Second Day, Round Four

Much less stressful return from dinner tonight...  Got some more PF Changs though. 

Very early in the level i got A10 off in an early position and raised for blinds and antes.

Shortly thereafter,  AJ off in the small blind. Seat four raises so i smooth call...  Flop comes A Q 6. Sweet,  hit my ace!  Check.  He bets,  i call.  Turn is a 7. I check again,  so does he.  River was a 8, i led out a 6,000 value bet,  which he called.  I showed AJ, he mucked - big win, up around 67,000.

And then...  An hour of folding. Fun!  Then i get A7 suited in the small blind and one off the button raises.  I figure him for a position raise and call.  Flop comes A K 4 - hit my ace,  but I've got no spades to draw too. Moreover,  this is why i don't play middling aces... Much less out of position...  Much less to a raise - where am i in this hand?  So i play it conservative and check... He bets 2,500 again.  Ugh. Call.

What am i doing?  I've got to be outkicked. Turn is no help, it's a 2. I check,  he bets 5,000. Fold,  just fold your pair of aces. I call - i could hit a 7, the board could pair the 2 or 4 and make the king on board the kicker,  he could have paired a king not an ace,  he could be bluffing... So i called.

River was a 5, check check,  he was playing A10 and out kicked me.  Ugh,  i knew it.
Dropped over 10K on that. 

Twenty minutes later,  still folding.  I did get 4 5 suited in the big blind with two limpers so i got my option, but i obviously checked it and missed a AK8 flop someone else bet and i folded to.

More losing.  More folding. 

My once mighty stack that was almost 70k is now well under 50k and plummeting.

9's... In a late position,  that's good right?  So i raised and small blind raises me back...  Ugh. I should fold,  but I'm pressing now so i call.  Flop comes A 6 4 - he bet,  i couldn't call with that ace there.

Interestingly enough, i thought i was first to act and tried to lead out a bluff,  but he got his chips in before i put mine down so i pulled them back. 

Ugh, not good.  I'm squandering my suck out...

And that was round four...  Five hands and an incredible amount of folding.  Won two early in the first twenty minutes,  and then had over an hour and a half of nothing but folding and losing. 

39,300 at break - M Ratio of 11, the blinds just caught up to me - I'll either need to win some hands or shove by the end of the night. 

Second Day, Round Three

Still on tilt, first hand i played in the round was AJ off,  which won me antes and blinds...  Not another 30,000 chips like I'm looking for though.

I was under the gun for that hand,  got KJ off in the big blind next hand and called a raise from a very,  very short stack.  Flop covers A K 6... Hit my king,  but there's an ace on board and I'm first to act.  So i shoved - he had 5,200 left,  so it was more about putting pressure on him that he needed to have a strong ace or put his tournament life on the line chasing.  Fortunately for him,  he had A10 suited with four diamonds after the flop so he readily called and even hit the flush he didn't need on the river just to stick it in my eye. 

I limped with 3 6 suited from the small blind,  but big blind raised me and i folded.  More losing.

I raised with J3 suited one off the button and won some antes and blinds - phew, didn't want a call there! 

A short while later i had queens in a late position and i raised to a couple thousand.  Big blind three bet me to 5,300... Ugh. Do i call here,  play it safe,  and make sure there's no A or K on the flop?  I've only got 20k - 25k left and he's a giant stack.  Nah, i needed to know where i was so i four bet him to 11,000 and he folded - it was nice not sweating the flop.  More winning?

I got AK suited late and seat 8 (I'm seat 9) raises.  I thought about popping him back,  but i had position and wanted to see the flop and what he did,  so i called.  Flop came 2 4 5 with only one diamond - ugh. Gut shot straight draw,  two overs,  and a potential runner runner flush.  He checks,  i shoved.  I had him covered, but if i lost,  i was down to about 8k - 10k. But that's the beauty of no limit hold em and having a larger chip stack than your opponent - he now needs to have a hand he feels great about,  or chase for his life. He thought about it,  but ended up folding.  Phew, living on the edge - but that got me up to 36,000 after i dropped down to 23k-ish, so i was trending in the right direction.

