THERE'S the old kick in the nuts I'm used to.

Watching moron run over the table - 54/37 stats. I've got no cards - my stats are 10/8. Raise, Raise, Raise. He shows down K6s once. J9. Q8.

We're down to the bubble - I get AK under the gun and raise. He cold-calls from a blind. Board comes QQJ - pretty dangerous, and a whiff for me. We both check.

Then we both check the turn. He's aggressive, so I figure he would have bet by now. Maybe he's got a Queen and is slowplaying. Maybe QJ, even.

The river gives me the straight - a ten. He bets, I raise, he shoves. QJ? Possibly. I'm not folding the ace high straight in a SNG to a bad player, though, forget that. He could show any number of things here, trip queens, the bottom end of the straight, AJ two pair idiocy.

I call. He shows QT for the boat. The ten that gave me the straight gave him the boat. Swell. Nice preflop cold-call from a 10/8 player raising under the gun. Nice powers of observation, there, sparky.

4 hands later, I small blind shove into the big with TT - looks like a steal. Good villian instacalls with 88 - the right move - but I have him crushed. He hits his 8 on the flop to bubble me.

There's the old tilty goodness rising up inside me...

Second tourney I don't get the chance to play against anyone. 56 unplayable hands until I shove my last 6 BB into someone holding a bigger Ace.