Last night was Erik's second tournament.  It began at 6:15 and had 16 entrants, up from 12 last week.  I'd been thinking about my mistakes from the last game all week, just running them through my head over and over.  My mood coming into the game was confidence with a little dash of urgency.  Even though it was just the second week, I couldn't afford to bomb out and give up ground in the Player of the Year race.  The top eight make the TOC, and to be honest, I'm not worried about that at all, as I could probably make it in my sleep.  Player of the Year, however, is going to take some work.

We drew for tables, and I got placed on Erik's nice table that he built himself.  Even better, I had a relatively lackluster mix of players to tangle with.  Tom, Josh, and Foti were all at the other table, while I had, from my left, Will, new Dan, Saied, new Dan's friend, Charlie, Erik, and Joe.  The two most dangerous players were both to my right, and the rest of the table wasn't that intimidating.

The evening began on a wacky note.  The very first hand, Charlie raised it to 250 under the gun.  Joe called, as did new Dan and Dan's friend.  The flop came 4♥5♥K♠.  Dan's friend checked, and Charlie bet out 400.  Joe thought for about ten seconds, then called.  New Dan also called, and Dan's friend folded.  The turn was the 9♣, and Charlie bet out about 600, I believe.  Joe thought and thought and finally mucked disgustedly.  New Dan called once again.  The 8♥ appeared on the river, and Charlie bet about 1100.  Dan called, and Charlie revealed his favorite hand, 2♥3♥, for a flush.  Dan mucked, and Charlie took a huge pot on the first hand by raising with 2 3 under the gun.  Wow.

For the first hour or so, I didn't win a pot.  I saw a few flops cheaply, but mucked after I missed.  Still, I was at about 9400 and fine, thanks to Erik's awesome structure that allows us to actually play. A few trends had emerged that I picked up on.  New Dan apparently watches far too much poker on TV, because he just loved the feeling of moving all-in.  With blinds at 100-200, he moved all-in under the gun for 4500.  Of course everyone folded and he won 300.  Dan's friend loved to see flops.  He called most bets with trash, and was leaking chips like a flu patient's nose.  Then there was Charlie.  Oh, Charlie.  Charlie was playing a lot of hands, most very aggressively, so his swings were tremendous.  For some odd reason, he seemed to be the most aggressive with the worst hands.  To give you an idea of how maniacally he was playing compared to me, who was mostly sitting back and playing solid hands, he raised with a deuce in his hand six times that I know about, and possibly many more.  In the six hours I played, I raised with a deuce in my hand once, an A2 at the tail end of the tournament.  Erik, like me, was sitting back and waiting for his spots to pick off the fools.

With blinds at 100-200, I found big slick in middle position after a limp by Charlie.  I raised it another 600, and Will called behind me.  New Dan then moved all-in for another 3700.  It folded back to me, and I had a decision to make.  With new Dan's propensity for moving all-in, I didn't see how I could fold this getting about 1.75-1.  I hate committing chunks of my stack with ace king, but there's no way that he had aces or kings.  I was worried about Will, though.  His call behind me seemed confident, and I put him on pocket 10s, a hand that may not fold if I flat-called.  I decided that I had to isolate, so I reraised all-in.  This achieved the desired result, and Will folded.  He had 7s or 8s, I can't remember which.  New Dan flipped over Jacks, which was much more than I gave him credit for, although they were the same as deuces as far as I was concerned.  The flop brought an ace, and I took him out and put myself up to about $15,000.  The next hand, I picked up pocket 7s.  I limped in, and Saied raised it 600 from the button.  Dan's friend called from the big blind, and I called.  What flop would you dream of coming in this situation?  I think 7◊5♣2♠ fits the bill nicely.  Amazingly, Dan's friend pushed all-in from first position for 1900.  All I could think about now was how Saied was going to go broke on this hand, because I thought he had high pockets.  After a little bit of Hollywooding, I called.  Saied also called, which was fine, but I was really hoping for a raise on his end.  The turn was a queen, and I checked, as did Saied.  The river was a 10, and I bet 2500.  Saied folded, showing Ace King suited, and I turned over my set.  Dan's friend just had king high, so he was dead.

The very next hand I looked down on my big blind to see pocket Jacks.  Four players had limped, and I raised it another 1000.  They all folded, so I won the pot.  So after an hour and a half of not winning a single hand, I had won three straight and had the chip lead. Amen to good structure.  I opened up a little bit after this, and I started to push my weight around.  Erik, meanwhile, had beaten a few people over the head with pocket kings in separate hands and had built a sizeable stack himself.  Besides the two players I had knocked out, Joe was out when his set of 4s lost to Will's wheel, and old Dan was knocked out when he got moved to our table and busted his short stack within a few hands. With five players at the table, I came in raising with the 7♠9♠ under the gun.  Charlie called, as did Erik.  The flop came K♠Q♥J◊, and they both checked.  With such a scary flop, I figured that being the aggressor, I could take down the pot with a big bet.  I bet the pot, and Charlie folded.  Erik pondered for a while, then said, "I'll get you later."  I flashed him my 7 9, and replied, "But I'll get you now."  Erik turned red, the whole table laughed at him, and I raked the pot.  A good time was had by all.

