand that could completely change, and I'm sure Foti didn't want to go home with nothing, either.

With the blinds set at 25-50, I took three out of the first four hands heads up by basically betting out on the flop and making Foti fold. Foti then started to get more aggressive, raising on the button, and raising when I limped. I needed to set the tone that I wasn't going to get pushed around heads up, and I really wanted unraised pots when I had marginal hands, so I started pushing back. I limped in with pocket 9s, and when he raised 100, I moved all-in. He folded reasonably quickly, confirming my suspicion that he had been preying on my weakness while on the big blind. The very next hand, he came in raising 100 on my big blind, and I looked down to see king queen. I moved all-in again, and this time Foti thought for a bit, then folded again. Charlie said, "Fote, he's busting your ass," and it was true- I had taken most of the early pots, and had gotten the chip count about even with my aggressive play.

With 2500 chips in play, picking up pots was vitally important, as they contained such a large percentage of the total chips in play, so this aggressive stance I had taken was paying off. I don't think we ever had a hand reach the river, as each of us was dancing around, trying to take stabs at what was out there. Foti came in raising on my big blind, 100 above the blind, which had become the standard, and I looked down to see king queen again. With the structure being what it was, this was a monster hand, one that I wouldn't mind getting all my money in with. I moved all-in again, and Foti called after thinking for a few seconds. We counted the chips, and I had him covered by 25, so if I won it was over, and if he won I would have only 25 left to his 2475. This was for all the marbles. When he called so quickly, I knew I had to be beat, but I figured it was close. I just prayed that he didn't have ace king, ace queen, aces, or kings, but I was pretty sure by his body language that his hand wasn't a monster. He flipped over ace jack, which made me quite happy, considering my cards were live and I wasn't dominated. The flop came queen rag rag, and all I had to do was dodge an ace to win all that beautiful money. The turn was a blank, and the river was a king, giving me top two pair and the title. All the money had been laid out on the table, a whole slew of 20s, and I gave Foti his 100 and took my 400.

I got one of Tom McEvoy's books for Christmas, and he had a line that made sense to me. "Against good competition, the best you can do is play your best game, make it to the end, and give yourself a chance to get lucky." In essence, you can't hope to hold the nuts every time you get heads up. If the blinds are high, you need to make it there, then push with something like king queen, and just hope the poker gods smile on you. Luckily, they smiled on me on the final hand, but I definitely feel like I earned first place, as I played top-notch poker for 6 hours against two guys who were also at the top of their games.

You can always tell when I play well, because when I finish, I'm usually in agony. The intense focus I need to maintain takes its toll on me, and I had a brutal monster headache after the tournament was done. It didn't help that it felt like it was 300 degrees in Charlie's room, nor that I was wearing a sweatshirt underneath my football jersey, but the money and knowledge that I played so well helped make me feel slightly better. After we finished, we all rode over to 7-11 to get some drinks, then I headed home. I took 3 Excedrin (I think you're only supposed to take 1), then passed out at around 6. I also had to get a rubber band for my bankroll, as it's getting obscenely large, and it barely fits where I keep it anymore.

Quote of the day: Tom-"Would you rather be feared or respected?" Terrence (after some thought)-"Respected." ... 4 hours later, after trying in vain to kill Tom. Terrence-"You know what, I change my answer, I'd rather be feared. Respected isn't getting me anywhere right now."

Terrence's bankroll: $484+$300=$784

Before classes start, before anything gets done upon arriving back at school, something must come first: poker.

We decided to get a game together Tuesday night to kick off the new year. Seven people played for the five dollar buy-in, although we would have had nine if Godwin and Ryan didn't fag out. This was also the first tournament that I used that new Tournament Director software for, and it worked well.

Seating, from left to right, was Pete, me, Alex, Stephen, Josh, Roy, and Bobby. We started with 100 in chips, with blinds at 1-2 and going up every half hour. My first decent hand came when I had ace 8 of clubs UTG+1. I limped in, as did Roy, and Bobby raised another 4 on the big blind. I called, and Roy folded. The flop came ace 8 9 rainbow. Bobby bet out 8 to me. I figured he probably had an ace, maybe ace jack or so, and I could take a decent pot off him if he played back at me. I raised him 15. He ended up folding- he told me later that he had nothing, not even an ace, which I'm impressed with, because usually Bobby won't bet out unless he has something. Keep it up, Bobby.

Pete was the first one out after he lost a big pot to Roy when his pocket kings couldn't hold up against Roy's pocket 7s when the board gave Roy a straight. This left Pete without much money, and he went all-in with ace 9 suited against Josh, I believe, who had a better ace.

I caught a lot of good cards during the night, including more than my fair share of high pockets. Queens once, jacks once, tens once, kings once, and aces twice. With the blinds at 2-4, I raised it to twelve in second position with pocket aces. Josh called on the button, and Roy called from the blind. The flop came 3 5 10. Roy made a move as if to bet, but then checked. I commented about how he seemed ready to bet, then I put out 14. Josh raised it to 28, and then Roy called. Something was definitely fishy here, and I wasn't in love with my aces much anymore. I called the 14. At this point I was worried that Roy had a set, and that he was trapping us for a big pot. The turn was an offsuit jack (there were two hearts on the flop). Roy checked again. I was still worried about the set, and I knew it would be hard for me to call a big raise, so I checked, hoping to see a safe river card. Josh checked behind us. The river was an offsuit deuce, and Roy checked again. Now I was positive he didn't have a set, because he wouldn't slowplay it to this extent, that's just not Roy's style, plus it wouldn't make sense to try to checkraise two players that had checked the turn. I bet out 20, believing my aces were good and hoping to get called, but both of them folded. Roy later told me that he had ace 3 of hearts, giving him bottom pair and the nut flush draw on the flop.

