1st Dream Team Poker Tournament

            The theme for the night was “Implied Odds” for this tournament. I will get back to that later.

Last week I was invited by Marie Lizzete to join her DTP team ‘Rags2Riches’ and thought it would be a lot of fun to do so. Well it turns out it was all that and a bag of chips. My girlfriend and I met up with Marie and Johan(our 3rd team mate) at the Bike Casino, and after a few “ah’s” and “oh… are you? Ahhh.. yes I am’s”. We registered and picked out our Team Colors. That was tough since they had a lot of choices to pick from. We went with the black baseball jersey that opens up in the front. Since they didn’t have XXL for me an XL will work just fine.

We talked a little poker strategy. Marie is an excellent cash/tourney player and had a lot of great advice. She knows I can build a stack, and also knows I tend to lose it in the late stages of a tourney. Her main point to me was that once I build a stack to go take a break and have a smoke. A lot of players go on tilt when they lose a hand. I am the opposite. When I go on a rush my over confidence will be my undoing. Even though I will have what appears to be the best hand, sometimes you have to lay it down.

The tournament started and 1st hand action went just like this… Blinds were 100/200, UTG players raises to 2k!!! YES! 2K!! 5 callers decide to go along. Flop comes Jack high rainbow and no straight draw. It gets checked down to the button where he bets ¾ of the pot. UTG calls and the rest fold. Ok.. I put him on AJ. Turn a blank card and not a threat. UTG checks again and Button this time moves all in. UTG player SNAP CALLS his bet. I mean even threw it down. So to my surprise when I saw AQo and Button shows KK daahhh!! The river is another blank and UTG is out! After the player was ear distance away the whole table broke out in laughter. I mean how could you not? It was an interesting hand but what caught my attention was that 5 players came along.

A few hands later a 2nd player bust out holding AA vs J2o. Again the same thing happened. Someone raised to 3K and 4 limpers called. J2o was the BB and called because of…IMPLIED ODDS! It was an all in and J2 won with 2 pair. Of course the player holding AA was very upset and this hand set the tone for all the other donkeys to follow. Some argued he was nuts to play that hand, others praised him for doing so. I just kept my mouth shut. I read a blog from a friend that said her strategy was to not be friendly and to be unnoticed. You don’t want to draw attention to you because it makes it easier for players to remember you.


The J2o player won the tournament. He was solid and used Implied Odds wisely. His friends were not that wise and would call all bets in order to see the flop. They went out within the hour and one of them courtesy of moi =) I like it when I knock out the table big mouth. I see it as “I WAS RIGHT FOO!!”


Knowing their strategy I decided to use it against them for my first big double up. I had AKs from the Button and after 3 limpers came a long I raised 4x BB. They were all shocked that I only made it 800 since 2k was the norm. SB and BB of course called as ALL THE LIMPERS. I kind of played it small there. They weren’t going to fold to any bet and AK can easily be crushed with that many players in the hand so that’s why I bet it small. The flop came KK9 and it got checked to Mr. Implied Odds who bet 5k and all the players folded to me. I took my time like I always do and gave out some weak tells like shaking my head, exhaling deeply, etc and I just smooth called his bet. Turn, a junk card and this time Mr. IO checks it. I decide if I bet high he’s going to fold, but if I bet weak along with my weak tells he’s going to shove. I figured 3k would be good amount and no sooner then I put down my chips that he calls out loud “ALL IN”. I insta-call him and flip over my AKs and he shows me JJ!! No help for him on river and bye bye Mr. IO.

I take Marie’s advice and go chit chat with my girlfriend that is looking EXTREMELLY board. I don’t think she will ever attend another tournament of mine unless the tournament is at a casino that has a room she can go back to relax.

By now players are very weary of me and are folding to my raises. One hand I had JJ and raised 3xBB. I got one caller. The flop was J9x and I bet my set. The other player which was sitting to my right said “I have a very good hand, but I fear your bets. I fold” and showed me J9. I showed him my JJ to keep them thinking I only play good hands.


I kept up with the blinds by changing my raises from min to crazy amounts. Threw players off and made it sneaky especially since they were all about the 10xBB bet strategy.

This was a deep stack event with 20 min blinds, but as in most deep stack tourneys the blinds are nutty and get skipped. I got blinded down to about 40k at one point when I looked down to find AA on the SB. No limpers at all, the player in mid position moves all in for 28k and I insta-call him. He tells me I got you beat and shows pocket Tens. He quickly changes his mind when he see’s my rockets.