I put a huge dent in Saied's stack when I limped with K♠7♠ in middle position, and he raised from the small blind to 700.  I called with my position, and saw a beautiful flop of king 7 6 come down. He bet out 1200, I raised another 1800, and he called.  The turn paired the 6 on board, and we both checked.  The river paired the 7, so I had kings full of 7s.  He bet out 3000, and I put him all-in for another 3500.  He showed 8 9 and tossed it.  That definitely wasn't what I put him on, otherwise I would have bet to make him pay on the turn.

From the outset, the final table looked like it would be a classic.  Erik and I were the big stacks from our table, while Tom and Josh had the big stacks from the other table.  Foti had gotten whacked by Mutch, and he had a fair amount of chips, too.  I took the first two hands of the final table with an A9 raise on the button and a bet on the flop the next hand.

As I mentioned earlier, Erik was holding pocket kings half the time.  They literally were pocket kings because he kept them in his pocket and brought them out when he needed them.  At the final table, he played a pot in which he called a Charlie raise preflop, called Charlie's big flop bet, big turn bet, then all-in on the river. The board was something like 4 4 4 8 king, so erik had kings full.  Charlie had ace high, and this hand crippled him.  He fought back gamely though, doubling up off Josh with KQ against AJ, then picking up a few more pots to get back around 13,000.  After the first two hands, I wasn't involved a lot.  I couldn't afford to screw around, especially with so many dangerous players with dangerous chipstacks.  On the button, I limped with pocket 2s after a limp by Tom and a limp by Mutch.  The blinds played, and we saw the flop five-handed.  It was exactly what I was looking for, 2◊3♣5♥.  It checked around to Mutch, who bet out 1200.  With both of the blinds playing this hand, I couldn't just call and give a free card to a straight draw.  I put Mutch on either mid pockets or something like A5 or 56.  I raised it another 1800, and after the rest of the players folded, Mutch called.  The turn was an 8, and Mutch checked.  I bet 2500, not wanting to bet too small to allow him to hit if he had just called with a 4, but also not wanting to get rid of him in the event he had something that was drawing dead.  He called again, and now I put him on a middle pair, and pocket 6s were flashing in my head.  The river was a 9, and Mutch checked again.  I thought he would call a big bet, as the pot was already very big, so I bet 5000.  He thought for a bit, then moved all-in for another 11,000 on top.  This completely shocked me.  The first thing that went through my head was that my set was no good.  I didn't think Mutch was capable of making a move on me here, because he plays very timidly when he's against me in a pot. I went into the tank for what had to be five minutes.  There were three hands I could see that had me: ace 4, something he would definitely limp with in late position, or pocket 8s or 9s, which would have hit a higher set after the flop.  My original read was that he had mid-pockets, so this made sense.  I said out loud, "Mutch, I think I'm beat.  I know you're scared of me, so you wouldn't make a move here."  The whole table seemed to delight in this, but I wasn't happy.  The pot was monstrous at this point, and if I called and won, the tournament was mine for the taking.  However, if I called and lost, I'd be down to 6,000 and in big trouble.  17,000 was still near the average, and I knew I could work myself back, but this was a point where I just had to go with my gut.  I didn't see how I could have him, and I folded.  Charlie, who was peeking over my shoulder, saw my hand and said, "How did you fold that?!"  Erik asked Charlie what I had, and I answered kind of testily, "None of your business," because I hadn't shown my cards to Charlie, therefore Erik wasn't entitled to know.  I think I was a little bit rude with the way I said it, but it was a really hard fold to make and a big point in the tournament, so I had some trouble taking it well.  Still no excuse, though.  As he was raking in the pot, Mutch flashed me an 8, meaning that he had to have another one to beat me.