I lost a pot later, when on the small blind with 8-10, I saw a three-way flop with Bobby and Roy. The flop came ace 8 10, giving me bottom two pair, and I checked it, hoping to get in a check-raise. Roy bet out 14, and Bobby raised all-in! I couldn't put Roy on a hand too well here, because he could easily bet out on a draw, as well as a big hand. I figured Bobby for a pair of aces, as he had played aces poorly earlier and lost a pot to Roy because of it. Obviously, my two pair could get sucked out on, but for the time being, it was good. Plus, I had the chip lead at the time, so it wouldn't damage me too badly if I happened to get unlucky. Bobby's all-in was about 20 on top of Roy's bet, and to drive Roy out, I reraised another 35. Roy folded, and Bobby, who had gotten a sick look on his face when he saw me reaching for chips after his all-in, flipped over ace 5, I believe. The turn was a jack of diamonds, giving Bobby a flush draw to go with an ace, 5, or jack to win the pot. With a lot of outs to dodge, I couldn't do it, as an ace fell on the river, giving Bobby trips. This hand hurt a little, but I couldn't dwell on it, because I got my money in with the best hand, but it was also vulnerable. I was still in fine chip position.

I got my money back and more a few hands later against Josh. I came in raising 12 with pocket jacks, and he called. The flop was jack 7 5, and I checked my top set to him. He checked also. The turn was a 9, and again I checked. This time Josh didn't disappoint, and he fired out 30. The only hands he could have to beat me here were 6 8 and 8 10, and I didn't figure him to be calling my raises with that in a million years, plus he wouldn't have bet so strongly, as he would have obviously wanted a call. Rather than check-raise, I just called, hoping he would fire again on the river. When the river was a queen, he immediately went all-in. Now 10 king was added to the list of hands that could have a straight, but there was no way he could have had these hands. Still, he had a lot of chips, so I took my time thinking it through, but then I called. He flipped over ace queen, for a made pair of queens on the river, and my trip jacks won the pot and took him out.

Bobby went out in 5th after he went all-in on the river with two pair, kings and 6s, but got called by Stephen, who had been slowplaying the nut flush.

Roy was beginning to get shortstacked again, and my main priority was getting rid of him, as I thought I would be a big favorite against the other two, Alex and Stephen. He came in raising under the gun, and I looked down to see pocket deuces right after him. I didn't necessarily figure him for better pockets than me, but even if he did have them, I was looking to hit a set and bust him. I don't believe it was really mathematically correct, as he didn't have a huge stack of chips left after his 15 dollar raise (maybe around 48?), but I figured it was worth a shot to bust him. The flop came ace 2 4, and Roy immediately went all-in, and I couldn't call him fast enough. He had ace queen, for top pair, and my set of deuces were in commanding shape. The turn and river brought no help, so Roy went out in fourth. With a hand like that and not much chips, I don't think there's any way someone could avoid going broke there.

Down to three-handed, I had the chip lead, with Alex in second and Stephen in third. The blinds were up to around 5-10 at this point, and I became aggressive taking a lot of pots preflop. When I wasn't raising, Alex was, and we slowly chipped Stephen away. Then a brutal hand came up. I was on the button with ace ten of clubs, and I came in raising 20. Alex folded, and Stephen called. To give some background, Stephen hadn't reraised anyone preflop once all night, and every time he hit a hand he slowplayed it. The only way to lose money to him was to bet into him when he had a hand, because he won't bet it himself. I took this into account when he called, but I liked my hand. The flop came 2 5 10, and after he checked, I bet out 25. He called. The turn was an ace, giving me top two pair. Again he checked, and this time I bet 15, hoping he might sense me as being afraid of that ace hitting. He raised me 15, just like I hoped, and I went all-in. I had him covered, so he was actually all-in if he called. He didn't say anything, and instead flipped his cards up on the table. Ace Ace. "I assume that means you call?" I said. Hey, you gotta give me credit for having a sense of humor in the face of drawing dead at least. This pot doubled him up, and put a big dent into my plans.

The very next hand I was on the big blind when Alex came in raising 15. I looked down to see pocket 4s. I was now the shortstack, so I was in a tough spot. I couldn't just call, because my odds of hitting a set were too slim to justify it. I was close to pushing all-in, but then thought better of it, as he might be more likely to call an all-in with some hands like a semi-weak ace or mid-pockets, things I didn't want to be all-in against. I raised him 30 on top of his raise, enough to be authoritative about it, but enough that if he came over the top, I could still get away from it if I had to, as I still had about 60 in chips left. Alex thought for a few minutes, and he seemed to really be in a tough spot. I definitely wanted him to fold, because I would have to push all-in in all (Hmm, I like poker vocabulary symmetry) likelihood when the flop came if he called. He finally decided to muck it, and he showed me pocket 9s, as he did, saying, "I'll give you respect this time, Terrence." I was definitely happy for that respect. This pot got me reasonably healthy again, with some room to dance.