I got the option in the big blind,  but checked 10 5 suited and folded when i missed the flop badly.

But the next hand i got K8 suited in the small blind and everyone folded.  I raised and took my blind back when seat one folded.

The very next hand,  yes three in a row,  i had A2 off on the button. I raised,  but the small blind three bet me and i folded - 3 hands in a row he and i played.

Nemesis.

I got AK off in the small blind with a raise and a call behind me.  Call or raise?  I didn't like not having position,  so i raised,  got three folds, and picked up 5k.

Then i get J10 suited on the button...  I'm thinking about raising and picking up some antes and blinds when seat 6 raises.  What the heck,  I'll call...

J 2 4... One club. Well, i hit top pair,  albeit with a mediocre kicker.  Seat 6 bets several thousand,  i raise several thousand more,  he shoves. I had him covered and knew he would shove instead of calling given the pot size and his chip stack, so i called given that i was pretty well pot committed.  This is it,  moment of truth -  i have few chips left if i lose and am looking good,  or at least better,  if i win.

I have jacks with a ten kicker,  he has... pocket kings.  Kings?  Ugh. No...  Wait...  I want those chips back.  Ugh. C'mon runner runner clubs!  Turn was a 9 of diamonds, lost my flush draw.  Well,  that's about all unless i can suck out on the river.

And i did...  Hit a ten,  jacks and tens beats kings,  goodbye seat 6, hello 60k in chips.  What a game we play...  That guy is off telling stories to his friends Jeff Rydz normally tells...

About this time they announced the chip leader has 330,000 in chips and we all clapped for the oldest player in the room - he's 94, playing,  and has 130,000 in chips.  I hope I'm still playing the WSOP Main Event at 94. Heck,  i hope i see 130,000 chips!!!

Then i folded a lot. Lots of folding.  I got pocket sixes late so i raised with them,  but the button and big blind called.  Flop came 9 5 3, which isn't a terrible flop for sixes,  but they were all diamonds and i didn't have any diamonds.  Big blind checked to me, i led out a 3,300 continuation bet...  Button called,  big blind folded.  Turn was a K, and a fourth diamond.  Ugh. Check check.  River was another king,  i checked,  he bet 5,000 and i folded.  Ugh. And that's why i shouldn't play sixes.

Dropping lots of chips since the big suck out...

Pocket Jacks under the gun!  Won me some antes and blinds...

Last hand of the round,  I'm ready to fold and get to dinner!  AK off  - ugh, i hate playing the last hand of the round!  I raise,  big blind calls.  Ugh. K Q 8... I unload,  he folds,  i think i have 53,200 heading to dinner,  but it was a quick count.

Day Two, Round Two

Fossil Man Greg Raymer is two seats to my right.

I'm still fuming about that flush - ugh. The challenge now is convincing myself it's not all over in the second round of day two with a M Ratio of 22 just because i lost 30,000 chips and now I'm a short stack.

Or...  Hmmm... Maybe i can just play really aggressively and get it all back at once.  What do you think Jay Cutler?

Oh,  wait,  I'm getting moved again 10 minutes in.  Phew,  i no longer have 2004 Main Event winner Greg Raymer two spots to my right...  now it's Johnny Chan.

I'm on a roll alright... What's the over/under on the number of times he steals my big blind?  1,400?

For anyone who doesn't know,  Johnny Chan is one of the best poker players in the world...  A future hall of famer, he won the Main Event back to back in the 80's, has 10 WSOP bracelets,  and is generally regarded as one of the best poker players...  well,  i guess ever.  I mean, even i knew who he is...

Johnny Freaking Chan. Great. 