For the next few hands, I asked Mutch what he had- it was eating at me.  Finally, he said that he had ace 8, but I couldn't believe it.  How could he bet out then call on the flop?  I didn't let the hand affect my play, though, and I won a series of small pots to get back up over 20,000.  Mutch lost a string of pots to get down below 10,000, then the following hand came up.  Tom raised it 4,000 over the 500-1,000 blinds, and Mutch moved all-in on top for another 4800.  I looked down to see pocket queens.  I really hate situations like this.  Queens with a raise and a reraise is one of my least favorite situations, somewhere between seeing a flop with Charlie that has a 2 on board, and being in a pot with Foti when the board reads 9 9 6 6 6.  Mutch was starting to get desperate though, and I thought he may have had jacks.  Tom's raise was so big preflop that I didn't think he had aces or kings.  I put him on 10s or 9s.  Tom had great pot odds to call if I flat-called, though, so I decided to push all-in on top.  It got back to Tom, who I had covered, and he said, "I have a gambling hand, I feel like gambling."  I knew he must have had ace king, because that's the only thing that you can gamble with in this spot; I don't think 7 8 suited is going to cut it against three raises.  Finally, disgustedly, he folded and showed ace king.  Mutch also flipped up ace king, so I was in great shape.  It was almost the same as him having an underpair, because he only had four outs against my queens, instead of the six he would have had his cards were live.  The board ended up being 10 high, so I took a huge pot and eliminated Mutch.  As an added bonus, when he left he said that he had pocket 8s after all in that huge hand, so I made a great laydown.  Tom didn't believe him, but there was no reason for him to lie, plus there was no hand he could have on a flop of 2 3 5 besides pocket 8s, if he bet and called a raise.  Ace 8 would have been an incredibly loose call, and Mutch doesn't play loose.

Charlie and Will got eliminated just after Mutch, and we were down to a dream final four: Me, Tom, Erik, and Josh- the four best players at the game.  The blinds were still reasonable, so we had plenty of room to move our chips, especially seeing as none of us were on a shortstack.  Erik had the chip lead, while I was in second, and Tom and Josh were close behind.  Most of the pots played four-handed didn't see a flop, as a button raise or blind reraise was usually enough to take it.  You could sense everyone probing each other for openings, but no one was yielding any weakness.  I seemed to be getting involved in the most pots, either against Josh or Erik, and I increased my chip count slightly during this time.  Erik had been raising Josh's blinds a lot, and finally a hand came where Josh took a stand and reraised.  Erik was staring him down, and Josh looked at him and said, "Bitch that, bitch!"  Everyone that was still in the room died laughing, and Erik finally folded, giving a big pot to Josh.  Throughout four-handed play, Tom didn't seem to be getting involved much, which was completely unlike him.  He was also tilting a little bit, due to him getting trash cards for a while, as well as Charlie calling him on the river with king high in an earlier pot.  A hand came up where Erik limped under the gun, Tom limped from the small blind, and I checked the big blind with 10 3 off.  The flop came 7 9 10, and Tom checked.  I threw out a bet of 3,000.  Erik folded, and Tom called, much to my surprise.  The turn was a 4, and Tom bet out 4,500.  He played this hand really strangely, and it had me confused.  I figured that if he had a top pair or two pair, he had to bet out on the flop to protect against all the possible draws on board.  That's why I bet out, after all.  I figured Tom for something like 7 8, for a pair and a straight draw.  I decided to push and make him pay to catch.  I went all-in, and he folded almost immediately.  He told me that he had a straight draw, as well as a flush draw that he picked up on the turn.  When he folded, he threw his cards down and said, "Does anyone give me credit for a hand?!"  It's not that I didn't think he had anything, but I thought I was good, so I pushed.  I think this bubbled over from the king-high call from Charlie before, and on the next hand, Tom pushed all-in from the button.  I thought he was pretty tilty at this point, and I looked down to see pocket 9s.  I flat-called, and Erik folded.  Tom announced that he was just trying to steal the blind, and flipped up 4 5 off.  My 9s held up, and we were down to three.

I lost a major pot against Josh when I raised 6,000 on the button with A♥9♥, and he reraised another 9,000 on top from the big blind.  I thought he had mid-pockets, and I thought about pushing, but decided to just call with my position.  The flop came 3 4 K, and Josh bet out 7,500.  I was pretty sure he didn't have a king, and that my mid-pockets read was right.  I moved all-in to move him off his hand, and he called immediately.  Uh oh.  He had pocket 4s for a flopped set, and I was drawing pretty dead.  If I knew he had 4s, I definitely would have pushed preflop, because there's no way he could call me on what was at best a coinflip.  This knocked me below 20 grand, and with the average stack over 50, I was in trouble.  At around 14,000, I looked down to see pocket kings after Erik pot-committed himself with a raise on the button.  I pushed, and he called with A9.  My kings held up, and I was back in the game.

A few minutes later, I called a raise on my big blind with J◊8◊.  The flop came queen 8 6.  I checked, and Erik bet 6,000.  I called.  The turn was a 3, i believe.  I checked again, and he bet 11,000.  I was pretty sure I was good, and I had to decide if I wanted to push or just call.  I flat-called it, which in retrospect was very risky because I gave him a free card to hit an overcard and beat me.  The river was a jack, giving me two pair, and I moved all-in.  I know Erik has this thing with me that he hates letting me bluff him, so he's inclined to call in these situations.  He went into the tank for 7 or 8 minutes, and finally I called the clock on him.  With about ten seconds before his hand would be mucked, I said, "Can you just fold now and save us ten seconds?"  Two seconds later, he announced a call, and I showed my two pair to take the pot.  He told me that my 8s were good without being helped by the jack, and I don't know what he could have called me with.  Ace 6 is my guess.  I think my comment induced a call from him, especially after being pushed around by Josh in that earlier hand.

