Tournament #95

Rested and refreshed and raring to go - another 45-man!

Dropped $250 on A/7 with a 6/2/K/7/2 board - other guy had K/4. Misread him a bit on that. Another missed steal attempt - after having a raised called by a guy with 8/3 - and I'm down to $1000. Am getting nothing in the way of cards at all. All-in for $965 with A/Q suited, one caller - K/J. He gets no help, me up to $2030. Folded Q/10 to a pre-flop raise. Flop came J/10/6, 2 spades. Said to myself "9 of hearts here would be perfect for the hand I folded". And the 9h came! ARGH. Oh well, folding Q/10 to early raise is the right play. Pick up K/K and raise to $300 (3xBB), one caller. Flop came K/7/5, 2 spades. Both check. Turn is another 7, giving me a full house. River is a Q. He pushes all-in and, of course, I call. He's got nothing - 3/4 - so I bust him and move to $3300. 10th of 22. Can't believe how he played that hand - calling an early position raise with 3/4 and pushing all-in on a missed straight. Good grief. Gave back $600 with Q/Q when a K hit the flop. Lost about $450 in blinds when my cat puked and I had to go clean it up. Pushed all-in right before sitting out with A/9, however, and got no callers - winning $350 in the process. So came out about even on that exchange. Sitting on $2400, 14th of 17. 8/8 and A/7 go nowhere, down to $1900 as we hit a break. Now at $1700 with blinds of $100/200, looking for an all-in. I've got A/K, so here we go! One caller - A/K also. We split as the other 2 aces hit the board. Down to $1400, I pick up A/A and am all-in. No callers :( Up to $1875. All-in for $1200 with A/10 suited, one caller. He's got A/6, gets no help, me up to $2300, 10th of 12. All-in for $1300 with 9/9, 2 callers - 7/7 & Q/4. Neither one gets any help, I triple up to $4500 and make the final table! Drop a couple blinds to go to $3800 but we lose a player and are down to 8. I'm out of the blinds, good shot at making it into the $$$. With $3600, I make a mistake and limp for $600 with A/9 instead of pushing all-in. Flop is a miss and I'm forced to fold to an $1800 post-flop bet. Comes back around to me and I've got K/Q in the BB, 1 other player. Flop is Q/10/x, other guy bets $600, I raise all-in, get called. He's got Q/9. He gets no help, I double to $6100. One guy busted and we're into the money! Big stack hits runner-runner for a flush and knocks out a player, down to 6. All-in for $4500 with 8/8, one caller - K/7. He gets no help, I double to $10500. Tilting, he goes all-in pre-flop with 7/7 for $16000 and gets called by the chip leader with A/K. An ace hits and we're down to 5! I'm actually in 2nd with just under $9000. Steal a set of blinds with 7/3, back to $10000. Folded 10/10 to a big raise that got re-raised all-in. Would have won that pot and gone over $20000. Big mistake. One guy got busted on that hand, down to 4. Another guy gone with A/Q vs A/K, down to 3! All-in for $9500 with 9/9, called by A/Q. He gets no help, me to $19000! Bust him on the next hand, up to $20000, heads-up! Pick up 5/6 in the BB, flop comes 5/6/7. I bet $2400, raised to $6400, push all-in and get called. He's got 8/9. No help on turn or river, so I'm busted. 2nd place, my 5th top 2 finish in the last 23 tourneys, very pleased with the outcome!

FINISH: 2nd place
PAYOUT: $2.41
PROFIT: $2.16
BANKROLL: $69.89