Those of you who have read my poker diary probably remember an entry from last year in which I played in the Hold 'Em For Hunger Tournament, a charity poker tournament sanctioned by UNC and held in the Great Hall of the Student Union.  After my final table finish, I promised that I would return next year to try to do even better.  Saturday, April 8th was a long time in the making.

I won't bore you with the other details of my trip except to say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself the entire time down there.  On Friday I enjoyed the beautiful weather, taking pictures of campus and reading a book out in the warmth of Polk Place and the Arboretum.  I also went to dinner with Abby, who has never actually been mentioned in this poker diary (because I'm a bum and haven't written in it for a year), but you all know who she is.  Ironically, this poker diary was one of the main reasons we got together in the first place.  Much to my disappointment, though, the distance proved too much for us, and I still haven't learned my lesson with long distance relationships.  We got to go to dinner together, though, and iron things out, because the last thing I want is for us to be awkward and distant.  Even though I wish we could have given it another shot, I get that it just can't work and I think now we can get back to the relationship that made us so happy a few months ago, before the pressures of the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing did us in.

I said I wasn't going to bore you with the details of my trip, didn't I?  Oh well, I needed to get that off my chest.  And after reading the poker story I'm about to tell, I hope you all agree that it was worth it to hear sappy Terrence spill his guts a little.

 The day of the tournament, I woke up at about 11:30 when Andrew came in to wake me up for the Spring Football Game.  Him and I went down to Kenan Stadium to see the annual tradition, and we met up with Adam, my good friend who lives in Whiteville, NC and graduated two years before I did.  After watching the first half of the game, Andrew and I left to get some food from Ram's Head.  I had a barbeque sandwich and fries (God, I miss Southern food), and then we dodged the rain on our way over to the Union to commence the biggest tournament on campus.

After receiving my seating assignment, I made my way to Table 28, the first step in my quest to prove that I'm the best poker player at Carolina.  Most of you who read this probably know this about me, but I really believe I'm the most competitive person in the world.  As juvenile as it may sound, I just want to prove that I'm the best whenever I do something, poker especially.  I think my performance last year put me on the radar screen, and I like to think that my friends think highly of my play, but I knew that if I could follow last year's performance with another stellar showing, people would finally view me as the best poker player that UNC has produced.

I could tell right away that my initial table was not very good.  Right as the seven other players sat down, I could see by the way they spoke, handled their chips, and shuffled the cards that they were novice players, and that told me two things: One, I needed to stick to playing good hands and value bet these people to death without doing anything fancy, and Two, there is no way I should not make it off this table without a good stack of chips.

The first few hands proved uneventful, and I folded six of my first seven.  We began the tournament with 5,000 in chips and blinds of 100-200.  After losing a few blinds, I found pocket 8s on the button after three players had limped in.  I raised it to 700, and they all folded pretty quickly.  Two hands later I picked up A9.  After one player limped, I raised it to 700 again.  The button called, as did the big blind, a player who had the chip lead at the table, and who also happened to be playing nearly every hand.  The flop came A94, and after the big blind checked, I bet just 300 (The pot had 2200 in it).  Both players folded, and I begrudgingly took the pot.

 These players were my favorite type of bad players.  There are usually two categories you can divide players into: the players who raise, bet, and call without knowing why they're doing it.  These players can be dangerous because they can hit a nutty hand that you never see coming.  The second group is the players who play tight, weak, and seem to fear even the slightest bit of aggression.  All of the players at my table were tight, docile players.  This meant that you could take uncontested pots most of the time, and you never had to worry about anything as advanced as even a check-raise or a big bluff.  I used this to my advantage and stole a few blinds in late position, then I raised with AJ.  The player who was playing far too many pots called from the blind once again, and the flop was 776.  After he checked, I bet 900, believing that I was good, but also wanting him to fold right there.  He called, to my confusion, and then checked the turn, which was an 8.  I checked behind him, expecting to be called by any pair.  The river was another 7, putting trips on board.  He bet out 400, a ridiculously small bet considering the nearly 4,000 pot.  I made a crying call, and he flipped over A5.  God only knows why he bet, but I was thankful for the extra chips.

