To those of you who detest people who play poker, you'll surely hate me now!

Today we had 10 people show up for our weekly tournament. A lot of the hands are a blur, so I'll try to write down the memorable hands.

The earliest hand I can remember is playing against Terrence. I had JJ UTG+2 against Terrence in the BB. I made a minimal reraise, and Terrence called. Flop comes 874 rainbow. I knew I was a huge favorite, so I played it easy. Turn came a 4. I didn't think Terrence would call a preflop raise with any 4, so I bet minimum again and Terrence called. The river came a 8, and I knew I was in trouble. An 8 or a 4 would of sunk me. Terrence had to act first and he bet out pretty strong (I think it was $4 into a maybe $8 pot). Alarm bells went off in my head; the bet was too small to be a bluff ... he was either holding the 8 or the 4. I was pretty pissed, but I folded down the JJ. Terrence later said he had K8, so I guess that was a good fold ... but it kinda sucked that I tried to play cute.

The next hand I was a bit on tilt due to my bad play previous. I picked up 67o and decided to play it. Bobby is in the BB and checks it. Flop comes T76. I catch two pair. Bobby goes all-in, and I immediatly call. Bobby shows a Q8 (an inside straight draw?). Why would someone make such a huge bet into a small pot to try to bluff it out with an inside straight draw? Bad move. I got into a healthy chip position...

John opened a pot later on for $5 (on $0.50/$1 blinds, wtf?) when I was holding JJ again (you'll see this is a recurring theme) ... I reraised him to $10, figuring he was playing hard on mediocre hands (come on, an overbet just screams weakness sometimes), so I wanted to test him out. He reraised all-in on me (he had me covered). I thought about it for a while then mucked the hand after the lesson I learned last week. With blinds so low, I knew I had a lot of time to catch John and double up.

This would mark about the time when my hands starting going dry. I managed to steal a few pots and won a few small hands (checking down top pair to the river, then making a pot-sized bet making it look like I'm stealing the pot ... ehehe).

I pick up ATo and make a big raise. Nasty Nate calls. Flop comes rags. I bet $4 and he thinks about it for a long time then calls. I figure at best we're sharing aces and he has a slightly higher kicker; at worst he's slowplaying a set or mid-range pockets that are higher than the board. The turn comes a blank, and again I bet out. He thinks about it and calls. The river comes another blank... at this point I'm almost certain he has me beat. I have about $14 left, and I'm debating whether or not to make a huge bluff at the pot. But I decide against this for two reasons: Nasty Nate paid big to see the flop and turn with blanks ... he has to be holding great overcards (mine are completely shit) ... he will most definitely call a huge river bet ... and secondly, he's the friggin' chip leader. One thing I have learned is NEVER bluff a chip leader unless you know you can move him off the hand 100%! We both check it down on the river, and he flips over AJ. Argh! But I'm secretly feeling good for not making a play at the pot; I'm almost certain he would of called. In a post-game talk, he said he would of called an all-in because he felt I didn't have a solid hand (GOOD READ!!!)

A few hands later, Terrence opens a pot for $4. I look down and see K7 of spades. I figure I'm not a horrible underdog and figure it was worth seeing a flop. I simply call ... flop comes J94 with two spades. Terrence checks it to me, and here is where I make a mistake. Terrence never checks unless he's got a great hand ... I should of seen the free card, but I immediately thought about betting the hand ... so I did. Terrence immediately reraised me all-in for $16. This would leave me with roughly $12 ... and I immediately go into the tank. I know he has me beat, as I'm only on the flush draw. The question was, how many outs did I have? If he caught a set, I would be too far behind in the pot to rely on anything other than a flush draw. If he has top pair (which I placed him as mostly likely having, I couldn't see him making this move if he made a set), I would have to catch a king (+3 outs plus ~10 outs for spades). At best, I would be a 4:1 underdog to take the pot out from under him ... of course if he's holding AA, I'm in the same hole as if he has a set... and this was for far too much of the pot. I decided to not chase the flush at this time and folded the pot. This is a huge lesson I've learned: Try to calculate your odds of winning not only based on your flush draw, but on your other outs.

