Lately I've been in a very good mood. I think finally my years of introspective self-examinations (wow, that sounds dirty) and hard work are starting to pay off (actually, not really ...). But yeah. Good mood.

So yes, I'm at Best Buy today. I was simply there ... minding my own business ... thinking about how much the Black Eyed Peas suck, and wondering why CDs were still so overpriced even after the RIAA got bitchslapped by that class-action lawsuit when I saw her. Her gorgeous green eyes .. and her dark hair ... they were just screaming out, "COME OVER HERE!" I gathered the courage and walked over there. I decided then and there to commit myself to her. I placed her under my arm and quietly walked over to the cash register.

But are my friends supportive? NOOOOOOOO. "Why the hell are you buying the Ashlee Simpson CD?" they inquired. I just shot them the "die-you-assholes" glare, and that ended that discussion.

So good that I ended up buying Ashlee Simpson's new CD (Autobiography) as well as the Roots new CD (Tipping Point) at Best Buy. I also had ordered the Garden State soundtrack. A pretty electic mix of songs.

So there was poker tonight. And the guys could only bring themselves to ask "Who the heck bought the Ashlee Simpson CD?" Why none of them couldn't ask, "Jeez, who has the great taste in rap music in this room?" defies my beliefs. WHY MUST THEY POINT OUT THE FACT THAT I BOUGHT ASHLEE SIMPSON'S CD?!

Ugh. But yes, the CD is EXCELLENT. Actually, all three CDs are excellent! I highly recommend Ashlee Simpson if you're a mindless social lemming like me ... if you like real hip-hop, the Roots CD is excellent (although it's kind of short). The Garden State is an excellent CD for you indie-rock chill-music lovers.

Today was _the_ day where I completely dominated poker ... we have these games with about 12 people every week. And finally my game and my cards clicked and we were whole.

It's totally hard to describe unless you've felt it. You make the perfect bluffs. You have a great read on everybody. Of course, you get MONSTER hands when you end up NOT bluffing and have monster hands. Everyone fears you when you join pots and they respect your raises. You play perfect pot odds and make good decisions in folding good hands. My cards really were excellent. I didn't have many good Ace-high kicker type of hands, but I did catch mediocre hands and I did have AA twice and QQ twice.

I will now recap some cool hands from tonight: (Some quick background, we play two tables of 6 ... top two from each table join at a final table)

At the table of 6, Ryan, Yum and I are in a pot. There are some preflop raises. I'm holding Ace-7 suited (actually I forget my second card, but it was pretty crappy kicker). The flop comes Ace-T-9. Ryan goes all-in for $13.50 (I'm only invested $2 into this pot) ... and then Yum calls. At this point, I'm kicking myself. I have top pair, but with an all-in and a call ... I simply cannot call. I figure that Ryan is bluffing with a draw of some sort ... but I can't place Yum on anything. He could be on a draw ... or he could be slowplaying Ace with a higher kicker. I should note that Yum is a HUGE chip leader at this point, and I really don't want to wrangle with Yum on this pot with only $2 invested preflop and me low on chips (the pot would of eventually placed me all-in...). I fold. Ryan had an open-ended straight draw (with J8), and Yum had ... POCKET QUEENS. I was pretty pissed, but I composed myself.

A few hands later I pick up J9o in the big blind. Everyone folds except Pete (small blind). He raises it a few bucks, but I'm still a little peeved about folding the winner earlier, so I call. The flop gives me a joyful set of jacks. Now, you must understand that Pete and I have a history of wrangling on hands ... I just LOVE to talk trash to him when we're heads up. He is so easy to read when it comes to weak hands ... you KNOW when you can get him to fold out of a hand. Anyways, after I talk trash to him a few minutes, he eventually folds (as he should). It gave everyone good laughs.

Eventually Terrence gets knocked out with pockets against an overcard (from Moonie). Yum soon succumbs as well as he gets blinded down.

I'm just surviving at this point ... I keep hovering around $20 ... (I go up as high as $50 but get down to $13).

I eventually get doubled up to about $75 from Moonie when I catch a two pair with my J4 against his J3 ... and starting from here, I will completely dominate the rest of the night.

I pick up pocket rockets off my deal (with Moonie in the small and Pete in the big) ... and I decide since i have a huge chip lead, I should try trapping. Flop comes AT3. Check, check, check. Turn comes 3. Check, check, check. River comes 3 (so the board is showing AT333). Moonie checks ... Pete thinks for a second and then moves all-in. Beautiful. He had a ten, but my aces over threes soundly beat his 3s over tens.

The final table was interesting as well. The first victim to my huge stack (I come in pretty equal to Godwin, the other chip leader from the other table) was Yush (sadly!!!). He had AA and tried to slowplay them in the small blind against me in the big blind (I had Q5). I caught two pair off the flop and eventually tapped Yush out (the two pair held up).

Godwin opens a pot for about $10 ... I call ... and then Moonie goes all-in. Godwin folds (he folded A9) and I call with QQ (again, another hand where I had a great hand when people decided to semi-bluff and go all-in). Moonie has AQ and doesn't catch an ace. YES!

With me hoarding Moonie and Yush's chips .. I have like a 4x chip lead over Godwin. In time, he succumbs as well. I steal a bunch of blinds (which are actually close to about 1/8 - 1/10 of his chips every time!!!)

I pick up 83o off the big blind, and Godwin picks up 97o. Flop comes 987. I bet $10 and he calls (big blind was $10 at this point). Turn comes 8. I bet $20, then Godwin moves all-in. I quickly call, and he realizes he made a mistake off the flop. He should of gone all-in and closed the pot there. My set of 8s hold up and I win the tourney ...

What are the lessons to be learned here? Slowplaying as the chip-leader can be beneficial, but be prepared to muck your hand if the board sucks. But never slow-play against the chip leader unless you KNOW you have him. My playing style is a bit aggressive when short-stacked, but I basically fire away as short-stack and force the hard decisions upon the chip leader. Slowplaying against the chip-leader is never smart because the best case scenario is you'll put him into a pot where he has to call an all-in with a board showing. As a chip leader, it's very easy to fold hands, regardless of how much you put into the pot ... since the only thing that matters to the chip leader is that you have more chips than everybody else.

One of the things I've learned is that people remember too much at a poker table. People will get a feeling that someone is bluffing too many pots ... and that is crucial. I've started bluffing a lot more pots and stealing pots whenever I feel like I can simply because it sets people up into the mentality that "Hey, he cannot possibly have a good hand now ..."

But yeah ... it's been a great game. I'm looking forward to next week to defend my crown. I definitely feel like I have a great read on most people in the games ... so let's hope my cards hold up next week!