I picked up a lot of pots by raising on the big blind after they had both limped in, and with the blinds now at 8-16, that was 32 bucks a pop I was taking. I usually had pretty nice hands, but I was mostly playing off their weakness. On my big blind, Alex came in raising the minimum, 16, and I saw queen jack of clubs, so I called. The flop was king ten rag, and after thinking about how to go about playing this, I checked. I thought this flop may have hit Alex, so I didn't want to get raised betting on a draw. Alex bet 30, and I called. The turn was a blank, and we both checked. The river was a 9, giving me the nut straight, and I checked it to him, hoping I could extract some more chips from him. He bet out 50, and after thinking, I raised all-in. He quickly folded, saying he had nothing, so I took a very nice pot down.

This hand put me back in the chip lead, I believe, and Stephen took out Alex a short while later when Alex went all-in on a bluff and Stephen called with the nut diamond draw. The flop was ace blank blank, all diamonds, and Stephen had the king. Alex had 10 6 offsuit, so he didn't even have a pair. Stephen ended up pairing his 9 to take it down.

Heads up, we raised the blinds to 10-20, and I had about a 350-300 chip lead over Stephen. Somehow our chips didn't add up to 700, but I don't know how. We battled back and forth for a while, without any huge pots. Mostly I was the aggressor, raising and picking up numerous small pots, while he was laying low, obviously looking to trap me. I came in raising 30 with jack 9 on the small blind, only to find him reraise me all-in. I quickly folded. This gave him the chip lead. The next hand, he came in raising 20, and I saw jack 8 of spades. I figured it was good enough to see a flop with, especially as he had been checking most flops anyway, and the flop came ace king jack. I checked, and so did he, making me think he had a real monster after hitting a flop like that on a raised pot. The turn was a brick, and I checked again. He checked immediately, and it didn't really seem that he was slowplaying anymore. He kept the deck in his hand, and right when I checked, he checked and dealt the river. I thought maybe he had low pockets now, as this flop would certainly slow him down. I checked the river, which was another brick, and he checked, too. I showed the jacks, and he showed pocket tens. This was a nice little pot, and put us basically even. The next hand, I picked up pocket aces on the small blind. I came in raising 30, the same as I had raised last time, hoping he might try that all-in move again. He did, and I called like a shot and flipped the rockets. He turned over big slick, and when the board came down 2 2 2 4 queen, my boat dropped its anchor on his head. This reminded me of the hand between Jesse and Pete earlier this year when Pete had big slick, Jesse had aces, and all the money got in preflop. This pot gave me about a 670-30 chip lead, and we were all in blind on the next hand. He had jack 8, I had jack 3 (The Pete!) but I couldn't overcome the domination, so he doubled up. A hand or two later we were all-in again. I had king 4, and he had jack ten of hearts. The flop came 3 4 4, giving me trips, and that was all she wrote. I took home $25, Stephen got $10, and the semester was off to an excellent start.

Quote of the day: "Roy is looking to raise this pot no matter what."-Terrence, right before Roy did in fact raise. Roy later admitted that he was going to raise the pot no matter what. Tricksy Roy.

Terrence's bankroll: $784+$20=$804

It's halftime of the Indy-New England game right now, so I figured I could write about Thursday's game.

Pete got one of those table-top poker tables for Christmas, so we busted that out for the first time. We had one table and 8 players. Seating from left to right was Pete, me, Han, Ryan, Roy, Moonie, Bobby, and Yush.

I couldn't get many playable hands early on, so I sat back and watched Pete get demolished again. For the second straight time, he was the first one out. One hand came up where I had 6 8 suited on the button. There was one limper, so I figured I'd see a flop, so I limped, as did Han, and Ryan checked. The flop was jack jack 5. Everyone checked to me, so I figured I'd take a shot at the pot, and I bet 3.50. Han folded, then Ryan raised it. I folded immediately, telling him that I was just playing around.

A little while later I got ace 7 of clubs and saw a flop of 2 2 3. I bet out at it, figuring no one could have hit it, but Han and Yush both called. The turn was a 6 of clubs, meaning there was two out there. I still didn't think they had anything, so I semibluffed with my flush draw, and again they both called. I believe both of my bets were 3.50. The river was the 9 of clubs, giving me my flush. This time I bet 12, and they both folded. Thinking back on it, I don't like that bet at all, but at the time I thought I might get a call. I should have bet 5 or 6 to maximize what I got out of it.

A very strange hand came up a little while later. I was on the small blind and Han was on the big blind. Han hadn't put his blind in yet, and he seemed to think that he was under the gun. He asked how much it was to him, and we told him 2 dollars, which is what the blind was. "Oh, that's too much," he said, and folded. We then told him he was the big blind, so everyone had a laugh at Han's expense. This didn't make me happy, though, because now someone could try a blind steal, knowing that Han didn't have a hand. I was getting frustrated because Ryan had been stealing my blinds all day, and when he wasn't, Roy was. Somehow, everyone folded back to me, and I looked down to see pocket jacks. I knew Han didn't have anything, so I just went all-in. Much to my surprise, he called(He was actually all-in, not me), and turned over 2 8 of spades. He said he was just having fun, but man, what is that? The first card on the flop was a 2, and I was getting ready to fly out the window, but the rest of the board were bricks, so I took all of Han's money.

There had been a lot of preflop raising going on, with many more uncontested pots than we were used to. Ryan was raising 10 times the big blind, which was driving me nuts, as I couldn't get a hand to stick him with. I tried a bit of an unorthodox play to try to take advantage of this, so I limped in with big slick in first position. I was hoping to trap Ryan into one of his big raises, but he folded. Roy raised 8, though, and when it got back to me, I went all-in and Roy folded.