First hand in this round was a call from big blind with K9 off. Missed the flop,  missed the turn,  folded to a bet. 

Today was a much better day when i woke up with 63,000 and no one famous at my table, not going to lie. 

I'll tell you this much - if I'm going to do anything today,  make any progress at all,  I'm going to have to stop staring at Johnny Chan and smiling.  That's it.  There's no way around it,  I'm going to have to stop.

But not right now...

(I think I've got him covered)

Well,  he just got knocked out - flop came K 4 7... Johnny hit a set of fours, other guy hit a set of Kings. 

Hmmm... Now I'm just a short stack without the excitement of Johnny Chan.

Shortly thereafter,  AK off big blind...  One raise,  one call.  Reraise or call?  I elected to play it safe and call - if i miss pairing on the flop,  the hand isn't so great anymore.  A 10 9 with two clubs on the flop.  I check,  original raiser bets 2,000 on a 4,500 pot and the other guy folds. Call and slow play it or raise?  I raised...  I wasn't letting him see any more cards in my pot for free - i had it won and wanted it.  I raised to 6,000 so it wasn't a total overbet, but he folded and flashed an ace. 

Next hand,  KJ off in the small blind.  I called a raise,  missed the flop,  and folded.

I had A7 suited late,  which i raised for antes and blinds.

I called a raise in late position with A10 off,  but the flop was Q54 and i didn't chase.  The pot got huge with many raises and reraises, but i never would have made a hand if i chased,  so I'm glad i got out early.

Everyone folded to the blinds and the small blind raised me.  I had 45 off and called to protect my blind a bit and because i would have position.  Flop came QJ2, he bet it,  and while i think he was full of it,  i didn't exactly have a great hand for drawing and making a move didn't seem like a good idea. 

They just announced that Moneymaker, Dan Harrington, and JC got knocked out this round - so i beat those guys!  They also said chip leader has 245,000 chips...  I have about 37,000.

Picked up antes and blinds raising J10 off  from a middle position - phew, I'm happy with antes, blinds,  and no flop with J10 off.

Aces!!! Ugh, antes and blinds. It was two hands after my J10 antes and blinds,  so i was hoping someone would think i was just being aggressive and call,  raise,  or shove.  Nope,  antes and blinds.  But at least they didn't get cracked?

I played 7 9 suited to a min raise when in the big blind,  but missed a 6 6 4 flop and elected not to chase... Not that there was anything to really chase.

I had AQ off on the button with a raise and a call in front of me, so i called and so did the small blind.  Flop came J 8 2 and three players checked to me so i bet big and took it down.  Gotta love position.

The next hand i had KQ off one off the button and faced a raise so i called.  Flop came A 4 K. Hit my king,  but there's an ace out there.  He bet,  i called.  Turn was a 7, he checked,  i bet.  He thought about it forever and finally called.  River was a 6 we both checked.  He was playing KQ and we chopped - i told him i thought he might fold when i bet the turn,  but the guy next to me muttered that he never folds.

I raised with A3 suited from a middle position,  but got three bet from a late position and folded preflop. I made it 1,400 and he made it 4,000... Seemed like a lot of chips to try and flop a flush.

Then came the last hand of the round - i was at 40,500, second to act,  and ready to fold and make a bathroom run while they colored the green chips.  AJ suited...  Ugh, raise.  Q 6 4 flop, i lay out a continuation bet and get one call and one fold.  Turn was another 6, but gave me four diamonds.  So i shoved.  No,  i didn't...  But i thought about it.  Check check.  River was a 9 of clubs,  check check,  he had pocket twos. 

Down to 33,100 and mentally in a very bad place - M Ratio 15ish, 100/400/800 next. 

Ugh.

Day Two, Round One

Played my first hand about twenty minutes in... A10 off i raised with from a late position that got two calls.  Flop came 44Q so i laid out a continuation bet and got one call,  one fold.  Turn was a third four,  we both checked.  He checked an ace on the river,  i bet,  he folded. 

