Saturday, October 28, 2006

Well, even though for some reason i didn't get my coupon for the Blogger Poker Tour, i am currently watching the final table. I've been watching since it got down to ten players and i just have to say that Cawtbluffin is playing very well. He came in as the big stack and has stayed in the chip lead without risking a large portion of his chips at any point.

We are now down to 4 handed play after this:

Starting Hand #4085331-243
DavidMalek is the Dealer
Shuffling Cards
Chatuba Posted Small Blind 2,000
kufolem Posted Big Blind 4,000
Dealing Cards elc3105 Folds
CawtBluffin Folds
DavidMalek All In
Chatuba Calls 5,478
kufolem Calls 3,478
Dealing Flop (5c,4c,7h)
Chatuba All In kufolem Calls 2,872
kufolem shows (Kc, 4s)
DavidMalek shows (Ks, Td)
Chatuba shows (Ac, As)
Dealing Turn (8d)
Dealing River (8c)
Chatuba Wins 5,744 from pot 2 with : Two Pair, Aces and EightsChatuba Wins 22,434 from pot 1 with : Two Pair, Aces and Eights

Down to 3 handed now:

Starting Hand #4085331-246
elc3105 is the Dealer
Shuffling Cards
CawtBluffin Posted Small Blind 2,000
Chatuba Posted Big Blind 4,000
Dealing Cards
kufolem Raised to 8,000
elc3105 Folds
CawtBluffin Folds
Chatuba Raised to 12,000
kufolem All In
Chatuba All In
kufolem shows (Qc, Ad)
Chatuba shows (As, 2s)
Dealing Flop (Ah,3d,2d)
Dealing Turn (Tc)
Dealing River (Ts)
kufolem Wins 8,310 from pot 2 with : Two Pair, Aces and Tenskufolem Wins 58,356 from pot 1 with : Two Pair, Aces and Tens

So, in the final 3 we now have: Cawtbluffin with 65,299 in chips, Elc3105 with 64,035, and kufolem with 68,666. Blind are at 2 and 4 thousand.

Kufolem just took a big pot off of Cawtbluffin and now has almost 90,000 in chips. Another big pot just now between elc3105 and Cawtbluffin. Cawtbluffin took it down with a strong all in on the flop after Elc bet and got himself back up to about 90,000 in chips. Elc is now in trouble with under 20,000. Elc just doubled up courtesy of Cawbluffin and now has almost 50,000 in chips. Cawt raised preflop and elc moved all in. ended up being A-8 vs. A-6 and elc's A-8 held up.

Looks like Cawtbluffin just got caught bluffing by kufolem and is under 40,000 in chips for the first time in a long time. kufolem has taken a sizeable advantage with 130,000. He's playing the bully like a champ. Looks like he may have a chance to pull this out. Cawtbluffin just doubled up with 4-100 vs Elc's AJs. Cawt hit his 10 on the flop and he now has over 50,000 in chips. Elc is under 10,000 and things look grim for him.

That was the end of elc. He moved in with KQ and Cawtbluffin called with A-10. They both made 2 pair, but Cawtbluffins was better.

Heads up play has started and chips look pretty even. It's over. Just a couple hands in and It was all in preflop. Pocket 6's vs. AQ. AQ got help for kufolem and he was able to take down 1st place. Well played everyone.

Grrr. It has not been a good day at the tables. I entered 2 tourneys a $5 and $10 and both ended in similar fashion. First the $5 since that was my first of the day.

Ok, so i didn't play great early, made a couple of mistakes and got shortstacked. So here I sit with 5 BB's left in my big blind. A loose raiser makes the minimum raise and i move in (of course). He calls and turns over 9's. Then, he proceeds to hit a set on the flop. In with the best of it, just unlucky.