Ryan had gotten raped by Johnny Moon for most of his stack, and he only had about 25 or 30 left. While I was on the small blind, I got pocket 6s, and decided to just push all-in against Ryan. I couldn't really make any kind of raise without making him pot-committed, so I figured I may as well put as much pressure on him as possible. He called pretty quickly and flipped over king 8 of diamonds. Honestly, I have no idea what to say, because Ryan is known to call with terrible hands, so I shouldn't have been surprised. He took Pete out earlier with his infamous 9 10 of clubs when Pete went all-in with the devil hand. I don't know how he thought king 8 was possibly good, but the only thing I can reason is he figured he'd try to get lucky when he wasn't a huge underdog, because outplaying people sure wasn't working. Anyway, you know the story, a king hit the flop and Ryan doubled up and hurt my stack. I was below the average stack at this point, and I still couldn't find much to play, so I was getting eaten up by the blinds. I picked up pocket aces in first position, and tried to trap again with them. I limped, but nobody raised, so me, Roy, and Moonie saw a flop. It was queen 7 2. They both checked, and I decided to go all-in to make it look like a steal. I know Roy will call in this position with any pair, so I wanted to make it look like as much of a steal as possible. Roy did call, with middle pair, and my aces held up to double me up.

Nobody wanted to die, so we had been playing 5-handed forever. I took a couple stabs at the pot and got picked off, so I was shortstacked again. I had the big blind, and I warned Ryan not to try to steal my blind again, because I was going to pick up a big hand here. He folded, but Roy took the challenge, and he raised. Yush called from the small blind, and I looked down to see big slick. I only had 7 dollars more than the 15 dollar raise Roy had made, so if I went all-in I knew I would get called by both of them, unless Roy pushed back, which was very possible. I knew I had the best hand, but against two people I still didn't like my chances of it holding up. I wasn't going to get anywhere by giving up my blinds over and over, though, so I went all-in. Roy called, which I wasn't happy about, as I didn't think Yush had much, and Yush called, too. The flop was 2 4 6, I believe, and they both checked. I was pretty sure I would need to hit a pair to take it, so I wasn't happy when the turn paired the 2. They both checked again. The river was an 8, and when Roy checked, Yush went all-in. I knew I was toast, because there was no point in bluffing here, and Roy folded. Yush had 8 9 of hearts, so he had hit a pair of 8s, but it didn't matter because Roy had ace 4 and had me beat anyway. This sent me out in 5th. Roy went out a little later, lamenting that he didn't reraise in that spot. From what I heard, Moonie ended up winning, Yush took second, and Ryan got third.

Quote of the day: "God damn you John Moon!"- Ryan, after Moonie took most of his money.

Terrence's bankroll: $804-$5=$799

Once again, I've missed a few games, but they've been rather uneventful. In the last 3 games, I've gone up 5 bucks. Tuesday was the second Stacy Poker Tour event- I had finished 6th in the first one. This game was a really tough one mentally, as I had a ton of things on my mind going in, but I made myself stop thinking about them for a few hours and play some awesome poker.

We had 16 players this week, so with two tables of 8, I actually got put in the lounge for once. The seating was me, Donald, Pete, Gibby, Josh, Andrew, Stephen, and Alex. I was fine with my table arrangement because it was mostly composed of tight players, whereas all the aggressive players got put in the ping pong room. I really didn't get involved much early on- I couldn't find anything to play at all. For about four rounds, I got nothing, but i was still slightly up thanks to a couple small pots and steals. One nice hand came with the blinds at 200-400. I was the big blind, and I had three limpers, all of whom appeared very weak. I don't even remember what I had but it wasn't anything much, maybe queen 7, but I raised it another 1200 to go, and everybody folded, so I took 1600 bucks right there. One kid who has been at the first two tournaments to take pictures (I wish I could remember his name), loves watching me at the table. Early on I was singing and generally making an ass out of myself. He kept looking for my picture when I was in a hand, and he said he's gonna give us the pictures to put on the website, so that'll be awesome. Anyway, I had been bemoaning my lack of cards right before the blind steal hand, and I showed him what I had and said, "I don't even need cards to win." I was feeling really cocky for some reason, but I was having fun, too.

Donald had a lot of chips when he basically doubled up off Alex. Alex limped, Donald raised and Alex called. On a flop of 8 9 jack, Alex bet out 600, and Donald raised it 1200. Alex called. When the turn brought an ace, Alex bet out 1200, and Donald went all-in. Alex thought for a while, then called and flipped ace 9 for two pair. Donald had top two pair, though, aces and jacks, so he took out Alex first when the river bricked off.

Andrew had been shortstacked most of the night, but he doubled up off Josh in a pretty nasty hand. Andrew raised to three times the big blind under the gun, and Josh called from the small blind. The flop was 4 5 6, and Josh checked. Andrew bet out something like 1500, and Josh immediately said, "All-in." I was intrigued as to what everyone had. I figured Josh for a set, and Andrew for an overpair. Andrew ended up calling, and he flipped up 6 7 for top pair with an open-ended straight draw. Josh flipped pocket aces over. Remember, he's the one who called and Andrew raised under the gun with 6 7! What a weird hand. The river brought an 8 to complete Andrew's straight, and he doubled up.

Stephen was also amassing a healthy chip stack, due to his catching the sickest cards I've ever seen. Pocket kings two hands in a row, aces two hands later, etc. He really should have made more money than he did with them, but he was still up over 20 grand. I did take one hand off of him, though, when he came in raising 800. I saw pocket queens, and reraised another 1500 on top. He folded and said, "Good raise."