The very next hand I look down and see AA again! Whoot whoot! This time 3 limpers tag along and the same mid position player moves all in for 20k. I contemplate smooth calling it but am weary of all the others coming along like they have been. I raise it to 45k and all the players fold. One of them says show us your junk cards. I show them AA and they are like what? This guy gets all the cards… Flop Axx, turn X, river X. Another player out and I have about 90k.

At this point Marie’s advice comes to mind “when you stack up, walk away and get a smoke”. I am stubborn and don’t listen to her. Soon I am in the BB. Blinds are 1k/2k and I have KTs. 4 limpers in the pot and I just check it. I check the flop and UTG player bets 10k. I re-raise him to 35k and he shoves on me. I don’t put him on AJ because he had raised before with that hand. I call and he turns over KQ. I was over confident that the player didn’t have AJ and not once did I think he had KQ. Again I was blinded by my rush and didn’t walk away….Check! Will do so next time.

Thank you very much Marie and Johan for inviting me to play with you. It was a great experience and can’t wait to do it again.

My new nick name ‘OneAWayValdez’

As promised the story of how I got my new nick name "OneAWayValdez".

First of all I got a little distracted and apologize for the wait. I know a lot of you have been waiting anxiously for this =/

While in Laughlin I had a couple of bad tournament showings there, and when this happens to me I like to take a break and do something else. Just like if I'm having a bad couple of tournament runs online I will just not play for a couple of weeks. Helps me clear my head and forget about the bad beats. Like I always say "every tournament I get knocked out of ends in a bad beat"

I been wanting to spend some quality time with my lovely girlfriend and since she decided to go "watch" me play(for about 20 min) I figured I owed it to her and would do something she likes to do.

Let me start by saying her game is intense. There are more bad beats in one session then I have ever experienced in a week in poker. They have more one-outers and runner-runners then you can imagine. The crowd will get on you like you've never seen when you make a mistake, so the pressure is on for you to make the right call. The excitement of winning is enormous, and the loosing just as devastating.

Craps? naaah lady luck rules there. Blackjack? Bunch of drunks and you can always change tables. Try BINGO!! Whoot whoot! Yes my friends I took the BINGO challenge. Off I went armed with my daubers in hand, $10 Bingo Packet, and pride in my back pocket. After all this was for my wonderful girl friend, to spend quality time, get away from poker, etc etc etc.

We sit down, and all the blue hairs and snow leopards are in effect. Sometimes armed with a basket full of daubers. I have a lot of card protectors that I have purchased through a various casinos, but have never even came close to the daubers collection some of these Bingo players have accumulated. As I am sitting down I watch them closely as they start to pre-mark all the Bingo games from the odd/even, pointed arrow, inside box, outside box, straight bingo, bingo the hard way, easy bingo that turns into a two-way then a three-way bingo, etc At this point my head already hurts and not even hung over. Wait! What’s that? I see relief! yes! A BAR with BEER! ahhhh that helps some.

The announcer calls of for a balls check (I sure the hell hope he wasn't talking to me) and let the games begin.

First game starts off with a bang. I quickly get 4 out of the 5 first balls called to make a bingo! Whoot! All I need is the dreaded O74...non-suited of course I think. I double check my number, then triple check. I do NOT want to yell BINGO in this crowd and have it be wrong. These old timers have a look like they are out for blood and are not going to take any Bingo newbie screwing up their morning! Another ball gets called and I miss, G64, N45, I32, O73, O75 *augghhh*, I28, I29,... This whole time I am on pins and needles and with every miss I my anxiety is through the roof. B1, B5,... then I hear the dreaded "BINGO"!!!! Followed by the enormous sigh from the whole crown and the fake "good game" shout. The whole time I made some friends across from us and they wanted me to win more than themselves. They wanted the newbie to win! Nice old couple.

Second game 5 around the corner is called out and starts. The numbers begin to get called out and just like the first game I start to dab all over!! YES! YES! I got that! Whoot whoot got that one as well. Then again I’m ONE number from my bingo. Again, a bunch of numbers get called out. I zero out the board and whalla "BINGO" gets yelled out and I again miss my one outer!!! That’s when I heard it the first time from my new found friends "You were ONE A WAY again"

The third game down pretty much the same way but this game was a double bingo and I need 1 number to get both my bingo's done. I missed a two outer this time and again ONE A WAY!!! Now my girlfriend says GO GO ONE-A-WAY-VALDEZ!!! And it stuck!!!

