Some great birthday presents!

My 24th birthday was yesterday. I didn't do much from the norm. But I did receive a few awesome birthday presents.

#1- Number 1 definitely goes to my girlfriend Lisa. She really bought one of the best presents possible. For those of you who don't know, I'm a big Chicago Bears fan. (Sorry to you Saints fans for kicking your ass in the NFC Championship a few years ago). But when I'm not rooting for the Bears, I am rooting for the Saints. They're my two favorites. Well, my girlfriend bought us 2 unbelievably sweet tickets to the Bears v.s. Saints game on December 11th in Chicago! We're going to fly out there for a few days and catch the game. We have lower level, 50 yard line, heated seats. Along with that, she bought me a Bears jacket, and wool hat to wear to the game. Hopefully the Bears will still be in the playoff hunt at that time. I'm going to the Saints v.s. Packers game Monday night. So in addition to hoping the Saints win, I also really need the Packers to lose for Chicago's sake. Overall, she really outdid herself. I'm sooo pumped. Thanks Lisa

#2- Number 2 goes to Harrah's Casino. Since my 21st birthday 3 years ago, I have played poker on my birthday every year. On my 21st birthday(My first time allowed in a casino) I won $2400. Talk about hooking the fish. Well I've had a winning session every year on my birthday the last 3 years and pulled off another one last night to keep the streak going. Of course I seem to win less every year lol. From $2400 in 2005..... to $1200 in 2006...to $844 in 2007... to $645 in 2008. But I still picked up $645 nonetheless. I'll touch more on my session later.

#- Number 3 goes to Terreborne Parish Police Department. I was pulled over today on my way home from Harrah's. Multiple things on my car are expired. Including my driver's license!! I realized that yesterday when I went to Harrah's. When the guy checked my I.D., he told me it expires tomorrow. Shit! And what do you know, I get pulled over the very first day it's expired. I won't go into much detail, but after he found out that I have so much expired shit, a couple thousand dollars on me, and a handgun in the glove box.... he wanted to pat me down and search the car. I allowed him, as I have never done an illegal drug a day in my life. Upon finding nothing, they actually let me go without citing me! I have only been driving for 8 years, and I bet I have more tickets than anyone reading this thing. Sometimes for some very unnecessary shit. But I fully expected to get nailed for the expired stuff (as a should because I was too lazy to renew them). Anyway, thanks to the officers who let me go. I honestly fully intend to get that shit taken care of ASAP.

I received birthday gifts from others too. I appreciate them also. Thanks all.

Now onto my session. I have played a pretty good bit of poker over the last 5 years. And my two tables last night were 2 of the best tables I have ever sat at. The action was UNREAL. I first sat down at a 1-2 game and bought in for $400. And 5 minutes later, I'm called to the $2-$5 game. So I sat with my original $400. About an hour in, I caught K-K. Problem was the guy across the table who found A-A at the same time. All-in on the flop. Rebuy. So now I'm in the game for $900. Well our game is already pretty good. And then Marcos comes to our table. And REALLY livens it up. He's got the deadly combination. He's drunk, playing bad, and catching EVERYTHING. After a little while, he's up to about 4k. People are adding on like crazy, including me. I put another $200 on the game. I wasn't really getting involved much. Not in any big pots anyway. I raised preflop with A-K and won about $200 on an A-10-10-K-K board. He had A-Q.

I am in dream position, to Marco's left. But I can't catch anything against him. I keep mentioning Marco, but the table was full of action players;
Scott- who has now been allowed back into Harrahs. Welcome back.
Black Larry- I say black Larry only because there's white Larry who's a regular also. I'm not racist.
Ron or Rod- an action player with about 5k in front of him.
Mark- a big limit player who plays in Scott's big game.

So this table was great. BUT!!! It's a must move. And after a few of those guys move to the main game, I get moved too. Shit. But this main game is nearly as good. And now black Larry and Rod are there too. I'm still trying to catch even. I win a decent pot that I can't remember, to put my stuck only $100. Then I flop the nuts with Q-J on an A-K-10 board, 2 spades. I reraise a flop better who calls my raise. Long story short, she has K-5 of spades. Turn is Js. I lose about $300 on the hand, and I'm back stuck $400.

