Though only six played last night, it was just another opportunity for Charlie - who is leading in Player of the Year - to add to his lead. And he did so with some luck and great play.

6. Paul
5. Me
4. Jim
3. Ryan
2. Jason
1. Charlie

This game was very slow moving early on. Paul had a huge chip lead, then went out first. Charlie set up his night with a great call against Ryan that went a little something like this: At the 200-400 blind level, Charlie makes it 1000. Ryan and Jim call. Flop comes KKQ. Charlie bets 1500, Ryan moves all in and Jim folds. Charlie thinks for a long time and calls with QJ. Ryan has Q10. The reasoning behind Charlie’s call was he knew Ryan didn’t have a King, cause he would have just called the 1500 and if he was outkicked (QK, QA or QQ), Ryan would have reraised before the flop. Great poker logic and a great call.

My night, which was going well, went down the tubes when Charlie again made it 1000 to go at the 2-4 blind level and with J9 suited, I figured I’d call and hope to hit a flop. I knew he made that bet with QJ before so didn’t think he was THAT strong. Flop comes JKx. I decide to bet out 1500 and he reraises all in. I know my Jack isn’t good, so I fold. He shows me pocket Aces. It was a good laydown by me, however, it let me short stacked, and he knocked me out soon after.

Charlie then knocked out Jim with 10,9 and Jason knocked out Ryan when Jason hit an Ace vs. Ryan’s flush draw that didnt come.

Heads up didn’t last long, but the swings were huge. Charlie won a big pot in which he slow played trip 9’s then Jason got him back with Q4 against J4. Charlie hit Jason back with AJ vs. K8 and finally all the money went in with a flop of KQx with three spades. Charlie had a Q, Jason had a K and two spades. Jason was way ahead. The turn brought a blank and the river brought a Q of diamonds making Charlie three of a kind and giving him the title.

Aggression wins pots. That’s what everyone says and early on Dave was proving it. However, a few crazy hands later his momentum slowed and shifted over to some other players. We joked he was betting “strong, to quite strong” just like Greg Focker’s portfolio, but it wasn’t enough.

7. Ryan (rebuy)
6. Jim (rebuy)
5. Jason (rebuy)
- Jason
4. Charlie
3. Paul
- Jim
2. Dave
1. Me
- Ryan

So like I said, Dave was pushing the action early and gained a good amount of chips. One example was a 200 chip preflop raise and four people called. Flop comes 463. Dave bets out 650, Ryan calls and everyone else folds. Another 4 comes on the turn. Ryan bets out 1200 and Dave just calls. An 8s on the river, bringing a 3rd spade. Ryan checks and Dave pushes all in. Ryan thinks for a while and folds. Dave had 64 for a full house. Ryan went out soon after again to Dave when Dave called him down with middle pair again Ryan’s bottom pair.

After his rebuy though, Ryan wins a MONSTER hand knocking out both Jim and Jason in one shot. Both rebought, but Jason got busted soon after, moving all in with AQ and Paul called with 88. A Queen hit the flop but Paul turned an 8 and knocked him out.

I won a big hand with pocket 5’s against a few guys and after Ryan knocked out both Charlie and Paul in one hand for his second double shot of the day. Two players have limped, Charlie makes it 1500, Paul moves all in with 3700 and Ryan calls. Charlie has KJ, Paul has QJ and Ryan has 67. SIX SEVEN?!? He said that, he figured two all ins meant they were sharing face cards and with such a huge chip stack, he had a good shot at knocking them out. Well, he hit a 6 and knocked them both out.

I played a few other decent hands and after Ryan’s big stack play knocked out Jim and Dave I found myself heads up with him, way down in chips. But I battled back to almost 2-1, winning with some steady aggression but I was bound to get caught - and I did. Earlier I had folded QJ in many positions, just not feeling good about it. Well, riding a little bit of a rush I raised 4000 preflop and got called by Ryan. Flop comes 393. I bet out 4000 and Ryan raises another 7000. I know he has a piece - either a 9 or maybe like pocket 7s or something (definitely not a 3 because he wouldn’t have raised and definitely not an overpair, cause he would have raised me preflop). So I figured my over cards were good and for another 8000 (my entire stack) I could win 24000, which was 3-1. My percentage was lower than that but, I felt like it was time to take my shot. So I called. He did have a 9, no J or Q fell and I lost.

Scan down this page. Notice something? I always finish fourth. I don’t know why. I just do. And fourth is the worst because, the way my friends and I play it means I don’t get Player of the Year points (those go to the top 3) or cash (top 2). It’s the ultimate bubble and basically says I’m the best, worst player every week.

