Tournament Date: 28 February 2007
Buy-In: $150 + $50 Re-Buys + $50 Add-On
# of Players: 60
Prize Pool: $17,000 APPROX

I started playing this tournament after a long absence from Bennys. I had been either dealing on a Tuesday or playing at the River Room. I always liked playing at Bennys, a lot of familiar faces and Mo, Benny and Stu (the owners) are friends of mine and I like to support my friends.

Played some good poker in this tournament and made it to the final table with a healthy 65K chipstack. The 1st hand on the final table I was dealt Ad Jd in the big blind. Everyone folded to the button who just limped (Pino was on the button and is a fairly weak player). The small blind completed and I decided to steal the blinds and antes (4000/8000/1000) which came to 32K. I went all in and Pino called without a moments hesitation with KQ offsuit. Of course The Q hit straight away and I was left with 19K. KQ offsuit! weak players like Pino think they have hit the lottery when they see 2 picture cards and can't wait to get their money in and they always hit and think they played the hand well.

I stole a couple of blinds and in the process I knocked out a short stack. I was back up to about 46K. I played a rotation and I was down to 20K in chips (blinds were 5000/10000/1000 25K a round). I was dealt KsJs and decided to make a stand, all in. Guess what, Pino called again with A 2 offsuit. As usual when I have the best hand I loose and when they have the best hand I loose. 7th place and $350 consolation prize money.

Tournament Date: 16 February 2007
Buy-In: $350 + 1 optional rebuy/add-on $150
# of Players: 62
Prize Pool: $27,000

This was the inaugural monthly tournament at Topflight, an underground club run by a friend of mine, Carl. Going into this tournament I had a good feeling about it, I thought as long as I played well, I would win.

I got lucky early on in the tournament, which certainly helps. Jay raised 3 times the blind (200/400) in early position with A Q, I called with A K and so did the button and the small blind. The flop came 9 9 10 rainbow. Jay checked and I bet out 3600, The button said 7000, the dealer pointed out that this was a short raise and announced that it was just a call. The small blind and Jay both folded. The turn came a K and I checked. The button went all in for 6800 (I had about 13K in chips plus I still had my rebuy) I thought about all the possible hands he could have and came up with this:

1. He can't have a 9 because he would not have raised on the flop
2. He can't have 10 10 because why would he raise with the 2nd nuts on the flop?
3. He can't have 9 10 because why would he raise with the 3rd nuts on the flop?
4. He may have J J
5. He may have Q Q
6. He may have K K
7. He may have A A

I decided that with hands 4-7 he would have re-raised before the flop so I put him on A 10. I called and he turned over 9 10 offsuit. Shit!
I am drawing very slim now, only 2 cards left in the deck - 2 Kings.
The river comes..... KING! I hit one of my 2 outs and win the pot, knocking my opponent out of the tournament in the process.

I played some steady poker for the rest of the tournament and and I had the displeasure of knocking Jay out of the tournament in 6th place. When we got to 4 handed we made a deal, we all took $5500 and played for the extra $2000. I made it to heads up with Dave and decided to chop up the remaining $2000. Result! I win $6500. Not bad for a nights work.

The 1st Thursday tournament of the year. I wanted to get off to a good start for the year so I played some excellent poker, I bluffed at the right time, stole the blinds at the right time and played my hands correctly to maximise my returns. I chopped the tournament with Isaac again taking home about $1800. Good start to the year.

Played in the $250 Tilt Thursday tournament tonight. Played some pretty good poker and ended up splitting the tournament with Isaac. We took $2000 each. Also I had a cheese sandwich today, It was pretty good!

Tournament Date: 27 November 2006
Buy-In: $2500 + $200 CAD
# of Players: 784
Prize Pool: $2,000,000 CAD

This was my second visit out to The River Rock Casino and the second time playing in this event. Shyam and I flew out on the morning of the event and went straight to the Casino to register. We went to a friends room at the hotel and showered and had a nice breakfast.

We took our seats and as luck would have it for the 2nd time in a row I was seated next to one of my friends. Well, at least I had position on Shyam (he can be an aggressive player so I was glad to be able to get away from his raises in position).

The very first hand I am dealt 77 on the big blind, I flop a set and make a little money. The very next hand I am dealt A9 off in the small blind and I limp, this time I flop trips and I make a little more money. For the first 3 hours I didn't have any problems and I was steadily increasing my stack. I went from the origional 10K stack to about 19K. Then our table was broke and we were all moved.

Another 3 hours passed and my chip stack remained the same, not much movement till I was dealt JJ. Blinds were 300/600 with a 75 ante, I raised 4 times the BB and got one caller. The flop came 10h 6h 2c. I bet out 4K on the flop and he called, the turn came 7s, he checked and I bet out 7K, he called. The river came the Jh. He bet out 4K and even though I knew he was chasing the flush and caught it, I paid him off because there was a lot of money in the pot. I was right, he turned over Ah Qh. Damn, now I was crippled. Half an hour later I made a stand with K J and was called by A K.