I sat at a table with Mohammed Suhail who chats as much as Will Kassouf  there was some action early on, raises were 6x with 3 callers. I kept out of harms way and chipped up steadily finding good spots. I raised JcKc from UTG for 500 with blinds 100/200 25 ante and got 4 callers. The flop came 9c 10c 4h and I bet 1,200 and got 3 folds and one caller, the turn was an Ad and  I raised 2,800 and the villain still called. The river was a Qh and I bet 10,000 and then put my head down and stared at the table. After much thought the villain called and I showed my runner runner straight to take a handsome pot.

” I had 2 pair on the river” he said

“My bet was either the nuts or nothing, I’d have called with two pair. It is a good call, I have a lot of bluffs there” I told him.

I was up to 47K  and feeling in the zone, the average stack was 31K when the last hand before the break was dealt.

I raised 1,100 UTG Ac9c and got 6 callers, the flop came 9h 9d 2d. The Small Blind and Big Blind checked and I raised 3,000, UTG+1 Mohammed Suhail called  and the Big Blind min raised to 6,500. I am losing to only 9 2 or a pair of twos and decide I’m ahead and it is best to shove. If he has a 9 I don’t want a diamond to come and kill my action and if he’s on a diamond draw I want to deny him the odds to draw out on me. UTG+1 folds and after much deliberation the big blind decided to call for his tournament life with Kd 6d.

“I folded Ace Queen of diamonds” Mohammed Suhail from UTG+1 chirped.

The turn was a blank and the river brought the dreaded diamond and I went from 47K to 9K in one hand, 2 hrs of chipping up ruined in one hand.

“I put you on aces”  Said the Kid

“I fold aces to your bet without hesitation” I tell him. “I’m either marginally ahead or in terrible shape, as a good player I find better spots”

Mohammed Suhail pulled his AdQd from the muck to prove he wasn’t lying.

After the break I shoved on an 8 8 3 board with 9BB with 3 5 from the BB and ran into trips  with 8 9 and it was all over. Killed by one hand, the kid who took my chips had blown the 85 K stack he had won on the river. He had been a calling station and I’m sure he didn’t have long left as he was down to 15BB when I left.

I feel OK I played great poker just got unlucky in a hand where the villain should have folded.