A few hands later, my table broke and I moved to a table right near the front of the room by the stage.  I had a stack of about 11k, and I was happy with where I was at.  The first thing I noticed upon sitting down was that Kayla, the girl who won the entire tournament last year, was seating three to my left.  I decided that I was going to take her out and put her head on my mantle (Not that I actually have a mantle).  She was shorstacked the entire time, and I raised her blinds every chance I got.  K2, Q7, I raised her blinds with anything that could beat an average hand, and some that couldn't.  She never took the bait, though, even folding her 800 chip blind to me, leaving her with 300.  My impression after last year was that she was an OK player who at least knew what she was doing, but this year, having spent more time at the table with her, I can definitely assert that she's not really any good at all.  That's not sour grapes or anything- she just had no concept of how to play.  It amazes me that she was able to win the whole thing last year.  The blinds by now, as I said, were at 400-800, and I knew that I needed to keep progressing to stay comfortable.  After about seven hands, I picked up pocket 8s under the gun.  Even this early in the tournament, people seemed to be able to pick up the blinds with just a minimum raise preflop, so I raised it 800, not wanting to get too many chips in with a vulnerable hand.  The player directly to my left called, and the rest of the table folded.  The flop was 79T, and I checked, hoping to check-raise and show some real strength.  He checked behind me, which I didn't mind, because I figured he missed the flop with overcards.  The turn was an 8, giving me a set, but the board was 789T, so I checked once again.  He bet out 1k, which was a very small bet, all things considered.  I thought he probably had the jack for the straight, but I called because of my implied odds.  I knew that if I hit my boat on the river, I was going to bust this guy.  The river was a beautiful 10, and after thinking for about ten seconds, I just moved all-in, putting him all-in for about 9k.  He jumped out of his chair and said, "All right, I'll call," and flipped over QJ, for the nut straight on the turn.  I revealed my 8s full of 10s, and I had taken out my first player.

This pot put me over 20k, and on the next round, I again picked up pocket 8s under the gun.  As this was my third time already with this hand, I was starting to sense a trend.  I again doubled it under the gun (the blinds were now 500-1,000) and a middle position player reraised me, but only another 2k.  When it got back to me, I took a few seconds to consider what he had, and I settled on either pocket kings or aces.  With such a small raise, I could tell he wanted action, and I called quickly, knowing that if I hit my set I could bust him.  The flop was Q♣8♣6♣, and I checked it.  He bet out 6k, which was a more than a third of his stack.  I counted out the requisite chips and put him all-in for another 11k, and he began to think.  Obviously, this was a dangerous board, and I knew I was good.  That being said, there was plenty of money in the pot, and the last thing I wanted was a call from something like AK with the naked A♣.  I rarely do this, but I decided that it was a good time to start talking.  After he lamented, "I really don't want to go out right now," I said, "Man, I promise you I've got you right now.  If you fold, I'll show you my cards."  He said, "Will you really?"  "I promised him that I would, and after agonizing over it for over two minutes, he finally folded.  I said, "Look, I have middle set," and I flipped over the 8s.  He went, "Oh man!" and turned over POCKET QUEENS!!!  He folded top set!  I couldn't believe it.  I literally did a double-take, let my jaw hit the table, and whatever other cliche you can come up with for being in total shock.  The entire table let out one big "WOW!"  The dealer then picked up the cards, and rabbit-hunted for all to see.  The turn was the case 8!  I would have turned quads, and avoided the double-reverse-one-outer-re-suckout-suckout to take this poor guy out.  He was a pale green after seeing my 8s, but after finding out that he had miraculously avoided death, he was nothing short of jubilant.  That may be the craziest hand I've ever played or seen.