Gibby, after coming out aggressive early, was also laying low like me. Pete was losing most of his money, and he got whacked when his pocket 8's, I believe, ran into a higher pocket pair. Pete's been in a total rut this whole semester, and I don't think it helped that I was needling him any time we got involved in a hand together. Pick it up, Pete!

Josh got whacked a little after the hand with Andrew, and after Pete got knocked out, we played out the round then combined for the final table. I was at about 8 grand after losing a hand with Donald when I was the small blind and he was the big blind. I limped in with jack 8, and he checked, so we saw a flop of ace 2 4. I bet out 600, and Donald raised me 1200. I thought he was weak, and he thought his fours were good, so I raised him another 2500. He thought, then went all-in, and I had to toss it. He showed 3 5 for a flopped wheel, so my original read was a little bit off, to say the least.

I also lost a sizable pot to Stephen when he came in raising to my right, and I saw pocket 9s on the small blind. Stephen doesn't steal much, so I figured him for a hand, so i just called his button raise from the small blind. The flop came 5 5 10, which looked good for me. I bet out 1500, and he raised all-in. I went in the tank for a couple minutes, but I just couldn't see him making this play on a bluff with a missed ace king or something. I figured he had to have an overpair, so I tossed it, and he showed kings for the third time that night.

Aaron had gotten whacked before the final table, as had Roy, Ryan, Greg, and one other that I can't remember. The seating for the final table was me, Dan, Stephen, Gibby, Andy, Donald, Will, Andrew, and Joe.

Will had been talking shit all day about how I was going down, so you all know what that means- I had to take his money. Early on, Will got aggressive, coming in raising on a lot of pots, and I kept coming over the top of him, as he never seemed particularly strong. I had hands like ace ten suited and the like, and I took about four pots off him like this. Once I called a raise on my big blind with jack 9 of hearts, and when the flop came 2 2 5, I bet out about a third of what he had left, and after thinking for a while, obviously not happy, he folded.

For the first twenty minutes of the final table, I killed everyone. I went from about 8 grand to almost 30 and the chip lead. I took a few pots off Donald, as well, twice when he came in raising and I called. Once I flat-called with ace queen of diamonds, hoping to trap him, and when the flop came queen high, I check-raised all-in, but he folded. Still, it was a nice pot. A few hands later, I called a raise in the big blind with king jack, and when the flop came jack high, I went all-in right off the bat. I didn't put him on having a terribly strong hand, so I thought he may have thought I was putting a move on him and would call with some kind of mid-pockets. After thinking, he called and flipped queen jack up, so I had him outkicked. The king played and Donald was out.

I laid low after my rush died down, and I watched everyone else kill each other. Andrew was the first one out at the table, Joe was amassing a nice stack after he took out Stephen. Dan, who was shortstacked with me, had also gotten himself back in it by playing very aggressively preflop. Will went out in 6th after being nearly forced all-in from the blind. Andy and Gibby were both laying low.

With 5 players left, we battled for a while. Gibby finally got taken out by Joe, I believe. As a side note, I looked at Gibby as a bit of a fish last semester, as he never had any cashes or strong finishes, but this semester he has a win and a 5th, which is good for first place in the Player of the Year standings so far. I like to play him because I have a good read on him and can use position on him really well, but he seems to be taking apart a lot of other guys who challenge him with less-than-stellar holdings.

Now that we were in the money, everyone had a sense of relief. The funny thing is, nobody had been playing extremely tight. It was mostly just good, solid poker. A raise preflop, take it down. A raise preflop, one call, then a bet on the flop took it down. The quality of play is really improving, in my opinion. It's true, though, that we had a very strong final four, with myself, Andy, Dan, and Joe, all of whom are very solid players.

I hadn't been getting too involved in marginal situations, as I wanted to get shorthanded with an above average chip stack. With 160,000 in play, I had about 50 of it, so I was in fine shape. The blinds were getting pretty steep by this point, at 1000-2000 then 1200-2400. Taking the blinds was a very viable strategy, and Dan and I seemed to be raising preflop the most. Andy was getting blinded away, and Joe was holding strong with a couple nice reraises. I took a huge pot off Andy after I had lost a big chunk of my stack to Joe, when I limped in with 6 8 from the button. The flop came 3 8 9, and after Dan checked, Andy bet 6 grand. I thought my 8 was good, and I called, then Dan folded. The turn was an 8, so I had trips. Andy bet out 9 thousand, and again I flat called after looking him up and down for a minute. I was a little worried that he may have a better kicker than me, but I also thought he could have been using the 8 as a scare card if I called him with a weak 9. The river was a 2, and Andy bet 9 grand again. This left me with about 5500 left, so I moved all-in after a little thought. I knew I had him right when it got back to him, because he said, "I knew you had the 8s. Let's pay the man off." He called the extra 5500 (which he almost had to, with almost 50 grand in the pot.) He had queen 9 for top pair, which meant my original read was wrong, so that 8 was a fortunate card for me.

A really strange hand came up between Dan and Joe that still has me scratching my head. Joe came in raising from the button, and Dan called from the big blind. The flop came ace 4 5, all clubs, and just then Dan's phone rang. He picked up and started talking to this guy. Dan told his friend, "Hey, I have ace jack on a board of ace 4 5. They're all clubs, and so is my jack- what should I do?" Then he checked. This confused the hell out of all of us- did he really have ace jack? Or was he just messing with Joe to slow him down after his preflop raise? Joe went all-in, which was a huge overbet, and it put Dan all-in. Dan then flipped up ace jack with the jack of clubs! He kept talking to his friend on the phone. He said, "My friend thinks you have a low flush." After thinking some more, he said, "I call," and Joe turned over 8 9 of clubs for the flush. We all started laughing like crazy because this guy on the phone had read Joe perfectly based on just hearing how the hand played out. The turn and river were both red, and Dan was out in 4th.

