Third Day, Final Round

Ok... so... wow, what a day! The last I checked in, I had 180,000 chips, was heading to dinner, and only had 51 more people to the money... and then I briefly posted to let people know I made the money.

But how did that happen? What was the blow by blow? How did I finish the day? Well, all of that more in the final blog post of the evening...

So I come back from dinner and get Q 10 off in the big blind with a raise from... you guessed it, seat 6. So I call and the flop comes Q J 10 rainbow - two pair, but while he will raise on anything from the button, there's also a decent chance he has 4 to a straight... so I lead out, he folds, more winning.

So I fold for a while, but it's ok  - when you have as many chips as I do, life is good. Then I pick up A10 off in a late position with a raise and a caller in front of me, so I call. Flop comes Q 5 K... I missed. I check, he bets, next guy folds, and I call... why not, I have lots of chips. Turn was a 5, I check, he bets, I fold. C'est la vie...

I got 9's in a middle position and raised with them, but a late position three bet me to 18,500 and I elected not to pay an extra 10,000 to play 9's out of a position with a guy whose hand was good enough to three bet.

But it was ok, because I picked up 5's in a late position, raised with them, and won me some antes and blinds.

Then I pick up a nice KQ suited in a late position... beautiful. So I raise and seat 9, my nemesis (All day he calls me... all the time... calling and raising)... anyway, my nemesis in seat 9 calls. Flop comes 5 8 K with two clubs and no diamonds (I had diamonds). Top pair, second kicker. I bet big - 28,000. He calls. Turn is a 9 of diamonds... still have top pair, second kicker, with two clubs on board and no flush draw for me. So I bet out big again - 30K. He calls.

Now I'm in trouble. He's either chasing a flush I know he's going to hit on the river, or he's got one heck of a hand. But which is it?

River was a 6... of spades. Black, but no club. Even still, I'm unhappy he didn't go away and check. He studies my stack and bets 48,000. Recap - we're 17 people away from the money, there was over 150,000 in the pot when he bet 48,000... making it a 200,000 chip pot. I have approximately 100,000 chips left because 60,000 or so so of those chips are mine. Oh, and there's no way I'm winning this with top pair, second kicker.

There's really only one move here and it's folding... I think even Jay Cutler would fold this hand. But I can't do it. Seat 9 has been driving me crazy all day - every time I raise, he calls. Every time I check, he bets and he always has position on me.

And so, I called with the following philosophy - I'm probably going to lose, but the chance at winning 200,000 chips is so great, that I'm going to call and pray he's bluffing and then just use the remaining 50,000 chips to get to the money if he's not. Essentially, I'm counting this as being out of the tournament if I lose, but saving just enough chips that I can fold every hand and still make the money.

He had the 67 of clubs... which gave him a straight on the turn. He called my preflop raise with suited connectors, flopped the open ended straight flush draw and called my first bet with a draw, hit his straight on the turn, and bled me dry on the river.

My tournament is over... I fold every hand until the money an hour later and am left with an M Ratio of about 4.5 when we hit the money. I order a celebratory beer and consider whether or not I'll be around when it gets to the table... a quick shove is in order, I'm done.

So I pick up J10 suited in the small blind and raise to 7,000 instead of shoving - I should shove, but I'm already "out of the tournament" and in the money, so really I can do whatever I want - I'm just playing carefree poker. So he comes back over the top on me and puts me all in, which I readily call. He has pocket 2's, I have the jack and ten of spades - fitting that stupid seat 9 should put me out.

Flop comes 10 4 8 with two spades. Hey now! Turn was the King of spades, I win, and the river was a 10 in his eye... take that seat 9!

Next hand I've got A3 suited on the button, raise, and win some antes and blinds.

I'm now up near 100,000 chips... I'm almost back in the tournament. Back in the tournament? But I was out of the tournament? Done!

This is glorious - I'm in the money and I have 100,000 chips to play with! I'm invincible!!!

