GRAND TOURNAMENT IV - DAY TWO

It was a short day. I came in with $59,620 in 36th place. I came over the top of a $17k stack who had been raising frequently. I put him all in and he called with AQ and caught a Q to beat my 99. I raised to $4k in early position with my Monaco hand, KQh. I was called by a big stack. The flop came 9-high with two hearts and I bet the pot and took it down. I tried to steal to earn the $2400 blinds from the cutoff seat, but got called in two places and missed the flop.

In level 14 (1000/2000), I defended my big blind to an early position raise, holding A4. The flop came 752 with two clubs. I had the gutshot straight draw, the back door nut flush, and most probably a live four. I checked and he bet out. I went into the tank and came out reraising. He made a questionable call with the best hand, AT, and it held up to cripple me. I threw several thousand at a JJ5 flop when I held 54 from the small blind, but folded when I met resistance. I was now the short stack of 79 players. I went all-in with K8 and lost to 99.