No new pics...

... so you'll just have to scroll down.
No pictures are required anyways, unless I had a pic of
2-8 offsuit.
I almost had it painted onto my tailgate.

I played a tourney at San Pablo this morning. First, I
started with some 8-16, just as something to do. And,
it seems I do ok on the higher limit, limit games.
After a few hours, maybe three, I ended up with a net
gain of forty something bucks.

Once the tourney started, I felt in my element. I doubled
up quickly, then doubled that a short time after.
It was then that I began to feel edgy, and even a bit jittery.

I used to feel that way every time I played poker. For about
the first three months. Its exilerating, but nerve-racking if
your trying to play straight-face poker with a bunch a
strangers. Truth was, the crowd was very mellow, and
sometimes entertaining too. I think I get nervous sometimes
when I have a big stack, early. Many times, I have busted out,
after first getting off to a great start. Grant it, I used to play
more specutively in my formative days, and for the last
four or five months, my game has been very profitable. So
why the nerves...
Today, I actually got up and left the table, and walked outside
for a while. It helps to calm nerves when walking, I think.
Maybe fifteen minutes later, when I was good and well
bored to the point of total inner sanctified calm, I returned
and essentially picked up where I left off.

With two tables left I was in second place chip wise, and
felt solid.
I ended up making a few high dollar, pre-flop bets, only
to lose those hands. Before I knew it, we were consolidated
into one table, and I was
now near last in chips. They paid the top ten, so we were
all going to get paid off, but it was just a matter of who
would drop first.

The blinds had been going up every fifteen
minutes, antes had been going on for nearly three hours now,
(and also going up each round)
Basically this meant, each hand now had an individual ante of 300 chips, and the
little/big blinds were now 500-1000.
Ultimately, the two chip leaders were now allowed to sit back and watch everyone go all in
on each other. It was a feeding frenzy.

So there I am. And I pull the trigger with an 8-2 offsuit.

The only reason I did it was because two dudes ahead of me
were already all in, and I didn't put either on a big pair.
Most of time, at this point, its only ever mono-a-mono.

This allowed me to triple up hopefully, this is called "pot odds."
Also, I was nearly positive no one had my same two cards!!
All I needed was one to hit.
Sure enough, one feller has A-7, the other A-9.

The flop gives me a pair of 8's. The turn and river were
of nonconsequence. I tripled up and knocked one fella out.
I told everyone, that if I win the whole thing, I'm getting
2-8 painted onto the Tundra's tailgate. And I would wear
it like a badge of honor!

Later, I'm dealt suited A-J. I only raise 1k, thinking I'm gonna
play it cheap and sneaky. The big blind (who is chip leader by far)
thinks hard, and I verbally try to lure him in, "it's a thousand, whats
a thousand anyways?!"
"Ok," he calls.
The flop is 8-8-10. He bets a thousand. I call.
Turn is a five. He bets a thousand. (Keep in mind, the pot was
about nine or ten grand in chips) I call.
River is nothin. He checks, I go all in. I get busted. I talked
him into keeping his 8-5, and I gave him a boat, for all my
chips. Yahoo.

I still walked aways with 100 bucks for 7th place.