"First Hand Big Winna For Rockets in $2/4"

After cooling off, from the horrid bad beat I took in the 14K, I sat at $2/4 Heads Up with about $254 and change and likely to my surprise, the match only lasted 1 hand, LOL:
Full Tilt Poker Game #1954833852: Table Lola (heads up) - $2/$4 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:26:04 ET - 2007/03/09
usasba posts the small blind of $2
Kris Homerding posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kris Homerding [Ac As]
usasba raises to $8
Kris Homerding raises to $13
usasba calls $5
*** FLOP *** [3c Kc Kd]
Kris Homerding checks
usasba checks
*** TURN *** [3c Kc Kd] [Ah]
Kris Homerding checks
usasba bets $22
Kris Homerding raises to $46
usasba raises to $70
Kris Homerding raises to $241.50, and is all in
usasba calls $171.50
Kris Homerding shows [Ac As]
usasba shows [Kh 9h]
*** RIVER *** [3c Kc Kd Ah] [2c]
Kris Homerding shows a full house, Aces full of Kings
usasba shows three of a kind, Kings
Kris Homerding wins the pot ($508.50) with a full house, Aces full of Kings
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $509 Rake $0.50
Board: [3c Kc Kd Ah 2c]
Seat 1: usasba (small blind) showed [Kh 9h] and lost with three of a kind, Kings
Seat 2: Kris Homerding (big blind) showed [Ac As] and won ($508.50) with a full house, Aces full of Kings

THANK YOU LORD BABY JESUS!

2 Outer on River Knocks Me Out of $14,000 Guarantee

With a field of 650 players, and only 164 left, I found myself in the middle of the pack, sitting in 95th place at the time.
Full Tilt Poker Game #1954018961: $14,000 Guarantee (14223246), Table 66 - 250/500 Ante 50 - No Limit Hold'em - 16:13:38 ET - 2007/03/09
Seat 1: Soo Fli (10,310)
Seat 2: Johnston1981 (12,860)
Seat 3: the_corncob (17,585)
Seat 4: Pellefant (3,955)
Seat 5: CHKTHS1 (13,130)
Seat 6: Being (3,890)
Seat 7: gus h (6,820)
Seat 8: Ishamel (4,215)
Seat 9: Kris Homerding (8,695)
Soo Fli antes 50
Johnston1981 antes 50
the_corncob antes 50
Pellefant antes 50
CHKTHS1 antes 50
Being antes 50
gus h antes 50
Ishamel antes 50
Kris Homerding antes 50
Ishamel posts the small blind of 250
Kris Homerding posts the big blind of 500
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kris Homerding [Qh Qc]
Soo Fli folds
Johnston1981 folds
the_corncob folds
Pellefant raises to 3,905, and is all in
CHKTHS1 folds
Being foldsgus h folds
Ishamel folds
Kris Homerding calls 3,405
Pellefant shows [As 8s]
Kris Homerding shows [Qh Qc]
*** FLOP ***[Ad Qd 8c]
*** TURN *** [Ad Qd 8c] [3s]
*** RIVER *** [Ad Qd 8c 3s] [Ac]
Pellefant shows a full house, Aces full of Eights
Kris Homerding shows a full house, Queens full of Aces
Pellefant wins the pot (8,510) with a full house, Aces full of Eights
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8,510 Rake 0
Board: [Ad Qd 8c 3s Ac]
Seat 4: Pellefant showed [As 8s] and won (8,510) with a full house, Aces full of Eights
Seat 9: Kris Homerding (big blind) showed [Qh Qc] and lost with a full house, Queens full of Aces

BAD KARMA, JUST ABSOLUTE BAD KARMA
Pellefant went on to take 68th, 5 spots OUT of the MONEY :)

FTP FINAL TABLE!

Wow, has it been a long time or what? I forgot what the final table on Full Tilt Poker even looked like. In the $7,500 Guarantee, I finished 6th out of 417 players and earned $500.40. For me, it wasn't even about the money, it just felt great to reach that final table, although 1st paid a lil over $2,500. Final hand of the tourny I was low in chips and held 88. 1st pos bumped the 3000/6000 blinds to 18,000, where I pushed all in for 31K total. The BB then went all in, who had the 1st pos covered, yet the player still instantly called his tourny on AQ offsuit. The BB, who was chip leader of the tourny, flipped over AK as the other player flipped over AQ. I knew I was a longshot, but was a slight favorite preflop. I was surprised to see the player who initially raised instantly call his tourny at risk with AQ, especially since he was 3rd in chips at the time. A Queen hit on the flop, and I was knocked out. So basically, if the idiot didnt call the 70K more with the worst hand going into the flop, I would have tripled up since an Ace or King didn't hit. I was upset, but I know I'll win one of these tournies sooner or later.

The Bad Luck Stops Somewhere.....Right???

Wrong!!! Not for this fellow. Following horrible connection, I decide to move that money back to 123cardroom and try my luck there. Sittin at $.5/1 NL Holdem, I end up 4-way all in preflop with AK. I didn't have much at the table so I decide to go for it:
Table:Mankato $100 Game (NL Hold'em) Hand # 32,340,640

22:44:28	Posting blinds
22:44:36	omgpaymenow posts small blind ($0.50)
22:44:37	Shake n Bake posts big blind ($1)
22:44:37	Dealing hole cards
22:44:41	weetabix calls ($1)
22:44:43	BluFFMe13 calls ($1)
22:44:43	JimD27 folds
22:44:47	noway folds
22:44:49	jdniu folds
22:44:53	snowball raises ($2)
22:44:54	nanner folds
22:45:01	omgpaymenow raises ($10)
22:45:05	Shake n Bake raises all-in ($32.75)
22:45:09	weetabix raises all-in ($38.23)
22:45:11	BluFFMe13 folds
22:45:16	snowball calls ($37.23)
22:45:24	omgpaymenow raises all-in ($87)
22:45:32	snowball calls ($58.27)
22:45:32	omgpaymenow shows all-in QcQh
22:45:32	Shake n Bake shows all-in AhKc
22:45:32	weetabix shows all-in 4h7h
22:45:32	snowball shows Td9d