Then, just now in the $10 it's still early, but i haven't done much. It's the 3rd level and I really haven't played a pot yet. Then, there is a huge raise UTG which looked like a big ace or a middle pair to me and a call from a bad player, so i put him on some kind of ace. I'm looking down at jacks again and decide i have the best hand and that the pot is big enough that i want to take it down now. I move in. The first guy sits for a while and folds. The second guy, sits for about half a second and then calls with A-10o. Awesome, in with the best of it as usual. 70-30 favorite and i feel pretty good about it. Flop comes out and i'm still safe, but there are 2 hearts in it (i'm sure you can see whre thsi is going). I have the jack of hearts, The guy who maade the bad call with A-10, of course, has the Ace of hearts. Long story short, he hits a runner, runner flush and away i go. I tried to think if i made the right move or not and i don't know. If i just call i end up maybe having an ace hit that flop and having to fold. If i fold, i think i'm playing way too tight. Jacks in that situation were most likely the best hand. I don't know, i really like the idea of making bad players make bad decisions so i think i still like that i moved in there. I did exactly what i wanted. Made him make a poor decision and got my money in as a favorite, and not just a small favorite. I really think i had 2 choices, fold (too weak for the players i was against, they were raising with junk) or move in...I wouldn't be nearly as upset if he caught the ace or something. Did it really have to be runner, runner flush to beat me. I think that's my least favorite way to lose a hand... >.<;

Friday, October 27, 2006

so it's been up and down since i won the $10 NL. I dropped down and then i bounced back up and got ahead, and then i bounced down and bounced backup and got ahead. Very up and down. I don't think my play is as consistent as it should be. Made a couple final tables the last couple days, one in omaha, and one in hold 'em, but no win so no big payday Oh well though, it will come.

In other news, it looks like i'm going to be joining a great group of players for the poker.com forum league. They were the league champs the last season and i already know most of the ppl on the team. it should be exciting and i hope to be able to help return them to glory :)

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Ok, so yesterday was kind of a down day for poker. I entered a few tourneys and didn't cash in any. Ended up down like $40 so i was kind of down about that. Played a ring game and sucked there too. Got a little bit back by laying 3 heads up matches and winning all of them. Then won a SnG and took second in 2 others so that helped bring me back up. Still ended the day down about $15 which was crappy since i haven't had one of those days in a while.

So this morning i decided i was just going to completely focus and enter a $10 NL Hold 'em tourney. It was a struggle. I never saw a pair bigger than pocket 10's and i ended up laying those down (incorrectly even). Got a double up from my BB when i hit 2 pair and someone moved in. That was basically the only hand i won for a long, long time. Ended up hanging on until the final table and entered as the 2nd shortest stack. Kind of a crappy deal since only 5 get paid. Regardless of the fact that i had less than 10 BB i stayed patient. The shortest stack got knocked out so now i as the short stack. I was starting to feel kind of desperate and decided to go ahead and make a stand when the small blind (the big stack) tried to steal my BB and i moved in with KJ. He folded and i added a good little bit to my chip stack. Only a couple hands later i picked up AQ suited and moved in with it. I got called by the big stack with Q-10o and was able to double up. This jumped me into the top 5 so i felt pretty good and started my sit back and wait game again. I laid down a couple hands i would have liked to push with but decided they really weren't worth the risk. Finally, down to 7 ppl i picked up AK and moved in. I got called by pocket 10's and a junkier ace and tripled up. This made me the big stack and now i was in realyl solid position, especially since i felt i was the best player at the table. Sat back and we got down to 3 handed and i was still the big stack. The second biggest stack got crippled by the short stack (moving what had beent he short stack into 2nd) and i put him all in with pocket 3's. He had 2 overcards, but my 3's held up and now we were heads up and i had a 2-1 chip advantage. I started getting real aggressive. Raising with anything decent, queen or better and the guy kept folding. If he pushed back i would let it slide and then come back with more on the next hand. Hit a break when i limped a junky jack and ended up making a straight on the river and taking a good chunk of his chips. I basically just wore him down and finallygot him so he had just a couple BB's left. i ended up putting him all in with pocket 2's. He called and it was a coinflip, until i hit a set on the flop. Game over. That's 2 tournament wins now. Hurray! ^_^

Friday, October 20, 2006

Woot! I finally got an outright win in a tourney. Again, a late night tourney before bed. Entered the $5 Omaha. It started with just 17 ppl which was both good and bad. Meant less ppl, but also that i had to make the top 3 to make the money. Well, so the story goes. I made the final table (hurray i beat out 7 ppl) and i was the shortstack. Of course. Well, i held on and held on. Picked up a couple double suited aces and raised and then went all in on the flop. I didn't get called either time. The final table actually was awesome. Great play overall and took over an hour. Not sure what happened, but i ended up making the final 3. Then, down to threehanded the second stack made a huge mistake and busted out to the big stack. So here i am, the shortstack and i have to come from way back. I think it was about a 3-1 chip advantage. I somehow battled back. Picked up a couple hands and was able to wittle him down until i had the chip lead. From there on it was smooth sailing. I dominated heads up and took home the prize of $45. Not great, but not bad either.