I'm so invincible in fact, that I raise with pocket 5's from a middle position. I got three bet, I folded, he showed AK... maybe not all that invincible.

Invincible enough to raise with QJ though... to a call from... seat 9. I hate you so much seat 9. Flop comes 10 4 5... sigh... check. He bets... might or might not have something, but he has position and has had my number all day. Sigh... fold.

I protected my blind a bit calling a raise with KJ off in the big blind, but missed a Q 4 6 flop. But we both checked and I got a free turn - an ace. So I bet it, he folded, and I took down a small little pot.

Then... sixes. What's that you say? Sixes aren't a good hand? Nonsense... I'm invincible. So I call a raise with my sixes from a late position, which prices in seat 9, and the small blind folds. Seat 2 was a short stack - about 40k - 50K, and he was the one stalling to try to get to the money and now we're in the money. Anyway, it's his big blind and with a raise and two calls in front of him, he shoves all in. The original raiser folds, and I reflect on my sixes.

Now, it doesn't actually matter what I have, this is a phenomenal opportunity for me - I've got blinds and antes in the pot, I've got two extra raises/calls in the pot, and I've got a chance to go one on one with a shorter stack with a pocket pair, which probably makes it a race that I'm ever so slightly leading. Moreover, if I lose, I've still got a 50K short stack left to shove with... so I move all in and pray that boxes out seat 9, which it does.

Seat 2 flips over AJ off, I've got sixes. It's a race!

8 10 Q

Ok, a 9 or a k is a straight for him. And he's still got two overs. Not the best flop for this guy.

Turn was a 4. C'mon 2 of diamonds or anything low. 3 of hearts... or even a 6. C'mon low...

River was an 8, I just took down a huge pot.

Round four is over, I'm in the money, back from the dead, and I've got 144,000 in chips. Game on.

The challenge now, of course, is that I need to get out of crazy poker mode. See, when I made the money, inner Tiffany went to bed. And since I was already "out of the tournament" after my stupid beat from seat 9, once I hit the money, I turned the reigns over to inner Jay Cutler. Now, the problem is, I need to get him back on the bench... but it's hard to put that Jay Cutler genie back in the bottle.

Early into the last round of the night I get 5's in a middle position. It's like Alshon Jeffery streaking down the sideline in double coverage with a safety over the top - how do you not take that shot?! Raise! Flop came J J A... check check. Turn was a King. I checked, he bet, I folded.

AQ off under the gun got me antes and blinds, which was nice.

I got J10 suited in the small blind and called a raise with another caller in front of me. When the big blind called, we had a 45,000 preflop pot. Flop came 2... 2... 2. Ummm... rainbow. Obviously. Ugh. I check, seat 9 bets, everyone else folds.

Almost an hour into the round, I'm in the big blind and seat 9 raises under the gun. Of course he does. Everyone else folds, I look down at pocket kings. Sweet manna from heaven! So I raise to 21,000 and he calls. Please no ace. Please no ace. Just please no ace. Flop comes...

Q 7 2

Glory! I'm first to act... hmmmm... Jay thinks we should get as much as we can out of this pot and says that I haven't done a good enough job maximizing my good hands, so I check... giving the guy who loves to chase flushes a free card if he wants it... and he does, he checks.

Turn is a 6... the second spade on the board. I check again... I'm baiting him, no way he can resist betting here. Check.

Son of a...

Are you kidding me?! He just checked twice? Seat nine?! Grrr...

River is a 5 of spades. Oh my. I may have just let him hit a flush. No, I couldn't have. I wouldn't have. It's at that moment that I resolve I am playing those kings for every chip I have and I lead out 15,000... he ponders and calls. I show kings, he mucks... but as he does, he flashes me a queen.

Wait... what? This guy flopped top pair... and checked... twice?! That hand should have paid me off. I mean, yeah, I won 40,000, which stems some of the bleeding from all the blinds and antes (I'm now losing 10,500 every 15 - 20 minutes), but how do I *only* win that? Damn you seat nine, damn you. I tell you, he's got my number.