After the blinds had passed me, I picked up pocket kings in mid-late position.  The blinds were now at 500-1,000, and I raised it to 2k.  The small blind, a guy named Joe, reraised me another 3k.  I had seen Joe do this a few hands ago after someone raised on the button, he pushed the kid all-in, and the kid ended up folding, after Joe explained to him that he never bluffed.  Joe also had the chip lead, possibly in the whole tournament, so I thought that my best play was to push all-in and hope to get called by something like jacks or queens.  Just calling was too risky- I could risk letting an ace hit the board, or let him pick up some kind of draw that would bust me.  Plus, if he had something like TT, JJ, or QQ, overcards would slow him down and lose me some money.  Being positive that he didn't have aces and I wasn't walking into my own funeral, I pushed all-in for another 17k.  He began thinking, making it clear he didn't have aces, and I was praying for a call.  I remained completely still though, and just stared at the table.  After about a minute, his cell phone rang.  he picked it up and explained to the caller, "I have to make a big decision in poker right now, I can't talk.  Should I call this guy's all-in?"  Then he hung up. This got a laugh out of the table, but I stayed motionless.  After another minute, he decided to call.  I turned over my kings, and he disgustedly showed pocket 7s.  I was shocked that he called me with such a suspect hand, especially considering that he was the chip leader and I was the only one at the table who could really hurt him.  The board was full of blanks, and I doubled up to over 50k.

The very next hand, I squeezed out pocket jacks, and I doubled the blind to 1600.  Joe again was the only caller from the big blind, and the flop was 774.  He checked, and I bet out 1600, looking to milk him for a little bit.  He called, and after the turn was a 6, he again checked.  I bet 1600 again, and again he called.  The river was a 2, and following his check, I bet out 3k.  He called pretty quickly, and I showed my jacks to take the pot.  He later said that he had A6.  (A quick side note:  Last year, my final hand was A6, and I couldn't crack Godwin's pocket 9s, going out in 8th.  When I arrived at the airport to fly down to Carolina, I cringed when I found out that my gate was A6.  Being a superstitious person, I believed that this was a sign of impending doom.)

I had a huge stack now, and I resolved to continue to play smart poker, hammering away at small pots and trying to always be the aggressor and the first one in the pot.  I knew that I had time and didn't have to press, so when I didn't get anything for about the next 20 hands, I didn't take it personally.  I picked up KQ in the small blind once, and when it folded to me I raised it to 2,500.  The big blind moved in on me for another 6k, and although I knew he had me, I called, getting 2-1 on my money.  He had queens, though, and I took my first real hit of the tournament.  After that, my hands cooled down again, and I kept folding.  Although I lost a bit to the ever-increasing blinds, my stack was still well over 30k.  In fact, I entered the dinner break with 39k, and after a quick perusal of the room by my good friend Pedro, we determined that I was the chip leader in the tournament.

I couldn't even eat during the break, because I was still full from my barbeque sandwich.  I offered the sandwich that they gave me to Steve, who managed to consume the helpless bread and meat structure before you could say "Dave's Discount."  Speaking of Dave, the big-talking suckout artist declined to attend this year's event, instead deciding to play a tennis match in which he shanked four match points and lost.  Sorry Dave, I had to do it.

I came back from the break ready and focused, but shortly after play resumed, I committed my biggest error of the tournament.  An under-the-gun player named Greg (he wore an old school Brewers hat, which I found cool) doubled the now 1k-2k blinds to 4k.  I had K3 in the big blind, and I called for the discount.  The flop was 79T (a popular flop on this day), and I bet out 4k, figuring that this missed a lot of hands he'd raise with under the gun.  He raised me another 6k.  I thought for about 20 seconds, and after getting a chip count from him (he had almost as much as I did), I reraised another 13k.  I really thought that he was weak, but he reached back and slid his entire chip stack into the pot.  I postured for a few seconds to save a little bit of face, then folded.  This knocked me down to 14k, back with the peons, and all of a sudden I had my work cut out for me, especially with only seven big blinds.