After this hand, I was in great shape again, and Erik lost a ton of chips to Josh in a strange play.  Josh raised from the button, and Erik moved all-in for about 45,000 in the big blind.  He just had Josh covered, but this was a huge bet.  I thought there was no way Josh was going to call, but then he did, and flipped up A♥K♥.  Erik had KJ off, and was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  The flop paired both players live card, so Josh retained the lead.  The turn was a king, giving Josh top two pair and Erik middle two pair.  Erik couldn't hit a miracle jack on the river, though, and Josh raked a massive pot.  Following this pot, Erik was severely shortstacked.  I picked up another A9 on the button, and I came in raising 6,000.  Erik got a big grin on his face when he looked at his cards, and I knew I was in trouble.  It was only another 1,000 or so to me, and I called.  He had AK, but I said, "I feel a 9 coming."  Sure enough, a 9 hit the flop, but the river brought a king, and Erik almost peed himself with excitement.  He built his chips back up, but then was finally eliminated by Josh, so we were heads-up.  Josh had almost an exact 2-1 chip lead on me, but with the blinds being reasonable, there was plenty of wiggle room.

Finally, Josh and I could finish the heads-up match that we started over six months ago, when we chopped so I could go play a cash game.  Even moreso than Tom or Erik, Josh is the player I've had the toughest time with.  I knew I'd be in for a battle.  The tone early on seemed to be that Josh was playing more of an aggressive game, raising most times preflop on the button, while I was limping more.  With the blinds being low in comparison to our stacks, my intention was to pick Josh apart a little at a time, rather than get all my money in preflop.  One hand, I had Q♥3♥ in the big blind, and saw a flop of Q 7 4.  Josh bet and I called.  The turn was a 9, and Josh bet again, bigger this time.  I had top pair, but was a little bit unsure about my hand.  I called.  The river paired the 9, and after some thought, I called again, and queens were good.  I took a huge pot with pocket 6s a bit later when I came in raising preflop, then got checkraised on a flop with two overcards and called him down. 

I took the big pots, but Josh was staying afloat by taking the blinds, which I wasn't too keen on defending.  My big calls had gotten me a 2-1 chip lead, though, and a few hands later, I picked up pocket 5s.  I came in raising on the button, and Josh reraised.  I put him on ace something and decided to get all the money in now.  I pushed, and he said, "I think we have a coinflip, I call."  I thought he had ace king, but he flipped over 10s, and they held up, so all of a sudden I was down 140k-20k.  I pushed all-in on three of the next five hands, and took enough blinds to get semi-healthy.  Then Josh pushed on the button, and I saw queen jack offsuit.  I knew I'd have to double up to get back in it, but I wasn't completely committed yet, and decided to wait for a better spot.  A few hands later I got A2 off on the button, and pushed all-in.  He said, "This is so mediocre, but I'll call," and flipped over queen 9.  Just for the record, I don't think I've ever won a hand when I was all-in with A2.  The flop was magic, though, coming A 2 9, so I doubled up to about 50k and could finally play poker again.  

I picked up pocket 6s once again a few hands later, and called a raise from Josh.  The flop was Q 7 4.  I bet out, he raised, and I flat-called.  The turn was an 8, so I had a gutshot draw with my pair.  Josh bet 11k, and that would leave me with 28k if I called.  I thought my hand was good, but didn't know if I should push, and force him out, or call and  possibly induce a bluff.  The only thing I would get him to fold with a push that had me beat was possibly a 7.  The only downside to this was that I could let him hit some random overcard, but I decided it was worth the risk.  Before the river came, I checked in the dark.  The river was a gorgeous 5, giving me the straight, and Josh went all-in.  I called before he even got it out of his mouth, and flipped my 6s.  Josh had 7s, so  I doubled up and took a 2-1 chip lead over Josh.  Once I took the chip lead, I never looked back, and soon I had Josh all-in with king jack to his king 7.  The first card off was a 7, and Josh and I reacted with different extremes.  The last card on the flop was a jack, though, so I seized control of the hand back.  The jacks help up, and I took first place and $200.  I also moved to second overall in the points standings, even with my point-less finish last week, and took the all-time wins lead at Erik's with 2.5 (getting .5 for the chop).  I'm back.

Quote of the day: "Bitch that, bitch."- Josh goading Erik after coming over the top of another of his lame button raises.

Terrence's bankroll: $1324