I guess i'm pretty good at Omaha even though i don't really feel very confident. My record now is 5 entries, 3 cashes. A third place and a 1st. That's better than my hold 'em record so i guess i need to play more Omaha. I don't know if it's that i'm good at the game or that the ppl i'm playing against are bad, but either way it's working for me. ^_^

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Hurray! another good day at the tables for the most part. Entered a $10 MTT Hold 'em tourney this morning and made the final table and left with a few bucks. Can't remember what place i took. It was somewhere around 8th or so. I made a mistake there. I got impatient and tried to steal all in shortstacked and got caught. Oops! lol. Oh well. Didn't do much the rest of the day. Entered a $5 tourney and just missed the final table. Again, i got impatient and got caught stealing. I need to work on that. Entered a SnG or 2, won 1. Dominated it. Didn't get great cards, but destroyed the table with tons of pressure. Ended up calling the guys all in heads up with K-7s and he was caught, he had 10-9o. Oops for him. I hit my king and it was over.

Then, just now, i entered an Omaha tourney to see if i could do it again. I wasn't very hopeful once it started because less than 30 ppl entered which meant you had to get to the top 3 to make the money. Considering i still don't consider myself that good at Omaha i didn't feel very good about my chances. Ended up doing pretty well. Double up when i made top set with Kings and it turned into a fullhouse. Guy overcommited with his trips. It was perfect. From there on i just held on. I didn't see a lot of cards and just tried to survive. With 11 ppl left i picked up a goofy suited ace hand and decided to play it. Picked up a flush draw on the flop and everyone checked. Then, on the turn all hell broke loose. I picked up the nut straight draw to go with my nut flush draw and i was getting ready to push when 2 players in front of me pushed all in. I don't know if this was a mistake or not but i decided to lay it down. I think i maybe should have called since i had soooo many outs, but oh well. Ended up i would have made my flush and won a huge pot, but i chose the safe route and survived until the final table. I was the shortstack at the table and pretty worried. Felt i might end up having to end up picking a hand and just praying but i stayed patient. A few players got knocked out and i survived by stealing a couple blinds with mediocre holdings. Then i picked up queens in my big blind and hit top set. I pushed in and got called and doubled up. Not much later i pushed with aces and knocked a guy out when they held up. Now i was the chip leader with 4 to go and decided to sit back and wait. Waited for the 4th guy to get knocked out to make sure i made the money and then it was down to 3. Honestly at this point i didn't care what place i took. Ended up getting knocked out when i made a straight and another guy made a flush. I made a mistake there, but by the time i realized he was playing a made flush i was already down to just a few chips. I decided to just walk away with 3rd and was pretty happy with it. Now, in Omaha tourneys, i've made 2 final tables in the 4 that i've entered. Not sure if it's blind luck or if i'm doing something right, but i'll take it. So now, in the past few days i've made more final tables than i can count. I'm really starting to feel confident about my poker skills overall. One thing that i've noticed though, my cash game skills aren't as good as they were before i started playing so many tourneys. I think i must be changing something about the way i play, but i'm not sure what it is. Honestly though, i'm making more money in MTT's faster than i ever did playing just SnG's and cash games.

*Note: i have officially reached 100% gain on my original starting cash of $50. I must be doing something right ^_^

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Well, yesterday ended up being a pretty good day overall. Ended with 3 total final tables yesterday and ended up cashing in the $1k freeroll. Not too shabby if i can say so myself. The last tourney of the night fo me was a $10 NL event and i got to play some more shortstacked poker. The best hand i got the whole tourney was Jacks and i didn't get any action. The second best hand was AK and i got to fold that lol. Hard to lay it down, but it was the right move given the situation. All in followed by an auto call from a tight player. Got rid of it and as i figured he had a big ace (A,J) and the other guy had a pair. The pair held up. Got lucky on an all in steal attempt with KJ. Moved in (shortstacked of course) and got called by AQ. It looked bleak for a minute, but i hit my King and got to double up. From there on it was just survival. It was almost down to the final table and i was playing the best i could with the stack i had. Ended up moving in with AQ (still shortstacked lol) and got called by a lesser ace and i held up. That was the last exit before the final table and from there again, i was just trying to survive. I stole when i thought i could and moved in when i had a decent hand. I was able to outlast 4 ppl to bring it down to 6. Then, from the button i moved in with A5 suited. Really jsut trying to steal the blinds (had less than 5000 chips with the blinds behing 1000/500) but i got called by A8 and lost. No big deal though. He almost folded it first of all, and second of all, i had to make a move as tends to be the case at final tables. It was either try to steal or get wrecked when they come around again. Either way, for the cards i had i did really well. I didn't ever have much, but i made the most of it as best as i possibly could. ^_^

