“Treat my first like my last and my last like my first and my thirst is the same as when I came.” Jay-Z – My First song.

Hey guys I am pooped. It’s 2:30 am right now and I just got back to the room after playing for 15 hours. I wrote down all the hands from today and I might as well do my best to type them up. I ended the day with 142k and the blinds will be 2k/4k 400a when I go back. Average is 100k and we have 62 people left with 54 people getting paid. First is around 150k I believe.

Start with 12k chips, 60 min levels; I liked my first table originally. Steve was also at the table. Out of 550 person tournament we had the lucky draw to be at the same table. I hate playing against friends but you gotta do what you gotta do. No mercy in poker. So I was splashing around early everyone is pretty transparent. We have been playing for about 30-40 minutes and a guy in early position limps for 50 and I limp for 50 with 73hh in late position. This Asian lady to my left makes it 250. The guy calls and I call. The flop comes 735dd. We check to her and she bets 450. I make it 1350 and she calls. The turn comes the Kc. I tanked it for about a minute deciding what to do here. I really didn’t like the turn card, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I was just worried about her having KK. I also thought that I probably wouldn’t get anymore action from QQ. She will probably still call with AA and AKdd she will be in there still. I made it 2150 and she made it 6k. Wow. I thought about it for a couple minutes and figured she could still think I am drawing since the diamond bricked and I thought she would still play AA this way or AKdd. I thought about this hand for a while and then put in the rest of my chips and she called with AA and I was up to about 22k.

The blinds are now 50/100 and the lady from above moves all in for her last 425 utg. I am in the bb and blind call. I have 82h she has 66 and I turn an 8 on a 56hhJ8hx board vs. her black sixes to knock her out.

The table gets a little tougher with some players who showed up late and I didn’t realize how much I actually hated this table in the end. I was at this same table for about 8-10 hours probably and nobody was really out of hand. There was one guy who was action but besides that it was pretty tough actually.

An internet kid who I was told is soggyvag but I am not sure makes it 275 preflop. The hijack calls and I call on the button with QKss, bb calls and we go 4 to the flop. It comes T63ss and they all check to me. Normally I bet here but I switched it up and checked. The turn came the Ah and internet kid bet 675 and it folded to me and I called with the flush draw and gutter. The river bricked 7c and he bet 1100 and I mucked.

I raise 66 in mid position and the button calls and the bb action guy calls. The flop comes 559ss and I bet 550. The action guy called and the turn came 8c. We checked and the river came 9d. He said he missed everything and he had ace high. He told the truth about 2 previous hands so I called his 1300 bet on the river and he had a9. I probably should muck the river but the guy had been telling the truth in 2-3 previous spots but after thinking about it I don’t think he bets the river with an ace, so I screwed up there.

I raise T7ss in middle position and get 3 callers. The flop comes J42ss and I lead for 725. A tighter guy calls and the turn comes the 6d. We both knuckle and the river bricks for me, the 9c. I decided to fire praying he would fold and I bet 1400 and he called with a J. I am definitely spewing off my stack at this point. I mean it wasn’t the worst but I played some hands bad.

I get 88 in middle position and raise it. One player calls. It comes K82 and I bet 500 after making it 300 preflop. He calls the flop and the turn is the 3s putting two spades on board. I’m praying he has a K or something and I check to him. He checks quickly. The river comes another K and I bet 1225 and he mucks and I’m back up to 16k. (Yes I had lost 6k just splashing around being stupid missing hands/etc.)

Blinds are now 75/150 and the internet kid calls my 2nd position raise to 450 with ATo. He is on the button. The flop comes AJ8r and I check and he checks. The turn is the Td putting two diamonds up and I check again and he checks. The river is another Ace giving me a full house and I bet 675 and he calls showing KK. 17k stack now.

