I've now played in four tournaments since I last wrote here, which is unfortunate because there have been some really good games since then. I'll sum up the past three before going in depth on tonight's action.

A week and a half ago at our Thursday game, I took first place when I beat Bobby heads up after cruising for much of the night. On the final hand, I had ace queen, he had ace jack, and we got all our money in on a flop of ace king ten. I hit a jack on the turn for the nut straight, so I took $20 and my 12th yellow chip.

Last Tuesday's Stacy Poker Tour event finally saw the end of my streak of dominance. I have to admit, I went on tilt a little bit at the final table after I got reraised on five straight hands that I played laying them all down. I finally made an incredibly retarded call with queen ten after I came in raising and Stephen went all-in. I was getting 2-1 pot odds, and I felt like gambling, but Stephen doesn't move all-in without premium hands, so I shouldn't have been surprised when he turned over queens to annihilate my queen ten. It was a deeply stupid call on my part, and I can only blame myself for tilting in the face of all those reraises. Aaron finally knocked me out later when I made a move with king 8 of spades a couple of spots off the button. He called with ace 3 of diamonds, and the ace held up. I did have a sick hand earlier at my first table, though, where I limped in with pocket queens under the gun, and managed to have two shortstacks go all-in behind me. I was more than happy to call them, and I proceeded to flop top set, then river quads on them. They hand ace high, and ten high, respectively. So that was nice. In the end, though, I finished 9th out of 17 and lost $10.

Last Thursday's game saw me get a frigid wave of cards. I couldn't get any starting hands worth playing, and I had to use every ounce of my shortstack ability to hang on. I ended up finishing third after that bastard Roy trapped me with pocket kings. He limped on the button, I had pocket tens on the big blind, all the money went in (as I said out loud that I knew he was trapping me) and I was out in third. That got me my money back. Other notable things that happened during that game was having Aaron whacked when his kings ran into Nasty Nate's aces, Moonie hitting every card under the sun, flopping about 5 sets, hitting trips with a king kicker another 9 times, yet he still finished in fourth. That's how tough play was when we got four-handed. Oh, and Moonie's new nickname is Moonie the Executioner, coined by me. I'm going to bring a black hood to poker this coming Thursday for him to wear.
For my third place finish, I got my money back. Hooraaaaaaaay.

Terrence's 3 game bankroll: $15-$10+0= $5

Quote of the day: "I know you've been waiting all night to trap me, Roy. Well all right, you got me."- Me as I pushed in all my chips against Roy's sneaky pocket kings.

Now on to tonight's game. I began the night in the ping pong room. We had 14 people play tonight, slightly less than we've been having, but it was still a good number. The seating for my first table was me (I had the button, finally!), Andy, Stephen, Will, Dave, Pete, Dan.

The very first hand, I limped on the button with 4 6 of spades after Dan limped from the cutoff seat. Both blinds played, and we saw a flop of queen 6 2. Everyone checked to me, so I bet out 400. Only Dan called. The turn was a deuce, and he bet out 400. I was a little confused, as I didn't put him on a 2, so I called, thinking I may be letting him chase something cheap, but I didn't want to go nuts with a couple of 6s, either. The river was a queen, and he checked it to me. That meant that I could now beat only a busted draw or very low pockets, so I checked. Dan had queens full, but I'm too smart to go betting into him. So I minimized my losses there. The very next hand, I picked up ace ten on the cutoff, and when everyone folded, I raised it 400 coming in. Only Will called, and when the flop came king queen 3, he checked. I figured he'd bet with anything, so I bet out 600. He folded, saying he didn't want to chase a gutshot, so who knows, maybe he had ace ten, also. That's why it's good to be the aggressor. So after two hands I was basically even.

