3 of 53 (oh so bittersweet)

This was a qualifier and it only paid 1-2, so I was the putz that played two hours without reward. I was second in chips from the penultimate until 6 players remained. I was a big underdog by the time it was 3 of us. I had $10,000 and they both had around $30,000. I went all in on my TT and got beat by the fella who played his Kx and hit a king. Think of the time I would have saved getting knocked out early.

Meanwhile I won a tidy sum on the money tables against a guy who was cute and slowplayed his aces.

I had TT on the button and the Aces were on the small blind. I raised to $10 before the flop and he just called along with another guy.

The flop was 98T: It was checked around to me and I bet $15 to see if one of the callers played QJ. I wouldn't call a $10 prelop raise with it, but I've seen others call with worse. The small blind (aces) raised me to $70. Of course, I didn't have him on aces, but decided to call hoping for a boat.

The turn was a Q and now I was really worried. He was too. We both checked.

The river was a blank so I bet my last $120 and he called and showed me those aces. I won $400 which half was mine to begin with.