I believe very strongly that one of the most important things a man possesses is his honor.  There is a certain way to do things in life.  A code to live by, if you will.  It includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the following:  don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal, be loyal, and have respect towards women.  I feel that if you were to follow those simple tenets, you would be considered a good, honorable man.

But alas, not everyone chooses to adhere to these guidelines.  For some reason unbeknownst to me, people constantly mortgage their own honor, usually for a very small price.  Such was the case at poker last night.

Steven (not to be confused with Stephen, Alex's friend and a good guy), is new to our poker game.  This isn't unusual; each week we see one or two new faces, and I try my best to welcome anyone who wants to play with us.  So when Bobby asked me two weeks ago if his friend Steven could play, I said sure, as long as we had enough spots left for him.  Lo and behold, we did, so he played last Tuesday.  I wasn't at his table, but from what I heard he had a very abrupt and uneventful night.  He was one of the first casualties of the evening, and was gone by time I checked in on the other table.

Steven IMed me the next day, asking if it would be OK if he came again next week.  Not a problem, I said, as basically anyone who plays with us once has a lifetime invitation to return.  Last night came, and among the 17 players was Steven.  Once again he got seated at a different table than I did, so I still didn't know very much about him or his game.  I was in the lounge, at a very strong table composed of myself, Aaron, Pascale, Andy, Alex, Pete, and the two weaker links, Dave's Discount and Ferris. 

Play started off very tight, with only one hand reaching the river in the first hour and fifteen minutes of play, a hand in which I flopped the nut straight with 7 9 from the button and extracted what I think was the maximum amount of chips out of Ferris, who held ace ten for top pair, top kicker off the flop.  Other than that, it was a very quiet game, because there were very few, if any, fish to pick on at the table.  After what I guess was about two hours, Roy came into the lounge, and he told me that he had been busted out.  He went on to say that he believed Steven was cheating when he dealt.  More specifically, he noticed Steven peeking at the board cards (the cards to come) while he was still in the hand.  By flicking the corner of the deck with his thumb, Steven was able to get a quick look at the flop, and possibly beyond, so he basically knew when he would hit a big hand and when he wouldn't.  The gravity of this can't be overstated enough.  Steven was able to call huge raises with terrible cards that he knew would prevail against long odds because of the board cards that he saw.  For example, Roy detailed a hand in which he raised with ace 2, and Steven called with 9 5 offsuit from the big blind.  A very strange play to say the least, but it gets worse.  Will, a notoriously tight player, reraises all-in from the blind, and after Roy folds, Steven (the dealer) calls with his 9 5 offsuit.  This isn't just foolish- it is incomprehensible.  This play cannot be made without some kind of knowledge that one should not possess.  Much to everyone's surprise, the flop brought Steven two pair, and Will went to the river needing a 10 for a gutshot straight to survive.  Steven then burned an additional card, one more than he was supposed to, and flipped the river, which was a blank.  Luckily for Will, Godwin noticed the error and the real card was flipped... and it was a 10.  Steven then went on a rant that he does not make such mistakes and that the other players at the table were cheating against him.  I can positively say that this was not the case, even before the events that would transpire later in the night.  The majority of the table was composed of friends of mine, people whom I have never seen lie in such a situation such as this, much less colluding together to vilify one player.  Among them were Roy, Godwin, Gibby, Will, and Joe, all of whom I trust.  Seeing as Roy brought me this information, I believed it completely, as I trust Roy implicitly, seeing as he is one of my best friends at Carolina.  Roy is smart though, and he told me that rather than confronting Steven immediately, that I wait and see for myself, so that instead of getting into a "he said she said," I could have definitive proof and kick Steven out for good.

The poker, which was secondary on this night, went along well enough.  I endured a short stack to build myself back up to an average chip stack by time we reached the final table.  Steven was also there, and he had taken a huge pot off of Joe when Joe flopped trips, Steven (on the button, once again) pushed with a gutshot straight draw, and miraculously caught.  Joe later told me that he knew something was fishy when he saw the look on Steven's face, which was rather calm considering he was all-in with only four outs to save his life.  Steven also knocked out Gibby when they each had trips (once again on Steven's deal), but Steven had a slightly better kicker.  (He also played the hand very strangely, from what I heard, lending more credence to the reports of foul play.)