I had K J off early,  got four callers, missed a 535 flop,  and folded to a bet instead of chasing.

I had 4's on the button and raised for blinds and antes.

I had A2 suited i raised with and got big blind to call.  Flop was 10 10 2 so i laid out a continuation bet and took the pot.

I had A4 suited in the big blind and called a raise from the button.  I missed the QJ6 flop that only had one of my spades. He puked out 1,800 to bet and i prepared to fold,  but a couple chips fell out of his hand and landed in the pot  - the dealer ruled it a min bet of 500. Hmmm... Now it's only 500 to win over 3,000 - i liked the odds,  so i chased.  Turn was a 4 and gave me a little pair while ruling out a runner runner flush.  He bet 1,300 so i chased again since i had a pair.  River was a 3, he bet,  i folded and chided myself for chasing.

Then my table broke with about thirty minutes left in the level - ugh, now i need to learn new people.

Several hands into my new table,  i raised with KJ suited and the big blind called.  Flop came AK2... He checked,  i laid out a continuation bet,  he folded.

There are some big stacks at this table!  I'm at table 113 (seat 7) if anyone wants to look up the table and let me know if anyone here is famous...

I had pocket threes in the big blind with a raise and two calls in front of me,  so i felt priced in.  Flop came 10 6 2 with a couple hearts and we checked around.  Turn was another 10, i bet big,  everyone folded.  Winning!

Had queens on the button with a raise to 1,300 from my right.  Flop came J 10 5 with two hearts.  I bet big,  he called.  Turn was 6 of diamonds,  i bet big,  he called.  River Jack of hearts.  Ugh. Three hearts on board,  and a paired board.  He bets 13,000. Ugh. I'm beat.  I know it.  But i just couldn't lay them down - he had 89 hearts,  hit the flush,  and i lost half my stack.  I want to cry...  Why couldn't i fold?  Why did he have to hit the flush?  Ugh... On tilt,  two minutes before break.

38,900 at the break and in a bad place mentally. M Ratio of about 22, so I'm OK on that front,  but i wish i didn't give him an extra 13,000 and had 51,000 in chips...

Ugh.

Day Off

I finally got out of bed about 11am and have had an action packed day of changing hotels, talking to Mikey, talking to Hacker, talking to Simpson, and... hmmm... well I really didn't do a lot today. I showered. I ate. Big day. 

So my table assignment for tomorrow is up - I'm at Pavilion 118, seat 4. My table looks like this:

Seat 1: Eli Kim (New Jersey), $23.7K - 2 career cashes, definitely not a pro. 

Seat 2: Kevin Meeusen (Chicago), $21.4K - He's got 18 career cashes and almost $100K in career winnings... so experienced, but not a pro. 

Seat 3: Dragoslav Timarac (Russia), $21.2K - He's 8th on the all time Serbian poker list of total cash prizes. 

Seat 4: Me! $62.9K

Seat 5: Dean Potashner (New Jersey), $43.3K - 4 career cashes, not a pro. 

Seat 6: Lance Gettler (Des Moines), $23.8K - 4 career cashes, with some decent finishes... although most are 6 - 8 years ago. 

Seat 7: Ruslan Dykshteyn (Brooklyn) $39,9K - 18 career cashes and over a half million in live tournament winnings... including some pretty good finishes. 

Seat 8:  Ryan D'Angelo (New York) $73K - 2nd on the Virginia all time money list... 328th on the all time US money list - $600K from WSOP cashes alone. Hmmm... he sounds good. 

Seat 9: Joseph Chaplin (New York)  $120.5K - The big stack at the table... I have the third largest stacks and this guy has twice what I do! He's got pretty good experience with a decent number of solid cashes. 