I raise ATo and the action bb defends for 450. The flop comes Q83dd and he checks and I bet 675. He calls. The turn is the 6c and he checks again. I really felt he was weak here on a flush draw and fired a bigger second bullet. I made it 1450 and he called again. The river comes the Td. I didn’t want a diamond what so ever but I have showdown value now but that honestly didn’t matter because I really felt flush draw. He checks, I check and he’s like ahhh ahh I wanted you to bet the river I have the flush! And he’s all bothered that I didn’t bet the river for him. I told him he was pretty upset even though he won the hand. lol…

Another hand I raise AThh the internet kid defends his bb. Flop comes QJ2 we check check. Turn is 6, check check, river bricks, check check, he defended with A6dd and won the pot. I am now down to 12.5k Jeez.

Internet kid raises to 525 at 100/200. I call with QKhh on the button. The flop comes QT3ddd and the small blind, bb, and internet kid check to me. I bet 1225. The internet kid calls. Turn is the Ts we check check. River is the 8s he checks and I check. I figured he wouldn’t call with worse. He had AKd and I’m up to 14.5k.

I open 68dd to 800 at 150/300. Tight guy calls I get another caller. Flop comes K24dd and I continue 1350. The tight guy calls. The turn is the Qs and I check to him he bets 2200. There’s about 5k in the pot and I am pretty sure he has QK here. I decide that if I peel a diamond he is paying me off 100% of the time as long as it’s not the Kd or Qd to boat him up. I decided I was getting a good price and called. River came the 3d and I tank shoved in 9500 about the pot. He thought for a while and folded. He said he had QK but I can’t be sure. Up to 19k.

I tightened up pretty considerably since I realized I would not be able to give much action at this table I was at. I was also extremely card dead. I have about 18k at this point and the most active player at the table makes it 1600 at 200/400. Tight guy flats in late position and I flat with 99 in the small blind. The flop comes 882ss and I check. The first guy bets 7k, the flatter folds and I tank and fold and he shows QQ. Down to 16k.

Now the blinds are 300/600 75a. I have been pretty tight as of late not doing anything to crazy. I raise UTG with TT and a short stack moves all in over my 1600 preflop raise for 6k. I call. He has 99 and I win the hand and go up to 23k. Tight amateur limps UTG I have JTo on the button and make it 2600, now up to 26k after he folded.

Here’s a pretty interesting hand. Al Krux had just been moved to the table with a lot of chips along with another older guy. I make it 2100 preflop at 400/800 with QJo. 3 People call including the aggressive guy who was in tons and tons of pots. It gets to the big blind who was a tight older guy but who only had 5k behind and he thinks about folding.. and comments “this could be a 30k pot.” He thinks a little more, thinks about just calling, and then moves in. I thought he was really weak here, and I figured I could shove and nobody could call behind me. Typical online spot putting in 5k to win 20k but you never know, some of these live guys just flat with big hands. I decide to move in for 22k more on top and it folds to the aggressive guy who tanks forever and he said he mucked AK. I made this play because I felt like I could get away with it and I had tightened up considerably so I thought it would merit some folds. The internet kid and another good player both thought I had QQ or JJ and were shocked I turned up QJ lol. The old guy turns up J5o and the board runs out A2467 and I am up to 39k.

They finally break the old table. We had like 6-7 of the original 10 at the table for like 6-8 hours it was crazy. When they broke it I still think 5 of us were original table. At the new table UTG makes it 3k at 400/800 and 2 people call in front of me. I look down at 22 and think it’s a good spot to set mine. One guy calls behind me as well in the small blind. The flop comes Q23d. UTG checks, first caller shoves in about 15k and I reshove my 22. He has QKdd and I pray for no diamond on the turn. It comes 6s on the turn 9h on the river and I go up to 66k.

I’m still new to this table and trying to figure it out. There’s a lot of chips but this one Asian guy was splashing around and in almost every pot. He would limp or raise every hand it seemed. He made it 5k UTG at 500/1k and it folds to me in the bb with AQo. I decided to just muck since he hadn’t made a big raise like that before I gave him more credit and really didn’t want to get myself in a tricky spot. He showed a K after I showed my AQ. He might of had AK or KK because all of his other raises were smaller -shrug- The new table I was at everyone was making huge preflop raises. It was crazy. I kept telling myself If I can pick up some hands I would get to pick up a lot of chips preflop without showdowns. I hadn’t picked up AA-QQ and only AK once to this point. I was really card dead and just folding a bunch.