I was no in Shorstack mode for the first time all day, and I pushed all-in with K◊4◊ from the cutoff seat.  The blinds folded, and I stayed afloat.  The big blind reached me, and after Tristan, a blond-haired kid with a lot of chips, limped in early position, I said, "Trying something tricky?" to which he replied, "Nope, just trying to see a flop."  He was so earnest that I actually believed him, and after the small blind limped, I checked my Q♣6◊.  The flop was Q73 rainbow, and after the small blind checked, I also checked to get a gauge on what Tristan was up to.  He bet out 5k, and after the small blind folded, I thought long and hard on what he could have.  I was positive he hadn't limped with a monster, but he could easily have something like QJ or QT.  I finally decided that I was good, though, and I pushed all-in.  When it got to him, it was obvious that he was displeased with the recent turn of events.  I was hoping for a call at that point, thinking he may have only two outs with something like 88, but figuring a queen would have called by now.  Finally he called and showed 67 for middle pair.  The turn was a Jack, and the river was... a 6.  I was out.  Tristan hit two pair on the river to take me out.  I just sat there in shock; I couldn't believe it was over.  Then the table snapped me back to reality.  The river had given me two pair also!  I hadn't realized that I had his pair dominated, but sure enough, I had queens up to beat his 7s up.  This pot put me back over 30k, and I was comfortable once again.  I also felt like I had been resuscitated back from the dead.  I had such a gut-wrenching feeling wash over me when that 6 hit, I can't even describe it.  Knowing that I was still alive, with chips to burn, was an amazing, redemptive feeling.  I was BACK.

If I would have been taken out at that moment, I would have bubbled on the prizes.  The top 40 players reached the prizes, and the top prizes this year were pretty awesome.  First prize was a $2,500 46" DLP HDTV, there was a basketball autographed by the entire men's team, a t-shirt signed by Tyler Hansbrough, a hot air balloon ride, a $600 stereo system, a bunch of different gift cards, a slot machine, a ticket to go to Pinehurst to hear a lecture from Greg Raymer and play in a tournament in which the final table got to play with Raymer himself, and more.  I had my eyes on one thing: first place and the TV.

When we reached the final 40 I thought back to last year, and to how Gibby and Chaz had said that their money was on me to win it.  That was such a huge boost to my confidence, knowing that I had people that believed I could win, but it was such a letdown when I came up short.  This year, I knew I had even more people behind me, and I also had some chips to dance with.  I really thought I could take the whole thing down.

When we recombined tables, I was placed at what I will affectionately call the Table of Death.  Every hand at least one person was all-in.  On the first hand, one guy got knocked out.  The second hand saw an Asian gentleman move all in for 11k, a young kid to my right moved in on top for another 6k, and I looked down to see A◊K◊.  I really wasn't thrilled about it, but I knew I had one of the dominated, and maybe both of them.  Plus, I had them both covered- I'd hate to get my money in with this with my life on the line.  I repushed for another 22k to drive out the rest of the players, and we flipped our cards.  The Asian man had A♥J♥, the kid had two black queens, and we were off to the races.  The flop came out K♣5◊9♣, and I let out a clap.  The turn and river were both safe, and I moved to over 80k.

The bodies continued to drop at a record pace, and soon we were combined to three tables.  Maybe it was me, but my new table became the New Table of Death right when I sat down.  All-ins everywhere.  Big hands going back and forth. It was madness on felt.  I got a lot of big hands early, including AK twice, AQ twice, and even AA once.  On every one, I either raised it up or reraised someone, always getting a fold.  One kid had a huge stack and came in raising 20k.  I had my aces and decided to push for another 87k, hoping for a call, but he mucked it.  Greg came in raising later on and I pushed him in with AQ, but he folded and said he had TT.  I was really moving up the leaderboard, especially as more and more players continued to fall by the wayside.  Andrew bit the dust in 17th when he tried to bluff into a made straight.  Despite his final ill-advised move, Andrew really proved to me and a lot of people that he's a very good player.  He made the final two tables last year, and did it again this year.  I was the only other one to accomplish that feat.  Well done, Andrew.