... And that's my table. I like that there are no hall of fame players at my table and I like that I have the third largest chip stack. I also like that I have three of the four short stacks at the table to my right - yesterday I had the short stack to my left and every time I raised or called a large raise and he shoved, I had to abandon the hand... now I can see those shoves before I put anything in. And if all goes well, get to see some good cards with a shove in front of me. 

Hopefully I won't oversleep tomorrow... I'd like to make sure I've got myself together and I don't have another fiasco like Monday. At least I should be well rested...

Final Round

Oooohhh - final round, how ominous. Is it because I got knocked out and this was the last round I played... or did I make Day Two and this was the last round of the evening? Or... well, no, those are pretty much the only two options.

So I'm still pretty well on tilt when we start the round and early on I've got 5's on the button, so I call a preflop raise. QQ8. So, I bet... and get a caller - ugh. I checked the turn, he bet, I folded. I lost.

I had A4 suited in a late position and raised with it... but I got three bet and had to fold it. More losing.

K6 off in the small blind that I limp with for a K 2 3 rainbow flop. Hey now, this looks promising. I bet, 1 guy folded, seat 4 called (He calls everything... but just calls. Everything). Turn is an Ace, I check, he bets, I fold. Still losing.

J9 off on the button and I limp. J9 off. I'm now playing J9 off, that's how bad I'm on tilt. Flop comes AK9. Well, I paired my 9, but this is why I don't play J9 in the first place - having second and third pair is no good for me. We all checked the flop and the turn came a 5. I thought about betting, but someone else beat me to it so I folded. River was a Jack. Ugh. More tilting and losing...

Ok, so basically I built up a nice stack at the end of round 4 with a wild bluff that could have cost me my tournament life and now I'm just giving away the chips I got left and right - I still haven't won a pot this round. And every bet this round is at least a thousand... even the limps are 400.

Ok, 5's again. Bad hand, I should fold it. So I limp. And then fold to a preflop raise - just gave away that 400. More losing. ON TILT.

It's about this time that I start thinking to myself - gee, you had Jacks a couple times early, and tens a couple times, and Big Slick a handful of times, but not a single instance of Aces, Kings, or Queens in 9 hours of poker.

And just as I'm thinking that, I get QJ off. I actually snickered a little because I quipped in my first post that it would be hard to quit playing QJ like it's a good hand after games with friends... so naturally I raised with it. Flop came 9 10 K. Hmmm... I flopped a straight. That's awesome! But then he folded when I bet. Dammit.

It's about this time that I'm thinking to myself - you've had a couple decent hands, you're going to have to make them start paying off for you - I can't solely play good hands and only win preflop antes with them, it's not going to work.

So I get AK off under the gun... no one calls my raise, I win antes and blinds. Don't get me wrong, it's great to drag two pots in a row, but blinds and antes aren't going to get the job done. Mercifully, it does quell my tilting a bit.

A short while later I'm in the small blind and get QJ off... which I naturally have to play and I call a raise. Flop comes QJ3... two pair, hot damn! I check it, he checks it. Turn is a 5, I bet, he folds. Ugh... need to maximize when I actually hit... maximize. I tried! I checked the flop!!!

Pocket 8's. Hmmm... a middling hand worth playing but not getting excited about... hmmm... I raise! Seat 4 calls and checks dark (The only thing seat 4 loves more than limping and calling is checking dark), flop comes K 10 2. Well, check I guess. Turn is a 4. Checks. River is an Ace, we checked it down, he had 10's. Back to losing.

A couple hands later I'm on the button and seat 3 raises to 900 - shocking. But I have aces. There they are!!! Look again. Yep, still aces. Yay, aces.

Now, my mind is racing - I want to maximize the payout (In my mind I've already won, I have aces) and aces are best played against as few people as possible. So do I raise or call? If I raise, I also raise awareness of my good hand threatening my ability to maximize the payoff. If I call, I could price in the blinds and let them call with good odds and hit a two pair with rags... any which way, my aces are playing multiple people.