Everyone that came to the final table from my table was aware of the situation, so they all kept their eyes open for anything suspicious.  On Steven's first deal, he folded, and it seemed like he hadn't looked at the cards beforehand, but I was in a terrible position to see him, being two to his left, with Pascale between us.  On his second deal, he played the hand but folded to a bet on the flop, I believe.  On other hands that he did play, he would never announce his bet preflop, and instead just put his money in.  This is a very amateurish play, something that should never be done by anyone who play poker regularly.  How can anyone know what to call?  Every time he did it, I asked him for a number to his raise.  A couple times he conveniently had less in the pot than he should have, which he blamed on "counting mistakes."  On his third deal, it got folded to him and he doubled the big blind.  Dan called from the small blind, as did I from the big blind with 9 10 of diamonds.  The flop came king 9 3, with two diamonds, a monster for me, as I was a favorite against anything except two pair or a set.  Dan checked, as did I, and Steven bet 2000.  Dan folded, and I reraised all-in for another 8500.  Steven called and flipped over... king 9 offsuit, for top two pair.  Now for anyone that doesn't play poker or know strategy that reads this, this is not a play that any card player worth his salt would make.  If a player doubles the blind from the button, you can expect him to have either a monster hand (aces or kings, etc.) or something tricky, like 4 6 suited.  King 9 cannot hope to be beating anything that calls his raise, yet his raise isn't big enough to steal the blinds.  The play could really only be done by someone who knew what was coming, or someone who is just a terrible poker player (which Steven obviously was, what with going all-in early in a tournament with a gutshot straight draw, as well as calling huge raises with 9 5 offsuit.  Later on he claimed to play six times a week, meaning he must at least have a rudimentary understanding of the game, so the only option left is that he cheated. 

Right when the cards were turned over I realized what a foolish mistake I had made.  I had been warned about Steven cheating on his deal, yet I pushed with a good hand anyway, not even thinking about being trapped.  Of course, a diamond failed to materialize, and I was out in 7th, one spot out of the points which I so desperately needed to retain and extend my lead in the Player of the Year standings.

After I went out, I stayed around, moving to a different seat to get a better vantage point on Steven's deal.  I sat next to Godwin, and I would usually be talking to him when he was out of a hand.  Not the most intelligent thing for me to be doing, as it detracted from my reconnaissance of Steven.  After Steven dealt one hand, Dan asked me, "Hey Terrence, could you show me where Alex's room is?"  Now, Dan and Alex are good friends, and I should have known that Dan knew where Alex's room was, but me, being the oblivious fool, replied "He's the last door on the left."  Dan then got up, and as he went out, he tapped me on the shoulder with a subtle motion to follow him.  I immediately understood, and when we reached the hallway, Dan told me that he had seen Steven looking at the cards during his deal. 

We came back, knowing that it was only a matter of time until things got ugly.  Well it started with that hand.  Despite knowing what was coming, Steven's hand was still no good, and he lost a sizeable pot.  He then went on tilt, blowing chips away like he had a train to catch, obviously disgruntled that despite cheating, he still could not beat the best Stacy had to offer.  A hand came up soon after which proved to be the spark that the burgeoning powder keg had been waiting for.  Steven raised from middle position, and Jesse called from the small blind.  Jesse didn't have a ton of chips left, and it was very likely that a big decision would be required on the flop.  When the flop came out, Steven immediately announced, "Ill put you all-in."  Being the stickler Tournament Director that I am, I told him, "It's not your turn to act."  Jesse then thought and thought about what to do.  He was put in a very difficult position because he knew that Steven planned to put him all-in.  Finally, Jesse said, "OK, I'll go all-in.  Steven called immediately and flipped over pocket 2s, and underpair to the jack 8 3 flop.  Jesse had pocket kings, and they held up.  Steven had Jesse covered by a long shot, but after counting out what he owed, he shoved the rest of his chips toward Jesse and said, "Here, take them all; I'm done."  Now this is highly illegal, because in tournament poker, each chip you have must be earned- one player can't just decide to give another player his chips, because it distorts the competitive balance between the other players.  I told him, not so kindly I might add, that this was tournament poker, and he couldn't give Jesse his chips.  If he didn't want to play, I could take them out of play, or he could be quiet and play it out.  Then he snapped.