By now, I had complete control of the table.  The last girl remaining had folded every hand since I'd sat with her, and she had nearly no chips left.  Finally, she pushed all-in on the button, which just happened to be my big blind.  She seemed like she wasn't thrilled about going all-in, and I didn't figure her for anything big.  I had 3♣4♣, and I looked at her and said, "Do you have a pair?"  She didn't say anything, but judging from how she first acted, I decided I had to call, getting almost 3-1 on my money.  She had QT off, and I spiked a 3 on the turn to take the hand and eliminate another player.  I picked up AK on the button a couple hands later, and with Joe in the big blind, decided to just push all-in.  He seemed to be getting exasperated by this point, because I was really going after him, and he folded his junk with a sigh.  It seemed like time flew and we were at the final table.

Entering the final table, I had about 230k, second only to Anirudh, who seemed to have about 360k.  I had just met Anirudh the day before, and despite being a Yankees fan, he was a really cool guy and I'm glad that I got to know him.  He is a regular player in Stacy this year, and he seemed to know what he was doing.  Early on at the final table, however, he was bleeding chips faster than someone who took a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to the face.  Many times he would raise and be reraised, or would bet post-flop and fold, frustrated, to a raise.  It seemed like he was pressing way too hard, rather than letting the cards come to him.  Meanwhile, I continued to sit back and just play my good hands strong and stay out of the way of marginal situations.  Poker is all about making decisions, and the tougher the decisions you have, the move likely you are to make a mistake.  In a tournament, one mistake can kill you, so my strategy was to avoid marginal situations.  I wanted to put myself in a spot where there was always a clear play to make.  I took advantage of Anirudh's tilt and limped in under the gun with AK.  The blinds were 10k-20k at this point, and he raised it to 60k.  When it folded back to me, I reraised another 90k, and he immediately said, "Take it."  I was steadily increasing my stack, and after winning a coinflip with AT against pocket 9s, I took out the kid who had a big stack earlier, and got myself over 400k.  Down to six players, the faces were very familiar.  The second table that I sat at yielded five players to the final table: myself, Tristan, Greg, Joe, and Brian, the guy who doubled up off of me with pocket queens.  Brian went out in 9th, followed by a middle-aged guy who had been hanging around on a short stack forever.  I then won the AT hand to knock us down to 6.  Greg got taken out by Jack, a player that I had sat with at my last table but not before.  He seemed to be pretty good, and I was keeping my eye on him even when I wasn't in the hand, just to pick up on anything that could help me.

The final five players, in seating order, were me, Joe, Anirudh, Jack, and Tristan.  Tristan had been a space cadet the entire time at the final table- never knowing when it was his turn to act, sending text messages, and just acting clueless.  It was starting to annoy me, but I think I did a good job of containing it.  Also, the spectators were literally sitting at the table.  Alex and Abby even carried on a conversation from two corners of the table, talking directly over Anirudh and the action going on.  All in all, it was a very distracting atmosphere, but I was just focusing on winning.  Joe lost a sick hand to Anirudh when Joe limped under the gun, Anirudh raised half his stack, and Joe pushed immediately when it got back to him.  Anirudh knew he had shot himself in the face, but he had to call, and flipped over QJ.  Joe had KK, and a stranglehold on the hand.  The tri-rag flop only helped his case, and even the jack on the turn didn't seem to matter.  Then another jack fell on the river, and Anirudh was back to having a mountain of chips, while Joe was now shortstacked.  The next two times on the button, I raised with A8 off and KJ off, and each time Joe pushed from the small blind.  I folded both times, figuring I was in big trouble.  After Joe doubled up off Tristan when he woke up with pocket aces, he was back in business.  Tristan was knocked out not too long after that, and we were down to four.