With about an hour left in the evening, I picked up AJ suited in a middle position and raised. Seat nine called. Flop came 9 9 J with none of my hearts, but two spades. I led out with a 20K bet, he called. I hate being out of position with this guy. Turn is a 6 of spades - three spades on board. While I loved my top pair top kicker on the flop, I'm now a little weary with the third spade on board, but I bet out another 20K - let's see if he raises... or possibly folds. Nope, he calls. River is the king of spades. 4 spades on board. There is no way I am winning this hand with my ace jack of hearts. I know that. I do. But I can't give seat nine another pot. He's had so many. Even when I have the better hand, he still seems to win. So I shoved. Full on, hard core bluff. Basically, I was representing the ace of spades... and, quite frankly, I was betting he didn't have the ace of spades. Literally, that's the bet I was making - I bet my last 90-some thousand on a 120,000 pot that he didn't have the ace of spades.

And he did.

He actually hesitated for a while, worried I had pocket jacks or J9, but ultimately made the call. He was playing ace of spades, nine of diamonds - he hit the trip nines on the flop and had me the whole way. And I totally could have knocked him off those if he didn't have a spade when that fourth spade hit the board... and based on how much he hesitated when calling with the ace of spades, I may have even been able to knock him off a flush with a middle spade... but he had the ace of freaking spades.

And, done. That's it. Up and down the entire day - I was definitely in the money, then I lost a ton and might not make it, then I made a ton and I was definitely in, then I lost a ton and I'm basically out of the tournament, then I'm in the money, then I double up, then I win a giant pot, then I'm doing great again, then I bet 100,000 chips that seat nine doesn't have the ace of spades and he does.

God, I hate that seat nine. I think that's part of the reason I did it too - I just couldn't let seat nine win that pot. Over my dead body was seat nine going to win that pot. And it was.

Anyway... fun!!! This was really a fun year - I got to sit with a couple former champions, including Johnny Chan, I cashed, and I had a general roller coaster ride of a tournament... it was really a lot of fun.

I officially finished in 765th place - good for top 12% and $15,000. In the five years I've been doing this, I've finished in the top 8%, the top 11%, and the top 12%... so that's pretty good I guess, but I think I squandered some good opportunities today - I should have been able to play into day four.

What's interesting is I don't think I typically bluff a whole lot - I mean, outside of this tournament obviously. I mean, sure, some position raises or continuation bets every so often, but that's just poker. And sometimes I'm betting on the other guy not having something which is kind of like a bluff, but I usually have a draw to go along with that.

Several times in this tournament I got to the river, knew I lost the hand, and made giant bluff bets... and I think I lost most, if not all, of them. Moreover, I made a couple river calls that I knew I lost the hand on... I bet those moves combined for hundreds of thousands in losses across the days. Bluffing on the river when I missed my hand and calling bets when I know I've lost - those are two things that I think I would like to work on for next year...

Day Three, Round Four

I cashed,  but then we can't use electronics at the table,  so i will do one final blog at the end of the night with round four...  And maybe five. Either way,  it will be a final post for the day. 

Day Three, Round Three

Exhausted.

78 off in the big blind with two limps in front of me...  So i raised my option and they folded - good start!

KJ off in a middle position i raised with - 1 caller.  Flop came A 4 6, i checked,  he bet,  i folded...  Didn't want to screw around on that hand.

I had K8 off in the big blind and the small blind raised - all day this guy has been targeting my blinds (he's usually the button for my big blind,  but we lost seat 7 so he was small). I call.

Flop comes 8 2 7... And he bets out over 8,000... So i raised to over 18,000 and he folded.  Take that!

Then we got a new seat 7, he with 300k in chips.  I bet he makes the money...

Also figured out that one of the little eyepiece things for my poker sunglasses (the ones that sit on your nose) fell off and that's why i have a little metal piece digging into my nose.

Anyway,  i called with 7's in the small blind,  flop came J J 10 and i led out and took it down.