This week, it looked like I was going to burst that bubble. But - in the end - things worked out the way they do.

7. Paul (rebuy)
6. Charlie (rebuy)
5. Jason
4. John F.
- Charlie
3. Me
2. John C
1. Jim
- Paul

At this point in the year, it’s all about Charlie and Jim as they are the top two in a tight player of the year race. So there was a big hand that happened semi-early on that had huge implications in that. After a small raise preflop Charlie bets out with top pair and gets reraised all in by Jim. Charlie is holding AQ and the board is Q10x. Charlie thinks for a long time and calls. Jim flips K9 for a semi-bluff gutshot straight draw. If Charlie wins, as he should, he’ll eliminate Jim and gain some breathing room. But on the river comes a K and Charlie gets decimated. That King was a huge card. On the following hand, Jim folds QQ after the flop comes 236 sniffing out that John C had a flush draw. How he folds against a DRAW is beyond me, and everyone else, but it was smart as the 4c came on the turn giving John his straight flush!

Meanwhile I had played a few decent hands and things had slowed down. Then I make it 1800 to go with pocket 9’s and get reraised all in by Jason. It goes around and I decide that his huge reraise was meant to take down the pot, not to heads up, so I call with my pair. My read is right - he has AK. The flop comes K88 and I’m crushed. But a two outter 9 on the turn gives me a full house and completely cripples him. I’m now the chip leader. Two knockouts by John C later and he’s right there behind me.

I raise to 2000 with pocket 10’s and Paul moves all in for 6000. Predictably, Paul has been very quiet since going out early. However, again, I feel like I’m in a coinflip and you need to win a few of those to win a tournament. I call. Again, I’m up against AK and again, a K comes on the flop. But no ten and Paul doubles up huge and brings me back to the middle of the pack.

My final hand might seem like a bad one, but I stand by it. In Texas Hold Em you have to play the player, not the cards sometimes and that’s what I did. With pocket Jacks I raise to 2500, about half my stack. John C, who hasn’t played in a while and is enjoying a dominating chip stack, calls. The flop comes AKx. What a terrible flop for pocket Jacks. He bets 2000. Now, if I fold, I have maybe one good bet left but this is John C. He hasn’t played in a while, has a lot of chips, and is well documented as playing any two cards very strong just because he likes to play big pots. I also take into consideration that he hasn’t been around in a while and loves to slap me around on the felt. So I call, putting him possibly on a straight draw or lower pocket pair, which he showed numerous times earlier in the night. Not this time though, he flips A10 and I’m out. Charlie said it was a bad call, but read about the next hand.

Paul bets 3000 and John insta calls after winning all my chips. Flop comes 483 and Paul moves all in. John INSTA calls again with 34. Three Four! He has bottom pair. Paul flips over Pocket Kings and crushes John. He was out in the next hand. So, though I lost my hand, I feel I made the right read.

Heads up, Paul simply had too many chips for Jim to deal with and took it down fairly quickly. Jim gets points and money, Paul plays slow and steady and wins and I finish on the bubble after having the chip lead. Yup. Just another night of poker.

I tried to store up good poker karma tonight, but I didn’t get enough. Throughout the night I made some great, and questionable, laydowns that were all very painful. In the end, I thought they would give me enough clout to get to the end. But it didn’t quite work out.

9. Paul (rebuy)
8. Jim (rebuy)
7. John
6. Jason
5. Leara
- Paul
4. Ryan
3. Me
2. Harry
1. Charlie
- Jim

And sorry to everyone who reads this, but I’m going to concentrate mostly on my hands. When you get a blog, we can write about you.

It’s early and Harry raises to 400, Charlie reraises all in right after winning a huge hand. I look down and see exactly what you DON’T want to see - AK. I decide that I don’t want to gamble all of my chips early on that hand and fold. It ended up being smart as Harry had KK and Charlie had JJ. No ace came and Harry doubled up. On the next hand I played Paul very well and won a big hand so I was feeling pretty good. Riding that rush a few hands later, John set a HUGE bear trap with KK that I walked right into with A9. Unfortunately, I hit my Ace in the window and he was gone.

I paid for that though when I reraised Paul all in with AJ and he called with AA. That’s two bear traps in a row I sprung. This one I couldn’t get out of, though, and I lost about 3000 chips. I get AJ again the next hand, make a raise, Jason reraises and even though I KNOW I have the best hand, I feel like it’s going to hold up, so I fold. Leara rabbit hunted and I would have hit a J. Damnit. A few hands later, I get AQ in first position and decide to limp. Jason makes a raise and I’m ready to drop the hammer, but Harry moves all in over the top. So I dump it. Jason calls and his J10 is against Harry’s QQ. Of course, I would have hit my A.