"You know what?"  he said.  "This whole game... is skeevy."  Anyone that knows me can attest that if there is one thing you do not do, it is insult me to my face, and this being my poker game, I took this as a tremendous slap in the face.  "Excuse me???" I said.  Everyone else at the table replied in kind.  "Last week I ran into quads three times.  This week I got cheated at the first table (the extra burn card episode, in which he was dead wrong, and he knew it).  This whole place is skeevy."  "Listen," I said, "we've had this game all year without any complaints.  Most guys that play are regulars.  You are the new guy.  You don't come in here and start throwing around accusations after I was kind enough to allow you to play in the first place."  I was especially angry because most, if not all, of the guys that regularly play are all good, upstanding guys, people that I'm also friends with outside of poker.  Do not insult me and my friends.  I went on, "I've had three different people come up to me tonight that reported seeing you cheat when you dealt, peeking at cards and calling raises with nonsense hands that always seemed to miraculously hit.  You also shortchanged the pot numerous times, and you acted out of turn on purpose to try to bluff Jesse out of the pot.  These are all people that I trust, and I believe them."  By now, there was a clamor at the table, as everyone else was chiming in with similar statements.  Steven got flustered and started to leave.  I told him he wasn't welcome back, and Dan also said something, although I don't remember what it was.  It wasn't anything vulgar or inflammatory, though.  Steven then turned around, looked at Dan, and said "Fuck you."

Now we were close to having a real situation.  Remember that this is at about 3 a.m. in the first floor ping pong room in Stacy.  I said to Steven, "Watch your mouth,"  and Aaron said something to the effect of "There's six of us and one of you, you had better shut up."  Steven then left, and some of the guys continuted to hurl verbal stones at him, every one he deserved.  He came back into the room once again, and it all started up again.  I tried to quiet everyone down, as I would rather not have a riot break out, because it could result in serious consequences for myself and others down the line.  Finally, everyone quieted down, and I told Steven to leave, and not to come back.  "It's over," I said.  He left, and exited the building.  Aaron, who was fuming at this point, then got up and started after him, with that "I'm going to beat this boy's ass" look in his eye.  We were able to talk him out of it, though, and the game resumed.

I found Bobby later on (he had asked if Steven could play) and told him what happened.  He apologized, and said that Steven was just a friend of a friend.  A suggestion to everyone out there: if you can't personally vouch for the character of someone that you are trying to impose on others, don't ask for a favor.  Just don't do it, because if things backfire you can look pretty silly.  No hard feelings at all, Bobby, it's not your fault, but just keep that in mind.

The end results of the debacle were thus: Joe got knocked out much earlier than he should have, hurting his chances at making the top six and the Tournament of Champions; I got knocked out on the points bubble, damaging my chances of winning Player of the Year.  Alex lost a big pot, and Gibby got knocked out by Steven, also taking away valuable points from them.  Because of this, I've decided to make the Tournament of Champions an eight person event, rather than the original six that we planned on.  This way, there are no players that get left out that could have made it if not for Steven's dishonesty.  It doesn't really hurt anyone, but will hopefully quell any negative feelings that might linger after last night.

Some people value honor more than others.  These honorable people are those that often end up being trusted, and more often than not, they justify that trust.  If you don't value honor, and you abuse the implicit trust that is given to you by others, you'll make enemies, destroy your reputation, and more often than not, get some lumps along the way.

To cheat at poker is about as low as an individual can stoop.  Poker is an honorable game, a game where certain rules of etiquette apply.  The game we play has a small buy-in, not that it is any more justifiable if more money is involved.  It is characterized by all that play in it as a friendly, albeit very competitive game.  It's nice to win money playing poker, but unless you do it professionally, that's not the only reason to do it.  Poker is entertaining, it's highly social, and it can fill those competitive urges that often go unrealized when UNC is blowing up all the tennis and basketball courts on campus.  Our poker game is a place where good guys get together to have a good time.  I play poker because I enjoy it.  I believe that the other players in my game play for the same reason.  If you play so you can try to cheat other players out of their money, rather than win it fair and square, then I cannot see the satisfaction you gain in that.  At the end of the day, you can't feel good about yourself; you just know that you're a lowlife who is willing to trade his honor for a few dollars.  That has to be a lousy way to live.

To anyone that plays in the Stacy game, I'm sorry for the way things went down last night, and I'll try to keep similar things from happening in the future.  If there's any problem, come see me.

 

Quote of the day: "Baby Ace Muck Face"- the catchy new nickname given to Josh by Dan and Aaron.