***Here’s a hand I need some input from some math guys. Let me know what the math is behind this hand if it makes it a call or what.***

I raise 2600 UTG with 88. Blinds 500/1000 100a. Donkish guy makes it 10k with 8k behind and a tight old guy reshoves 17k. So basically its 16k to win like 42k in the pot. I knew I was beat for sure by the 2nd shover but I knew the first shover would raise any pair, AT suited, QK, maybe QJ. He was pretty bad. The 2nd shover’s range is like TT+, AQ+. If any of you guys can crunch those numbers and let me know if I should call in that spot getting over 2-1 let me know. I mucked the 88. The guy who raised me to 10k had 77 and the 2nd shover had KK and it came J87xx. I am not trying to be results oriented just curious about the math since I thought about it during the hand.

Two hands later this kid on the cutoff makes it 3k. He was raising bigger like 4k+ with big hands he was showing. A 9d was exposed during the deal and I looked down at 95o in the small blind. Perfect hand to reraise here. =) I make it 9400. While I was counting chips he was telling me “be careful.” The flop comes KQ5dd and I bet 12800 and he thinks for a while saying he knows he has me beat yada yada and mucks. He claimed JJ but throughout the time I was at the table he talked a lot. He’s one of those guys that wants to appear tighter than he is I think. I have a sick hand with him coming up too. He was putting in a ton of chips preflop as well. 4x raises and like 4-5x reraises and also just shoving in 60k all in into 10k pots lol. I am now at 73k

I FINALLY PICK UP A REAL HAND and get KK utg and make it 3200 at 600/1200. The Asian station I talked about above calls. The flop comes JT6hh and I bet 5800 and he mucks. 79k. Guy to my right makes it 4200 at 600/1200 I have AQo he has about 30k behind I call. Flop 662dd and he bets 9500 with 20k behind and I mucked. Somehow I felt like I was ahead here but I don’t know. The guy ended up being fishier than I imagined but I didn’t know any better at the time.

We are now 8 handed and a tight guy to my right makes it 4600 at 800/1600. He’s the guy from the AQo hand above. I felt like his smaller raises were weak since he was 4x and 5xing as well. I had A4o and repopped him to 12.6k He showed AJ and instamucked. 71k Stack now.

Tight guy limps in 2nd position. I have JJ in middle position and make it 7500. He limped for 2k. Flop comes 445ss and he checks. I bet 8800 and he mucked. 80k stack.

The next two hands I raise AJo. This tight guy I know from Florida that I play with at the casino down there shoved in over my 5200 raise (at 1k/2k) for like 40k. He showed TT. I folded. Then I raise next hand again and the button repopped me to 15k. So I mucked again. Oh well. Back down to 70k.

Here’s the craziest hand of the tournament so far. Well not really but it was a good spot for me. This active younger guy is raising and playing a ton of pots. He makes it 6k preflop. The kid I was talking about before who said he had the JJ makes it 28k. He has 50k behind and the first raiser has like 70k total too. We all are about the same. I start asking god to give me aces lol. I say please god can I look down at two aces here. I peel the first card, the ace of spades! I say it again “Please let me have aces here..” I squeeze the second card, the ace of hearts!! I can’t believe it lol. Aces for the first time today what a great spot! I find out the stack sizes of everyone. There is already almost 40k dead money in the pot. I count my stack, Hollywood a while. Take my time and declare that I’m all in for 43.6k more on top of the 28k. The first guy wants an exact count. He finds out and mucks saying he mucked KK but there is absolutely 0 shot he had KK there. I believe I saw an ace when he was mucking. But there’s no way he folds KK there. He would of snap called 100000%. The second guy who put in 28k and only has 50k behind mucks pretty quickly. I tell them I had QQ and the guy who made it 28k said he had QQ too and I didn’t have QQ. I kept telling them I had QQ because I wanted to tilt them lol. After the hand the guy who said he folded KK was like you put in 28k reraise and don’t call that? He also thought the guy called him a scrub and the guy flipped, got up, and wanted to fight. So after all the commotion I told them I had QQ to rub it in a little lol. I am now up to 115k.

