The Three Biggest Pots I Have Ever Played

I played a $26 token today to try and get a $75 token for the Blogger Big Game Sunday night. I didn't get much to play early but managed to get to the final table with 2100 in chips and 5/9. That changed quickly as the first player busted and I was in 6th. Then after another pot I was 7/8. When we lost 8th place I was in last with around 1800 in chips and 200/400 blinds. I was able to make two key pushes with no caller including a 3-bet to get back to 2600. We lost 7th and it was now the token bubble and I was 6/7. There was a stack around 1400 at 300/600 and 2 4k stacks decided to get all their chips in with AQ vs KK and it was over. I'm registered for the Big Game now.

Since there hasn't been much poker form me the last couple days I thought I would recap my three biggest cash game hands I ever had. Two were winners and one was a loser.

#1 - $1600 pot - I was in Lake Charles, LA and playing 2/5. It was a must move game. The max buy-in is $300 or 1/2 the largest stack at the table. I worked the original buy-in to $800 when I got called to the main game. When I sat down I was 9th/10 in stack size. The big stack at the table had around $14k. Yes, 11,000!!! Apparently he had been playing for the last 24 hours straight. I saw him get up and leave with around $6k. I can't remember the pre-flop action but I had flopped a set. A lot of money got in on the flop with the opponent to my immediate right. After the betting on the turn I had around $100 left, about the same as him. The river brought a 3rd spade. He lifted his cards and I saw that I had him beat. He shoves his last $100 and I call. He had top pair and I raked the $1600 pot.

#2 - $1425 pot - This one came from the 2/5 game at the Rio last summer. The game was going for around and hour. Copied from my old blog.... I am in mid-late position with AQ off. There is a straddle to $10 on the button. There are 3 limpers before me and I pop it to $70. The straddle calls and all else fold. The most beautiful looking Kc,Jh,10c flop comes. I lead into the pot for $75 and he rather quickly says all-in. He has about $690 ($10 less than me). I immediately call and he says he has the nuts. I said you have A,Q too? He turns over Q,9. Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I show him broadway and now he needs and ace to chop. It doesn’t show and I just won a $1425 pot.

#3 - $1200 pot - This one occurred at the Borgata in March of 2007. It was a 2/5 game and I was in for a short period of time and got the stack to $600. I had the 10,7 off in the BB in a 5 way limped pot including the SB. The flop came J,9,8 rainbow. SB checks and I bet $25. Everyone folds and the SB calls. The turn is a complete blank (like a 3). SB checks and I bet around $70. The SB raises to $150. I 3-bet shove and she calls. When she calls I said Q,10 huh? Yep. the river is a K. If I flat the turn the K is a good enough scare card for me to lose nothing more. Loss of $1200.

Riverchasers Report

Before I get into Riverchasers I will give a quick update on the other tournament that I played last night. I signed up for a $3 tournament on Full Tilt that started 5 minutes after Riverchasers. I played fairly tight as the vast majority of my concentration was on the other tourney. I think my stats were 18/4 for the whole tournament. I nitted my way to a final table busting in 9th place for $13 when my 10BB stack was shipped in over the chip leaders UTG raise and I lost with A10ss vs AQ.

Now on to the important part of the night, Riverchasers. With only two events left in the BBT3 time was running short to get a TOC seat. I got into the series fairly late as this was the 14th event that I played. Last night it was Pot Limit Omatard (or Omadraw) 8 or Better. Early on in the first or second level I picked up Q,J,9,8 single suited in the AB. There was a limp followed by a raise to 105. I called along with 2-3 others including the limper. The flop gave me a monster wrap with the 10,7,3 rainbow flop. I can't find the damn hand history but there was a significant amount of chips that went in on the flop. On the K turn the rest of the chips got in a 3-way hand and I had to hit any of the A,Q,J,9,8,6. The six on the river gave me the high and counterfitted the other two players lows and I scooped the 11k chip pot.

In around the 5th level I had the AJddxx from the BB and got to see a flop for for free. I believe the flop came down 9 high all diamonds for the flopped nuts. All of the money got in on the flop and my opponent had a lower flush. His low draw was counterfitted and I won the 22k pot. At the first break I had 22k and I believe 2nd place was around 8-9k. Enter luckbox comment here.

