Sometimes in poker tournaments, you're not getting very good cards. Not even playable cards. You know this is pretty bad when you have a reraise in front of you (3xBB) and you're sitting pretty early in position and you're debating whether to play T8suited.

I played in a tournament at Terrence's today and in general did not have much fun. My initial table was the worst poker table ever: first off, the people in the room left a movie on so half the time parts of the table would be watching TV. There was one dude who sulked the whole time because he got a nasty beat early on (I forget how) ... then there was another dude who had to be told everytime that it was his turn to play. He never picked up on the concept that "first person left of dealer acts first." Never. Not in the 2 hours I was with him.

In any case, the table was quite dangerous. I could figure out there was one aggressive player who was pretty good (this dude named Joe, although it seemed he got lucky more than he played well). Bobby was sitting to my right, catching good cards and having his hands hold up (which gave him a huge chip lead). Of course, it helped that one of the players he played against though "4 cards make a straight," which really helped Bobby win when he was all-in. The dude from last Tuesday who rivered a boat in a hand he had no business being in was his usual annoying self; overbetting small pots and generally being annoying by acting like Hellmuth (putting on his shades and listening to music when he never had any idea what was going on).

What IS it with people who wear shades? Do you think this makes you a better player? Some people claim that it helps them "hide their tells." Let me tell you something. VERY FEW GOOD PLAYERS RELY ON PHYSICAL TELLS. I'll tell you now when I play, I try to figure out what a player is capable of, and I figure out with betting patterns and what I'm holding and what the pot is what range of hands they have. You wearing shades does not help you in any way.

It really annoys me when people put on shades when they have absolutely no idea what's going on. Or listen to music. I listen to music at the table, but I'm always 100% aware of what's going on at the table.

With that said, let me just say that I also really dislike people who watch too much Rounders and try to incorporate that into their game. Jesus.

In any case, I made a few questionable calls today. I made an overbet into a pot I checked through, which was really weak (I was bluffing). I also made a questionable reraise against a made hand against an opponent I didn't know much about. Note to self: Never make a play at a pot against an opponent you don't know enough about. Most likely they'll be calling stations.

I made a questionable call at the final table; I was second short-stacked and the short stack (roughly 1/2 my chips) went all-in. I figured either he had overcards or he had me beat with high pockets; I really didn't see him making this move with lower pockets. This meant I was anywhere from a 2:1 underdog to a 4:1 underdog. Given the fact that the final table were all full of bullies and I seriously needed chips to play (plus I could eliminate someone), I called with 88. He had 99. And he caught trips. Ouch.

In retrospect, it wasn't a horrible call. I was not getting any good hands, and I was surrounded on both sides by big players (to my right was dead-money "call station" and to my left was the aggressive smart player). For poker strategies, I want to go over my last hand.

Mr. Dead Money to my right calls the $10 BB. I look down at JJ. Now, I have about $50 in chips. What should I do? There are two options:

• Go all-in there and hope he folds his blind down (note: I didn't think this was likely because I busted him last week and he HAD to be looking for revenge) and get $25, while risking $50.
• Pay a reasonable raise that will scare everyone else off, with the hope of drawing in Mr. Dead Money into the pot for heads-up action. But, I fully intend to play the JJ straight through regardless of the board since I oinly have $27 left with blinds at $5/$10. It's in essence an all-in, except you KNOW you will be called by Dead Money.

Well, I opted for option two ... and the dude flopped top pair (he had KT and caught his king). Game over.

Damn my short stack; I felt like Pete and Godwin... forced into a corner with at best a mediocre hand, hoping the coin flip lands in my favor.

In conclusion, having no fold equity SUCKS.

Oh yeah, I should preface this by saying that I went on the largest poker rush in my life last night. I pulled all the money out and plan on not playing online for a while (the earnings are SO good I don't want to play! Plus, I have lots to do on Tabby:)