Big Game Win!

I figured out a well-known secret about how to win tournaments: Get great cards.

Twelve players showed up for MiamiDon's Big Game, which is always a fun tourney. I was able to build a huge chip lead and keep it all the way until the last hand, when I was dealt AA heads-up and rivered a needless set.

Check this out:

I played 242 hands. I was dealt AA twice, KK twice, QQ five (!) times, JJ twice and AK three times. Seriously, that's a sick run.

What's more, I only lost two hands the whole tournament that went to showdown. I got in with an open-ended straight draw in heads-up play against Smokee's top pair, and I lost one other hand vs. a shortstack with my 99 vs. his KQ. And that was it.

I made one straight, two sets and 10 two-pair hands.

I almost felt like my raises were getting too much respect, although I had the goods most of the time.

Even after all that, Smokee and third-place finisher BigPirate were never out of it. They played well, but my hands kept holding up.

So yeah, this tournament was fantastic! It's so much fun to wield a huge stack and not donk it away.

The Big Game win also accomplished several milestones for me: it's my first blogger tourney win, my first MTT win since I chopped a 56-player tourney at the Golden Nugget in 2004 and the first time I've ever busted Waffles.

If you don't already, check out the blogs of the players in this tournament. They're some of the best:

Smokkee
BigPirate
Derek
ScottMc
cemfredmd
jeciimd
Waffles
Astin
Dr. Pauly
Hoyazo
MiamiDon