Da winnah for this Tuesday's Wheaties....

... is moi.

PokerStars reports:

You finished in 1st place.

276 hands played and saw flop:
- 13 times out of 60 while in small blind (21%)
- 19 times out of 60 while in big blind (31%)
- 9 times out of 156 in other positions (5%)
- a total of 41 times out of 276 (14%)

Pots won at showdown - 14 out of 15 (93%)
Pots won without showdown - 48

Notable hands...

About eight minutes in, I'm holding pocket Kings. I raise 4x the BB ($80). Get a $100 reraise from the next guy in line, cantseefade, who I don't remember ever playing against before. Flop is 6s 9h 5h. I bet $400. cantseefade goes all-in with 1280. I think about the Aces, the sets, maybe the AK of hearts, and finally call. cantseefade is holding AQ of diamonds. He doesn't improve. I go up to 3010 in chips.

From the "something you don't see very often" department. Maudie in Seat 3 raise 3x the BB. CawtBluffin in Seat 6 reraise sanother $190. Maudie calls. Everybody else folds. Flop is 2d Ac Kd. Maudie and Cawt both check. Turn is a 4h, which will turn out to be significant. Maudie checks. Cawt bets 330. Maudie goes over the top with a re-raise. Cawt goes all-in. Maudie has Cawt covered and calls.

River is a 6c. Maudie is holding a pair of 4s, and had a set at the Turn. Unfortunately for her, Cawt had been slow playing Aces, and had made a better set at the Flop. Game Cawtbluffin.

About 9:30 I get whacked hard by weak_player when I have pocket 7s and an open-ended straight at the Flop. Unfortunately for me, weak is holding a pair of Kings, which hold up. I go from $3500 to $1100 in that one hand.

Notable quotes #1 from my archenemy, dsheep: "Aqua has replaced you as my enemy, rico" "you are down to 'strongly despised'"

Notable quotes #2 from my archenemy, dsheep: "what a nice evening (subliminal message: Rico pass me your remaining chips) for a poker outing"

Notable reply from me: "subliminal msg: (Bite me, d)"*

*Just to keep the record straight, we're only arch-enemies at the tables, and like jerking the other's chain.

Da Hammer Falls: I'm in in the Small Blind with a perfect Hammer and $602 in chips. weak raises to $450 and I figure what the hell. I go all-in and get my revenge on weak when I pair my deuce and he doesn't pair either his King or Queen. I double to $1354.

A little later, with $904 now left, I go all-in with Kh Jd. dogtown73 smells my desperation and calls. Happily he's only holding K8o, and I win with a better kicker. Back to $1908 in chips.

I go on a mini-rush with JJ QQ and QQ in close succession and work my stack to $2908.

I take out weak with a set of Queens vs. his Big Slick. $4800 in chips.

I take out GScottW when I pair an Ace against his pocket 6s. $6511 in chips.

I take out Hermwarfare when my nuts flush beats out his 10-high flush. $10,011 in chips.

10:17 - at the final table with $10,231 in chips.

I wander in the wilderness for a long time; alternately stealing blinds and folding, staying around $11k in chips, staying out of trouble. The field gradually shrinks without my involvement.

With $10,400 in chips left and $600 committed in the Big Blind and holding soooooooted K10, I call my fellow traveler xkm1245's raise to $1200. Flop has two more of my suit, and I go over the top with a $2400 raise. xkm calls. Turn gives me the flush and I go all-in when xkm checks. He thinks about it and folds. $14,700 in chips.

I cripple kaellinn18 when I pair a King at the Flop, beating out kaellinn18's pocket 8s. $30k in chips. kaellinn is taken out next hand by xkm. Three of us left. dogtown is short stack with $11k. I'm in close second with my $30k. xkm has $31k.

We fence 3-way. We fence some more. I mostly stay out of the way as dogtown and xkm go at it.

Notable quote #3 - xkm1245 said, "hey, if we get heads up rico, what say i drive over and we play it live?"

We're in a 3-way tie circa 11 pm when dogtown gets a flush at the Flop while holding J4. He had raised. xkm with AQo reraised. xkm refuses to let his flopped Queen pair go, and chases a possible full house to the River. He doesn't get it. Happily, I was not in the hand. xkm gets a little crazy about the dog's play, but what the hey. It's 3-handed.

xkm is down to $662 in chips and I take him out with a KJ vs. his Q10. Just me and the dog now.

Me and dog go heads-up. He's got double the chips I have and is wearing me down. I start blasting all-ins at him with anything useful in my hand and work my way up a bit.

But I'm getting tired, and don't even notice a hand where I pulled a straight at the River. Opportunity missed. Frustrated, the next hand I call dog's $2800 raise with sooooooooooted 8 6. I flop middle pair, an 8, bet $4,000 and dog calls. 6 on the Turn, I go all-in, think dog's been running a trap when he calls, but he has nothing but a straight draw vs my two pair, which hold.

With that big whack at his stack, I'm now in the lead with $60k. dog has $13k, goes card dead, and with only $4600 left, goes all-in AJo. I only have 9 6 sooooooooooted, but make the proper call. I pair my 6.... and win out over the small field of 48.

Until next week.