I had a total of 6 games of a 10 game set where I was ONE A WAY! by the end I was exhausted, my nerves were shot, and I walked away feeling like I should have played Russian Roulette for much more relaxing time.

In the poker world I'm still known as GiJoeValdez, but don't be shocked if some old timer calls me out by my new name and alter ego "OneAWayValdez". Yes, I'm a Bingo player and I like it!! 

Angel 'OneAWay' Valdez

Going To Play In A Major Tourney?

Going To Play In A Major Tourney?

I was asked "I think u should write a first time article about newbies going to play in major tourneys. Advice", so with that said here it is.

As some might know I've only been playing Hold'em since July 2008. Like most I watched it on TV for a couple of years. Then one day, a buddy of mine while at a casino encouraged me to play a tourney. The experience was awesome and have never looked back. It helps to make the final table your first time but thats a whole different story.

Before I knew it I had a library of poker books, became a member of a poker forum, signed up to play online, and continued to play live tourneys with some success. I wanted to learn and master the game of Texas Holdem.

After 6 months in to this new found hobby of mine and still green as can be, the WSOP Circuit came to Harrahs Rincon in San Diego. In which I took a leap of faith and played a few events.

I figured if you want to learn the game right you need to play with the big boys. So off I went with money in my pocket and a stomach full of butterflies.

My advice before playing a major tourney:

1. Learn to play something else other then Holdem such as PLO H/L, or Stud H/L. This will actually make you a better player. They will improve your hand reading ability. Even if its online for play money. Invest some time in them.

2. Play a lot of live tournaments. Online is ok but you need to get used to being at a table and seeing the cards. The more table time you have the better.

3. Take a WSOP Academy class or Deepstacks Live event. Its a well worth the investment that you need to make. Thats if you really want to compete at a high level. It will break down the game and teach you a ton of things to look for.

4. Play the single table Satellites or the Mega's. Its part of the experience and the same dealers that deal during the tournament will deal at these tables. Its a great way to get to know them, and also get to know the other playes.

5. Play more then one event. The WSOP Circuit has great buy in's of $230, $560, $1080, and their main event of $5k. Its a bargain compared to the WSOP where their buy ins start at $1500. Last year I played in 2, and this year I plan on playing 5 or 6 and tone of satellites.

6. Leave the ipod at home. You are not that good as it its. You don't need any other distractions. I even think a lot of the pros that wear headphones might not even be listening to music, but rather have them on so you don't talk to them. Leave the distractions at home.

7. Bring a backpack with you and make sure you have water, snacks, lunch, etc. During the tournament when everyone breaks for lunch guess where they all go? yep, the the restaurant or the rest room. And trust me there will be in line in both and only one of them is worth the wait. Be smart, pack a lunch and relax.

8. Make sure you bring a card protector. A lot of players like to think they are all that and say "I use my chips" yeah well like a lot of us saw this past WSOP where this player went all in, put ALL her chips in front, then the dealer mucked her cards! This was the main event of the wsop! She goes all in and the dealer still took her cards? yes it happens. First time caught on TV but you don't want to be that person that looses a lot of chips because you were careless. This happens a lot so be ready.

9. Get a reservation at the casino where the tournament is at. You won't have to worry about getting a cab to your hotel, and you can focus more on poker.

10. Enjoy the experience. If you get knocked out on a bad beat be professional about it. The poker community is a small place. I met so many players in those events that I keep crossing paths with in other tournaments. I had a very good player knock me out of one event, since then I have played him twice and knocked him out once. That was my "revenge" but most important I made a friend that respects me and likes my style. In this game all you have is money, honor and respect. You loose your money and you're still welcomed. You loose your honor or respect, and I can guarantee you won't be.

11. Update your twitter on your breaks. You don't need the distraction while at the table.

12. Go with friends that you can turn to for advice. Its always nice to have that support you can count on when you have a bad beat. Trust me, all of my lost pots end in a bad beat =)

13. When you are done with the tournament don't play any cash games. You might be on tilt and in a bad mood. Go out and enjoy a few.

Thats all I have for now. If I missed something please let me know. I will add more as I recall them.

Tournament 2 – What do you do when you flop bottom 2 pair?

The second tournament I played in Laughlin was a $40 buy in MTT with a $20 add on. You got 2000 starting chips +3000 for the add on. With 15 min blind levels you have work faster then normal.