I really didn't play that many hands leading towards the final table. I hunk around the 20k mark for a long time and with two tables to go I got the total over 40k when he hit the final table. Here were the starting stacks:

Seat 1: Easycure (15,773)
Seat 2: scottc25 (49,648)
Seat 3: hellory (8,646)
Seat 4: lucko21 (40,256)
Seat 5: shamanalix (30,084)
Seat 6: Julkeus (27,242)
Seat 7: J0DANN1 (5,582)
Seat 8: Shabazz Jenkins (34,429)
Seat 9: PinkyStinky (13,340)

Now the deck really hit me in the face and I was able to steamroll from there. I knowcked out 9th with the following hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6619234072: Riverchasers Online Tour (50041517), Table 2 - 800/1600 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 0:09:22 ET - 2008/05/30
Seat 1: Easycure (14,173)
Seat 2: scottc25 (49,648)
Seat 3: hellory (18,369)
Seat 4: lucko21 (43,056)
Seat 5: shamanalix (18,761)
Seat 6: Julkeus (32,842)
Seat 7: J0DANN1 (5,182)
Seat 8: Shabazz Jenkins (32,029)
Seat 9: PinkyStinky (10,940)
Easycure posts the small blind of 800
scottc25 posts the big blind of 1,600
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [3h 4d 2d 7d]
hellory: agreed
hellory folds
lucko21 folds
shamanalix: powerful 6 lol
shamanalix has 15 seconds left to act
hellory: tru
shamanalix folds
Julkeus folds
J0DANN1 raises to 5,182, and is all in
Shabazz Jenkins folds
PinkyStinky folds
Easycure folds
scottc25 calls 3,582
J0DANN1 shows [6s 4h 3s 6h]
scottc25 shows [3h 4d 2d 7d]
*** FLOP *** [Kc 3c Kh]
*** TURN *** [Kc 3c Kh] [Ac]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 3c Kh Ac] [5c]
J0DANN1 shows two pair, Kings and Sixes, for high andJ0DANN1 shows 6,5,4,3,A, for low
scottc25 shows a straight, Five high, for high andscottc25 shows 5,4,3,2,A, for low
scottc25 wins the high pot (5,582) with a straight, Five high
scottc25 wins the low pot (5,582) with 5,4,3,2,A
J0DANN1 stands up

Lucko took out 8th place. I then took out 7th:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6619423895: Riverchasers Online Tour (50041517), Table 2 - 1000/2000 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 0:25:37 ET - 2008/05/30
Seat 2: scottc25 (48,001)
Seat 3: hellory (24,169)
Seat 4: lucko21 (53,629)
Seat 5: shamanalix (35,084)
Seat 6: Julkeus (16,200)
Seat 8: Shabazz Jenkins (38,058)
Seat 9: PinkyStinky (9,859)
PinkyStinky posts the small blind of 1,000
scottc25 posts the big blind of 2,000
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [5h 6h 9d 4d]
hellory folds
lucko21 folds
shamanalix folds
Julkeus folds
Shabazz Jenkins calls 2,000
PinkyStinky raises to 4,000
scottc25 calls 2,000
Shabazz Jenkins calls 2,000
*** FLOP *** [Ac 6d 7s]
PinkyStinky bets 5,859, and is all in
scottc25 calls 5,859
Shabazz Jenkins calls 5,859
*** TURN *** [Ac 6d 7s] [6s]
scottc25 checks
Shabazz Jenkins checks
*** RIVER *** [Ac 6d 7s 6s] [Jd]
scottc25 checks
Shabazz Jenkins checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
PinkyStinky shows [Qc As Kc 3d] two pair, Aces and Sixes, for high
scottc25 shows [5h 6h 9d 4d] three of a kind, Sixes, for high and 7,6,5,4,A, for low
Shabazz Jenkins shows [5c 3h Qd 4h] a pair of Sixes, for high and 7,6,4,3,A, for low
scottc25 wins the high pot (14,789) with three of a kind, Sixes
Shabazz Jenkins wins the low pot (14,788) with 7,6,4,3,A
PinkyStinky stands up