A10 suited in the small blind,  so i call a raise.  Flop comes 8 7 8 and we both check.  Turn is a 6, i check,  he bets,  he wins.

AK suited late...  I raise,  seat nine raises, so he has position, and i call .  Flop comes 10 J 3... With only one spade.  Ugh.  I check to the raiser,  he bets, i... Call.  Ugh, can't lay it down.  Turn is a 6 and rules out a flush.  Check check.  River is a 4 and i led out 22k. Why?  Why do i do this?!  He snap calls with J9 suited and a pair of jacks.  That hand cost me almost 40k. Misery.

Then i gave out a lot of chips while trying to figure out if i could fold to the money.

My big blind,  AQ suited...  And seat 6, back on the button,  naturally raises...  So i popped him back with a three bet.  He called,  flop comes 4 7 2 with two diamonds, giving me four .  I've got two overs and a flush draw so i bet it...  He thought about it,  and moved all in - he had me covered.

15 minutes left in the round,  1,062 players left,  and i might be able to fold to the money.  Or i call and chase.  Ugh.

I mean,  really - ugh.

So i called.

He had A5 off,  turn was a K... Not a diamond.  Rivered a queen,  doubled up.

Wow.  Can't believe i made that call...  And that i was ahead.

At the end of the round, I'm in a late position and seat 7 (He with 300k in chips) raises.  I had pocket kings,  first time all tournament.  I three bet,  he called,  and there was no ace on the flop.  He checked,  i dumped on him and took the pot.  I probably should have slow played it to make more,  but i just wanted out of the hand and round.

Finished the round with 181,500, good enough for a M Ratio of 20 for the next round.  Heading to dinner with 1,062 left...

Day Three, Round Two

I don't know how much more of this i can take...

Opened the round with what i thought were enough chips to fold to the money,  but made the fateful decision to play cards instead...

I started early with 7 8 suited in the big blind with a small raise and a call so i called,  feeling priced in.  Flop came 10 9 4, all diamonds - right color,  wrong suit.  I folded to a bet,  but would have hit a 7 on the turn (It wouldn't have been enough to win though,  Greg)

Then i get 5 7 suited in the small blind on the next hand and everyone folds to me.  Ugh, i limp.  He raises,  i foolishly call.  Flop comes J 9 9, one diamond.  Check,  check.  2 on the turn,  my flush draw is no more...  I lead out with a bet  - he calls.  River is a queen.  I can't win this hand...  Unless i bet big and he folds.  Hmmm... I want to win...  But i check,  he checks,  i fold - he had 8's.

Shortly thereafter (Yes,  these things come in groups), i get KQ off in a late position and call a raise from a short stack.  Flop comes 2 2 9. Ugh.  He bets,  i call and float - i have nothing,  but i plan to knock him off his hand before it's done. This seemed like a good plan at the time.

Turn is a 4... He checks,  i check.  River is an ace,  he checks.  I can tell he doesn't like the ace,  so i play the man and bet 18k. He debates calling.  If he calls,  i lose.  If he folds,  i win a nice pot.

And he thinks some more.

And after about 5 minutes,  someone calls clock.  I'm freaking out the whole time because I'm already down chips and can't win this hand if he calls.

The pit boss comes over and starts counting down a minute,  after which they will fold his hand.  Around thirty seconds he calls - pocket kings.  I was right,  he didn't like the ace,  but made a heck of a call and now I'm down under 55k... Ugh,  no good - still almost 1,400 players left.

He said that he couldn't stand the agony of folding and not knowing...  That was worse for him than calling and losing so he called.  Whatever works for him i guess... But that was a great call on his part.

So now I'm tilting a bit,  but it's OK because inner Jay Cutler says we can get it all back on one hand if we just play aggressively enough.  OK,  here goes inner Jay Cutler... Sorry dear,  but i no longer have enough chips to fold to the money.

A10 off in late position and i call a raise.  Flop comes 3 6 5... He bets,  i have nothing but two overs,  Jay says to call so i throw more chips away.  Turn was a 10, i bet a big bet but didn't dump on him (Trying to lure him in for more), but he folded anyway - stopped some of the bleeding.