Well finally Marcos gets moved to our game. The players from the must-move game claim he took about $1400 off the table when he moved. He was forced to put it back on. So some kind of way, he still has like $4,600 in front of him. And he's still playing reckless as can be. I did pull off a very risky but successful bluff. I bluff $100 on the river into a $460 pot. I bluffed one guy with only $100 left, and black Larry. Usually not a good idea. But my read happened to be correct and I won a nice pot with 7 high. And after a while of not catching much of anything, my time finally comes. Or does it? Marcos is raising preflop very often. And usually to absurd amounts. Well he raises in early position to $75. The guy(a calling station) to my right calls. I have J-J. I'm sure I've got the best of it but I'm not raising to like $300 with J-J with the entire table left behind me. I call and 2 others call. We're 5 handed to a flop for $75. Flop is ten-high with a straight draw. Marcos fires $200. Guy to my left folds. I've still got 2 players behind me. One guy looks like he's gonna muck. Well I call. Guy behind me folds. But the other guy left calls. 3 handed to the turn. It's an off suit 3. Now this is scary, Marco fires $500. S.O.B.! I know he's been playing crazy. But he usually shows down with at least a little something. Almost never is he completely bluffing. Normally my J-J would hit the muck quickly. I'd put the guy on AA, KK, QQ, or 1010. But it's frickin' Marcos. This guy could have anything from an overpair, to a set, to 5-high. I look at the guy behind me and it looks like he wants to fold. I figure he was on some kind of straight draw that missed. Anyway, after a while of deliberating, I finally move in. I've only got about $175 more than the $500. The guy behind me folds. Marcos throws in the extra $175. The river pairs the board rag. I show J-J. Marcos just stares at his hand for a minute. Normally, this is a good sign. But Marcos is piss drunk and I'm waiting for this idiot to flip over top boat or something. But he shows 10-8 of clubs. Top pair. So I drag a $2200 pot with a barely overpair lol. Nice but tough.

So now I'm actually winning about $1100. I ended up giving almost half of that back. One hand I limp with 9s-7s. A few people limp and someone makes a ridiculous raise to $20, which everyone calls. The flop comes K-9-7, two diamonds. Some donkey who was playing terribly fires $75. He's only got $100 behind that. I call and the table folds. The turn is a black 3. And he puts his last $100 in. Shit, I call. Now this guy was called a few times earlier in night by like 3rd pair and he mucked. So he could have complete shit, or a real hand. My guess it like K-Q or diamonds. Now I'll play a game with you that I play with Joe sometimes. It's called, "What's the worst possible card?" Meaning consider my hand, 9-7. I think he either has a king, or diamonds. Now in the entire deck, what's the worst possible river card for me?! What you think? You got it? Well if you guessed the 3 of diamonds, you got it. And that's precisely what the river card was. It hit the board and I laughed out loud. I can't win now. See the 3 of diamonds is a terrible card for me. Because it completes the flush and now if he has a king, he has two better pair. Well sure enough he had both, the Kd-5d. Giving him the flush. I lost like $200 there.

Another hand I had As-7s in the BB. Someone raised to $25 preflop and most of the table called, as did I. the flop came A-Q-9. 1 spade. It checks around to some guy who bets $40 into a $200 pot. I usually fold here but it's the previously mentioned donkey. I'm hoping to pick up a spade on the turn. I call as does Scott. Well sure enough, the turn is a spade, giving me top pair, nut flush draw. I check and now Scott bets $125. The donkey folds and it's back to me. I know my implied odds would be pretty sweet with a backdoor flush here. I call. The river pairs the board queens. He fires a nice size bet and I decide to fold.

I gave back some and cashed out for a $645 win. Overall nice. The birthday streak continues. Well I'm out. Catch me on Full Tilt.

Heads Up!

I have been playing a lot of heads-up matches lately. I've done pretty well at them. I've always done well at the heads-up NLHE matches. Problem is, I usually jump into some heads-up cash game, or some SNG's, or something and blow my money. Or I play some $20-$50 heads-up Stud, Stud H/L, or PLO SNG's that I have no business playing. No discipline. Well this time I'm trying to see what I can do playing just heads up matches. It's definitely a super grind at this level. Playing what seems like a million matches just to make a small profit over time. My hand history deleted the last group of heads-up matches that I played last month. I know I had a pretty good record there too. I know this week I'm 13-5 on NLHE matches from $5-$20. And I should be 17-1. Listed below are 4 hands in which I had my opponent in horrible shape. On the first 3 hands, they were all-in & the 4th hand he had me slightly covered. I was 83%, 89%, 82%, and 71% favorites when the money got in. The last one just seemed unnecessarily brutal lol. I'll keep you posted.