I cooled down a little bit after that, not playing so many hands, but I still mixed it up with everyone. The good thing about playing with everyone so often is that I no longer have to wait a round or two to get a feel for what everyone is doing. I know how they play, and I can use that knowledge right from the get-go. With the blinds at 200-400, Pete limped in on my big blind, then Dan raised it another 700 to go from the small blind. I called with ace ten and position, and Pete folded. The flop was king queen 8. Dan checked, and I was suspicious, so I took a free card. The turn was a rag, and Dan checked again. Now I figured he either had a huge monster or he had just abandoned the hand. At this point, I put him on mid-pockets, as that board would scare anyone into checking. I bet out 800, and he called. Hmm... I still thought something was up, but I wasn't about to give up on it yet. I didn't think he was strong at all. The river paired the king. Right when it came off, I saw this as a good card for me. There was no way he had a king with the way he had played it. A king would bet out at the flop to make any chasers pay, and he wouldn't check-call the turn. Dan then bet out 1200. I knew immediately that he was weak, and this was some kind of protection bet, meant to represent the king and force me to throw away something like queen jack. I still thought he had mid-pockets, and I quickly raised another 2500, leaving myself with 3000. He thought for about two full minutes, then finally folded. He wanted to know what I had, but I told him he would find out later, as I know he reads my poker diary. I had ace ten, Dan, for just ace high, but I read you as being really weak. I talked to Pete afterwards about this hand, and he remembers thinking that Dan was weak to bet out on the river like he did, and he thought I was full of it when I raised, because he knew that I read Dan as being weak. It's complicated, but that's a little insight to what's going on in my head during a hand.

Taking that pot got me back in very good shape, with about 12.5 grand. If I had lost it, I would have had only 3 thousand left. I didn't want to press my luck too much after that, and I avoided any big hands. I mostly made my living off of eating up Will and Stephen's blinds. Stephen told me he was folding pocket pairs to me when I came in raising, so decided to keep doing it. Most times I had good hands on the button, so if they did play with me I would have been OK, but I was fine taking the blinds and steadily increasing my stack.

Up came a big hand between Pete and Andy. Try to figure out what they both had. Pete came in raising in middle position, 800 on top of the blinds. Andy reraised another 1000 from the small blind. Pete called. The flop was 4 9 10, and Andy bet out 1000 again. Pete raised another 2000 on top, and Andy, after much thinking called. The turn was a jack. Andy checked, and Pete bet out 3000. Andy raised all-in for another 5 thousand or so, and Pete called. What did they both have? I put Andy on aces or kings, judging by the reraise preflop. Andy won't reraise without good hands. I thought Pete had either pocket 9s or tens for a set on the flop. That would explain him only calling Andy's reraise preflop. It would also explain why he pushed so hard on the flop and turn, because it appeared that Andy had an overpair and would pay him off. Well, the read on Andy was right: he had kings. Pete had... ace jack. Which meant he called a reraise preflop with a hand that's in big trouble against almost any reraising hand. Mistake #1. His big raise on the flop wasn't a terrible play, because if Andy had, say, ace king, he would have had to fold it. But then Andy called, so Pete had to give him credit for a big hand. The turn killed Pete, because it gave him top pair, top kicker. I think he stopped thinking about what Andy had and got blinded by his own hand, so he ignored all the signs and put all his money in. Lately Pete's been learning the hard way the dangers of playing ace-x for big money. The river bricked and Pete was dead.

This gave Andy a big stack, so I made a mental note to be more careful raising when Andy was in the hand. I kept stealing blinds, but I was very selective about it. A hand came up where Stephen, under the gun, went all-in for about 7000 with the blinds at 300-600. What the heck??? Everyone folded, and he took the blinds. A very strange play. The very next hand, everyone folded to the blinds (I didn't steal this time, thank God), and Andy raised another 1000 over the big blind. Stephen went all-in again, and Andy called. Stephen had kings, and Andy had ace queen. An ace on the turn gave Andy a new mountain of chips. Stephen wasn't happy about it, but when you play the all-in game, you're going to get burned sooner or later. That's why the best players win by outplaying people after the flop.