Terrence's bankroll: $994+$20(HORSE tournament win over the weekend)-$5(Omaha/Omaha hi-lo second place finish)-$10(Stacy game)+$1(Heads up match with Alex to try to get my bankroll to $1000 even)=$1000

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

OK, I've missed a ton of games, so I need a quick update. I've been basically treading water the last couple weeks, not going up or down much at all. A couple Tuesdays ago, I got busted out after trying a very fancy play on a very amateur player. -$10. Then on Thursday, I played terribly, sucked out on everyone with bad hands, then went out in third. -$5. On Saturday, we organized a HORS tournament- Hold 'Em, Omaha, Razz, and Stud, and it was completely awesome. I got shortstacked, then fought like hell to get back (I got some breaks along the way- my kings cracked aces three-handed during hold 'em). Heads up, I battled all the way back from a huge chip deficit, then got the lead, then gave it back, then finally got busted on a nasty, nasty Omaha hand. This ended at about 3 in the morning. +$5. Then we organized a 4 person stud tournament that lasted until 8 a.m. I won that, playing very well along the way. +$10. The next Stacy event saw me go out first out of 18 people when I ran into aces four times in thirty minutes. One time I had ace queen with the case ace on the flop, one time I had king queen with a queen-high flop, and the final time I had pocket kings. Not much you can do except get whacked and go home. $-10.

Overall, I'm down $10 the last couple weeks, so I still haven't cracked the mythical $1,000 bankroll barrier. I feel like Tony Gwynn trying to get his 3,000th hit.

Terrence's bankroll: $989-$10=$979

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. GO TO HELL DOOK!

I came into Thursday's game with a renewed sense of purpose, as Roy informed me shortly before the game that his friend Bert was coming for the first time. Roy characterized Bert as a solid player, who plays in Vegas frequently, as well as doing quite well online. Thursday's games are always a challenge, but I was determined to tackle this new challenge head on.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of those games where I got frustrated to no end. Every time I entered a pot, I got checkraised on the flop. It seemed like my opponents were hitting every flop, while I was missing everything. A couple of these run-ins came with Bert. I remember one hand where I came in raising with 7 9 of spades on the button. Bert defended his big blind, and we saw a flop of ace queen 9. He checked it to me, so I threw a bet out, hoping to take it down right there. He came over the top for about twice my original bet, so I mucked it, saying "Take it with your lousy ace." By this time, I had already been check-raised enough times to fill my monthly quota, so I was a bit irritable. He turned over ace king of hearts, though, so that had to make me laugh at my own stupidity.

One would think that I would take my foot off the gas pedal after being check-raised repeatedly. One would be wrong. "Why don't you try to limp into more pots, or play less hands. Tighten up, Terrence!" you might say. My response to that would be, "Easy for you to say. You're not retarded." I didn't learn my lesson, and I continued to make bad plays. I saw pocket 9s after Roy came in with a raise. The right play would have been to push all-in, seeing as I was a shortstack, or fold, giving Roy credit for a real hand. I flat-called, then when the flop came with three overcards, I tossed it. Very weak.

My demise came on a hand that I shouldn't have been in in the first place. Two people limped in early position, and I saw 10 6 off on the button. I limped as well, figuring I could get out cheap if I missed the flop. My plan was to move all-in if I paired up, unless of course there were multiple overcards. The blinds checked, and the flop was 2 3 6. That's about all I could ask for. Both blinds checked, and Yush bet out. I figured he had low suited connectors, something like 5 6 or 6 7. I was a little worried he had mid-pockets, like 7s or 8s, but I figured I had to move with this flop. I went all-in. To my horror, Bert then reraised all in. "Jesus, he's sitting on 4 5 or a set of deuces or 3s." I figured I was drawing dead. Yush then called the all-in, which really didn't make me happy. Luckily, Yush only had 6 7, though. Bert turned over... pocket queens. I thought this was a really strange play, considering there were 3 other people in the pot. Why would you give a free flop to 3 other players with pocket queens? They're so vulnerable. I didn't like that play, but he definitely caught a good flop for it. Now I had 4 outs, which is better than drawing dead. The turn and the river both bricked off, though, and me and Yush were the first ones out. I was technically in last because I had less money. This was the first time in forever that I was the first one out. My boy Moonie got revenge on Bert though when he flopped a boat against Bert's pocket aces, then proceeded to hit quads on the river. Moonie went on to win, beating Pete heads up in one hand (Pete had no money at all). I offered Yush 20-1 on Pete heads up, but he wouldn't have any of it.