(83% Favorite)
Full Tilt Poker Game #9011611579: $10 + $0.50 Heads Up Sit & Go (68970691), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:59:13 ET - 2008/11/16
Seat 1: dmr0611 (1,270)
Seat 2: Matt J Bryant (1,730)
dmr0611 posts the small blind of 15
Matt J Bryant posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Matt J Bryant [Kc Ac]
dmr0611 raises to 90
Matt J Bryant raises to 270
dmr0611 calls 180
*** FLOP *** [Kh Js Ad]
Matt J Bryant bets 1,460, and is all in
dmr0611 calls 1,000, and is all in
Matt J Bryant shows [Kc Ac]
dmr0611 shows [Ah Td]
Uncalled bet of 460 returned to Matt J Bryant
*** TURN *** [Kh Js Ad] [9c]
*** RIVER *** [Kh Js Ad 9c] [Qd]
Matt J Bryant shows two pair, Aces and Kings
dmr0611 shows a straight, Ace high
dmr0611 wins the pot (2,540) with a straight, Ace high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,540 Rake 0
Board: [Kh Js Ad 9c Qd]
Seat 1: dmr0611 (small blind) showed [Ah Td] and won (2,540) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 2: Matt J Bryant (big blind) showed [Kc Ac] and lost with two pair, Aces and Kings


(89% Favorite)
Full Tilt Poker Game #9012538229: $10 + $0.50 Heads Up Sit & Go (68977909), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:56:00 ET - 2008/11/16
Seat 1: Matt J Bryant (1,670)
Seat 2: ellen3423 (1,330)
ellen3423 posts the small blind of 15
Matt J Bryant posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Matt J Bryant [Ac Ad]
ellen3423 raises to 60
Matt J Bryant raises to 180
ellen3423 calls 120
*** FLOP *** [4d 6h 9d]
Matt J Bryant bets 250
ellen3423 calls 250
*** TURN *** [4d 6h 9d] [3d]
Matt J Bryant bets 1,240, and is all in
ellen3423 calls 900, and is all in
Matt J Bryant shows [Ac Ad]
ellen3423 shows [Kd 4h]
Uncalled bet of 340 returned to Matt J Bryant
*** RIVER *** [4d 6h 9d 3d] [Ks]
Matt J Bryant shows a pair of Aces
ellen3423 shows two pair, Kings and Fours
ellen3423 wins the pot (2,660) with two pair, Kings and Fours
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,660 Rake 0
Board: [4d 6h 9d 3d Ks]
Seat 1: Matt J Bryant (big blind) showed [Ac Ad] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 2: ellen3423 (small blind) showed [Kd 4h] and won (2,660) with two pair, Kings and Fours


(82% Favorite)
Full Tilt Poker Game #9027033265: $10 + $0.50 Heads Up Sit & Go (69082315), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:17:04 ET - 2008/11/17
Seat 1: Matt J Bryant (2,090)
Seat 2: big ken 1977 (910)
big ken 1977 posts the small blind of 15
Matt J Bryant posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Matt J Bryant [6c 6d]
big ken 1977 calls 15
Matt J Bryant raises to 90
big ken 1977 calls 60
*** FLOP *** [7c 4s 6h]
Matt J Bryant bets 180
big ken 1977 calls 180
*** TURN *** [7c 4s 6h] [Js]
Matt J Bryant bets 1,820, and is all in
big ken 1977 calls 640, and is all in
Matt J Bryant shows [6c 6d]
big ken 1977 shows [9h 8h]
Uncalled bet of 1,180 returned to Matt J Bryant
*** RIVER *** [7c 4s 6h Js] [Tc]
Matt J Bryant shows three of a kind, Sixes
big ken 1977 shows a straight, Jack high
big ken 1977 wins the pot (1,820) with a straight, Jack high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,820 Rake 0
Board: [7c 4s 6h Js Tc]
Seat 1: Matt J Bryant (big blind) showed [6c 6d] and lost with three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 2: big ken 1977 (small blind) showed [9h 8h] and won (1,820) with a straight, Jack high