The whole dynamic of the table changed once Dan left. Andy, who was now the shortstack, began going all-in every time from the small blind when I folded on the button. Anytime I came in raising, I usually took it uncontested, and this kept me afloat. Joe was raising less often than either of us, but it was obvious he was biding his time to finally catch Andy when he moved in on him. One hand came up where Andy limped on the button (for the first time all night), Joe limped, and I checked with queen 6. I thought it was really suspicious that Andy had limped, especially because he didn't have more than 15 grand left. The flop came queen 9 4, and Joe checked, as did I. Andy moved all-in, and right when it got back to me, I called. In retrospect, it was a stupid call, because I knew he was up to something limping on the blind, plus I didn't think about it like I usually do. Andy had pocket aces, and they held up, so I lost about 15 grand on this hand. Dumb, dumb move. I took some of it back though, when I kept raising Andy's blind, which was now at 1500-3000. Finally, Andy moved in on Joe's blind again, and after about 20 times of folding, Joe called immediately with ace queen suited. Andy had king ten, which didn't make Joe happy, because he didn't have Andy dominated. The flop brought a queen, and the river an ace, so Joe had top two pair, and we were now heads up.

Joe was just slightly over 2-1 on me, with 108k to 52k. The very first hand, I came in raising on the button with jack 9, and Joe went all-in, so I tossed it. OK, so this is how it's gonna be. I decided to limp more and use my position, and we traded punches for a while, staying about the same as we started. I lost a lot of money on one hand when I picked up 4 5 on the big blind when Joe limped in. We saw a flop of 2 8 9, and we both checked. The turn was a queen, and I bet out 6 thousand. Joe started talking to himself, which I found very odd, and said, "You checked the flop, now did I let you hit a queen?" He then called. I knew something was up, so i was going to give up on it, but the river paired the queen, and it also put a third diamond out there. I didn't think he had a queen, or a draw. I figured he flopped two pair and was sucking me in, so this queen was the worst card he could hope to see. I bet out 12 thousand. He went into the tank, and after a few minutes, he called. I rapped the table, and he flipped up 2 8, so my read was dead on, but his was even better, as he put me on a steal. This hurt me, and I lost a similar pot when I made a big bet on the turn of a board that was king queen 9 5. Joe moved all-in, and I had to muck. I was down to about 12 grand, so I was looking to double up in a hurry. Joe limped on my big blind, and I had about 9 thousand left. I looked down to see king 7, and I moved all-in. Joe thought for a second, then said, "this is better than the average hand, so I'll call," and flipped over king 9. Ouch. His 9 played on a ragged board, so it was all over. I took second, 40 bucks, and 60 points. Joe moved into second overall, while I moved into third. Gibby hung on to first but it shouldn't be long before I catch him.

Quote of the day: "Gibby's mom has got it going on-" sung by half the final table at one point to rag on Gibby, to which Gibby replied, "You guys like women with no teeth?" I have no idea what the hell this means, but it made me laugh.

Terrence's bankroll: $799+$5+$30=$834

Tonight was my usual Thursday game in Lewis with the guys. We had 7 turn out tonight, and we changed the chip values to reflect the changes I made on Tuesday ($10,000 in chips). I felt really good coming in to tonight. I've been very relaxed at the table recently, which is surprising because I've been a little anxious away from it. I think present events have made me focus that extra bit while I'm playing.

As you know, I finished second on Tuesday, and I was all set to win the yellow chip tonight. I showed up in a pair of slippers, mostly because I'm lazy and I was kind of burnt after my intramural basketball game tonight, so I didn't change. When we drew for seating, Moonie and I both picked a 4, so we had to redraw. He picked a 2, so I was set, but then I picked a 2! This was the first ever triple draw that I can remember. Moonie then drew a 9, and I drew a 6. I had three hearts, though, so we decided that I should be able to try for my flush to beat Moonie. My next card wasn't a heart, but it was a 5, so I had a gutshot straight draw. Everyone agreed that if I pulled a 3 for my straight, I would win. I picked, and it was a 3! What a great way to start the night. The seating ended up being me, Moonie, Roy, Bobby, Pete, Donald, and Yush. Donald was a little bit late, so we blinded him in.

Early on, I got complete crap cards. I wasn't playing anything, and I sat back and watched in horror (or delight?) as Roy got eaten alive in a few short minutes. He was out before I had the chance to really play much at all. His problem was he kept getting nice hands like ace king or ace queen, and he couldn't hit a flop to save his life. It didn't help that everyone but me was calling his raises, no matter how big they were, preflop. Stop being call stations, everyone!

Meanwhile, the deck was hitting Bobby square in the face. He flopped a set of ducks against Roy and Moonie in a huge pot early on, and he was the chip leader for the first hour or so. I was still laying low, and when four guys limped onto my big blind, I looked down to see 10 7 offsuit and figured it was worth a big raise. Actually, I just wanted to teach them not to limp on my blind, so this raise served a larger purpose than just winning the pot- I needed to get some respect early. I raised it 1200, and they all folded. I showed them the 10 7, and told them they better be careful if they felt like messing with me.