We had lost a couple players, so we high-carded someone over from the other table to play 5-handed until we could eliminate one more for the final table. That one was Aaron. He pulled an ace at his table, only to watch Gibby pull an ace, too. He then pulled another ace, meaning he would have had pocket aces if they played that hand, but instead he got to come over with us. We played only about 2 hands before someone went out on the other table, so we combined for the final table at 9. I was in good shape, with around 16 grand. Andy had a huge mountain of chips, over 30 grand. Godwin came in with over 20 grand, and everyone else was either average or shortstacked. Seating went me (the button again!), Andrew, Andy, Will, Gibby, Dave, Aaron, Alex, and Godwin. I stayed selectively aggressive at this table, picking off Gibby and Will's blinds every chance I could, but not trying to raise Dave, aka All-in man's, blinds. I mostly just played my position and built my stack without getting in any big confrontations.

I lost a bit of money on my big blind when Dave and Godwin both limped. I looked down to see 2 3 off, so I checked. The flop was queen 5 2, and we all checked. The turn was a 3, giving me two pair, but it also put a club flush out there. For some reason, I checked, and Dave bet out 3 grand. I called. Very weak. The river was a blank, and I checked again. Dave bet 4 grand, and I called, and he turned over 9 10 of clubs for a flush. He bet it well, I played it weak, so that added up to me losing a good little chunk of my stack. I was still fine, but it was the first time I had lost a showdown all night where any significant amount of money went into the pot.

I got all my money back on the next hand, though. All of it and then some. Three people limped, and Aaron, who had been nursing a shortstack for as long as I had seen him, went all-in for another 5500 on top of the blinds. There was already about 3500 in dead money out there, so it was a good play, but unfortunately for him, I woke up with pocket kings in the small blind. I reraised all-in for another 12 grand or so. Everyone else folded, and he turned over ace 4 of clubs. Someone mentioned that they had folded an ace, so he only had two outs other than a straight or a flush. The board was harmless, though, so I got revenge on Aaron for last week. I also put myself in second chip position behind Andy, and guaranteed that Aaron wouldn't be gaining on me this week in the Tournament of Champions standings.

After that, I was on cruise control for a while, raising a few hands preflop, betting on the flop, and taking most of them down. Andy, meanwhile was dropping pretty steadily, as he was playing way too tightly for a big stack. The blinds were significant, and every round he bled off another 3000 or so of his stack. One hand came up where I raised 3500 from the button and he called on the small blind. I had king 9 of hearts, and the flop was 2 2 6 with two hearts. He checked, so I made a big bet to get him to lay down right there, free cards be damned. I wanted the pot without a fight, because he was the only one that could hurt me. He folded, so I was fine with that.

I tried to be sneaky a while later. Everyone folded to me in the small blind, and I raised it up with 2 4 off. Andy called, and when the flop came ace 6 7, I bet out, and he went all-in. That cost me about 7 grand. Down to 5-handed, I was second in chips, Dave had a good amount, and Alex and Godwin were both shortstacked. The top four got paid, so we were on the bubble. I picked up pocket 7s in second position, and I raised it 4000 over the 1k-2k blinds. Andy reraised another 6000. Everyone else folded, and I had a decision to make. I took a good look at him, and I just didn't get the feeling that he had a monster. I didn't think he would reraise me with something like pocket 9s, so I decided he had something like ace queen, and I moved all-in on top of his raise for another 17 grand or so. He was by no means pot-committed, so I made the raise hoping to move him off his high cards, as I don't want to get in a coin flip with the one guy who can kill me on the bubble. He called, and I said, "You have a pair?" He said no and flipped over ace king of hearts. Eek. My read was good, but I wasn't really happy to be in a coin flip situation for my tournament life. The flop was 5 6 ace, meaning I was in trouble. For some reason, though, a calm came over me, and I felt sure I would hit something. The turn was a 4, making me open-ended, so now I had 10 outs. The river was a beautiful 7, giving me a set to beat his aces, so I doubled up and crippled Andy. I had a huge chip lead after this hand, and I knew I could coast into the top 3 at least. The very next hand, Godwin doubled the blind under the gun, Andy went all-in, Dave went all-in on top of him, and Godwin folded pocket 9s. Andy had jacks, and Dave had 8s. I don't like Dave's play here at all. You're facing a raise and a reraise from two tight players, and you re-push with 8s? Maybe against just one of them that would be OK, but not both. Unfortunately for Andy, the flop came 6 8 8, giving Dave quads. Andy was mighty pissed, and he got up and slammed the door on his way out. He also threw his chips across the table at Dave, which was a bit unsportsmanlike, but Andy's usually a gentleman when he loses, so I think he can have a pass for this time. It all started with pushing with ace king on the hand against me, though. I don't know why people fall in love with ace king so much. If you get raised, then reraised, what can ace king beat? You must be against a pocket pair, in which case you're a slight underdog. If I were him, I would have flat-called with position against me. He would have been able to raise the flop and win the hand when the ace hit.

