WWdN night

Only 40 people were playing on Tuesday night. Guess some late holiday shopping was more important to them.

Cruised through the first hour of the tournament. Chipped up early with A Q when on-thg called out of the BB. On a Q high flop, I made a continuation bet. And was raised. Huh? I called. Turn was a 5. on_thg bet it out this time. Something seemed funny to me so I raised. He folded.

I would soon double up when I hit a set with Q Q. From there I got a bit lucky. 4 2 in the BB hits trip 4s. K 8o flops two pair. Before I knew it, I had moved above 5000.

But then I gave it back against a tight player who didn't believe in using the bet button. I watched as they had some monster hands but never raised preflop. When they rivered quad Queens, I should have known better than to try to run them over. It wasn't until they called down a hand with bottom pair that I learned my lesson.

At the first break, I was at a respectable 6th position with just over 4300.

I chipped up a bit in the beginning of the second session only after moving down. With 6 6 I missed the flop but wanted to see the turn. The turn made the flush possible so I folded to the bet. Next hand against the same tough opponent, I have 4 4 in the BB. I call his button raise to see a K high flop. Sensing he was making a move again, I raised his bet to 1500 and was happy when he folded. Bluffs always feel good.

From there out, I never did see a flop. My raises were getting some respect. Of course it doesn't hurt that the table tightened up a bit. So I picked my spots and continued to steal where it felt appropriate. I wasn't gaining any ground, but I wasn't losing any either.

That was until I let someone hit a runner runner flush and paid them off. Suddenly, my wind was gone and I was sitting with 8 BBs. Not good.

So I needed a chance to double up somewhere. Blinds had moved up to 100/200/25. So I made a move with the best hand I saw- A J. Wil raised it up to 700. I tossed in my last 890. What I don't believe either of us expected was the chip leader to push as well. When he did and Wheaton went into the tank, I thought I was done for sure. Wheaton would make a great call with 10 10 as the chip leader showed A Ko. A beautiful J hit the turn and I tripled up.

Life. I have life.

That made it easy to steal the blinds and antes with 6 6. Then again with 10 10. But then I lost a race and was knocked down again. A 10 lost to Q J. I knew I was ahead when I made the call. But reading doesn't win the hand.

I get lucky one more time. With A 4o, I tried to steal and went all in with my remaining 2300. Chip leader auto called and I knew I was in trouble. Yep. A 10. But the board paired up and we split the pot. 5 5 A K J. Nice.

But I still needed a double to make my tournament matter. With just 10 people left and 5 at a table, it wasn't easy. Blinds are whipping around and I am getting crap. 10 4 is nice when you get a free flop. But an A high flop sucks.

I did make it to the final table. As the bottom rung. Plus I was sandwiched between the two leaders. Ugh! I was happy to get a hand to double with, 10 10. But the chip leader made a quick re-raise on my push. Uh oh, that is not a good sign. J J. IGHN.

I played a good game tonight. If I don't lose the one race, I would have had a lot more room to work with. But I guess it just wasn't to be.