Once Bobby deck-shaped scar on his face healed, it was Pete's turn to be assaulted by the deck. He went on a rush where he raised 8 out of 9 pots, and won almost all of them. He quickly built himself to the chip lead, and he had a monster stack of black chips that dwarfed anything we could match. Pete was ripe for the picking, though, and I could tell he was getting his confidence back. Luckily for me, my major is confidence crushing, with a minor in Pete confidence crushing. After losing some chips to Bobby, I got involved with Pete, and I'll take this time to lambast his play as best I can. Pete came in raising 1200 on my big blind, and I looked down to see ace 7 of diamonds. I didn't read Pete as being particularly strong, and he had been raising pot after pot. I went all-in for another 6500, not wanting a call obviously, but pretty confident that he would fold. It got back to him and he started thinking. He said, "You don't have anything; I'll bet you have nothing." I told him to go ahead and call then. I was yapping all over the place, retaining my cockiness that I've had recently, and I was still pretty sure Pete was just stalling before a fold. After about a minute (which is Pete's shortest decision-making time ever) he called. I flipped over my ace 7 of diamonds, and he showed... king jack of clubs. KING JACK OF CLUBS!!! I can only imagine what Roy would have done if Pete called him with this, but I just laid into him. "How can you call with a hand like that?" I said. "It can't beat anything." "I thought you had nothing," was his reply.

There's a major lesson here: Don't let your ego get involved when you play poker. If you try to put a target on someone's back, you end up playing poorly and losing. Pete called to prove that I couldn't bully him (getting less than 1.5:1 pot odds, no less), and he ended up doubling me up, losing his huge chip lead, and setting a fire under me, opening the door for me to rag on him as much as possible.

Oh, I'll bet you're wondering how I won that hand? The flop came 7 7 9, and I gave Pete a big "Eat it" when it did. Trip 7s beat his king high. Good call, Pete.

Immediately after the hand, I told Pete, "Now you've created a monster." I was up to about $16,000 in chips, and I think all the crap I was giving Pete about the call began to get to him. He was throwing money away left and right, and before I knew it, he was one of the shortstacks.

The next one out after Roy was Yush. Yush was shortstacked after losing a big pot against Moonie with pocket 10s against aces into a board that had three 7s. He got all his money in preflop with pocket tens again, against Bobby's pocket 7s a bit later. The flop and turn were innocuous, but Bobby hit his miracle two-outer on the river to take Yush out. Oh, I just remembered, Roy went out also against Bobby, when Roy got all-in with 4s preflop to Bobby's ace ten. Roy flopped a set, but Bobby hit runner-runner to hit a straight.

Moonie lost most of his money by calling EVERYTHING. He saw almost any flop for any price, and that's how you go broke, which he did. I forgot how he went out, but my brain is telling me Bobby sucked out on him on the river, too. Maybe I'm crazy. I, meanwhile, was building my stack up steadily since the hand with Pete, and I became the dominant force at the table. Pete got blinded away, and he tried to take a stab at every pot, it seemed like, but he kept getting picked off. Pete's main problem is he doesn't understand how to use aggression to win. Since I taught him how to be more aggressive, he's gone through periods of mindless aggression, assuming a check always means weakness. The problem is, people know that Pete will stab at anything, so they keep checking to him. Pick your spots, Pete, and try to read people. That's what it's all about. (You put your right arm in...)

A very strange, and potentially fatal, hand came up not long after Donald came back. I was the big blind, he was the small blind, and after the cards were dealt, he went to throw his hand away. We told him that it was his small blind, so he took his cards back. Everyone folded to him, and rather than folding, he called. "What the hell is going on here?" I thought. I looked down to see pocket 2s, a hand I have no real need to see a flop with heads up, and I moved all-in for $21,700. There was only $1,200 in the pot, so it was a massive overbet, but I knew he couldn't call because of his near-fold before. After I said all-in, he said, "Are you serious?" This scared the hell out of me, because I felt like I had just gotten trapped in an elaborate scheme to foil my poker life, and I responded with what must have sounded like a very parched, scared "Yes." He started thinking, and inside my head I was like, "Oh my God, what have I done. I'm going to get killed because of this idiot move I just made." I tried to put on a cool facade, though, and I said, "I'll show it to you if you fold," as if to imply I had a monster. This usually comforts people, and makes them more likely to fold. Donald said, "Before I fold?" and I told him no way, because if he felt like a crazy gambler, he might see the coinflip and figure, "Why not?" Plus, if he had 3s or 4s, he would call in a heartbeat. Finally, thank God, he folded, and I showed him the deuces. He had ace 3, and he actually would have hit an ace to beat me.

By the time we got four-handed, I had the chip lead, Bobby had a big stack, Donald was up a bit, and Pete was down. I turned on the jets, as I usually do when the blinds go up and post-flop play slows down. I started raising on Bobby's big blind almost every single time, and the one time I folded he had a big hand, hahaha. This resulted in Bobby getting whittled away, while I kept going up. I didn't get involved too much with the other two guys, as I was making a nice living off a steady diet of Bobby-blinds. Mmm mmm good. One hand came up where Donald came in raising a couple thousand, I reraised with pocket kings, and he tossed it. Other than that we didn't butt heads much... yet.