Monday, October 16, 2006

up until now the only game i have really played has been hold 'em, both limit and no limit. ther other day i decided to try out an omaha tourney and see how it went. Never played the game, but i think i'm a sharp cookie and can pick up a game quick enough. Well that first attempt was ok, i didn't really do anything, beat out about half the field and that was it. No big deal, i wanted the experience. So today, again riding my success of making another final table decided to go ahead and enter another omaha tourney. Little did i know how well i would do.

Tourney started out slow. I didn't really play too many hands and when i did i tried to see it cheap. Won a couple pots and kept alive. I spent almost the whole tournament under 10 BB and was about average for a stack. There were a few bigger, but not a lot. The only big hand i won was limping QQxx from early position and hitting top set. Got it all in with the best of it and held up. That gave me enough chips that i was able to make the final table and last until 8th place. Not a lot of cash in it, but i was proud of the fact that i was able to go deep in a tourney in a game that i don't really have experience in. It's a good feeling, as is making 2 final tables in one day. ^_^

So, i woke up this morning and decided to go ahead and play some more poker. I'm not an addict i swear lol. Honestly though, i feel really good about how i've been doing lately and would hate to stop playing when i'm playing so well. So anyway, played a SnG to start the day and took second. Didn't play great. I honestly think i got outplayed headsup. Either that or outflopped, i can't be sure which. Anyway, i felt alright about how i was playing so i entered a $5 MTT. Less than 50 ppl entered so i knew i had to make the top 5 to make the money. Not the best odds. I would have preferred if a couple more ppl had entered so it would have been the top 10 getting paid, but oh well. So the tourney started and i decided to go with my normal strategy. Tight early on. Won a couple pots checking the best hand to ppl and letting ppl bluff off their chips to me. Love doing that. Lost a hand with K-10 that hurt. Hit top pair and bet it. Bet the turn and got called by 2 ppl still. Check called the river and got to see K-8, who happened to hit 2 pair on the flop. That kind of crippled me and i tighted up even more. Spent most of the tournament below 10 BB and clinging to life. Finally, someone made a huge raise up front, i read it as a middle pair and moved in with AQ, i hit my ace and doubled up. This was huge for me, but i kept playing the same way. Got down below 10bb again and picked up AK to a raiser, i moved in hoping for another coinflip or domination. He called with pocket 6's and i hit my ace again. Another huge moment, but i still didn't have a lot of chips. If i remember correctly this as at the final table, but remember, only the top 5 get paid so final table means nothing at this point. A couple people get knocked out and we get down to 4 handed. Excellent, i made the money. I'm shortstacked at this point, don't really remember how that happened, but doing well regardless. Then near disaster struck. In my BB i have 87o and the small blind limps in. I hit 2 pair on the flop, but there is a straight draw on the board. I bet out hoping to force out a draw and get reraised. My bet dwindled my stack and i really felt pot committed. I really couldn't fold at this point even if i put him on the straight so i moved in and he called, with the straight. Then a miracle on the river, an 8 giving me a fullhouse. I win a big pot on sheer luck. So midstacked now and nothing really happens. Some good folds around the table and there aren't any major confrontations. Then, i make a mistake. I pick up aces in the small blind and decide to limp hoping they catch something they can play with on the flop. I flop comes out with a pair on the board and all low cards. I check looking for action and she checks behind me. on the turn a 3 and i bet out and get called. The river, another 3 and i move in, aces are cracked by k-3 making a fullhouse on the river. Honestly though, i deserved it. I played the hand terribly. I figured the 3 hit her and moved in anyway. Terrible play. Not sure where i would have finished if i raise before the flop and bet the flop and force her to fold, but regardless, i made a mistake and paid dearly for it. Overall though it was a good showing. Played well and hit cards when i needed to. Regardless, i'll be kicking myself for how i played those aces for a good while. ^_^