Next hand,  KJ off late so i call a small raise.  Flop comes 10 6 8 rainbow... He bets,  i fold.

I got J10 off in the big blind and called a raise... Flop comes A A K. Ugh. He bets and while i think it's a continuation,  and i have a gut shot straight draw,  I'm also almost out of chips,  so i fold. 

Q9 on the button with few chips left and someone limps in front of me,  so i limp - if i can see a cheap flop with position and a picture card,  Jay says i need all the help i can get.  Of course,  big blind raised after small blind limped and i got out before the flop - another two thousand gone that i couldn't afford to lose.

Now I'm in free fall...

A9 off in the big blind with a raise...  I call with two players in.  Flop comes 9 7 2 and i lead out with a large 9,000 bet.  Original raiser raises to like 20ish, other guy folds, and i insta-shove...  He calls without much thought.  All in again,  facing elimination again...

He has 8 10 - he's got one over,  an open ended straight draw,  and two more cards to come.  No,  really,  i can't take much more of this.

Turn was a 2. Dodged a bullet.  River was a Q, i doubled up.  Wow.

Now I'm back up over 100k and inner Tiffany has beaten back inner Jay Cutler. 

Queens on the button with a raise...  I three bet,  he thinks about it,  he folds...  And draws the dealers attention that one of his cards is blemished. The dealer agrees and orders a new deck,  the guy to my right asks if it was the ace of diamonds and it was.  So,  basically,  i know he folded an ace,  so in probably happy i didn't have to see a flop?

A round or two later,  jacks on the button - when it rains,  it pours.  I three bet a preflop raise,  he folds - I'm so happy i didn't have to play jacks :)

By the way,  i haven't tweeted a ton besides when new posts are up,  but I've been tweeting these ups and downs of today in real time,  FYI.

I'm also way low on cell phone battery already,  that's not good.  Pro tip - did you know you can charge your cell phone battery 2 - 3 times faster if you put it in airplane mode while charging?  Maybe faster than 2 - 3 times...

Finished the level with 125,400 in chips.  Blind are 400/1200/2400 next round,  which gives me an M Ratio of about 17. 1,251 players left - lost about 300 the first round,  about 250 this round,  and have another 251 players to go until the money.  And yes,  i could fold until the money...  But will I?

Day Three, Round One

Well,  i knew something had to give this round.  We lost our short stack about ten minutes in,  which made me the short stack.

Kidai, meanwhile,  is hyperaggressive,  playing most hands,  and always betting.

So about twenty minutes in,  Kidai raises and I'm on the button with 9 10 suited.  I know I'm going to need a big hand soon,  so i call with position and suited connectors.

Flop comes Q 2 2, with a couple clubs and none of  my spades. Wow,  i missed that about as bad as a flop can be missed.  So he lays out 2,200, and i reflect - 2,200 is his standard continuation bet that I've seen him make several times now...  The last time,  seat 7 raised him and he folded.  Since i missed the flop,  i decide to play the man and not the cards... I raise to 6,000.

He calls.  Hmmm... Maybe when "playing the man", i should pick a man that isn't currently ranked number two in the world.  Turn was a 5, no help.  He checks,  i bet my tournament he had nothing and shoved... he folded. 

Phew.

That gave me enough chips to stay alive more rounds and a half hour later,  seat 9 raises my big blind.  Seat one calls,  seat seven calls,  and I'm looking at 8 9 off...  Not a good hand,  but it's a min raise so I'm looking at 1,800 more chips to play in a pot of over 12,000... Priced in,  i call. 

Flop comes 5 2 8 with a couple hearts.  Small blind checks,  i bet like 8,000. Seat nine folds, seat one calls,  and seven thinks for a bit before folding.  Turn was a 9, I'm first to act.  I've got two pairs, a pot with about 30,000 in chips, and about 25k - 30k left.  I debate betting 15k or 20k, but i was pot committed and willing to take down the pot without him getting another card,  so i shoved.  I'm all in. 