I continued my raising rampage, and I saw pocket 4s on the button. I doubled the blind (the big blind was now at 800), and when it got back to Pete, he reraised 1500. I found it a very strange raise, as he should have raised more if he wanted to take it down there, but I got the feeling he wanted me to play. I figured him for kings or aces, and I called for a couple reasons. First, I thought that I could bust him if I hit my set, and second, I could just feel that 4 coming off the deck. I called, and the flop came 4 3 6. When Pete checked, I was positive that he had an overpair, as he would most definitely lead out with anything that he wasn't slowplaying. I bet 1200, a very weak bet, or a My Little Pony bet, if you will. It was a bet that was just begging to be raised. When it got back to Pete, he started arranging his stack, and he finally went all-in for another 6 thousand or so. I called immediately and showed the 4s, and Pete jumped out the window. We found him on top of a blue fire truck that was parked outside. The coroner said he died on impact and felt no pain. --- Ok, I'm lying, Pete didn't jump out the window, but he will one day. He almost did tonight, but luckily for the fire truck, he didn't. He told me I got lucky, but apparently he forgot that he didn't go all-in preflop, so there was no draw out involved. I told him that I sucked him into losing all of his chips, and he got pissed and left a minute later. I must have missed it, but apparently he took the hook out of his mouth on his way out the door, otherwise I would have felt a tug as he left.

With three left, I figured it was only a matter of time until Bobby got killed, because he just can't play shorthanded. All he does is call and fold, and even if he hits his monsters, you can fold and minimize the damage, so he really has no way to beat you. With about 11 thousand left, he finally came in raising on the 500-1000 blinds. He made it 3000 to go, and I looked down to see queen ten. Not a good hand, but I figured I could take the pot off him with a safe flop, so I called. The flop was 2 4 6, and I bet out 1500 in first position. It was a very small bet, but I figured he would either move all-in with an overpair, or fold overcards. It was worth a shot, with the pot at 6500. He shook his head and folded, as he cursed the poker gods for that terrible flop.

A few hands later, Donald came in raising, and Bobby went all-in from the big blind immediately. Donald was pretty pot-committed, and he called. Bobby had pocket aces, and they held up, so he doubled through. In the meantime, I got involved in some pots with Donald where I lost some chips. Once again, Donald raised on the button, and once again, Bobby went all-in on the big blind. Donald called, being pot-committed, and flipped queen ten. Bobby showed pocket aces again. Just so you know, I looked up the odds of a random player getting pocket aces, and they were 221-1. I then looked up the odds of Bobby getting pocket aces, and they were 5-1. Very interesting stuff. Donald had queen ten, and when the flop came 2 6 7, it looked like Bobby would double up again. The turn, though was an 8, and the river was a 9, giving Donald a runner-runner of his own to gave Bobby, The King of the River Suck-Out, as he will now be known, a taste of his own medicine.

On to heads up. We did a quick inventory of the chips, and found that Donald had a slight edge: $37,400 to my $32,600. Donald was the only one that had given me problems tonight, but I was confident I would win, especially after losing my heads up encounter on Tuesday. I never lose two heads up matches in a row. Early on, I tried raising a couple pots, but Donald seemed to be calling almost everything, and he was calling practically immediately. I decided that this wouldn't be a worthwhile strategy, so I began to limp more often. Donald had been raising quite a bit on the button, too, and he had put some more ground between us. Finally, I found pocket 10s when he came in raising $3,000, and I went all-in after thinking for a minute. My bet was $21,000 on top, and Donald called almost immediately. "Oh crap," I thought, "I ran into a monster." But no, he flipped over ace 8 offsuit. Again, I don't understand the call. Everyone seems to think that I want to bluff all my chips away, but I don't, especially because everything gets called. The board was all garbage, so I hung on to take the chip lead. This made it about 50-20 in my favor, and the very next hand, I picked up ace queen of spades. I came in raising $3,000, and Donald went all-in for another 16 grand. I thought he may have a pocket pair, but not one as high as queens. He may have a raggy ace, in which case I'm in excellent shape. He went all-in quickly, and it made me think that he wasn't very strong, so I called figuring it was no worse than a coin flip. Before I did, though, I just let the poker gods know that I was wise to their tricks, and that I knew they gave me pocket tens and ace queen in back-to-back hands to rig the karma lottery against me. Donald has pocket 7s, and the board was composed of toxic waste in playing card form, so he doubled up.

This gave Donald a small lead, but I still wasn't worried. Don't ask me why, I just had a calm about me tonight. On the next few hands, Donald made a lot of overbets, and he went all-in a lot after the flop, so I decided to just wait and trap him for all his chips. I also decided that stealing the blinds was back in style, as he had noticed I was playing somewhat passive preflop, so he may give me credit for real hands if I made a few selective steals. I was successful in taking the blinds most times when I tried, and he continued to make his all-in moves. I came in raising $3,000 on the button with 7 3 offsuit, on a total steal, and Donald reraised $5,000. He had done this a few times before, and I was pretty sure that he didn't have a pocket pair, but more likely two picture cards. After being almost completely sure about this, I finally called, knowing that I could trap him if I hit the flop. I was pretty sure that any pair would be good if there was no paint, and when the flop came 2 3 7, I really knew I was set. I checked to him, and he bet $5,000. I decided that if I went all-in, he would fold his overcards, and I didn't want that, because i had finally found a spot to trap him for all his chips. After an excruciating deliberation, replete with head scratches, mutterings, and funky looks in his direction, I called. I was sure that if I pulled off my acting job well enough, he would move all-in on me on the turn, and I would have it. The turn was a 10, and I checked it. He went all-in, and I called him before he could touch his chips. He then threw his cards face down and said, "You got it," and I flipped my two pair. He had queen 9, so he was drawing dead. I just barely had him covered, so it was all over. I took home $25 and a yellow chip for my troubles.

Quote of the day: ""I thought you had nothing." Pete, after calling an all-in with king jack of clubs. Tsk, tsk.

Terrence's bankroll: $834+$20=$854