(71% Favorite)
Full Tilt Poker Game #9033247106: $10 + $0.50 Heads Up Sit & Go (69132218), Table 1 - 10/20 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:39:32 ET - 2008/11/17
Seat 1: morechipsplz (1,780)
Seat 2: Matt J Bryant (1,220)
Matt J Bryant posts the small blind of 10
morechipsplz posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Matt J Bryant [Kh Ks]
Matt J Bryant raises to 60
morechipsplz raises to 1,780, and is all in
Matt J Bryant calls 1,160, and is all in
morechipsplz shows [Ad Th]
Matt J Bryant shows [Kh Ks]
Uncalled bet of 560 returned to morechipsplz
*** FLOP *** [As Qd 9d]
*** TURN *** [As Qd 9d] [Kd]
*** RIVER *** [As Qd 9d Kd] [Js]
morechipsplz shows a straight, Ace high
Matt J Bryant shows three of a kind, Kings
morechipsplz wins the pot (2,440) with a straight, Ace high
Matt J Bryant stands up
morechipsplz stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,440 Rake 0
Board: [As Qd 9d Kd Js]
Seat 1: morechipsplz (big blind) showed [Ad Th] and won (2,440) with a straight, Ace high
Seat 2: Matt J Bryant (small blind) showed [Kh Ks] and lost with three of a kind, Kings

Yeeee!

I arrived at Harrah's at about 10PM and sat in a 1-2NLHE game. The table was nothing special. I caught J-J early on and made it $15 to go. I got 3 callers. The flop came king high. I bet $25 and got 1 caller. A guy I didn't totally respect. I had only been there a little while, but this guy played a couple of hands badly. The turn was garbage again. A lot of times I'll check here and basically give up. This time I bet $25 again and got called. The river was a little scary for both of us, completing multiple hands. Check, check. He shows K-Q for a winner.

The very next hand, I limp with A-Jo and the same guy from last hand makes it $15. One or two callers to me and I call. The flop is 10-8-4 all diamonds. I have the ace of diamonds. Everyone checks to the preflop raiser. He bets $25. Everyone folds to me and I elect to call. The turn is a black 7. Giving me a gut-shot. I check and he fires $50. Normally I might fold here. Because even if I make my flush, I probably won't get paid. But I'm putting this guy on an overpair. So I figure I have 15 outs(9 diamonds, three 9's and 3 aces). Also, I'm hoping he has K-K with the the Kd. Or Q-Q with the Qd. Because this guy will definitely call a river bet with those flushes if a diamond hits the river. The river was a black ace. Here's where I messed up. I should have bet here. And I'm still upset with myself for not. I put him on an overpair, I hit one of my 15 outs, and I don't bet. He checks behind and I win. He shows 2 black queens. Error on my part.

I made about $80 with 10-10 on a low flop. There was a $10 bet on the flop that I raised to $30 and got two callers. I took it down on the turn.

Then I get called to the 2-5NLHE game. This is a must move game with some good players on it. There were 2 main games. Both of which had some fish on them. But this must move game looked pretty tough. I lost most of my profit early. I got involved in a hand with an Asian guy I've played with before. This guy is pretty solid. I limped in a mutli-way pot with K-Q. I bet $25 on a Q-high board. The Asian guy min-raises me to $50. I call and the turn is garbage. He makes the same bet, $50. Ahhh I hate this spot. I know I'm probably behind. The bet is small. I call. The river is crap and he bets $125... I fold. I didn't like this hand at all. On the river the only thing I can beat is K-J or a bluff.(That's what I feel anyway). He's pretty tight and doesn't get out of line often. I should have folded the turn. If he has a set, I'm dead. I think he raises preflop with A-K though. And I think he checks K-J on the river. I think I was up against 2 pair minimum. Oh well.