And he calls.

Now,  I've shoved a couple times this tournament,  and I've been called a few times,  but this is the first time someone that had me covered called and i was facing elimination at the end of the hand.

Jacks,  he has pocket jacks,  an overpair. Now,  as long as the river doesn't pair the board...

Queen!  Lucky lady!!!

I doubled up to over 100k.

Giddyup.

But then i got chip drunk...

J7 on the button, i raise!  Small blind three bet me and i folded. 

Stupid chip drunk...  OK,  I'm over that. An hour fifteen in,  we've lost 200 people and are at 1,593. If i walk away now,  i think i can blind and ante my way to the money. 

Hmmm... Maybe i should just walk away for a couple hours? 

Kidai is the most annoying player ever...  Everytime someone bets more than 8,000... Which is fairly common at these levels...  He needs to think about it for five minutes - which is a REALLY long time.  I almost called clock on him earlier and then someone else finally did later in the round - two clocks in a round is excessive.

We lost Greg Raymer this round,  another tournament champion i sat with and outlasted :) The 94 year old WWII veteran is still going strong though...

With about a half hour left,  i got pocket tens one off the button with a raise and a call in front of me,  putting about 11,000 in the pot so i three bet to over 9,000 and picked up the pot preflop when they all folded.

Of course,  the voice of my inner Tiffany just keeps getting louder - "fold until the money,  fold until the money"...

Ooohhh... I wonder what would happen if inner Tiffany ended up in an imaginary cage match against inner Jay Cutler?  I bet that little cry baby wouldn't last two rounds with her and fifteen grand on the line. 

Anyway,  dreaming of imaginary cage matches is how i finished the round,  but it's amazing how good only playing a couple hands can be if you win over 70k on two of them.

End of round one,  1,512 players left - we lost almost 300 in that round.  I'm at 105,600 and an upcoming M Ratio of about 18 with upcoming 300/1000/2000 blinds and antes - the jump in antes will put a hurt on small stacks and I'm guessing at least another 300 go next round.  Maybe i should take a break until the money?

Day Three!

1,796 players remain of the original 6,420 - I made the top 30% of the field and am streaking towards the top 25%. The top 1,000 get paid, so after outlasting 4,624 people, I just have 796 more to go. We should hit the money today in round 3 or 4, so right around the dinner break.

My table breaks down like this...

Seat 1: Kanzuki Ikeuchi (Japan), $84,400 - a bunch of career cashes

Seat 2: John Creed (Maryland), $160,800 - a bunch of career cashes

Seat 3: Davidi Kitai (Belgium), $220,400 - As of January 7th, 2015, he was ranked #2 on the Global Poker Index. You know what? Wikipedia probably says it best:

Davidi Kitai (born 1979) is a famous Belgian professional poker player who won the 2008 World Series of Poker $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event, becoming the first Belgian to win a WSOP bracelet. He also has won 2 other bracelets and has an EPT title and a WPT title under his belt, along with numerous other big scores and titles

Seat 4: Bruno Kawauti (Brazil), $24,600 - 11th on Brazil's all time money list, 12 career cashes, over a half million in lifetime earnings. But hey, at least it's someone with less chips than me!

Seat 5: Aaron Mermelstein (Philly), $180,000 - Hey, he's only 561st on the Global Poker Index, sweet! Of course, he has almost a million dollars in career winnings and is currently ranked 70th in 2015 Player of the Year rankings.

Seat 6: Goran Mandic Zagreb (Croatia), $89,900 - 3rd on the Croatian all time money list.

Seat 7: Eric Cloutier (Quebec), $56,900 - Over a half million in lifetime earning, 14th on the Louisiana all time money list, and he's a former professional hockey player. And in 2009, was charged in a number of felonies for money laundering and felony theft.

Seat 8: Me! $39,800.

Seat 9: Timo Pfutzenreuter (Germany) $156,500 - 55th on the German all time money list, almost a million dollars in career winnings.