So with those AJ and AQ hands, I’m feeling very frazzled. I slow down. And see my mediocre hands like Q8 and 76 make two pair at least two times. Ugh. This night is not going well. Finally, I play 87, hit mid pair with a straight draw and win a big pot. I then raise all in against Ryan with 77 and hit a set against him. My karma seems to be turning around.

Four handed the blinds rip through us and there’s enough all ins that it gets to be just about even. Then Jim moves all in, Charlie does the same, I look down and see…..the terrible AJ. I decide, third time has to be the charm. “All in,” I say. Jim has 84 and Charlie has 77. I’m looking okay. xx8 on the flop, xx turn and river and Jim takes the main pot and Charlie takes the side pot and I’m down to 3500 chips at the 1000-2000 blind level. It’s over.

I move it in dark and see J4h. Two people call. Flop comes J47, then an x and then a 4 - I make a full house and I’m back in the game! But winning with J4 must have used any good vibes I made laying down Ace paint a few times because after about 35 minutes of four handed nothingness I lose with K10 to A2 and I’m out.

And though Charlie had Jim all in like three times, finally his K10 beats Charlie’s A3 for the victory.

Oh, and yes, I know this blog is very disjointed. But I’m very tired and still reeling for a wild night of poker.

The night started with Ryan playing a middle pair exceedingly well. Later his cards when cold and he found himself heads up against a steamrolling Dave. That run of bad luck flipped at that point, however, as several great hands in a row brought the guy who won a big first hand another big win.

7. John
6. Jim
5. Paul
4. Me
3. Charlie
2. Dave
1. Ryan

That first hand started with Ryan raising to 250 and getting 5 callers. Flop comes 4JQ. Jim bets 250, Ryan and Paul call, everyone else folds. Turn is 9h making three hearts. Jim bets 750. Ryan thinks for a long time and just calls, Paul folds. River is a blank. Jim checks, basically giving up the hand and Ryan moves all in to take the pot with AJ no hearts. A solid read on Jim on the flop and turn won a nice pot. Jim would get that money back though and stick around for a little bit.

Meanwhile, I win two pretty good hands by with pocket 10s, where I got Jim to lay down a pair of Queens and another hand with Q7 from the SB where I hit bottom pair, but played it strong and got Ryan to fold top pair.

A pretty exciting non-event happened soon after illustrating the power of a well placed three bet. I limp with 89d, Dave calls, Charlie makes it 600 and Ryan, again thinks forever, and re-re-raises to 1500. I of course fold, as does Dave and Charlie and Ryan wins a decent pot. Just for chucks we flip the cards up and run it. Flop comes 10, A, 4 all diamonds giving me a flush, Charlie two pair (A10) and Dave and Ryan a pair of Aces (AJ, AK respectively) The turn is a four and the river is a four making everyone full houses and beating my flush. Lucky I got out of there.

We’ve only lost John by the fifth blind level and the stacks are pretty even. But the reign of Dave was about to begin. Jim makes a raise preflop with JQ and Dave reraises all in with 56. Jim calls, hits a pair but then runner runner makes Dave a straight and Jim is gone. Paul also hits a pair but Dave makes a straight flush, and Paul is out. Dave then raises to 1200 preflop and being in the big blind for 600 and holding A9d six handed, I reraise all in for about 3000 or so. He INSTA CALLS with 76. Like calls so fast, you’d be sure he had rockets. Nope. 76 and he’s dominated. But right there on the flop, a 6 and I’m done.

Dave limps into a pot, Charlie raises with 88 and Dave calls. Flop comes J4x. Dave checks, Charlie moves all in and Dave calls…with J4, for two pair and Charlie is gone. Four quick bust outs and its Dave vs. Ryan and about a 6-1 chip advantage.

But then Ryan picks up AA and doubles up. And then doubles up again. Then with a flop of 929 Dave moves all in with 10, 2 and Ryan calls…with 94. His trips hold up for an impressive victory.

Early on after busting two players early, it looked like Ryan was cruising. But we all know early chip stacks are damn near impossible to keep and Ryan had to deal with the legend that is BEARDFACE. Beardface is Jason, who has been growing a beard for a month for some kind of Halloween costume and now looks like a the Zohan. And NO ONE messes with the Beardface.