On the next hand a guy makes a small raise to $15 preflop. I look down to see Ad-Qd. I just call along with some others. The flop is Q-8-7. 1 diamond. It checks to the preflop raiser who bets $35. I make it $75. It folds to him. And he calls. His call surprised me for the most part. I thought his bet was pretty much a c-bet and he going to fold. He called and the turn paired the board 7's. A pretty good card for me. He checks. I check behind for a couple of reasons.
#1 Mainly, I want to keep the pot small.
#2 If he's on some type of straight draw with J-10, 10-9, etc... I figure to be pretty far ahead. If he misses.. he'll probably bluff the river. And it will be a smaller sized bet that I can call.
Lots of times I'll bet here but this time I checked. The river was a King. He fires $125. Now the king is not a bad card. A lot of players are scared by this card. But what would he have that he would hold a king? Only K-Q probably. I think he lays down A-K to the reraise on the flop. I study the board for a minute. After all, it is $125 and there is a king and two 7's or board, never of which I can beat. But I call and he taps the table. Nice. He mucks and I drag down a nice little pot.

I get moved to one the the main games. And one of the fish I mentioned at one of the main games was there for about 10 minutes before he went broke. Bummer. Well next to me sat a 180 pound Asian "woman". And every single time she bet she threw her bet out in the most ANNOYING manner. Some players(including myself at times) with throw out a smaller bet, out of the backside of their hand. You know what I mean? When you kinda spin the chips out from under your hand. Well this bitch did it with Super Force every single time. She would bet with her right hand and swing her right arm all the way around her body. I was sitting to her immediate left and almost caught a right hook every time she did it. She actually made an $85 bet with red chips like this. Splashing $85 out there. I mean WTF?!? Even when she counted her chips, she counted them so forcefully. She pounded the table with each cut. I wanted to tell her something. I would have, if I wasn't afraid she could kick my ass. The Mirage had me going down in the 2nd round. Well anyway, I picked up a few small pots at this table. Not really getting too involved. Caught K-K only to take it down preflop. Then absolutely nothing for about 2 1/2 hours. I mean nothing. I literally sat and watched. And did everything I could to stop myself from drop kicking the Asian bitch in the balls.

Then came my last hand of the night. After being on auto-muck for so long, I pick up 10-10. A young guy straddled for $10. I raise to $50 total. I hadn't played a hand in forever so most of the time I would expect a fold from everyone. But Yee was at our table.(That's why I titled this entry Yeee!) Yee is an older Asian man. He is a blast to have at the table. He definitely livens up the game. He also keeps the table laughing. Well he calls the $50 with God knows what and the rest of the table folds. We see a heads-up flop with me first to act... 2,4,5 flop. There's a decent chance he has an ace and I'd hate to see a 3 on the turn. I bet out $75. After a little while he calls. I only have $255 behind. The turn is a little scary.. It pairs the board 5's. Usually I wouldn't sweat it because he would have had to call $50 preflop with a 5. But it's Yee. It's more than possible. Anyway.. I still believe I'm ahead. And here's an example of knowing your opponent and paying a little attention. Yee just lost a couple of big hands. Flush v.s. higher flush.. Top pair v.s. trips.. and he's not necessarily tilting, but he's definitely wanting some of that money back. I also know, if I show any sign of weakness, he'll probably take the first opportunity to steal it. He can be one of those players that just can't help himself. So I check, trying to represent A-K or something. And sure enough... He puts me all-in lol. I call. We don't turn them over.. and an ace hits the river. Geez! Didn't want to see that card. Then he says, "I have ace high." I'm not sure what the hell that means lol. I'm assuming he has nothing and he's talking about the ace on board. But I'm hoping he didn't miss his straight but hit an ace. Anyway, I flip over 10-10 and he mucks. Sweet!

I picked up shortly after. Winning $377 on the night.

"Limit poker is a science, but no-limit is an art. In limit, you are shooting at a target. In no-limit, the target comes alive and shoots back at you." (Jack Strauss)

A good read

No I didn't make I good read in a hand.. nor is this blog a good read. This entry is about an article I read today by Alex Kamberis(AJKHoosier1). If you don't know who this guy is, you probably don't play much online poker. He is currently ranked #1 in online rankings and is basically dominating the field. The article is titled, "Self Evaluation and the Big Picture." I'll link it here and feel free to read it after this short post. http://www.pocketfives.com/poker-articles/SelfEvaluation-and-the-Big-Picture-2567906

I like the article because it gave me a little extra drive. It discusses the growth of a poker player. From beginner, to student, to pro. The student part kinda inspired me. I don't consider myself a beginner, and I'm far from a pro. It kinda makes me want to study the game more and do whatever it takes to get better. I am always on Cardplayer.com, PocketFives.com, GCP(You welcome for the plug), etc. all the time looking at strategy shit. I love discussing hands with some of my fellow players and seeing the difference in opinion. I've read plenty of poker books. I do a lot to better myself as a player.. in that sense at least. But now I'm wanting to do more. Anyway, I don't think this article was anything spectacular. I just thought it was an interesting article by Alex. And maybe it will get some of you off your ass and make you want to further develop!! Good Luck