I stayed selectively aggressive, darting in and taking blinds at a fairly regular rate, but not enough that my raises got no respect.  Even though Joe had pushed on me twice in a row on my button, I was confident that he really had hands and wasn't putting a move on me.  With the blinds at 20k-40k, I raised it to 110k on the button with 44.  Joe reraised to 190k from the small blind, leaving himself with 180k.  I had him well-covered, and I tried to figure out what he had.  I really thought he had AK and not a big pair, but I didn't feel like gambling preflop by pushing, because he was obviously committed.  I decided to flat call, and if the flop didn't contain an ace or a king, I was going to go with it.  The flop came out 335, and after thinking for about 20 seconds, Joe checked.  Now I was almost positive that he didn't have a pair.  I thought that he had AK and had put me on a pair, and was slowing down.  I took my time and stared at him for a good minute to try to get a read on him.  Finally I pushed him in, and he called fairly quickly; I thought he had me when he did.  I turned over my 4s and he flipped AK.  I went temporarily insane and yelled, "Oh God, how did you call me with that??"  I really wanted to take the pot right there and not risk getting hit by the ol' six-outer, but Joe decided to go with it.  Luckily, the turn and river didn't help him, and Joe went out in 4th.  He was a good player, and probably the guy that I had played the most pots with over the course of the tournament.  I had gotten the better of him most times, but he definitely earned his spot in the top four.

I don't think I played a hand in the tournament better than that pocket 4s hand.  I avoided a gamble preflop, and made the right read and the right call and push when I needed to.  Three hands later, once again on the button, I found pocket 4s.  I raised it to 110k again, and Anirudh flat-called from the small blind.  Jack started arranging his chips, and he pushed all-in for another 380k.  Right away I thought that he was putting the squeeze play on us.  I had only played with Jack for a short time, but I could tell that he knew advanced plays such as this one.  Anirudh couldn't really call because he had shown such weakness by not raising my bet, and I could be opening with anything, most of which couldn't call an all-in.  I really thought that I was good, though, and I called quicker than I normally do.  Anirudh folded, and Jack turned over QJ, and upon seeing my 4s, said, "Wow, great call."  I looked at the chips and saw that if I won this hand, I would have about 1 million in chips, and Anirudh would be at a 3-1 chip disadvantage heads up.  I could taste victory coming.  The flop quickly replaced the taste of near-victory with the bitterness  that comes when your opponent beats you on a coinflip.  Q88 cemented my fate for the hand, and Jack doubled up and took th chip lead.

 I kept my cool, however, and won most of the next few pots to get back near Jack.  Anirudh got whittled away, and when I raised to 110k on the button with AQ, he pushed for another 16k with JJ.  The flop was K46, and I was preparing to go back to the drawing board.  The turn was a jack, reducing me to just four outs now that he had a set.  A lot of times when I hit a card, I can feel it coming, but this time was not like that at all.  I was getting ready to go back to work when the dealer peeled off the most beautiful card I'd ever seen... a 10!  This gave me the nut straight and took out a stunned Anirudh.  He acted like a total gentleman, though, and really exited with grace.  I was very impressed.  Most players would have a hard time swallowing a river like that, but Anirudh took it in stride.  I gained a lot of respect for him then.

 Now we were at the moment of truth.  Terrence and Jack.  Heads up for a 46" TV, and more importantly, to me at least, the chance to be called the Champion and the best poker player at Carolina.  Everyone reading this probably thinks I'm crazy, but I want to win more than anything.  We took a short break to collect ourselves, and we wished each other luck and congratulated the other on making it this far.  When heads up play began, I had 769k to Jack's 580k or so.  The blinds were frozen on 20k-40k, so we were able to play and not just push all-in every hand, which was great.  The first couple hands gave me nothing.  As much as Tom is my friend, seeing The Lombo offsuit (5 7) the first two hands didn't do me any good.  In fact, Jack took four of the first five pots, and had pulled almost even with me.  I even raised it with 72 off on the button and took the blinds, just for the sake of slowing him down and establishing myself.  Two hands later came the biggest hand of my life.  With the Ace of Spades and the 8 of Diamonds, I raised it to 110k on the button.  Jack, slowly and deliberately, began stacking his chips, almost immediately after my raise.  He then pushed all-in for 580k.  I counted my chips.  If I called and lost, I was down to 120k and basically dead.  This hand was for the whole tournament.  Anyone that has played with me knows that I hate hands like A8 to get my money in with, because it's not a huge favorite over anything, but it can be easily dominated.  I REALLY didn't think that Jack was strong, though.  I folded my hands and looked at him.  Just tried to look straight through him, as if he would tell me if I was good or not.  I could feel the tension of the situation.  I knew that this hand would decide the tournament.  I could hear all the spectators whispering, speculating on whether or not I was going to make the call.  I said, "Jack, I just really think I got you.  I've got you on something like King Queen."  He just stared right at me, which I found interesting.  In my experience, if someone stared at you it's because they don't want a call.  He even cracked a tiny, split-second smirk that I'll bet almost no one but me saw.  I thought and thought- it felt like forever, but I think I actually sat there for about three minutes.  Finally, I said so softly,"I call."