I went with a raise because it was seat 3 and I knew that he would call a raise - whatever happens with the blinds will happen. As it happens, big blind, seat 8, the ultra conservative one, called my raise to 1,800 as did seat 3. Flop comes Q 3 2. Checks to me, I bet out 3,000 and seat 8 calls... seat 3 folds. Well now things are interesting - he's a super tight player, there's over 12,000 in the pot, he's got another 17,000 left, and I've got aces. Turn comes a 3 - pairs the board. He checks. Maximize. Got to maximize. Can't let him draw for free. Maximize. But can't let him draw for free. Hmmmm... I shoved. He agonized for a while and then... called. So, you know, there's about 50,000 in the pot now - his tournament life and essentially mine too... I have maybe 10K - 15K left if I lose, over 60K if I win. Big hand. And he had...

Kings. He had kings. I had Aces. Aces over kings. River was a 9, my aces held up, I knocked out seat 8 and I'm up over 60,000 in chips.

It's on.

10's on the button - call a raise. Flop comes K 9 8 and 3 players check to me. I bet because I'm invincible. They all fold because I'm invincible. More winning.

And then...

AQ off, late position... raise to 1,400. New seat 9, the table chip leader, calls. Seat 1, still nodding off, raises to 5,200. Whoa. AQ is a good hand. I mean, it's not Aces.. or Kings... or Queens... or AK... or even Jacks, but it's a really good hand, right? But I've got to call another 3,800 to see a flop and I've got a monster stack behind me still to act. Ugh. Ok, why did he bet that? He has a pocket pair, he's chasing out Aces or making sure he goes heads up and there's either an Ace on the flop or not. The guy behind me? Another pocket pair? AK? AJ? He's new, I don't know. I just won all those chips and now I have to play AQ off for 5,200 against a guy that's probably ahead of me and with a guy behind me that could reraise again before I even see a flop. Ugh. All of a sudden I hate AQ off. Reraise? Oh man, now I'm out 10,000 that I just won with AQ off and I haven't even seen a flop yet. And then it happened... I folded. AQ. Screw it. I lost the 1,400, stayed above 60,000 in chips, and played it safe. AQ off is a pretty good hand, but it's not even a top 10 hand and I got away from what turned into a scary situation for 1,400 - day one is about survival. I did the right thing.

Guy behind me called, flop came A 3 10. NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I hit my ace. Or, I would have. Oh no. How could this happen?! Total Greg Rydz moment right now - playing the hand that could have been. Seat one leads out 7,000... seat 9 calls. Oh man, I could have called 7,000. Turn was a 4, seat one checks... seat nine bets 12,500 - seat one folds.

So let's play out the Greg Rydz hand for a minute, I am - say I called the raise to 5,200 and seat 9 stayed in. Now there's about 16,000 in the pot. Flop comes, another 21,000 in for 37,000. Turn, seat 9 bets 12,500 and I call - the pot is up to 62,000 and I've got top pair, second kicker. That could have happened. That could have been me. What did seat 9 have? This is going to drive me crazy...

Shortly thereafter, I had KJ suited in a late position and called a raise, but I missed the flop... I elected not to chase.

And... that's it. I fumed a bit about the AQ for the last 30 - 40 minutes, but I really didn't play another hand - I got super conservative. I finished the night, and Day One, with 62,950 in chips - over double what I started with and one of the chip leaders at the table.

And I chatted it up with seat 9 the second half of the round... he was from Chicago, Wicker Park, and he said he had pocket tens on that hand and hit a set... so if he was telling the truth, and he had no reason to lie at the end of the night, had I played the Greg Rydz hand... well... it could have been a completely different ending to the evening with my aces against his three tens. I guess I didn't need to stew about it for 40 minutes after all...

Day off tomorrow, Day Two on Wednesday.

Day One, Round Four

Forgot my pen,  can't take notes and blog hand by hand this round...  Maybe the rest of the night.  Will see what i can get into blog in real time.