My self-esteem got a reprieve when we decided to play another game. I was hoping to get trash cards for the first half hour, so I could stop steaming. This was not the case, though. The very first hand, I saw jack ten off on the button in an unraised pot. I limped, and we saw a 4-handed flop. It came down queen 9 4. Donald made a small bet, and I called. The turn was a ten. Not what I wanted to see, but I figured I could beat him with another ten or jack, in addition to an 8 or a king. He bet bigger, and I called again. The river was a king. He bet big again, and I doubled it. He called, and I showed my straight. I think he said he had two pair. This pot gave me a big chip lead early on, and I caught a few more hands to build my stack over 20 grand.

Once I hit 20 grand, my cards went ice cold. Luckily, it wasn't like the first game where I would get good cards then miss the flop. This time, my cards were just garbage, so I didn't pay anything but my blinds. After sitting out a bunch of hands in a row, I saw ace 4 off on the button. I came in raising, and Moonie called from the big blind. The flop was ace 2 3, and Moonie came out betting. This is why I hate playing low aces. What should I do here? The best play probably would have been to put in an information raise, but then if he called I still wouldn't really know where I was, so I decided to just call. The turn was an 8. Moonie bet out again, bigger this time. I still didn't know where I was at, but I thought he may be betting with mid-pockets, as he's known to get very aggressive with them post-flop. I called him again. The river was a 10, so I still just had a pair of aces with no kicker. Moonie bet out even bigger this time. To be honest, I had almost no idea what he had at this point. I decided that I had come this far, and I was going to have to call him down. When I did, he mucked his cards, saying he had missed a flush draw and a straight draw. He must have had 5 6 suited or something. This took a big chunk out of Moonie, which is good because he's a freaking animal.

Yush had been saying all game that he would take Moonie out, so we had a running subplot the whole time whenever Moonie got shortstacked. Moonie came in raising on the button one hand, and Yush called from the big blind. The flop was ace ten 6, all diamonds. Yush checked, and Moonie went all-in. Yush called and flipped over king jack of diamonds for the nut flush. Ouuuuuuch. We figured Moonie was completely dead, but he said, "I have outs," and flipped over ace ten, for top two pair. What a sick hand. No help came for Moonie, though, and he went out in 5th. Yush is a man who sticks to his word. One of the few honorable Chinese in the world today.

With four left, it was me, Donald, Pete, and Yush. I came in raising with king queen under the gun, and Yush called from the big blind. The flop was 5 6 9, all diamonds. I had the queen of diamonds. Yush checked, and I decided to take a card off rather than get check-raised again. The turn was a king, and Yush bet out 1200. I raised him 1200, and he went all-in for another 3500 or so. I said out loud, "I think I know what you have, Yush." "King jack, maybe king ten." I figured if I was wrong, I still had outs with the queen of diamonds, but I was almost positive he had king jack. "I gotta go with my gut," I said, and I called. Yush flipped over king jack. Bang. He did have the king of diamonds, though, so he had 10 outs going into the river. I dodged them, though, and Yush was out in fourth.

Once we got three-handed, Donald started going all-in like crazy. I just sat aside and let him take my blinds. I knew eventually I would trap him for all his money, so losing blinds was not a big concern for me. Donald limped on the small blind one hand, and Pete checked. The flop was ace 2 3, and Donald bet out. Pete went all-in, and Donald called immediately and flipped over 2 4. What?! I think Donald was looking to get lucky or go home, because I have no other explanation for calling with that. Pete had ace ten, but he knew he was going to lose, because that's the way life works for Pete. He told us to get the window ready so he could jump out, so, good friends that we are, we opened it. I told Yush to get the camera to catch Pete's imminent death on film. The turn was an 8, but the river was a 5, giving Donald a straight, so Pete began his run to the window. He actually got a leg out, which wasn't very smart, because if the window gave way he was dead. We pulled him back, though, and Yush got a picture, which is now my desktop picture.

Heads up, I decided just to wait for Donald to hang himself, and he won the first 5 hands by raising and taking my blinds. Then I picked up pocket kings. He raised, I reraised a pretty small amount, and he went all-in. I couldn't call fast enough, and he had king 10. I don't know why people keep putting all their money in against me with such bad hands heads up, but I'll take it. This doubled me up, and left Donald with almost no money, and I took him out a couple minutes later when I had king 3, saw a flop of king 8 4, got a king on the turn, and got Donald to put all his money in. He only had jack 8, so he was drawing dead. I got a 3 on the river for good measure, so I won $20 for first.

