Winner, Winner RaiseyDaisy Dinner

To paraphrase the amazing Charlie Sheen, winner winner RaiseyDaisy dinner! I was super patient tonight and waited for my spots, trying to get my money in with the best of it...and it may sound crazy, but that theory is working (duh, winning)! My first, non-in-the-blind hand wasn't until hand 31; that's patience if I ever saw it and there were multiple times I folded my blind. My stack was all the way down to 970 because the blinds go so quickly. Hand 31 I was on the button and had 66 (Mario Lemieux? - I realize that I tend to make a lot of hockey references despite my not being from Canada...I just love hockey), I called and bet 2/3 the pot with a 5s 7d 9d flop; I had been playing so tight that no one called.

Back into my hole until hand 48, and it was a very lucky hand for me; I was in the SB with Kh 8c off and my stack at 930. I called, flop was Qc Kc 6d, I check raise the flop and get called (not good). Worried about the flush or two pair; the turn is 7c and now I pick up a flush draw so I decide to move all in. Insta-call (really not good)! Kd 6h for two pair so I'm down to 9 clubs, 3 sevens, 3 eights and 3 queens...about a 38% chance to suck out and win the hand. River = Queen! Suck Out City...

Five hands later, I knocked the short stack out on another suck out; my 10 3 vs A 10...flopped a 3! Up to 2,360.

Should have stayed in my hole the next hand I played; again the short stack pushed and I called with a marginal "drawing" hand A7 of hearts. The short stack flopped Broadway with K Q, I called with top pair...back down to 1,215.

With the blinds getting high (80/160), I was on the button with A4 off and two callers (4 players total); I pushed all in and got called by QQ. Not a good situation to be in...flop contained 3 5 J, turn was the 2 I needed and I survived yet again. Stack back up to 3,190! And into first place.

I kept the pressure on the short stacks as the blinds were increasing, betting my draws and betting any flops that I caught any piece of. There were a lot of pre-flop folds all around especially since one player was sitting out. I also dodged a few bullets where my marginal pair would have been run over by a flush or straight or bigger pair. As you can see from above, things were going my way.

When we got down to three players, I was the second stack at ~5K (5,200 and 3,600). I quickly dropped to the short stack when I missed my open ended straight draw and got bet out of the pot. I regained the chip lead when my AK was raised by A 10; A on the flop and my kicker won the pot for me. From there it was cruise control. Knocked out the 2nd stack with KQ vs K 10 and then the former short stack went on auto fold, basically conceding the tournament.

With the win, my bankroll is up to $125. Feeling good with my play (and luck)!