Sunday, October 15, 2006

OK, flat out, that $1k guaranteed sucked. It didn't say rebuy on it anywhere, but it was. Spent $15, never did anything. Sucked. However, even with that we have had a good day thus far. Entered a $5 freezeout (no rebuy, they're the devil) and went deep. Really deep. Made the final table as a midstack. A field of like 155. Not too shabby. Called an all in from a mid and shortstack at the final table with pocket 9's. They held up against a-10 and k-10. woot! score one for the home team. This jumped me up to a big stack and i stayed there until we got down to 4 handed. Took a hit with Ak when someone moved all in with Queens, but i bounced back when i picked up queens and doubled up. At this point we are 4 handed and everyone is about the same for chips. Lots of going all in. No major confronations. I picked up Jacks in the big blind. One limper from the button. I put him on a hand because we hadn't seen a flop in ages and knew if i just raised he would probably move all in. So i saved some time, moved all in and he called with A-9 o. Looked good for me after the flop, no ace. Still good after the turn, no ace. Then, thunder struck on the river with an ace. You have no idea how torn up i was to see that. This left me with basically one round of chips and i just moved in with junk. Got beat and that was it. Went out in 4th and took like $42. Not too bad, but i really was in position to win it. I think i made a mistake though. Should have just checked my jacks and then bet the flop. He missed and would have had to fold and i would have picked up a small pot. Only problem is then i run the risk of an ace hitting on the flop and having to fold, but still, a small pot. Nothing i can do about it now. Just something to remember for next time i run into that type of situation. Overall a good showing though. ^_^

Alright, so after entering a $5 and $10 MTT yesterday i was a little down because i didn't make the money. But, i was able to bounce back in a big way. Even after the $15 in entry fees i was able to come out $15 ahead for the day. Got on a huge streak in Sit and go's. Won 4 of 6 and placed in 5 of 6. The last one wasn't even fair. I was getting ready to go to bed and decided to play one more. On my first hand i picked up aces. One guy went all in as soon as it got to him. Another guy called, and i, of course, called. They were holding AK, QQ, and my aces held up after hitting trips on the flop. From there on, it wasn't even fair. Picked up queens a couple hands later (i do mean literally a couple hands later) and was able to win a small pot. Then, picked up 8's. Limped in and hit a set. One more person gone. Then, i couldn't believe this, but i got aces again. Raised preflop, got reraised and moved in. He had junk, but called anyway. Then it was heads up and i had a 5-1 chip advantage. Pushed in with a couple Ace highs and won again. It was absolutely sick. All said that sit and go was done in 22 hands and i had won 11 of them. Couple my great showing in the SnG's with the fact that i made $5 playing a ring game and it was a pretty good day.

One note, the Sng's at poker.com have gotten a lot easier to beat since the legislation attempting to ban online gaming passed. We have had an influx of new players and the skill level just isn't really there. I'm loving it. Just sat down and took second in another one this morning. Now, i'm getting ready for the $1k guaranteed tournament. Buy in was $5 so it's a good deal. Hoping to go deep. Going to be about 150 ppl in it and i'll need to get to the top 20 to make the money. I want the final table though. I want a win, but we'll see how the cards fall. Wish me luck. ^_^

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Well my streak of making the money ended today. Played in a $10 NL hold 'em MTT and was card dead from the moment it started. Never really got any cards that i felt good playing. Picked up QQ one time and won a decent pot, but that was the exent of it. Finally, with about 10 bb left and in the small blind i got 6's. A late position player raised and was called by the player on the button. I decided i had to make a move in hopes of everyone folding or being called by 2 overcards. Well, i got part of it right. Everyone except the initial raiser folded and turned over pocket 7's. I hit my set on the flop, but so did he. We both made a fullhouse but his was better and i went out. I don't think i made a bad play however. He almost mucked his pocket 7's. And regardless, i was going to make the call with my 6's and when i hit my set i would have moved in. Either way, the outcome would have been the same. I'm kind of amazed he made that call though since the only hand that i really played went to showdown and i had queens. It's either a genius call for him or blind luck. I honestly think he thought he was in a coinflip and decided to take the chance. Oh well. The 2k saturday freeroll starts in about 10 minutes. Hopefully i can have another good showing there. *crosses fingers* ^_^

Friday, October 13, 2006

Well, one more 1k freeroll, one more cash. No final table this time unfortunately but it was another good showing if nothing else.