Then 6th:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6619479409: Riverchasers Online Tour (50041517), Table 2 - 1200/2400 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 0:30:25 ET - 2008/05/30
Seat 2: scottc25 (70,531)
Seat 3: hellory (20,969)
Seat 4: lucko21 (32,629)
Seat 5: shamanalix (16,484)
Seat 6: Julkeus (46,200)
Seat 8: Shabazz Jenkins (38,187)
Shabazz Jenkins posts the small blind of 1,200
scottc25 posts the big blind of 2,400
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [Tc 9d Qd Jh]
hellory folds
lucko21 folds
shamanalix calls 2,400
Julkeus folds
Shabazz Jenkins calls 1,200
scottc25 checks
*** FLOP *** [Qh 4c 9h]
Shabazz Jenkins checks
scottc25 checks
shamanalix bets 7,200
Shabazz Jenkins folds
scottc25 raises to 28,800
shamanalix calls 6,884, and is all in
scottc25 shows [Tc 9d Qd Jh]
shamanalix shows [9s 6h 9c 4h]
Uncalled bet of 14,716 returned to scottc25
*** TURN *** [Qh 4c 9h] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [Qh 4c 9h 2s] [8s]
scottc25 shows a straight, Queen high, for high
shamanalix shows three of a kind, Nines, for high
scottc25 wins the pot (35,368) with a straight, Queen high
shamanalix stands up
No low hand qualified

5th:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6619562915: Riverchasers Online Tour (50041517), Table 2 - 1500/3000 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 0:37:39 ET - 2008/05/30
Seat 2: scottc25 (104,115)
Seat 3: hellory (16,169)
Seat 4: lucko21 (29,629)
Seat 6: Julkeus (39,600)
Seat 8: Shabazz Jenkins (35,487)
scottc25 posts the small blind of 1,500
hellory posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [8c 3c 9d 2d]
lucko21 folds
Julkeus folds
Shabazz Jenkins folds
scottc25 raises to 9,000
hellory raises to 16,169, and is all in
scottc25 calls 7,169
hellory shows [Jc As 4c Kh]
scottc25 shows [8c 3c 9d 2d]
hellory: gg
*** FLOP *** [7s 6h 7d]
*** TURN *** [7s 6h 7d] [Jh]
*** RIVER *** [7s 6h 7d Jh] [5c]
hellory shows two pair, Jacks and Sevens, for high andhellory shows 7,6,5,4,A, for low
scottc25 shows a straight, Nine high, for high andscottc25 shows 7,6,5,3,2, for low
scottc25 wins the high pot (16,169) with a straight, Nine high
scottc25 wins the low pot (16,169) with 7,6,5,3,2
hellory stands up

4th:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6619588044: Riverchasers Online Tour (50041517), Table 2 - 1500/3000 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 0:39:50 ET - 2008/05/30
Seat 2: scottc25 (126,284)
Seat 4: lucko21 (25,129)
Seat 6: Julkeus (38,100)
Seat 8: Shabazz Jenkins (35,487)
scottc25 posts the small blind of 1,500
lucko21 posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #8
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [Jc 4h Js 2s]
Julkeus folds
Shabazz Jenkins has 15 seconds left to act
Shabazz Jenkins folds
scottc25 raises to 9,000
lucko21: GL ME
gadzooks64 (Observer): lucktard
lucko21 raises to 25,129, and is all in
Easycure (Observer): I hope Scott wins it though - makes good press
scottc25 calls 16,129
lucko21 shows [Qd 7d Qc 2c]
scottc25 shows [Jc 4h Js 2s]
*** FLOP *** [9h 5c Jd]
*** TURN *** [9h 5c Jd] [Ts]
*** RIVER *** [9h 5c Jd Ts] [Kh]
millerd33 (Observer): BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
lucko21 shows a pair of Queens, for high
scottc25 shows three of a kind, Jacks, for high
scottc25 wins the pot (50,258) with three of a kind, Jacks
lucko21 stands up
No low hand qualified

