I played a 4.40 180 man on Stars last night, and had I not made two very horrible plays, I would have not even made the money.

That's horrible to say, and don't take it as advice. But, it's true.

I had been playing fine, and had accumulated about 6k in chips. At the point that this hand came up, I was about 1k below average. Because I know many of the hands that came after this hand, I can comfortably tell you that this pot was vital to me getting ITM, and I played extremely well after this pot. If that doesn't make sense, I'd be glad to explain further.

Anyhow, I had a pair of 8's in MP, and raised it to 3xbb. The CL in the tournament was in the BB, and called. The flop came Q 4 9, and he bet about 3/4 of the pot. I insta-called like a donk. I strongly felt that he didn't have a Q, however, what basis did I have for such a thought? The only thing I can say is that his betting didn't seem the same as it normally was. Otherwise, if he had a great hand he would have bet less, and I think that if he had the Q, he would have bet less than he was. He was one of those players that play opposite of normal play often (bet small with big hands to trap which is not a great strategy in the long run although it is good to mix it up).

The turn was a T, he bets big again, however, it's virtually the same amount, and the river was a King. The King actually scared me a little, however, I had put so much in already, and he bet virtually the same amount as he did on the turn.

We flipped over, and he had nothing, AJ suited, and my 8's held up. So, I went to about 10k in chips, and I had just completed making the worst play I made all tournament.

Some time passed with me stealing pots here and there, and at one point I'm in the SB in the 100/200 w/ante. The BB was a tight player who hadn't been in too many pots. I raise him with KQ suited, and he calls. The flop is A 8 5, and I have nothing and I decide to take this pot off...bad thought, but I had nothing. I check, he bets really big, and I fold. He shows 52, and of course, he paired up the 5.

Now, this shouldn't have pissed me off. I had nothing. I typed in nh, and moved on, but truthfully, it did piss me off, and it caused me to make the next big pot that I had no business in:

We're in the 200/400, and again, it folds around to me on the button with A4. I raise, and he calls (the BB folds). The flop doesn't hit me at all, and he bets about 1/2 the pot. I insta-call out of donkish madness. The turn doesn't help, and he bets about 3/4 of the pot, and I insta-call out of donkish madness. The river is an ace, and I think he smells something, and he bets, but not much, and I call in case I have kicker problems (bad move), and I win. He types in something about the river, and I typed in, "52?" as if to ask if he had 52 again. I'm an ass.

To his credit, he said nothing back concerning what I said about 52, and in fact, he never really butted heads with me after that.

Now, had I not got these pots, I WOULD NOT have made it in the money. Don't get me wrong, I don't suddently feel that you need to play bad to win. I'm just telling you how things went down.

Anyhow, I went out on some further donkish play, but made some money, and was up for the day.

Tonight, I'll be laying one table SnGs only because of the amount of time I'll have, and I'll probably get in about 2-3.