45 SNG $5 + .50 End 2nd 176 hands

Payout 6 spots. 1st - $85.50,  6th - $11.25

My 1st goal was to make it to the final 9, then the final 6, and from there as high as I could go. I actually got off to a good start in hand 14 when my pocket K's went up against Ah Qh and pocket Q's. My K's held and I had 3750 chips.

Hand 32 I was SB w/7s Js and 4895 chips. MP & HJ limped in w/100, I called and BB checked. Flop Jc 2s Qh. I pair my J but there is a Q there. I bet 150 into the 400 pot to get some idea of where I stood, BB folds, MP & HJ call. That didn't tell me much except they didn't get scared away. Turn 7d. That pairs my 7 and I now have two pair. I feel better about my hand. I bet 450 into the 850 pot, MP folds and HJ raises me going all-in for 2870. Hmmm, what might they have? Certainly no flush or straight. I doubt they have QJ since they just called my small post-flop bet. Could they have a set? I decide to call as I'll still be alive with 1825 chips left (enough to still be able to play well with). They show Ac Qc having paired their Q and have a great kicker. That's still a pretty big bet considering I bet and c-bet. I suppose they were hoping to take me out of the hand with it. One card to go. River 3s. I win and pick up the 6590 pot to have 8415 chips. I can relax a bit and have more options to check out cheap speculative hands if I want.

I pretty much stayed right around that number till on hand 89 we were down to the final 9. I had 7815 chips which put me 4th of the 9 left. By hand 103 we hit the bubble. I had 7365 chips and was 5th out of the 7 left. The two smaller stacks had 3570 and 4505.

From this point on it wasn't certain if I'd make it to the top 6 or not. The player to my right and big stack w/19,320 chips would often bet 3x, 4x or more of the BB before it got to me and left me usually folding as I didn't feel I had the cards to compete with him and didn't feel he was really bluffing, though some earlier plays did show he'd get in the fight without the best cards. The bottom 3 of us tended to bounce around moving up and down between 5th & 7th.

Hand 132  the 3rd high stack w/13,855 chips was knocked out by big stack w/19120 chips. Blinds 400/800. HJ (big stack) open raised 2800, I folded, and the BTN (3rd high stack) re-raised him to 4800. SB & BB fold and HJ re-raises all-in and BTN calls. HJ shows 10c 10h. BTN As Qs. HJ hits a set for his 10's on the flop which pretty much seals the BTN's fate and they hit nothing on the Turn & River. We are now six and I have 4565 chips 5th out of the 6 of us.

Again it's uncertain where I'll end up as the bottom 3 of us are pretty close in chips (3356, 3840, & 4035), 2nd & 3rd have 7515 & 10,970, while big stack has 36,575 & can do pretty much what he wants. He seems to like to play and continues with his early betting pre-flop.

Hand 117 I get lucky and don't even realize it. I thought I was going out as 6th. I'm SB w/Kd Jd. UTG limps in w/800, rest fold to me and I decide to raise all-in w/my last 3765 chips, hoping UTG will fold but OK if he calls. BB folds and UTG calls and shows pocket 4's (4c 5h). Flop 7s 5d 9d. I have a flush draw but not sure I saw it at the time. Turn 3d. I hit my flush BUT I don't realize it, still thinking the pocket 4's are the best. River 8h. I'm thinking pocket 4's are the best BUT the chips are coming my way. Why? I look at what the chat window says & see I have a flush!! Wow, how nice!!! I now have 8330 chips and am in 3rd place.

Hand 140 Action folds to the CO (4th in stack size) who open raises 2 1/2 BB (2000), BTN & SB fold, BB (2nd in stack size w/10,170 chips)  calls. Flop 10h 7h Jd. BB bets 1600 into the 4400 pot, CO raises all-in w/their last 2540 chips and BB calls showing Ac 8d; one over card and a gutshot straight draw. Turn 6s. River Ah. CO's K's are cracked and we're down to 4. The two shortest stacks are really hurting at this point having only 2550 & 2835 chips.

Hand 145 the shortest stack gets a boost when their pocket 7's hold up against KTo. Hand 154, the short stack & BB w/blinds of 500/1000 only has 35 chips left after posting the BB. They are raised all-in, called and its 56o vs the big stacks AKs. Big stack hits an Ace on the flop and holds the rest of the way. We are now 4. I'm 3rd in stack size w/9080, short stack has 3250. 2nd has 16,810 chips and big stack has 38360.

Hand 156 it's short stack w/A5o up against big stack's AQs, board hits no-one and AQ wins. I'm 3rd w/10,080 chips, 2nd has 15,310, and big stack 42,110. Hand 158 2nd stack w/A8o takes on big stack w/pocket 3's. Flop hits 2nd stack's Ace but the River hits big stack with a 3 to give them a set. I'm now 2nd stack with about 1200 more then short stack. Next hand, 159, short stack w/A5o is up against big stack's pocket 10's. The pocket 10's old and now we are two.

Not much happened after this. I had some ups and downs until the last hand I mentioned at the start where I lost and it was over. Overall I fell I played OK. It's hard to say if I would have been more aggressive earlier after I picked up my 8000+ chips and been in better position at the final table. The big stack did a lot of betting/raising before the play got me so I didn't get a lot of steal opportunities. I was patient though, took the best advantage of the cards I had when I could, had some successful steals when I was able, and looked at player stats when deciding some of my calls. We had two players who VPIP was 4-5% after 75 hands and rarely pre-flopped raised, so even though they were getting short stacked, when they jumped all-in I felt it best to stay away from them unless I had a superior hand.