Once you start thinking you have nothing left to learn, you have everything to learn. -- Steve Badget

Biloxi

Davey and I decided to make a trip to Biloxi Tuesday to play in the "IP Classic". It sounds 100x's more serious than it is. It's a tournament series that attracts 60-80 players per event with decent structure. With the $10 add-on you start with 3k in chips. 30 minute levels. Blinds go 25/25, 25/50, 50/100, 75/150, 100/200/25, etc. We had 60+ in our tournament. It was a $200+$40 I think. Davey, Wild Bill, Monkey & I were all in the field. My table started off 6-handed. Some players weren't at the table while other stacks weren't bought yet. So at a 6-handed table I decide to open the very first hand to 100 from the high-jack position with A-8o. Most players aren't willing to play the first hand for a raise w/o a hand. So much for that.. 3 of 5 call lol. Flop nothing and fold. I didn't catch much of a hand until the first break. (btw there was a break after every 2 levels.. meaning every hour there was a break. I found that very unnecessary and annoying.) Well at the first break I was at $2,500 or so. Until the first hand back from break. The table folds to me in the high-jack again and I raise with Q-Jo. The button calls along with the SB. 3-handed to a flop of Ah-Ks-10s. That worked out nice. The SB leads into me. I call.. hoping the button raises but he folds. The turn is the 5s. The SB leads again and after a while of pretending to have a decision, I move in. He calls with As-10c. Giving him top-two and the nut flush draw. I dodge the outs and double up. Nice. Well for the longest time I can't catch ANYTHING. I'm making a couple of well timed steals. And we're on to our 3rd break. At the end of our 3rd break I tell the dealer that I haven't had a hand better than 4-4 all tournament, so now is the time to give me something. We're at the point of the tournament where a lot of players are just at the preflop shove point. And our table was pretty short on chips. I kept having to raise or shove with not much against the tighter blinds to pick up the blinds/antes. I shoved all-in with Kd-2d once and the tightest player at the table went into the tank. Shit! lol But after a while he folded. Phew. Then in the mist of all these shoves I finally catch my big hand. I catch K-K in the BB.... AND GET A FRICKIN' WALK! Geez! Well after a while of nothing we're down to 2 tables. One of the first hands at this table I'm dealt A-Qo. An Asian guy raises from middle position. Folds to me and I have a bad chip count at this spot. I don't want to call and miss because the raise really hurts me. If I just raise I am committing A LOT of my chips. Screw it, I shove. Everyone folds. That was actually a nice pot. The blinds, antes, and a preflop raise.. made for a sweet pot. Especially when you can get it uncontested. Well I'm not there much longer until I'm moved to the other table. My very first hand I'm dealt A-K UTG+1. This table has the other table KILLED in chips. Once again, screw it.... I'm all-in lol. I hate this type of play. I am a BIG FAN of deep stack poker. I don't like the Kill Phil method. But if I don't have the chips, I don't have the chips. No callers with the A-K but I pick up more blinds/antes. I think we go one rotation until the following hand occurs. I'm UTG+1 and the UTG shoves all-in. This guy was very tight, but he also was low on chips. I look down to see Q-Q. I don't know where to think YESSS! or SHIT!! lol Because this guy was pretty tight. I thought there was a good chance he had A-K and it was a race.. Or worse.. He had A-A.. K-K.. But I'm not folding, after all I'm not trying to sneak into 9th place to barely cash. I want to win this thing. I move in over the top of him. The rest of the table folds around to Bill in the BB who says, "Whatever it is, I call." I immediately know I'm drilled. Sure enough, he turns over A-A and the board bricks. Dammit. If he didn't have aces I take a nice pot. Oh well. I went out in like 15th place or close to it. Bill went on to cash. Congrats. I ended up playing another tourney at 6pm and some 1/2 cash game. Losing at both. A bad day overall. In all three games, my best hands were QQ, KK, and 99. My kings got a walk, and my queens and nines both ran into aces. Yuck. Oh well! Better luck next time.