6. Harry (R)
5. Jason (R)
4. Dave (R)
- Dave (R)
- Harry
3. Me
- Dave
2. Jim
1. Ryan
- Jason, aka BEARDFACE

Harry went out early when Ryan hit top two pair against his open ended straight draw. Jason then ran into Ryan’s pocket Aces for a second knock out. On the following hand, Jason’s rebuy, he ran into pocket Aces again - but this time held 34 which flopped trips and developed into a boat. He then hit a set of Queens and was looking good.

I was starting to dwindle and with 4 rebuys on the board, it was time to make a move. I make it 300 with KQs and Jim calls. Flop come K9x all of diamonds. I bet 1000 to see where I’m standing and Jim reraises to 2000. I know he has a diamond but for some reason I just have a gut feeling that he doesn’t have the flush YET. Plus I only have like 1500 behind his raise and figure “Lets go for it” and move all in. He calls with the Ace of diamonds. He doesn’t improve and I double up.

Then for a long time nothing happened. Predictably, after a long down period two players go out in like two hands. The first was me. Three players are limped into the pot and I have K2d. Flop comes A7A with two diamonds. Dave bluffs (i found out later) 1200, Ryan just calls and I call. Ryan shoots me a look like “What the Eff do you have?” That look says to me, ‘He’s weak, I’m drawing to the nut flush, Dave has nothing, I’m pushing on the turn.’ A blank comes down and I move all in. Dave folds and Ryan calls. He flopped a full house. I’m done. Two hands later, Dave moves all in and gets a call from Jim. Dave is ahead with A10 but Jim catches a K on the river.

Ryan still has a dominating chip stack until he puts both Jim and Beardface to the test with pocket 10s. Jason calls with an Ace wich comes on the river and makes for a huge double up. Ryan then cripples Jim when he hits two pair with A8. Heads up, Ryan’s hands went ice cold…but the BEARDFACE was warm what with all his facial hair…and took it down when he too flopped a boat.

And yes, I’m feeling loopy tonight.

The mantra with pocket aces is you either win a small pot with them or lose a big one. Tonight, I danced with the bullets three times. Once I barely survived. Second, I triumphed. And the third battle was for the entire tournament.

7. Ryan
6. John
5. Charlie
4. Dave
3. Paul
2. Germain
1. Jim

The first battle was in the first hand. I limp with J10 and Dave makes it 250. I call. Flop comes 10, 9, 2. I come out swinging with 300. Dave calls. Another 2 comes on the turn. I check. Dave bets 500 and I reraise to 1500. Dave then moves all in. Now I’m baffled. I’ve got top pair, but he raised before the flop and being as it’s Dave, he might have that third 2. I decide to fold even though I’ve invested 2550 of my 4000 chips into this pot. Dave shows me his Aces and though I’m crushed, I’m still alive.

A few hands later John raises to 200. I have like 1000 chips left and Ryan says “Are you moving all in?” It sounded like a good idea to me so I reraised. Ryan then said, “It would be awesome if John had Aces right now.” John then looked at him and flipped Aces. I’m dominated. The flop comes KJx giving me an open ended straight draw, minus John’s two aces. The turn also gives me a heart flush draw. Then on the river a 9 comes and I cracked his Aces.

John got most of those chips back, though, when my 4’s were beat with his 9’s. Charlie won a huge hand knocking out John and hurting Dave when he flopped a straight. However, even though he was the huge stack with his flopped straight, he ran into a sneaky flopped straight himself, by Dave and was knocked out soon after.

I end up knocking out Paul with 88 and end up going on a mini-rush. It was me vs. Jim heads up and I end up doubling up and winning some pots and stealing the chip lead. Then Jim makes an all in re-raise before the flop and I have J10, which looks good, and I call. That raise wasn’t random - he had Aces and though I hit a Jack, I couldn’t catch up and that was it. Jim wins.

Poker last night was largely uneventful. That and I was really tired. So here’s the results after a week off and one big hand.

8. Paul (rebuy)
7. John
- Paul
6. Germain
5. Charlie
4. Jason
3. Jim
2. Tara
1. Harry

The hand of the night was a 7 way limped pot. I was the only one who folded (73). Flop comes 9, 10, J. John bets 1500, Harry reraises all in, Paul rereraises all in and John calls. Charlie folded 9, 10 - a great fold. John called with 83 for an open ended straight draw on the bottom ends. Paul called with Q10 for a pair and an open ended straight draw on the top end and Harry had KQ for the flopped nuts. Paul was drawing to a chop, which didn’t come and that apparently set him up for the rest of the night.

I left after my cold cards finally dwindled down.

Back next week, hopefully, with a better entry.