22:45:38	Dealing 3 board cards: 6D KS JC
22:45:42	Dealing 1 board card: JS
22:45:46	Dealing 1 board card: QD

omgpaymenow wins ($265.98: $133 main pot, $16.44 side pot #1, $116.54 side pot #2) with a full house, Queens full of Jacks

Not only did I not win this nicely built pot, but I lost on a 2 outer! It doesn't get much worse than that!

Poor FTP Connection

Due to very poor FTP connection problems, I will no longer be continuing my run of 100 $11+1 Sng Turbos. It wasn't a complete waste though. After 13 nerve-wrecking games completed, I finished with 38.5% cashings and a net profit of $42.00.

QQ Holds Strong to Obtain Early Chip Lead

After 4 consecutive losses, I knew my luck was bound to change. Early in the tournament, I get lucky enough to hold pocket queens. Little did I know, my hand was stronger than I expected:
Full Tilt Poker Game #1885648171: $11 + $1 Sit & Go (Turbo) (14064708), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:31:02 ET - 2007/02/27
Seat 1: kta203 (1,485)
Seat 2: sleepy14 (1,395)
Seat 3: nick420805 (1,470)
Seat 4: brianNdee (1,545)
Seat 5: jtrain76 (1,500)
Seat 6: RiskyRy (1,605)
Seat 7: Robanob (1,500)
Seat 8: Kris Homerding (1,500)
Seat 9: Mugger89 (1,500)
nick420805 posts the small blind of 15
brianNdee posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kris Homerding [Qd Qs]
jtrain76 folds
RiskyRy raises to 150
Robanob folds
Kris Homerding calls 150
Mugger89 fold
skta203 folds
sleepy14 calls 150
nick420805 calls 135
brianNdee calls 120
*** FLOP *** [2s 8d 9d]
nick420805 checks
brianNdee checks
RiskyRy bets 420
Kris Homerding calls 420
sleepy14 calls 420
nick420805 calls 420
brianNdee folds
*** TURN *** [2s 8d 9d] [3s]
nick420805 checks
RiskyRy bets 720
Kris Homerding raises to 930, and is all in
sleepy14 calls 825, and is all in
nick420805 folds
RiskyRy calls 210
Kris Homerding shows [Qd Qs]
sleepy14 shows [Th Ts]
RiskyRy shows [Td Tc]
*** RIVER *** [2s 8d 9d 3s] [7c]
Kris Homerding shows a pair of Queens
RiskyRy shows a pair of Tens
Kris Homerding wins the side pot (210) with a pair of Queens
sleepy14 shows a pair of Tens
Kris Homerding wins the main pot (4,905) with a pair of Queens
sleepy14 stands up

With a 1st position raise to 5xBB by RiskyRy, I didn't think I was ahead in the hand preflop; Matter of fact, I never thought I was ahead in the hand until the cards were flipped over. I was lucky enough both players were holding pocket tens, knowing I had the best hand and both players were drawing dead. Things like this put a smile on my face, :)

Pair Aces Busts to Rivered Flush Draw, Out in 5th

With already a very poor internet connection to work with, I settle down and work on my 6th $11+1 Sng Turbo of the night. With finishing 1st in the first two games and 2nd in the third, I jump out of the gate with a hot start, inching closer and closer to my goal. I get up halfway through the tourny with my pocket queens holding up against AT, making an ace high straight on the river to put myself 2nd in chips. After two previous brutal losses, a non-cash in this game would put me at a 3-game losing streak. With only 5 players left, I get knocked out, losing to a rivered flush draw. Take a look:
Full Tilt Poker Game #1882891296: $11 + $1 Sit & Go (Turbo) (14041066), Table 1 - 80/160 - No Limit Hold'em - 4:16:46 ET - 2007/02/27
Seat 2: aman69 (2,385)
Seat 5: Kris Homerding (1,930)
Seat 6: pom_1962 (4,245)
Seat 7: kmaniacc (1,920)
Seat 9: sms6225 (3,020)
kmaniacc posts the small blind of 80
sms6225 posts the big blind of 160
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Kris Homerding [Tc As]
aman69 folds
Kris Homerding raises to 320
pom_1962 calls 320
kmaniacc folds
sms6225 calls 160
*** FLOP *** [Ad 3d Kd]
sms6225 checks
Kris Homerding bets 320
pom_1962 calls 320
sms6225 folds
*** TURN *** [Ad 3d Kd] [7c]
Kris Homerding bets 1,290, and is all in
pom_1962 calls 1,290
Kris Homerding shows [Tc As]
pom_1962 shows [Qc Qd]
*** RIVER *** [Ad 3d Kd 7c] [2d]
Kris Homerding shows a pair of Aces
pom_1962 shows a flush, Ace high
pom_1962 wins the pot (4,260) with a flush, Ace high
Kris Homerding finishes in 5th place

Now here's the situation: When I push my remaining 1,290 chips, the pot size is at 1,680, in which 680 of those chips are pom_1962. With 3,605 chips remaining in his stack and 680 already in the pot, he calls my 1,290 all in bet on a DRAW; 35.8% of his stack. At no point in the hand was he "pot committed"; just another instance where I lose to a bad poker player.