I paid the add on. Who wouldn't do so? In an add on tournament I always pay it. Here is my thinking of it and its not that I am giving up, or don't believe in my skills, but Au Contraire Mon Frair. I know I will double up, and 10k is much better then 6k don't you agree?

In this tournament Gijane decided to sit close by to watch me play. It was the first time EVER so I was kind of happy. I been playing very well in all my tournaments so it was nice to have that support. At first I though she would get bored. Was I wrong! I barely made it to level 2. I think she had just opened her magazine lol

Blinds were 50/100. I was on the big blind holding 57s. 6 limpers came a long so I checked. The flop 57K rainbow! Flopped bottom 2 pair. With 750 in the pot I make a nice pot size bet of 750. It gets folded to the button where he calls. So I start thinking of what hands he could have called my bet with AK, KK, QQ, or AA? Naaah to many limpers in front of him. He would get them cracked if he did that. Any sane person would raise with those hands to eliminate donkies. KJ, K10, K9 maybe, 77, 55, A7, or A5. Didn't put him on K7 because he would have raised my bet and been more happy to see flop.

I put him on one pair and I have him beat so far.

The Turn is a TEN. I take my time and get my reads. I don't put him on K10 because he's not interested in that card, so I make another pot size bet to get him off the hand. He smooth calls that bet! oh! oh! Was my read wrong? I still think he doesn't have K10.

The River a Jack. Now he sits up and his eyes look like they are going to pop out of their socket. I check to him and he only has 900 so he shoves, and I call. At this point I am pot committed and its 900 to win 7k, and I really want to reaffirm my read more then anything.

He flips his cards over and shows me KJ!! After I throw my cards into the muck I am left with 800 or so.

Went out few hands later with AQs vs K7s when he rivered his flush. =) good times.

I made so many mistakes in this hand I don't even know where to begin, but if you see something else let me know.

1. I should have shoved on the turn. I was 75% favorite to win the pot. It's the tourney and as much as I want to start building chips I should have been happy with taking it down right then.

2. Should have folded to his river bet. I knew I was beat. I wasted 900 chips so I could re-affirm what I already knew? Calling there left me short stacked. 1700 in chips is a descent stack to work with.

3. Lost my patience when I needed it most when I knew I was beat. I should have stayed the course and not got frustrated.

Wince then I been reading a bunch of stuff on how to play bottom 2 pair and most say to get all your money in on the flop, but that hand is so easily counter fitted that a fold is ok. Your only two options are fold or go all in.

Had a WSOP instructor said he never liked playing the blinds because that's were he lost most of his chips. I can see how this hand fits in with that.

Next blogs:
My new nick name OneAWayValdez

Old timer I almost killed when I flopped top pair

Here is my part 3 of my Laughlin trip and I wanted to tell you about something funny that I saw at the tables. Well its funny NOW, but back then it got very serious.


I was playing  a MMT and doing well with a nice stack. I was on the button with about 8k in chips when player Under the gun limped in, then the Old man sitting on the Hijack position limped in as well. I looked down at AJo and raised 3x the big blind. The blinds and first limper got out of the way, but the old man sitting on the hijack was VERY quick to call. As a matter of fact, was shaking when he put his chips in. I knew something was up with him.


So the flop comes J84 rainbow. My first instinct was to bet half the pot. I have top pair with top kicker, but as I started going through my routine I noticed the old man continued to shake more and more. You could tell he was ready to pounce on any bet that I had. Both palms down on the table and a nice lean forward. As I waited to sweat him out I noticed the color of his skin began to change. Normally it takes 45 seconds for me to get this kind of read on someone, but 20 seconds was way to fast. 


I check the flop and sure enough he shoves all his chips with a squeaky all in! I know he's got something really good in his hand so I start to take my time. I know at this point I am going to fold but wanted to sweat the old man a little, but his condition didn't look good. He was shaking more and more. He began to hunch down slowly while reaching for something in his lap.  I decided I wasn't going to put him through the torture and I folded.


He flips over Pocket Kings and as he starts to gasp for air, he reaches for the pot of chips and brings them closer,  and THEN grabs this hose sitting on his lap and puts it over his nose. As I stood up to see what he was grabbing to his side I noticed an air tank. Its one of those tanks that the old smokers use and wheel around.