Quote of the day: "Get the window ready!"- Pete "Accidental Suicide" Robson

Terrence's bankroll: $979+$10=$989

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

Tuesday night's Stacy Poker Tour event was big for many reasons. For one, I was coming off a second place finish last week, as well as a first on Thursday, so I really wanted to continue my momentum. Also, I needed to set the tone early in the Player of the Year race. Right now, some of the strongest players, namely Aaron and Dan, haven't been able to put together any really strong finishes, so I felt like if I could jump out to an early lead, I'd be able to run away with it this semester. Gibby and Joe, the two guys currently at the top, are much improved from last semester, but I don't think they have the staying power that I do. I've also been getting good cards for the most part, and I've been playing everything extremely well. Everything is feeling more and more natural now- whereas in the past I had to focus on focusing, now I'm more relaxed, and I'm able to maintain that same level of focus without making a concerted effort to do it. I think that comes with playing so much- eventually you've been in almost every situation, and you have a wealth of knowledge to call upon.

A few new guys came out on Tuesday, so we had 18 players all told. I got put in the lounge, which seems to be my home this semester, and the seating went me, this new kid Matt, Gibby, Donald, Aaron, Will, Joe, a new kid named Grayson, and Pete. I absolutely loved this seating arrangement, as I had the tight players, Matt and Gibby, seated to my left, so I could be sure to feast on a steady diet of blinds. The more aggressive guys acted right before me, so I could use position against them.

In the first round, I played my share of pots, but didn't hit anything big, and I was about even as we neared the second round. I woke up to see aces on my big blind after Grayson limped from the button and Pete limped from the small blind. This was my first time playing with Grayson, but he was your prototypical terrible player. First of all, he was Greg's friend, so that's all I needed to know, but he also calls any amount of money after he contributed to the pot. He never raises preflop (limping from the button?), but he showed a tendency to throw out huge overbets on the flop without necessarily having anything. With the blinds at 100-200, I figured an overbet was in order. I didn't think Pete would call any kind of raise, so I had to dust off my Grayson ATM card here. I raised 1000 into the 600 dollar pot, and Grayson predictably called without much thought. Pete folded after giving me an angry look, and we saw a flop of rag rag rag with two hearts. I checked it to Grayson, hoping he'd throw out a massive overbet again and I could trap him for all his chips. He bet 3000, leaving himself with about 800, and I raised all-in. He then started thinking and shaking his head. First of all, there was about 9400 in the pot right now, and he was getting almost 12-1 on his money. He said, "You may have a couple hearts, and I'd hate to lose to a flush." Everyone at the table was telling him to call, but I told them to shut up and let the man play his hand. I knew I had him by far, but if he had just a pair, he could still draw out on me, so I was fine with him folding. Eventually, he folded and said he had ace 9, for ace high, so he would have had to hit 9 9 to beat me, just a bit of a longshot. This pot put me up to about 13,000 going into the next level.

Joe, last week's winner, was the chip leader at the time, as he had taken a monster pot off of Matt, and he was up over 20,000. This, of course, didn't make me happy, as I wanted my revenge on him. On his big blind, with the blinds at 200-400, I looked down to see pocket aces once again in early position. I raised it 1200 on top of the blinds, and both Will and Joe called. Will looked like he wanted to reraise, but decided not to. The flop came jack 7 5 with two clubs, a very good flop for aces, and after Will checked, Joe bet out 1200. I didn't figure him to be drawing, and I smooth-called it to trap him later. Will said, "I don't like Terrence calling here," then folded. The turn was a king, and I figured the only thing that could hit me was king jack right now. Joe bet out only 1000 this time, and I raised him 3000. This threw him for a loop, as he knows I wouldn't call with just overcards, and he called. The river was an ace, giving me top set, so now the only thing that could beat me was queen ten, and the only way he could hold that was if he had queen ten of clubs, and remember, I had ruled out a draw for him. Much to my surprise, Joe fired out 5000. I'm assuming he saw the ace as a scare card for me, and he thought I would lay down a lower pair. I raised all-in for another 2450, and he called pretty much just to see what I had, as I think he had just jacks. I was hoping someone would jump up and yell, "Does this look like a man beaten by jacks?!" but it didn't happen. This pot was monstrous, and I was up near 30 grand with a monster chip lead.