3rd:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6619612434: Riverchasers Online Tour (50041517), Table 2 - 1500/3000 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 0:42:01 ET - 2008/05/30
Seat 2: scottc25 (152,913)
Seat 6: Julkeus (39,600)
Seat 8: Shabazz Jenkins (32,487)
Shabazz Jenkins posts the small blind of 1,500
scottc25 posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [8c Jc 4h 3d]
Julkeus folds
Shabazz Jenkins calls 1,500
scottc25: a little high now
scottc25 checks
*** FLOP *** [8d Jd 8h]
Shabazz Jenkins bets 3,000
scottc25 raises to 15,000
Shabazz Jenkins raises to 29,487, and is all in
scottc25 calls 14,487
Shabazz Jenkins shows [8s Tc 5c 7c]
scottc25 shows [8c Jc 4h 3d]
*** TURN *** [8d Jd 8h] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [8d Jd 8h 2s] [Th]
Shabazz Jenkins shows a full house, Eights full of Tens, for high
scottc25 shows a full house, Eights full of Jacks, for high
scottc25 wins the pot (64,974) with a full house, Eights full of Jacks
Shabazz Jenkins stands up
No low hand qualified

And then the last hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6619638744: Riverchasers Online Tour (50041517), Table 2 - 1500/3000 - Pot Limit Omaha H/L - 0:44:23 ET - 2008/05/30
Seat 2: scottc25 (195,900)
Seat 6: Julkeus (29,100)
scottc25 posts the small blind of 1,500
Julkeus posts the big blind of 3,000
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [7h Ac 6d 3c]
scottc25 calls 1,500
Julkeus raises to 9,000
millerd33 (Observer): not taking free money is gheyer
scottc25 calls 6,000
*** FLOP *** [6c 8h Jc]
Julkeus bets 18,000
pushmonkey72 (Observer): bah
scottc25 raises to 72,000
Easycure (Observer): shut up about it
Julkeus calls 2,100, and is all in
scottc25 shows [7h Ac 6d 3c]
Julkeus shows [4c 7c Ks 7s]
Uncalled bet of 51,900 returned to scottc25
*** TURN *** [6c 8h Jc] [Kc]
InstantTragedy (Observer): HA! Let THEM P:LAY!
*** RIVER *** [6c 8h Jc Kc] [5d]
scottc25 shows a flush, Ace high, for high andscottc25 shows 8,6,5,3,A, for low
Julkeus shows a flush, King high, for high andJulkeus shows 8,7,6,5,4, for low
scottc25 wins the high pot (29,100) with a flush, Ace high
scottc25 wins the low pot (29,100) with 8,6,5,3,A
Julkeus stands up
scottc25 stands up

Like I said, I run really good. It was great to get the TOC seat. The TOC is on 6/7 and I will be in Vegas already. I guess I can't play the Binion's shootout event that day then.

Summarizing the whole series I was fairly pleased with how I played. The Blogger Skills did not go well for me. The MATH was horrid (all 2 I played in). The Mookie I only played once (this past Wednesday). Riverchasers was a complete success. I only played in three of them and I final tabled all of them with a 1st, 2nd and 7th all in the month of May. I am not sure if I am going to play the Big Game on Sunday or not. Depends on if I win a token to use or not.

Laettner

Vegas Expectations

As of today I'm officially one week out from departure to Sin City, so I thought I'd write a little excerpt on what I'm looking for out there. This will be my first trip out there in 5 years without the wife. Usually this helps to curtail my instatiable poker appetite, which could be a bad thing. The last time that I went without her was before I played any poker so this marks the first trip with poker on the forefront. Shit this is a bad thing isn't it? Alright then WTF am I going to do? In honor of my wife I will make a list (cause she makes more thorough and comprehensive lists then anyone I know - read she organizes I do grunt work it's why we work well together). We'll check back on this list in a few weeks and see how I did.

List is in priority order.

1) Play both the Binion's PLO event on Sunday the 8th and the Caesar's OM8 event on Tuesday the 10th. I honestly don't care if these are the only two tournies I play. Yes I would like to sat into the WSOP PLO on Tuesday and if things go well then that is a suitable substitute.

2) Play some mediocum of poker at the Rio. This could be cash games but more then likely some STT's for lammers to get into the PLO on Tuesday. This is only a 1500 event so there is a shot there. Last year my Stud8 sat went down the tubes to the guy who kept calling completes with 9's showing so there are no unreasonable expectations here.