... So, I am by far the least experienced at the table and have significantly less chips than everyone but seat 4.

My M Ratio is a 9, so I've got maybe an hour to find a hand or shove on 10 6 and pray.

Quick refresher on M Ratio - the number of times around the table before the blinds and antes take all my chips. Over 10, I'm doing ok. Between 5 and 10 and I'm in the danger zone. Between 4 and 5 shove on anything... the reason for shoving instead of waiting for a good hand is that shoving on something bad, like two unders, means I'm probably 40% to win.Shoving on two overs means I'm probably 60% to win... but if I wait until an M Ratio of 2 or 3 for a "good hand", then a double up only gets me to 4 - 6 and I need to double up again - easier to hit a 40% chance at 4 - 5 than two 60% chances. Moreover, whoever is calling my shove probably has a pocket pair or strong ace, so if my "good" hand ends up being A10, then there's a good chance I'm outkicked and am only 30% to win anyway.

Ultimately, my chips compared to the blinds and antes puts me in the danger zone, so something is happening in the first hour or so - whether that's a shove or winning a couple pots, we'll see.

Nuts, I'm running late for WSOP day three...
 

Final Round

I love making the last round of the evening so I can title the blog post "Final Round" and you don't know if it's my last of the tournament or the night...

Anyway, last I checked in with the blog, I had spent the better part of two hours folding non-stop... with a little losing mixed in. The nice part about a 2 hour cold run is that it must come to an end.

Right?

About 10 minutes in everyone folds to my big blind and seat eight's small blind, so he limps. I look down at J10 suited and raise... he calls. Flop comes K 9 7... with two hearts. Ok, so I missed the flop. But I kind of have an open ended straight draw - an 8 is a straight and a queen is a straight. And any heart is a flush. And a Jack or a ten is a pair. Hmmm... for not having a hand, my hand isn't too bad. He checks, I bet big, he folds.

Winning!

Shortly thereafter James Woods got knocked out two tables over... although you could probably hear him screaming obscenities two states over - Aces over Queens, the guy two-outed him with a Queen on the river. I know how that goes - but man can that guy curse... loudly.

Anyway, that early win was nice - it signaled that my cold streak was over and it was time to resume winning.

45 minutes later, I get fives in a late position. In another 45 minutes, fives were the best hand I could get. Ugh, cold streak continues. But the nice part about a 3 hour cold streak is that it can make even 5's look good, so I raised. Flop comes K J 4.

Well I missed that one pretty good... so I laid out a continuation bet. He called. Now I'm in trouble, I can't win this hand with 5's, I've been bleeding chips for 3 hours, and he called my pre-flop raise and continuation bet.

Turn was a 5.

Oh.

Well that's nice. I check, he checks. River came a Q, I value bet for about 8,000, he called and paid me off! Phew, stopped the bleeding and hopefully put an end to my cold streak.

40 minutes later, I continue to just bleed chips to antes and blinds...

And then - QJ off on the button with a raise and a call in front of me. Flop comes 9 5 7, the first guy checks, the second guy leads out, I fold, the first guy folds, the second guy showed jacks. More losing.

And that was the final round. 3 hands in 2 hours. 8 hands in the last 4 hours. I ended the night at 39,800... that's a M Ratio of 9 for the first round on Friday. Worse, blinds and antes jump to 300/1,000/2,000 in the second round, so 40K in chips is only a M Ratio of 7... if I held constant through round one.

So... I've got my work cut out for me Friday, but at least I did make Day Three and this tournament is nothing if not all about survival. I don't know that I'm playing particularly poorly or well, but I've certainly felt "off" for most of the tournament... and the last two rounds have driven me completely mad.

That suck out this afternoon really cleared up my tilt, so that was great on several levels, but it's not going to matter if I can't find some semblance of a hand or two.

Of course, all I need is to find one or two in the first couple levels on Friday and there's a good chance I make the money - and after 4 hours of nothing, maybe I'm due?

We'll find out Friday... day off tomorrow.