Once I got the lead, I started raising like I had a plane to catch. There was $600 of blinds laying out there at all times, and Matt, Gibby, and Donald weren't defending their blinds at all. Will was the second chip leader after he took out Aaron and Grayson on a huge hand (pocket queens for Will, ace king for Aaron, king ten for Grayson. Matt actually quadrupled up on this hand with pocket aces, but Will still took a huge pot off of Aaron to more than make up for it), and he was the only one that could do any damage to me. Grayson was gone, and Gibby had gotten a rough break when his kings didn't hold up against Matt's queens. Pete lost a rough hand to Joe when Joe went all-in on a flop of queen 9 10, Pete called with bottom two pair, and Joe hit an ace on the river to make aces up. This got Joe back in the game, but knocked Pete down to the felt.

My next big hand came against Will. I picked up ace king in early position, and came in raising 1200. Will called from the small blind, and the flop king 8 2, two spades. Will bet out 1500, and I smooth-called, figuring a raise would scare him off, and I could induce a bluff later on with a weak-looking call. If he had something like king queen, this could be a gold mine. The turn was the 5 of spades, putting the flush out there. Will checked. This was a little suspicious, as Will tends to stay strong if he isn't raised, but I thought he could have easily concluded my call meant I was fishing for the flush. I checked, too, again trying to induce a bluff, plus I had the king of spades if another one fell. The river paired up the deuce on board. Will came out betting 6000, a seriously big bet at this point in the game. No one else at the table had too much more than 6 grand. I tried to figure out what the hell he could have to make this bet. I started to worry that he had hit the flush and tried to trap me with a check on the turn. I wasn't worried about the deuce pairing too much, if he had a set, he had me from the get-go. Still, I had top pair, top kicker, and he may have been hoping I would call with something less than his king queen. The bet was just so big, though, that it seemed to be a bluff. I had played it weak throughout with the intention of inducing this bet, but when it came it still scared me. I called, and he flipped over pocket 10s, so my kings were good, and Will was now crippled, as well.

The entire table wanted no piece of me at this point. I was raising, raising, raising, and everyone else was getting whittled away. Donald was the only one that managed to get me, taking a few small pots to get himself healthy again. Joe was the next one to go out, after doubling up a couple times, his luck finally ran out.

I could have taken Pete out at one point, but I laid down pocket 8s preflop after Joe limped in early position, Pete went all-in, and I had a lot of people behind me to act. Pete only had ace 6, and I would have flopped top set then rivered quads. This didn't make me happy, but I was hitting everything else under the sun, so I can't complain.

We merged into the final table with 9 of us left. I had the chip lead, and seating went me, Dan, a new kid named Dave, Andy, Will, Donald, Matt, Alex, and Pete. Most of the pots early on got taken by a raise and a bet on the flop, and it seemed most guys were playing cautiously to make their way up the ladder for points and cash. With the blinds at 500-1000, Andy, who had been staying pretty quiet as his stack got blinded off, came in raising 2500 under the gun. I looked down to see queen ten of spades on the button. Normally, I wouldn't call this raise, because I'd give Andy credit for having a big hand under the gun, but he seemed to be getting impatient, plus I had position on him, so I figured I might be able to bust him with a favorable flop, as if he has one weakness, it's that he tends to overplay his hands when he's out of position. I called, and the blinds folded. The flop came 10 6 3, and Andy went all-in right off the bat for another 8 grand or so. I started thinking, and felt pretty sure that he didn't have an overpair, because he would figure not to get called in a spot like this. I thought he had a mid-pocket pair between 6 and 10, or just overcards. There was as much in the pot as there was in his stack, and I knew he needed to take it. I called with top pair, and he tabled ace queen, which was beautiful, because he only had three outs. He was shocked that I had called his raise with queen ten, and he derisively said, "Nice flop," but I don't see anything wrong with how I played it. For one thing, I'm the chip leader, so I can afford to gamble a little bit more, and for another, I knew he overplayed his hands and that's exactly what he did. The position paid off beautifully. He couldn't hit an ace on the turn or river, so we had our first casualty of the final table.

All of a sudden, the room got dark and a crackling, electrical sphere appeared out of nowhere. I appeared out of it, naked, but with giant muscles. I slowly rose as some mean-sounding music played in the background. I then went to find some guns.