Once he turned it on and sucked in some air he said with  a smile "No risk, no reward. I took a chance limping in with Kings". lol He was more worried about the hand and chips then his health.  At that point it went from serious to everyone laughing. 


I felt like I was in an episode of ER and was playing against a person on their death bed!! 


Anyone ever seen anything like this before? If so share.

Laughlin and my cash game attempt

This past weekend I took a trip to Laughlin for a nice adventure/poker vacation. Laughlin is a lot of fun. For those that never been there it’s a mini Vegas that sits on the side of the Colorado River. Tons of places you can rent jet skies from, BBQ and enjoy some beers on a beach. I stayed at the Harrah's and they comp'ed me the first night and $45 for the other 2. How can you not take that offer?

I never played a cash game in my life and wanted to get my feet wet, so I made up my mind that the next time I was in a casino I would take the plunge. But sadly, Laughlin, like Vegas, is taking a big hit in this economy, so there weren’t many cash tables opened at all. At most, I saw 2 tables in any casino open for cash and they were playing 3/6, or 5/10 HNL. Once I found a 3/6 HNL “Kill” game. Can someone explain to me what the heck that means? I was looking for a $1/2 and I didn’t want to make those limits my first. So my cash game devirgination will have to wait till next time.

I did find that Harrah’s had a descent tournament with 30 min blind levels for $100 buy in. I signed up for it and by start time there were 40 players with 12 on the waiting list, and all were able to get in. The starting stack was 5k so off we went. Started doing my thing and began to chip up steadily to 7500 when in level 3 I got smacked out of the tourney.

Blinds were 100/200. I had AQs on the button. UTG player makes it 600, the Hijack smooth calls it. I love these opportunities because it lets me squeeze and put pressure on the table, so I reraise 4x to 2400, the BB comes a long and so do the other 2 players. *haaaah?*

The Flop is AKQ rainbow! YES!! With 9700 in the pot it got check around to me. I have top 2 pair and about 5100 left in my stack. I take my time getting reads on players. It gives me time to torture them and see what they are all about while intimidating them at the same time.

My standard half the pot bet would only leave me with about 400 so I shove all my chips. Well the BB calls and my first thought is that I am screwed. Dude has AK or JT and just checked raised me. Then UTG also calls!!! What? I am really screwed now. For sure one of them has the above hand. Then to my horror Hijack calls the all in. At this point I stand up and start getting all my things ready to leave.

I flip my cards over and BB moans as in pain and flips over KQo. UTG flips over pocket 9’s, and then the Hijack flips over his mighty pocket 4’s!!!

I am not a poker instructor or a professional but I did stay at the Holliday Inn one time, and do know someone that knows someone that is really good at poker. And calling two all ins in front of you with 99 and 44 on a over card flop is just plain… Dee Dee Dee.

Well at this point I am ok and way “ahead”.

The turn a 6 and that is good news so far. I am ahead and only need to dodge one more flip of the wrist from the dealer.

The river a 9!!! Bam. I am out!!! Oh well…

I got a few more fun stories to tell that I will post in later this week.

1. Tournament #2 – What do you do when you flop bottom 2 pair?
2. Air tank old timer - I almost killed when I flopped top pair/top kicker
3. My new nick name ‘OneAWayValdez’

The pre-flop Re-raise of a Raise Naked Bluff Move

The pre-flop Re-raise of a Raise Naked Bluff Move

As part of my learning strategy I been watching a lot of Online poker’s bigger buy in events. There was a move I wrote about “How to Turn the Small Blind Into The Button” That particular move when in the Small blind, faced with a raise, you would shove all your chips. Its a moved that works well when at the bubble stages of a tourney or when tournament life means something.

I started using that move quite a bit with great success in Live games as well as online but with out the shoving. Then I decided to take advantage of it and go one step further.

I was playing in a $220 buy in tournament at the Commerce Casino and decided I was going to try my new found moves and be super aggressive. I finished the tournament in 35th place our of 220 players.

I not only used this move from the small blind, but anytime some one would raise in front of me. I was always in good position either middle to late.

Open up your range to 70% of possible playable hands. If the opportunity comes and all you are holding is 72o then do it. Play the player and not the cards.


The key is to act strong. Look around at all the players as to say you are looking for action. Don't go in the tank and try to hide your tells. You want the players to see you. Look at the raiser and the players left to act. Look at their chips, pretend you are counting them, and count yours. Add up what the pot would be if a player would call and get your 1/2 to 3/4 of the pot bet ready.