For the first hour, i think i folded close to 90% of the time. Picked up AK twice and won both times just by putting pressure on ppl. Never flopped a pair. Was able to accumulate enough chips to feel comfortable, but not enough to really feel good. However, after the first break things started to pick up. In a span of about 10 minutes i picked up AA and KK twice each. Never won a big pot with either hand as my raises were getting too much respect at this point, but won enough to put me in good position anyway. Unfortunately that was the end of my good luck. I was a middle stack after the second break and then the cards dried up. The one hand i really saw was AQ and i missed, bet the flop and then had to fold to a reraise. A little bit costly. From that point on it was just survival. Saw one pocket pair after that (9,9) and stole the blinds. Stole the blinds a couple other times with lesser hands. Eventually ended up moving in with A5 shortstacked (less than 3 blinds) and got called from the big blind with KK. I didn't hit an ace and that was all she wrote. Not a lot else i could do in my position though. I had an ace. I could either try to make a move and pray for the blinds to fold or a lucky double up or just get blinded away. I hate being blinded away so i chose door one. Overall a good showing however, went out in 22nd place out of over 500 so i can't complain too much. It would have been nice to make another final table, but i feel my overall showing was very good. Now i just have to keep up this streak until the 10k freeroll on sunday. ^_^

So, I just finished a tournament. Meh, didn't do that well. pretty card dead. The one time i picked upa real hand (K,K) the guy who called my all in also had Kings. So, we split the pot and i didn't really get any richer. Then, shortstacked i picked up AK and moved in. Was called by pocket 6's and i didn't improve. So goes poker, and so goes life.

Now, that i got my update out of the way i want to rant a little bit about the legislation that was just signed into law by president Bush today. I can't believe that thsi type of underhanded crap can pass. No one read, and no one cared. The law that was passed overall had nothing to do with Poker or online gaming, it had to do with Port security and they snuck it in. It's the biggest joke i've ever heard of. Needless to say i'm not that worried about it, just annoyed at how our government works. Oh well i guess, at least poker.com is still letting us play and aren't shutting us out like so many other sites. I feel bad for all the players who have money in those accounts though (thank god i don't). It's going to be an absolute hassle for them to get their funds. >.<

Well, yesterday was a great day for poker in the Purdle household. Well, yesterday with some continuation from the day before...

The day before yesterday i decided to enter a $5 MTT on poker.com (the only place i play) and after much hard work, sweat and near deather experiences made the final table. I ended up taking 6th in the tournament so i was pretty happy with the outcome overall.

Riding the successes of the day before i decided to enter another $5 MTT yesterday. This might have been one of my best tournaments ever. I went the whole tournament and only saw one premium pocket pair (K,K) after i had already made the final table. I also did not see but one big ace (A,K) and didn't even get any action on it. I spent the whole tournament shortstacked clinging to life and still somehow managed to finish 5th. Overall it was a great time, played with some pretty cool ppl and did well.

So, after finishing there it was time for the 1k freeroll on poker.com. I entered of course and got myself ready to go. Take into consideration i had just made two straight final tables so i was feeling pretty confident about my chances. This time however, i wouldn't have to cling to a small stack. I got lucky and picked up kings and ended up getting it all in against someone and they held up. Hurray! Score one for the home team. From there on, i was a force. Never the chip leader but always in the top echleon (is that spelt right?) of stacks. I was however the chip leader at my table for a long time and used this greatly to my advantage stealing blinds here and there and playing big pots only with premium hands. My favorite move in the whole tournament had to be about midway through. I was still sitting pretty and someone tried to (i believe) steal my blind. I looked at my cards and had some nice suited connectors (7c,6c) and reraised. I flopped a straight. unfortunately, he didn't pick up anything on the flop so it was wasted.

We grind on for a while and finally, i find myself at the final table. Up to this point i have not put all of my chips at risk without a premium hand and i decided i would stick to my strategy. i still had about 70k in chips which was about middle of the pack so i was in no real hurry. And then it happens, with 6 players left there is an UTG raise of 24k...a good chunk of my stack. I look down to find pocket queens. After almost no thought at all i push all in. I knew the guy was a loose raiser and i had him right where i wanted him. Everyone folds and it comes back around to him and he says, "Good luck to us.." and calls with pocket nines. At this point i'm nearly jumping out of my seat because i know he practically has to hit his set to win and if i win i will be right up there with the chip leader. And then came the flop and much to my dismay, there's a 9, he hit his set. I don't improve and am crippled. A couple hands later i walk away in 6th place. I can't really say i did anything wrong just got unlucky. I can only think of what might have been. Oh well, it was a couple days overall. Now to see if we can keep this streak running. 3 final tables in 3 tournaments is pretty good i think :)