3) Play lots of 4/8 and 5/10 limit poker. OK, OK alot is unquantifiable. Let's see 5 days - tournament allotment time - minus drinking time - sleeping time. Let's say to log at least 25 hours at these limits for the trip. Seems reasonable.

4) Partake in many alcoholic beverages with a bevy of bloggers that I have never met. I am lucky enough to be spanning two blogger gatherings. The first wave with Columbo and Falstaff and the second wave with BamBam and friends. I like meeting new people and I like drinking. Hopefully this produces 2 solid nights at least of tossing back. If anyone is looking for a suggestion, I say the Piano Bar at NYNY. I've never had a bad time there and always end up shit-ty.

5) Eat an expensive piece of cow. Preferable warmed and still bleeding on the inside (that's medium rare for you hippy tree hugging vegetarians) [RANT] Animals are here for us to eat them because we are smarter then them and they taste good. Monkeys brains got bigger cause they ate meat so since I am smarter I eat meat, thank you for leaving more meat for me [/RANT]

6) Win (OK probably lose) some money in the pits. Ever since poker I don't play as much blackjack/pai gao/craps/whatever. It's fun to get back to that every now and then especially when at a table when people are winning and/or drunk. Let's try that.

Ok this seems like a sufficient list. We'll check back in 2 weeks and see how I did. Here's to meeting people I've never met and some I already have. Let's get drinks!

BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow am I ever a fuckin card rack. Pretty much nuff said. I rode the cards to a win in Riverchasers tonight good for $240 and a TOC seat. I played a $3 NLHE at the same time and made the final table but finished 9th. This Thursday definitely tops last Thursday.

Ace King Can Lick My Balls

Man has this hand completely fucked me over in the last three events. Last hand of CHIMPS was AK less than QQ. Blogger Skills was AK less than KK (fuck you wvapoker :)). The Mookie was AK less than AA. When you have a stack of 10 BB's you pretty much have to shove with it. I don't think flat calling a 3x or 3.5x bet pre-flop is a viable option.

Monday night was the MATH and it did not go well for me. I am just not a good 6-max player. In this tourney you see a ton of 3-bets. I lost almost 1/2 of my chips in the 1st level when I raised to 90 with 55 and was called by the button. I lead for 150 on the flop and was raised to 450. It looked like a standard raise in this spot so I 3-bet it to 1000. He 4-bet shoved and I had to lay it down. I was out 1/2 hour in when I shoved with AQ and I ran into AK.

Tuesday night was Event #3 of CHIMPS. It was a $1 rebuy and I managed to get through the rebuy period for about 6 rebuys and the add-on. After the add-on I had 5200 in chips. A decent stack to play with good for 2nd/7 at the table. Until my bustout hand I did not play a hand where i had over 1k in chips in the pot (more like 600). With the blinds at 120/240 I decided to shove from late position with AK and ran into QQ. I did not improve and was shown the door in 11th good for zero points.

The Blogger Skill Series on Tuesday night was PLHE. I had a much better run in this one but still wound up with nothing to show for it. I busted in 21st place two short of the points (like that really matters now). 10 minutes in I raised with 98dd and got 2 callers. Flop comes 7,4,2dd and I call a pot sized bet from the BB and so does the other player. The turn is the 6s so now I have the open ender to go with the flush draw. Its checked to the last player who fired out 480 and I'm the only caller. I hit the flush on the end and lead for 1100 and am called by a flopped set.