The entire room was abuzz. Everybody flocked as close to the table as they could get to see what we each had.  Jack turned his hand over... King Ten of clubs!  I had made a near-perfect read at the most important time, but I knew it was far from over.  The cards had to hold up for me.  I leapt out of my chair and spiked my cards face up on the table, and yelled, "Hold up one time!"  I clapped my hands and sent out a quick prayer that justice be served just this once.  The flop came out and I retained my lead.  Q86, giving me a pair of 8s, but any pair would still beat me.  The turn was wonderful: an ace, giving me aces up, and leaving him with only four outs to beat me.  If Jack didn't hit a jack on the final card, the tournament was over.  The significance of that didn't hit me until just now.  The river was a 4, and it was all over!  I clapped my hands and let out a "YES!"  I turned and shook Jack's hand and received congratulations from all of my friends that were there to support me, as well as from all of the players from the final table that were still there to collect their prizes and see the finish.  Jack paid me one of the best compliments I've gotten.  "You're the best player I've played on campus," he said.  I felt like I was on top of the world.  Pete, Steve, Jesse, Alex, and others all shook my hand.  Abby gave me a hug.  Pete took a picture of me with the winning hand that is my new favorite picture of myself, and can be seen on Facebook for anyone who cares to check.  As I was sitting at the table, Chaz yelled from the stage, "Terrence, you're taking the TV, I assume?"  "That works," I yelled back.  I took some photos with the people that organized the event, and hung out for a little while longer to savor the moment.

Steve, Andrew, and Pete helped me move the TV out of the Union.  We tried to put it in Pete's car, but it couldn't fit, so we tried Andrew's, also to no avail.  Just then, a pickup truck pulled up and offered to help.  We accepted his generous offer and he drove us to Steve's apartment, where the TV now sits, waiting to be shipped later this week back to New York for me.  We then went back to Stacy and picked up more people to go get some food at Timeout, which was a beautiful thing.

The crowning moment of the weekend was obviously the second I won the tournament, but I'm still astounded at just how nice everyone was to me the entire time.  Pete's parents were kind enough to pick me up at the airport and take me to campus when I arrived.  Jesse and Will let me stay in their room once again.  Without the help of Steve and Andrew, I'd stil be trying to figure out how to move that TV.  The guy in the pickup truck showed that people still do things just out of kindness towards others, and Steve rewarded him with a bottle of hardcore alcohol for his troubles.  Abby went out to dinner with me and allowed me to set things straight, even though things with us had been awkward and depressing lately.  Pete took me to the airport and let me stay at his house on Saturday night, and countless other people had small acts of kindness all weekend towards me.  I couldn't repay everyone for what they did, but I tried to do my part while I was there.  When we were in Timeout, I actually paid for a girl's meal (whom I didn't even know) when I overheard her say that she only had a debit card, and Timeout informed her that they don't take debit cards.

I had a great time in Carolina, as always, and I can't wait until next time I go back.  I got to see a bunch of my friends, and I feel like I become much better friends with Andrew and Stephen especially during my time there.  They're even going to come up to New York for my birthday and we're going to rip up the town for the weekend, maybe going to a Mets game along the way.  The tournament win got me a monstrous TV, sure, but I feel like now I really solidified my legend at Carolina as the best poker player.  Last year was no fluke, and I'm eagerly looking forward to defending my title next year.  Life is good right now- thanks to everyone who helps make it that way.