My cards were stone cold all night and the best hand I had? Well, I got all my money in against an Oscar worthy performance by Charlie. He played me and played like the guy who has won the most tournaments so far this year, even if it was on a rebuy.

8. Dave
7. Charlie (rebuy)
6. Dream (rebuy)
5. John
4. Jim
- Dream
3. Me
2. Leara
1. Harry
- Charlie

Dave won the first two hands, which is always the kiss of death. A few hands in he lost a hand drawing and seemed to be on tilt the following hand. He reraised Leara’s raise preflop and moved all in on the turn with a middle pair of 9s. Even though there’s a King on board, Leara must have senses Dave’s tilt too cause she called almost all her chips with pocket 10s. They were good and Dave was busted.

Charlie then got busted with one of his favorite, but not that reliable, hands. Harry makes it 300 to go and Charlie calls from the big blind. Flop comes 10, 8, 2. Charlie checks, Harry bets 600 and Charlies raises to 1500. Harry reraises all in. Charlie calls with 10, 9 and Harry has QQ. That was that.

Harry seemed to be rolling after that, flopping a boat with pocket 7’s against Dream’s trips. The board was 7, 10, 10: Harry had 77, Dream 10, 2. John then walked into Charlie’s pocket Aces and got busted.

After almost 90 minutes of cold cards, I finally pick up a hand. Paul makes it 1800 to go, Jim calls all in for 1700 and I reraise all in for 3500 total with AQ. Paul folds AJ and I beat Jim.

Feeling good, I raise to 1800 with AJ. It folds around to Charlie, in for 800, who says “Is it worth it to gamble against Germain?” Struggles, then calls. Flop comes QJx. I quickly move all in, figuring I’m good and Charlie insta-calls and flips KK. Ouch. My outs don’t come and I’m out.

That play got Charlie rolling. His wife Leara, who had a big stack early on, went card dead and went out next. Paul then went out to Harry and heads up Charlie played like it didn’t matter and pushed Harry around, before doubling him up, and then just narrowly winning the final hand with QJ vs 108.

Normally, I blog about our tournament and tonight I was going to do the same. I have all the notes to prove it. But during our post tournament cash game we played one of the most improbable hands in recent memory and, because I was the benefactor, I figured I’d rub it in JUST a little by analyzing our play in that hand.

I’m in the small blind playing 50-50 no limit. Charlie raised to $3. Paul folds. I reraise to $8 with KK. Dave calls as does Charlie. There is now $24 in the pot. Flop comes A, 6, 10 all diamonds. I’m holding the King of diamonds so I bet $10. Dave goes all in for more than I have (about $40) and Charlie QUICKLY calls for his last remaining $10 or so. Whoa, I think. Paul starts laughing at me because he knows I wasn’t expecting that and laughs even harder when he’s sees I have a King high flush draw in addition to my pair.

I know someone has the flush already. I also know that if another diamond comes, I can’t be beat. I also could be drawing against a set - but that doesn’t worry me. I figure I have to call. I have probably 7-8 diamonds in the deck, times two.

Dave flips 74d for a flush and Charlie flips QJd for the SECOND nut flush. I’m beat both ways and Dave is literally speechless. There are five diamonds left in the deck and I need one. The river brings…THE 8 of DIAMONDS, giving me the nut flush but giving BOTH Dave and Charlie gut shot straight flush draws - the 5d for Dave and 9d for Charlie. However, on the river, it’s a blank and I scoop the whole thing. They are stunned and I win about $120 total.

Okay, so here are the odds. Before the flop, I’m a monster favorite 58% to 12 and 16% against Dave and Charlie respectively. ON the flop Charlie becomes the HUGE favorite, 74% to my 26% and Dave is practically drawing dead at .24% needing runner runner straight flush cards. When one of them actually hits, the 8 specifically, it gives both Charlie and Dave a shot at 2.5% each and I’m the overwhelming 95% favorite. Finally, that was the number that ended up holding up.

If there is any error in play here, at all, it’s Dave’s preflop call with 74d. Sorry Dave, I know you read this, but calling a raise and reraise with 74d is a mistake. Sure you are live, and sure you don’t know everyone else has diamonds, but that’s rough. On the flop though, my pot odds are 4-1. Calling with about $35 dollars just about works out, but could be considered a mistake cause I didn’t know where I stood. In retrospect, if I knew they both had diamonds, I would have folded.

So yeah - it was a crazy $120 hand. Not the biggest hand I’ve ever won, but pretty close.

Oh, we did play a tournament too. Here are those results.

7. Jason (rebuy)
6. Harry
5. Dave
- Jason
4. Me (bubble as usual)
3. Paul
2. Ryan
1. Charlie