The rest of the first hour was fairly uneventful except for the last 10 minutes. I managed to flop quads twice, getting paid off on one of them. Going to the break I had 7500 in chips. Nothing too interesting happens in the 2nd hour which I ended at 6k in chips. My bustout hand was courtesy of guest blogger wvapoker. I thought I had AK but I see that I had the Jackace. Who loses with that? Well, me.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6593140384: Skill Series (44660298), Table 9 - 300/600 - Pot Limit Hold'em - 23:56:42 ET - 2008/05/27
Seat 2: photojenn (6,240)
Seat 3: Wadzilla (8,150)
Seat 4: Chippy McStacks (9,814)
Seat 5: surflexus (14,543)
Seat 7: wvapoker (7,736)
Seat 8: scottc25 (5,848)
Seat 9: carmensincity (12,098)
wvapoker posts the small blind of 300
scottc25 posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #5
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [Ad Jc]
carmensincity folds
photojenn folds
Wadzilla folds
Chippy McStacks raises to 1,814
surflexus folds
wvapoker calls 1,514
scottc25 has 15 seconds left to act
scottc25 raises to 5,848, and is all in
Chippy McStacks folds
wvapoker calls 4,034
scottc25 shows [Ad Jc]
wvapoker shows [Kd Kh]
*** FLOP *** [Kc 9d 9c]
*** TURN *** [Kc 9d 9c] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [Kc 9d 9c 8s] [5h]
scottc25 shows a pair of Nines
Chippy McStacks: gg
wvapoker shows a full house, Kings full of Nines
wvapoker wins the pot (13,510) with a full house, Kings full of Nines

Last night was the Mookie. Like usual lately I managed to get a top 5 stack in the first hour until I called a 3500 3-bet shove with the lovely fuckin AK again after I 2 bet to get knocked down to 4k in chips. In the second hour this interesting hand came up. I posted it over on CCN to see what people thought.

Full Tilt Poker Game #6605654079: The Mookie (49938093), Table 5 - 60/120 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:11:51 ET - 2008/05/28
Seat 1: Evy35 (2,460)
Seat 2: anguila (7,620)
Seat 3: riggstad (3,020)
Seat 4: jeciimd (2,145)
Seat 5: scottc25 (4,230)
Seat 6: Wadzilla (3,960)
Seat 7: actyper (4,950)
Seat 8: jamyhawk (3,375)
Seat 9: tasit (6,050)
anguila posts the small blind of 60
riggstad posts the big blind of 120
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to scottc25 [Qs Qd]
jeciimd folds
scottc25 calls 120
Wadzilla raises to 460
actyper folds
jamyhawk folds
tasit folds
Evy35 folds
anguila folds
riggstad folds
scottc25 calls 340
*** FLOP *** [5h 6d Qc]
scottc25 checks
Wadzilla checks
*** TURN *** [5h 6d Qc] [As]
scottc25 bets 500
Wadzilla has 15 seconds left to act
Wadzilla raises to 1,500

Your move???

About 20 minutes into the 3rd hour after maintaining my stack I got it in with AK (yes, again) and ran into AA. Fuck this!!!

Riverchasers is tonight and I will play that one. I'm leaning against playing the big game on Sunday. We shall see how the token chasing goes. So far not so good.

Laettner

T Minus 9 Days

My Poker Skillz

Snuffy invited me to play in the blogger skillz HORSE MTT a couple weeks ago while we were playing CHIMPS. I had a serious poker jones so I said, "What the hell!" After the first break he told me that if I made the final table I would have to blog about it. Well, I made the FT, but didn't blog about. I really can't recall hands like most people. Maybe I just suck at poker. I remember when people suck out on me, but rarely when I suck on them. That had to of happen a few times for me to build the stack that I had, because I was the chip leader for most of the tourney and finished 7th.

On to last night. I wanted to play the CHIMPS "crack smoking" event $1 NLHE Rebuy. I think I went off for at least 10 rebuys and the addon. I signed up for the PLHE Blogger Skillz, too. We got a 3K stack and I was patient. I had Snuffy to my immediate left to keep me inline, too. He was getting upset with me after he through away a couple small pairs to my opening raise in late position. We got involved in a pot HU when he was in the SB and I was on the button. I raised with AJ of hearts and he called with I think the 84 with the 4(d). The flop came 10, 8, x all diamonds. I CB 1/2 pot, he called. The turn brought the A(d). I fired again and Snuffy asked how big my diamond was and I said big enough, he folded.

I floated around 8k in chips for a long time. I got a stack, then reraised Chippy McStacks in late position with KK. He pushed his stacked in and I called, he had (I think) KJ with one diamond. He rivers a flush. I was back to 6K in chips. I make it to the FT with 15K in chips. After folding several marginal hands and am dealt AA after the break. The CL bets pot and I repot all-in. He calls and has JJ?. I double up, but end up finishing a respectable fifth. So two skillz MTTs and two final tables. Beginners Luck.