Last night was the Matt Comroe Farewell Poker Tourney. Much fun was had, reversals of fortune were seen, and cold hard cash was won. There were 11 of us to start. $25 got you $2500 in chips. We drew paper to see which table we were starting at, and I got the mismatched height card tables that made dealing interesting. Directly to my left was Joshua. Uh oh. To my right was Jason D., who is always dangerous when he's got some chips. We also had Dave W.(not "David":http://bigbrit.blogspot.com/) and Jason K., who is wildly unpredictable at times. You never know when he's bluffing "the Hammer" (i.e. 7-2 offsuit, the worst starting hand in hold 'em) or holding pocket aces.

We got started, and I was nervous. Even more nervous than I was at the start of the "tourney from a few weeks ago":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/001158/, which was silly because I knew all these people. Maybe that was it; I didn't want to be making bonehead plays in front of my friends. Even now only about 12 hours later lots of those hands are blurs to me, but I'll try and recollect best I can, and I'm sure David and Joshua (and Dan? where are you Dan?) will chime in.

The first few deals around were pretty uneventful... just feeling everyone out to see how they would play. I made some good positional raises with decent cards and took down some early pots. Joshua took a good chunk out of me when I put in a semi-bluff with some good cards that just didn't pan out on the board. He was playing similarly as far as agressive blind-stealing, although with the level we were at ($25/$50 blinds) I wasn't trying to steal as much since it wasn't worth the risk that early on.

One early hand I was one behind the button with K-K. I flat-called, and Josh raised three times the big blind. I came back over the top for about another thousand, and took him off that pot. Flopped a flush the hand after that, and managed to squeeze some money out of Dave W. with that one. Another hand or two after that I got K-K again, but this time nobody wanted to play. Same story with A-A a little later on. Jason K. was quietly building up a massive stack, with a good slowplay to take a bite out of Josh, as well as pretty much everyone else at the table at various points. Oh, and Dave W. flopped quad kings at one point... sweet. Glad I wasn't in that hand.

In the 2nd hour I started playing a little more recklessly. I figured I had the option to do another rebuy for $25, so I might as well try and double up a few times, or force people out of better hands with some strong betting. Well, that backfired as I pushed all-in with some garbage like A-5 or something. I went up against A-K, an A hit on the flop, and there was no runner-runner 5s miracle like "last time":http://feralboy.com/log/archives/001158/.

So, I rebought and vowed to play a little tighter. 3 memorable hands from the end of that level: - Folding pocket 7s to a huge raise from Jason D. There were all sorts of overcards on the board that were frightening, and my 7s shrunk up fast. Turns out he had nothing. In fact, we turned over the remaining cards after I folded just for a giggle. The burn card was flipped over by accident. 7. Then the actual turn card was a 7. Sheesh! - Looking at 9-9 a few hands later, and Jason made another stab. This time I stood my ground, and put him all-in. He turned over A-K. Eeep. It's just a coinflip, really... I'll take those odds. Flop comes A-x-x. Shit. Now he's way ahead with his pair of aces. Turn comes, and it's a miracle 9. Last card needs to be an ace for Jason to hang on, and it's not. - Last hand before we combined into one table (Pat and Tisha had gone out, and Tisha doing so after getting a straight flush(!) earlier in the night). It was down to Joshua and me, and I was up a little bit from my rebuy. I had ok hole cards (Q-9), but nothing hit on the flop, although there were some high cards out there. I put in a decent sized raise, and he called after much deliberation. I figured he was on a draw or a low pair at that point, so after the turn I put in a bet for a good chunk of the remainder of Joshua's stack, maybe about $1500. Joshua thought. And thought. And thought some more. He counted his chips, sighed, thought some more, and then eventually asked if I would show him if he folded. I agreed, perhaps too eagerly, and showed him the crap I was holding. He turned over 3-3. So, he had me beat to that point, but on such a scary hand that him throwing it away was the right move.

The final table started with 8 people. Now I had Joshua to my right, Jason K. and his big stack to my left, and then continuing left around the table was Michael from work, Aaron, "David":http://bigbrit.blogspot.com/, Dave W., and Dan from work (who had built up a huuuuuuge stack before we broke our table)

The blinds were getting scary enough (200/400 and a $50 ante) that no stack except maybe Dan's could feel safe. It was time to start gambling a little. I bought a few pots with good raises on the button, but didn't really make a ton of moves. I got up to pee, thinking that when I came back I might want to go all-in before I was even dealt cards, just to either succeed massively or go out in a blaze of glory. I come back, sit down, and look at my hole cards: A-A. American Airlines. Bullets. The best starting hand you can have. With that many people at the table, I was hoping to take a big chunk out of somebody. Aaron went all in right away, and I called him. Flop was no help, and I wound up busting him out.

Michael was a wild man... betting hard, and Dan was there taking his action. One hand had Q-Q-J on the board, and Micheal immediately went all-in. Dan called, and Michael flipped over J-x. Dan had J-Q; he had flopped the full house.

David went out at some point (not sure with what hand). Dave W. was severly short-stacked, to the point where posting his blind put him all in. Lucky for him on that hand he got A-A, although he was out a few hands later too.

So, we got down to the final 4, and it was me, Jason K., Dan and Joshua. The blinds were getting obscene at this point; 400/800 with $100 ante. Joshua and I were both looking pretty desperate with less than 10X BB. He raised a good amount in front of me, and I went all-in for about $5000. He called, and flipped over Q-8. I had J-9, and a big mountain to climb. Flop came, and nothing hit us. Turn, nothing. Last card came, and I spiked a jack to pair up and take out Joshua. Dan looked ill; he threw away K-8, and there was a king on the board and he would have knocked out both of us.

*Update:* Stupid me... Joshua (as he points out in the comments) had A-10 (which is why it was funny when I knocked Dan out with A-10), hit a 10 on the flop, which is why it was extra-heartbreaking when I spiked that J. Sorry Joshua, I can't remember _all_ the winning knockout hands I had last night. ;-)

With the blinds now at 800/1600 with $200 ante it was still uncomfortable, even with the decent-sized stack I now had. Next hand or so I get A-10, an actual hand. Dan calls, and I go all-in. Dan has K-8 again, and he'll be damned if he's gonna throw it away this time. Flop is a blank, but then a 10 comes on the turn. Dan needs a king on the river, and it doesn't come. Now it's down to me and Jason K., and I've got about a 4-1 chip lead on him. I do one raise to take his blind, he raises back next hand and I fold utter garbage; 2-4. Next hand I have decent cards and just try and put him all-in and end it. He calls, and doubles through. Next hand again I have J-9, go all-in and Jason calls with Q-x of diamonds. Flop comes with 2 diamonds, no pairs. Turn is a jack, and now I'm looking good. Last card needs to not be a diamond or a queen, and it's not. I won my namesake tournament!

The take for me was $159, minus my $50 buy-in + rebuy, plus the $40 I got from Jason D. for selling him my old chips. So, the night was +$149.. not too shabby.