Don't shove while using this even if you are holding a hand like JJ. Players are very smart now a days and in live tournaments they will call that. It is a sign of weakness. The good player is going to want more chips from you when holding the nuts.

When faced with a call from the raiser watch the player when the flop comes. Don't even look at the cards. The player will tell you a great deal when the flop hits or misses the instant the cards are turned over. If he shows weakness and you don't see a problem board, then fire off a bet.

Pre-flop players folded 7 of 10 times. Post flop they would fold 2 out 3 with my flop bet. The one time it was called, it got checked to the river and I showed my 72o. Well not really 72o but any 2 cards will do. You get my point.

This allowed me to chip up often and strong. Players feared me in late position. Every bet from them was a tough one because I put them through the ringer. I never had so many of my blinds get a pass. One time I got a pass I was holding QQ and I flipped them over to show them they are playing "smart".

I didn't know what to call this move since in some books it says to re-raise with AA or KK. Well its a new era and you need to be creative. Thanks Mitchell Cogert for coming up with the name. It made me laugh and inspired me to write this blog.

Have fun and let me know how it works out for you.

Morongo Casino - What would you do?

September 3rd, 2009.
Morongo Casino


I played in a good size 200 player MTT at Morongo Casino. It was a $48 + $20 rebuy event. I finished in 5th place which made me very happy to get my game going again. There was a hand that came up that I been thinking about since.

With blinds at 4000/8000.

The UTG players raises to 20k and has about 130k.

The player in the Cutoff moves all in for his last 18k.

The SB moves all in for 150k then thinking the UTG player folded he SHOWS HIS KK!

At his point everyone is shocked and dealer tells him there is still one more left to act and UTG has not folded yet, and he gives out an *AUGHHH*.

Now the UTG player looks at this and goes into the tank, then finally FOLDS face up AJs.

Cutoff player shows A3o.

What would you do? Do you make the call against KK or fold?

You can guess what the flop brought but it doesn't matter.

Commerce Casino - Sep 15, 2009

So I went back last night to the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles to play some sats. I jumped into the $80 ten player and chopped it with 1 other for a cool $360. This allowed me to buy into the $220 tourney that they have.

This tournament was a 6 handed MTT and started you with 3k in chips. The blind levels were 40 min and had a very good structure. Started with 25/25 and went up the normal way. Structure PDF

I asked a couple of pro's that I know how to play it and they said open up your range big time, and that my post flop moves would make or break me.

It turns out they were correct. The good players know players make a move on the flop, so the turn was where the real action went. With this in mind I was able to raise pre, bet the flop, and check raise the turn to win a LOT of big pots holding doodoo =)

Against the really good players I made that move holding the nuts.
There were a few hands that I was able to make the right read and call and others I folded, but the most memorable is the one that got me knocked out.

I finished in 35th place but again was the chip leader for most of the tournament.

so here it is. I had about 45k and was the SB. Blinds were 200/400 with 50 ante.

I got dealt JJ

Player on the Cutoff raises to 1k. This player when faced with a re-raise was the type that would fold if he didn't have the nuts.

Player Highjack raises to 2400. He's got about even chips with me. This player was very aggressive out of position. When raised he would call all bets. Bluffed a lot and his range was open like mine. We been playing at a different table and been head butting for a couple of hours.

I moved all in - It was the first time I had shoved all night. I wanted him to think I was weak.

Cutoff folds of course.

The highjack goes into the tank for about two minutes. Seemed longer but I was nice and relaxed. I had a very good hand. Thats what made it tough on him. He tried it all, asked me for my count, how many chips I had, etc He counted his chips which came up to 48k. I was right or close to it. So he had me covered by a little.

Highjack moves all in shows AsQs and says "I know you have a good hand but I have to take a chance" I know what he meant.

The winner of this hand would make the final table and would be in great shape to win it considering the average stack was 12k and there was no one else that came close to our stacks.

FLOP: 9s9c2d - very nice flop for me.

TURN - 3s Yikes. Not a good card. Now he has a lot more outs to help him out. Any spade, any Ace, and any Queen.

RIVER - 4s!!! OUCH! I am done. I knew it the moment it hit.

After the fact I am thinking what a bone head move on my part. I risked it all for no reason. I should have kept playing the way I was. Called to see the flop, made my bet, saw the turn made a bigger bet, etc I don't know if he would have called the post flop bet. Maybe the turn but I would not have been knocked out. Dunno.