$15,000 Guaranteed Friday Night Tournament

Coming off my big win the previous night, I was one of 596 entrants vying for the $3000 top prize. The payouts stretched all the way to 60 places, and I felt good about my chances of making it at least that far.

I took a chance early on when 7JQ flopped with two diamonds. I held J4d. One guy went all in, and I had enough outs to like my chances of doubling up, so I called. Another guy called as well. The turn brought a diamond and I pushed the remainder of my stack in, and the other guy called again. The river was a black king. I never saw the first guy's hand, but the overcaller had KQ. This hand put me in the top 5 and I would stay in the top 15 for the next couple of hours.

The field atrophied away until I was guaranteed $75. Once it was down to 40 players, I was guaranteed $133. The next jump came at 20 and then the top ten. Not much was happening for me, and by the time there were 25 players, I was in the second division.

The blinds were so high at this point that there was no reason to play anything but high cards and pairs. I wasn't getting these often, and when I did, my raise would win me the blinds and we'd move on. Finally, I held 77 and limped in with many callers.

Flop came 864. Under the gun decides to go all in. Another guy calls. The pot is huge. I don't figure I'm leading, but I can't resist the temptation to gamble. I go all in, hoping for a 7 or preferably a 5. If I lose, I get my $133, but if I win, I will be way out in front and eyeballing the three grand.

I don't get my 5, and the 7 would have done no good, as the caller had pocket eights. Oh well, I played well enough to get paid, but gambled when I didn't need to. I'm okay with the loss as I was sliding towards the back of the pack at the time, but once I was out, I sure wished I was still in.