a win!

man, it's been a long time coming, but I posted a first place finish in a $20 9-man tonight (as well as another bubble in a $20 6-man, for my 2,345th bubble of the month).

Finally hit some big flops. Raised it up with JK, got a caller from the blind., flop came KK4. We both check. Turn comes an Ace. I'm hoping he called with an ace. He obliges me by leading out. I raise him 2.5x his bet, he calls. (uh, oh - AK? Not again). River comes a Tc - now I'm behind AK and AJ. He checks. The pot is 2720 and I've got 915 left. Quick check to the skill of my opponent - he's a modest winner with 151 tourneys played. He is capable of dragging AK. He's also capable of calling a raise with a gutshot that now hit. Aw hell, screw it - I put my 915 in. He thinks for a second and calls and shows AQ! Basically he didn't put me on a king, and I'm back in contention.

A couple hands later I get into a blind vs. blind deal - I flop a one card open ended straight and minbet twice to build the pot in case the straight comes. It doesn't come, but I decide that the river didn't help him either, so I bet pot with my busted draw, and get a fold! Now that's some good poker.

My headups opponent is a weak-tight -8% ROI. He folds way too much heads-up, and I punish him mercilessly with raises. The few times he raises, I simply get out of the way. I get lucky on the last hand as he tries to slowplay AK - I have 9-6o. The final board reads J-J-K-9-9 and he gets it all in. I'm dead to a jack but I've got a 3-1 chip lead and seem to be a better player, so I decide it's worth a call. My boat smacks down his 2 pair and I get my long-time-coming victory - the first in 23 online tournaments, dating back to September 2. I still have a bunch of work to do before the end of the month to get back to even.

Interesting fact - did you know that KK is a 91% preflop favorite over KQ? I did not know that until the donk in the first tourney called my preflop over-bet with KQ and hit a straight on the turn. Egads.