Tournament Time

I walked into the tournament somewhat apprehensive; I've been running bad for awhile. Whenever I start changing aspects of my game, my bankroll shrivels up and crawls south, but this game has been good to me. So there but for the grace of God, I went.

This month's tournament was a little shorthanded, normally it's around 20 players, tonight, only ten. I sat down in the nine seat and the games began. I learned early that the looser, aggressive players were on my right and the tighter players were on my left. Good. Unfortunately, I went card dead almost from the start.

Early on, I picked up Kjo in late position and saw the flop - KJx rainbow. I bet the pot to chase out the draws and had one caller, who raised me on the turn after a blank fell. I put him on either king-crap kicker (K5 or K6) or a set, but the set didn't seem right; his betting patterns (thank you Harrington) didn't add up to a set, so I called his raise and his bet on the river. A few seconds later, I was stacking my newly-acquired chips when he flipped his K5 soooted.

Card dead, card dead, card dead. Later, there are five of us left. I catch pocket fives UTG and limp in. David (aka Dimebag), to my left, raises. I call, and the flop falls king high rainbow. He checked on the flop, and on the turn after a rag fell, he pushed. Back into the tank -- I was thinking if he caught the flop, he would have slowplayed it a little more. Pushing all in was a "don't call me" move. The more I thought about it, it seemed right, and if I was wrong, so be it. My fives held -- his AT didn't improve.

Down to two, I pushed all in on pocket 6s and my opponent had AQ. He won. My second place winnings covered my buy-in for the second game.

More card dead. Card dead. Dead cards. Cold decks.

With the blinds creeping up and my stack shrinking down, it was time to make a move. I pushed on QTc and sucked out on AJd to double up. I started taking down pots. I knocked out another player, doubling up again. Four left, and my stack is starting to shrink a little -- I probably was in third. Top two paid, so I needed a few more chips to start making more moves.

An ill-advised steal attempt UTG hurt when two players after me pushed and I had to get the hell out of dodge. Finally, I see a sweet sight -- Hiltons. So help me, I think one of them winked at me. I was on the button and had a potential monster. David, to my right this time, put in a 3X BB raise, I smile and push.

So did the maniac to my left. Not expected, but he was calling with anything so I wasn't too concerned. Jason and David folded, and I flipped my Hiltons.

Who ran screaming and crying before his aces. Ouch.

It stinged a little more when one of the railbirds said to David, "Didn't you fold KQ?" Sigh.

So I went home, even for the night. However, it was valuable; playing heads-up against some of these guys will pay off more down the road.

I'm ready for next month.