With Andy out, I knew I'd be gaining on everybody who was near me in the points standings. Four-handed, Alex knocked out Godwin with ace king against queen jack when they were all-in preflop and Alex hit top two pair. Alex doubled up off of me later when he limped on my big blind, and I went all-in, which covered his 10 grand. He called immediately and turned over ace king. I only had ace 6, but still, why the hell would you slowplay ace king? If I would have checked and the flop came down with rags, you just let someone hit their awful cards for free. The flop gave me a 6, so I had him, and the turn was an ace, but then the queen paired up, so my 6s were counterfeited and his king kicker played. This got him back in good position, but I whittled away at him on a couple key hands. I checked pocket 5s on my big blind against Dave. The flop came queen 10 4, and we both checked. The turn paired the ten, so I bet out 4000, and he called. I was pretty sure he was drawing. The river blanked, and when we both checked, my 5s were good. I then got Alex when he came in raising to 10k and I saw pocket 3s. I didn't think he had a pocket pair, but I also didn't want to get it all-in preflop on a coinflip. I called, and when the flop came king 6 6, I checked, he bet out 4 thousand, and I raised 4 thousand. He folded, so I made a good read that my 3s were the best hand, while getting some chips out of him, too. A few hands later, Alex came in raising to 10k again. I saw pocket 9s, and I reraised enough to put him all-in. He called with ace ten, and my 9s held up, so we were heads up.

Dave had a slight edge on me, about 75 grand to 65 grand. He won the first 4 hands when I folded preflop.
My strategy was to see cheap flops and wait for him to move in on me when I had big hands. He loves moving all-in, and I planned on using it against him. On the 5th hand, I picked up pocket aces, and he came in doubling the 2k-4k blinds. I reraised 12 thousand more, and he moved all-in. I immediately called and tabled my rockets, and he only had king 4. The board ended up being 9 9 9 5 jack, so I demolished him. This gave me the chip lead, but he doubled up on me a few hands later when I misread him. I bet 4 thousand with jack 8 on the turn, with the board reading ace ten ten 8. He raised all-in. I thought he was stealing, as there hadn't been any betting up until this point, but he had an ace, so he doubled up.

The pivotal hand of the match came when I had queen 7(computer hand!) of clubs, and I limped in. The flop was ace 10 6, with two clubs, and when he checked. I decided to take a free card to try to win a big pot. I don't like betting my draws against Dave, because he likes to check-raise all-in a lot. The turn was the perfect king of clubs, giving me the nut flush. He checked, and I bet 6 thousand. He raised me 12. I didn't think he was too strong, so I just called, hoping to get a big bet out of him on the river. The river paired the king, which didn't make me happy, because I no longer had the nut flush. He bet out 12 thousand, and I raised another 20. He went all-in for another 16 *(he barely had me covered). I thought for a second, then called. He had 8 9 of clubs, so my queen-high flush took it down. This left him with only about 8 grand, and two hands later we were all-in with 8 10 for me and 6 9 for him. The flop was 3 4 5, which didn't make me happy, but the turn paired my 8, and the river was a king, so I took first place, $60, and a huge lead in the Player of the Year standings.

Quote of the day: tabulas.com/~Peterman You just can't beat that.

Terrence's bankroll: $924+$5+$50=$979