I later on pick up QJh in an early position ... John reraises $5 again and I call. Flop comes Q97 (all clubs). John raises me all-in and I quickly call. The thing with John is he has a vast tendency to overplay hands like crazy. This is why he has such a negative rap; he'll go in with a very weak hand and then he'll catch when someone is all-in. This QJ was the biggest risk I took; I was hoping he didn't have a club .. I knew my pair of queens was enough to hold him out. They held up, and I doubled up BIG time (I think I ended up about $50-$60 at this time). I've figured out now how people overplay pots and can usually push their buttons around to know when I can get good odds on a pot.

Terrence and I had been butting heads on a few hands, and I decided to continue playing against him... one of these hands I would have a monster and he might overplay... Terrence opened a pot for $6, and I reraised him with 62 (hearts). I figured he had overs, and if the flop came favorably, I could move him off his hands. So I reraised it to $14. But what I didn't figure was the big blind, Jeff (new this week, Ed's little brother) would move all-in for only $3.75 more. At this point, I'm kicking myself for making another huge mistake. Heads up with Terrence I felt I had a good shot at moving him off the hand, but I decided with Jeff in the pot (he had been playing real tight all game!) my chances were nil. Lucky for me, Terrence moved all-in and I simply folded. At the time, I said I had mid-range pockets simply because I didn't want people knowing I was making moves with 62 suited. Terrence flips over AK, and Jeff flips over AQ. The board comes QJ6 (I would of definitely moved Terrence off this flop!) ... and Terrence is in deep trouble. Turn is a J... but the river is a ten! Terrence catches Broadway and Jeff is knocked out.

I'm a bit pissed that Jeff moved all-in with AQ with a raise and a reraise because I felt I could of won that hand against Terrence ... but I picked up AK of diamonds on the next hand. Terrence raises it to $4, and I do the same thing... I reraise to $14. I'm pretty sure I have Terrence beat at this time, but who knows what can happen with the flop. Flop comes AKQ. NASTY HAND. I know Terrence wouldn't dare make a move with JT, so I'm in good shape unless he caught a set. But I decide with my chips dwindling I need to make a stand here. So Terrence raises me all-in, and I quickly call. He flips over AJ, and I show AK. Terrence realizes the mistake he's made (he definitely overplayed it!) ... but we both know the hand is far from over. The turn is a J, so his only out is another J; a T will split the pot between us. The turn comes a 9 and I double up BIG time (I think my chip count went up to around $80 after this hand, with only $250 in circulation!).

With a huge chip lead, I never really trail again and continue to dominate.

I continue to bluff pots and raise big.. Pete comes in (normally a very tight player) after I raise $6 and reraises it to $16. I look down and see J9 of spades. I figure at worst I have two undercards, so I call. He flips over AK, and I catch two pair off the flop and a boat on the turn.

From there, Terrence is soon knocked out later when Nasty Nate slowplays KK three-handed... and then once me and Nasty Nate go heads up ... I'm pretty confident I can win against him. I feel I have a solid read on him and can outplay him. With blinds at $5/$10, I steal a few pots ... then he opens a pot for double the BB. I look down and see Q4. I don't know what possessed me to play, but I figure if I can catch a fortunate flop I can beat him. Flop comes AQ7. He checks. This is odd; he always bets with an ace. So he doesn't have an ace? Maybe he's trying to slowplay an ace... so I check. Turn comes a 4. Bing! I have two pair! I take him all-in after the river, and he calls with 88 and realizes what a huge mistake he's made.

But in his defense, he is seriously getting a LOT better. I was proud of his play up until that last hand, but the way I was pushing him around, I could sense a bit of frustration on his part...

So I won my third tournament out of 5 (and last week's was a high probability if I had won that friggin coin toss!). I'm feeling pretty good. I did have some fortunate hands, but I played a LOT of hands and made a lot of tough laydowns across the game ... I think that's the key. If you're going to play loose and aggressive, you have to be willing to walk away from hands if you think you're beat.

My first tournament, I got lucky cards. Second tournament, I played really smart and got good hands. Third tournament... I got great cards at the right times while folding down the right hands. I feel very good about my game right now.