Also lost one of those rubber things from the end of my head phones,  so i can only listen to music with one ear - I'm a disaster right now.  By the way,  who made those stupid rubber things and why so easy to fall off?!

Played 89 suited to a raise in the big blind.  Misses the AK7 flop,  but we checked around and i hit a nine on the turn.

More shoves from seat 7... He just doubled up to 10k.

Just lost 4,000 bluffing... I never bluff! What am i doing?!  I'm completely falling apart and out of sorts is what's happening...

By the way,  had KQ off under the gun, raised, and everyone but big blind folded.  Flop came A 2 4 and i bet it after he checked...  And he called.  Turn was no help,  but i bet it anyway after he checked... and he came back over the top all in on me.

Yep,  100 percent on tilt...  Haven't won a big hand,  well,  feels like all day but definitely in forever. I'm trying to force everything,  ugh...  Just, well,  on tilt.

Down to 23,000 and plummeting...

Won some antes and blinds with A10 off...  Helps slow the bleeding of my chip stack, but does nothing for my "i want it all with one giant play even though it has an incredibly low probability of success and there's no reason for a Hail Mary right now" Jay Cutler mentality. 

Ugh.

Small blind limped so i raised Q8 off.  Flop Q96 two clubs.  Bet,  call.  6 diamonds.  Bet,  call.  Q clubs,  i boated the river!  Bet,  he folded...  Damn,  wanted an extra 3,000 - he thought about it forever.  He actually doesn't have a large stack,  thought he might shove.

Next hand limped and big blind and i checked it all the way down.  Two pairs with a jack kicker was the board and also my best hand...  So i bet it.  Minimum bet.  He folded!  Ha!  I was just playing the board!!!

Feeling a little better after those two,  wish he paid me off on the river though - 29,925 with an hour twenty left in the round.
 

Seat five just went bust,  our first casualty.

Caught a king on the river so my big slick could knock out seat seven's pocket 10's a couple hands later - picked up his last 7,500... now at 37,975 total. 

Just lost seat 9, small stacks are dropping and new stacks are coming in. 

I three bet big slick from the small blind,  but missed the flop and didn't want to pay 4,000 when the original raiser bet.  Ugh,  there was over 7,000 in that pot preflop - all i needed was an ace or a king on the flop...  those are the flops i need to hit.

I probably should have laid out a continuation bet,  but seat 3 usually calls continuation bets and these guys raised and called before my three bet making me think someone may have a pair.  Any which way,  i was out of position and didn't want to commit many more chips to a flop i missed. Although later I found that the bettor bluffed a lot, but I didn't know that at the time - he was one of the new stacks.

Played J3 suited to a minimum raise with three callers from the big blind,  but missed the flop (Hard to hit it with that hand) and folded to a bet. Need to stop playing those hands...

Position raise with Q8 on the button got a call from big blind,  then we checked it down... I won with two pair on the board and a queen high. A thousand chips is a thousand chips...

What a disaster i am...  So last hand of the round,  I'm second to act with big slick suited so i raise...  And get 3 callers. Three?! Then i missed the flop - only one diamond and a bunch of little cards.  I lead out a 2,000 and some chip continuation bet,  the button (seat two ) raised to 5,200... The other two folded.  So i chased. The turn gave me a second diamond and paired the board,  but was no apparent help. So i did what was only natural,  i shoved my last 30,000 chips on a 15,000 chip pot with two overs,  a diamond draw,  and a prayer he wasn't already playing a set before the board paired.  He couldn't call that big of a bet and folded muttering about me hitting a boat.

My bluff worked!

End of the round,  43,350 in chips - M Ratio of almost 40 for the final round,  hoping to coast through...

Oh,  and i RAN out to my car on break and i still can't find the stupid rubber earpiece and it turns out the pen was in my bag the whole time.  I really need to survive one more level and get out of here... I'm a mess.