Once again, I've been too busy to get some entries in.  I've been muddling around near even lately.  Since the last time I've written, I've come  to realize what my problems have been, and I think I'm back.  I lost my patience for a while at the beginning of tournaments, and that resulted in me making more moves early, without much success.  The Tuesday games have been where I've noticed this the most, and it has resulted in my Player of the Year lead being cut down to 10 points by Gibby.  I did finally get off the schneid on Thursday, though, taking first place and $25, my first win in a few weeks.  It was also the first time I've played close to flawlessly since before spring break.  I'll go over some of the major hands.

Very early on, I picked up pocket 5s in middle position.  I limped in and saw a flop with Pete and Yush.  The flop was ace queen 5 rainbow.  Yush bet out 500 and I flatcalled.  Pete also called behind me.  The turn was a 9.  Yush bet out 2000 this time, and again I called, while Pete folded.  The river was a jack, meaning the only thing that could beat me was king ten or ten 8, which were virtually impossible holdings for Yush to have.  He went all-in, and I called pretty quickly.  He had ace 5 for two pair, so I eliminated him and doubled my stack to 20 grand.

This gave me a quick chip lead, but it was still early, with 6 players left, so I stayed patient.  I picked up a lot of small pots with medium bets on the flop, and this helped me continue to build my stack.  When we got down to four-handed, I got my first ever straight flush.  I made a small raise under the gun with 9 10 of hearts, and I was called by Sun and Bobby from the blinds.  The flop came down 7 8 jack, with the 7 and 8 of hearts.  They checked to me and I threw out a small bet.  Sun check-raised me another two grand.  The turn was the jack of hearts, making me a straight flush for the first time ever.

Later on I got tricky with ace king, hoping to trap someone with a good flop.  I limped in under the gun, and Pete called on the button.  Both blinds played, so we saw a flop.  The flop was ace jack 4.  The blinds checked, and I checked too, because I was almost sure Pete was gonna come out with a bet.  He didn't disappoint, and he fired out two grand.  The others folded, and I raised 5 thousand.  Pete thought for a bit, then reraised all-in for another 3500.  I called, and he flipped ace 9, which is what I figured he had when he reraised.  I showed the ace king and he was almost in disbelief at how I had played it.  Yeah, it was risky, letting everyone in to see the flop, but I figured the deception I could add to my hand was worth the chance of letting something ugly hit.  The turn and river were blanks, and Pete, who had played very well, was done.  He took a good-sized pot from me earlier in the night when his ace king beat my ace queen with an ace on board, although I did minimize my losses on the hand.  I'm confident that Pete has found his game and will be a force to be reckoned with these last few weeks.

Down to three-handed, I assaulted Bobby and Sun's blinds with lots of small raises, roping them into playing mediocre hands on the flop or just giving up their blinds altogether.  I made a small raise on the button with 3 4 offsuit, and both players called.  The flop was 5 6 king.  They both checked, and I bet out two thousand on my open-ended draw.  Sun raised me two thousand, which didn't make me happy, but I was getting great odds to draw to the straight.  I called.  The turn was a 9, and Sun bet out 4 thousand.  On straight up odds, I wasn't getting the right pot odds to draw out on him, but I was sure that if I hit my straight I could bust him, and when I took his whole stack into account, I was getting just enough implied odds to hit my straight.  I called, and the river was a 2, giving me the straight.  All the money went in, and his set of 5s were no good.

Heads up with Bobby was a formality, as I had the chip lead on him, as well as a track record of owning him heads up.  I kept grinding him down until he was extremely shortstacked, and eventually he pushed in and I saw pocket 9s.  I called, and they held up against his ace 5.  I got $25 and a boohbah (this odd yellow Grimace doppelganger which has replaced the now-depleted yellow chips) for my efforts.

In the games since I last wrote in Tabulas, I was down $5, but after my $20 win, I'm now up $15 during that stretch.

Quote of the day: "You cheeky bastard!"- Pete after getting caught by my limped-in ace king.

Terrence's bankroll: $979+$15=$994