I raise to 5200 with JJ and the tight guy from the casino in Florida insta shoves 47k next to act. Folds to the BB who moves all in for 50k. I muck JJ and they show AKss and QQ. The K flops and the Florida guy doubles up. I don’t know if I would of called him. He just showed me TT in a shove but he plays pretty solid so I think I would of mucked.

Next hand the aggressive guy raising a lot min raises it. The small blind who only has 3k folds and I call with T7o 2k more. Flop comes 764 and I check. He bets 5k and I call. The turn is the 3 completing one card straight and I check again. He bets 13k. I really didn’t think he had the straight but I didn’t think he would fire again with AA here. But maybe he would. Anyway I tank for a minute and he shows an Ace saying he had a7. He probably did but jeez it’s like free money if I have anything lol. Down to 100k.

I raise to 7800 at 1.5k/3k and the kid from above defends his BB. The flop comes KJ9r and we both check. The turn is the 9h putting two hearts up and he bets 10k. I thought he was full of it here and had absolutely nothing. I still have outs anyways but I was floating to take away on river assuming I didn’t improve. The river comes the Qc giving me broadway and also completing a one card straight with the ten. He bet 10k again. So I have the nut straight on a paired board with no flush out there. I tanked for a minute as to whether or raise or not and figured it would be stupid to raise (REFER TO JJ HAND VS 56o for all you guys who hate my play there lol) and I just called his 10k bet. He said Ace high and showed a8 and I won the pot. 127k in chips now.

We are about 10 away from the money and play is nearing end for the night. There was already an Asian guy at the table who tried to angle shoot when he was utg and he said the dealer told him he was the big blind. So he put out 1600 but said he wanted to raise cause he thought he was the big blind and didn’t know he was UTG. I picked up on what he was doing and told him he had to keep his 1600 in there and he didn’t have an option to raise. One guy limps and I limp K9ss on the button. Blinds are in the hand and we go 5 to the flop. It comes Q23ccc and the sb moves in for 20k or something. The Asian guy who “thought he was the big blind” calls and turns over KKc. He turns the Ac nuts no problem and cracks the guys Q2hh.

So we are now 10 away from the money (sorry this is referring to the paragraph I started above) and I make it 7800 in middle position with A7o. The kid who is in every hand (the Asian guy who was in every hand had the Q2hh and busted) it folds to his small blind and he says “I raise ten on top.” He puts out 13k and the big blind folded. I told him his raise wasn’t enough I made it 7800. He’s like “OHH I DIDNT SEE YOU RAISED, ETC ETC.” The dealer claims he announced it, they call the floor and they make him put in 17800. At this point the dealer deals the flop and shows the 5c before I decided my action with the raise. We stop the hand and the floor tells him to put the cards down and let me act. I wasn’t sure if this kid was angle shooting me or not. I tank it for a minute, try to read him and how he really feels about the situation, whether he’s genuine or just angle shooting. He has about 45k behind on top of the 18k and I have about 120k or so. I decide that if it was folded to him in the sb he was raising like that 99/100 and decide it’s a sick spot regardless near the bubble. I shoved on him and he tanked and folded. I might of had the best hand there anyways but still there was a lot of commotion and people surrounded the table and everything. It was a crazy hand because the night was about to end.

I ended the night with 142k in chips. Average is 100k. We come back tomorrow at 2pm to finish. 62 Players left 54 paid. Hopefully I can win the whole thing for 150k. I played pretty good, got in a couple nice spots (like with the AA and 40k pre in already) but I also avoided some situations and made some good folds. Hopefully I can cooler the hell out of some people tomorrow and run the tourney over. Just AA vs. AK every hand or something till it’s over =). After playing from 11am to 2am I am pooped and my body is drained. I did pushups and stretched during breaks but I am dead. If anyone sees some kid doing pushups or stretching his legs it’s definitely me, come say hi lol. I’m so tired. Gotta sleep. Can’t believe I just pumped this blog out lol…Goodnight 3:45am now. Writing takes a while, jeez.