OK, that didn't really happen, but what followed really seemed like a scene from Terminator. After taking out Andy, I got Alex on a hand I can't remember for some reason. Hasta la vista, baby. Then came Pete. He made one of his silly raises right before me for about 3/4 of his stack, and I looked down to see ace queen of spades. I reraised something like 6000 to drive out the others, and Pete called after saying that he didn't want me to "push him around." He had king jack, and I hit a queen on the flop to finish him. Pete's problem this semester is that his ego is getting in the way of his play. He doesn't want to be bullied, so he's calling every bet I make. I, of course, love this because I just keep coming at him with big hands. Next was Donald. I have to confess, this was my one bad read of the night. Donald had just doubled the blind preflop, and I called from the big blind with queen 7 of hearts. The flop came down ace queen 6, and after I checked, he went all-in. I thought that my queen was good, and I called him, but he had ace 5. I got extremely lucky and hit a 7 on the river for two pair to take him out.

Now that we were one off the money, here's how the stacks looked. I still had the big stack, while Dan had lost a fair portion of his stack when Matt got lucky and moved all-in with 8s on the flop. Dan called him with 10s, and Matt hit an 8 on the river to win. This was the third time he had cracked a higher pocket pair, and now he had a huge stack. Will was getting shortstacked, as was Dave.

Nobody really wanted to die on the bubble, and most all-ins didn't get called. Dave's only move was all-in, and he kept going down as a result of it. Honestly, I don't know why you play if you don't know how to. I don't see how moving all-in for 10 times the blind is any fun. Oh well. Anyway, Will came in raising 4 grand under the gun, and Matt went all-in over the top of him for another 35 grand or so, a monstrous bet. Matt was the second chip leader behind me, and I looked down to see pocket jacks. It was clear that Will wasn't going to call the bet, so I just had to worry about Matt. I really didn't want to get my money in against him with a coin flip, because I would have taken a huge dent to my stack if I did it and lost. Judging by his previous play, though, I figured him for a mid-pocket pair, as he had really been pushing hard whenever he picked one up. I also knew that he kept drawing out on people, too, so I was in a tough spot. His bet really seemed weak to me, though, and I called. He showed pocket 7s, so I was a 4.5/1 favorite, and the jacks held up to knock Matt out in 5th.

I limped in under the gun with ace queen, hoping to trap someone and reraise all-in if I got the chance. Unfortunately, no one raised, so I saw a three-way flop with Dan and Matt. It was all low stuff, something like 5 7 2 with two spades, and after Matt checked, I bet 5000 to try to take it down right there. Dan moved all-in for another 2500 or so, and after deciding that a pair would be good if I hit, I called. Dan had 8 9 of spades, for a flush draw as well as a gutshot. The turn was a king of clubs, but the river gave him his flush, so he doubled up. He got shortstacked again, though, and Will took him out a little bit later.

Will had been going all-in like a maniac, and he kept taking the blinds to build his stack up nicely. Finally, a hand came up between Will and Dave. Dave limped on the small blind, and Will checked. The flop came queen 10 4. Dave checked, and Will bet 8 thousand. Dave moved all-in and Will called immediately. It was only about 6 thousand more. Dave had pocket aces, and Will had 10 7 for a pair of 10s. The river brought a 7 for his two pair, though, so Dave was done. I don't think I saw the kid win one pot except for the times he went all-in preflop. I don't know how he made the final table.

Heads up, I was brimming with confidence, as I had been outplaying Will in our few encounters, and I had pretty much gone wire-to-wire up to this point. I also had about a 2-1 chip lead. On the first hand, Will limped in and I had jack 7 of clubs. I checked, and I threw a bet out on a low flop to take it down. The blinds were at 4000-8000. The next hand, I picked up ace king, and I raised it 14,000 on top of the blind. Will went all-in, and I called. He had king 8, so I had him dominated. The flop had an ace, so it was all over. I had my first Stacy Poker Tour title of the semester, and I launched myself into first place in the Player of the Year standings. I also grabbed $80 to put my bankroll over $900. And I did my best Arnold impression. Next week, "I'll be back."

Quote of the day: "Oh, look at that look on the defending champion,"- said by Will during a hand with me (borrowed from Rounders and the 1988 World Series, of course.)

Terrence's bankroll: $854+$70=$924

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

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

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

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