Friday the 13th was my lucky day......

I went to 'Slickey's' the and played in the NLHE bar league. The league started last week and I missed it due to those familial commitments we all have. I usually do pretty well at these tourneys....and usually cash when I make the final table. It's a good structure for local tourneys...start with T2500 for 40.00 buy-in and the blinds start at 25-50. They increase every 25 minutes or so...and there are levels that you just don't see at other local tourneys...like 50-75 and so forth. I started off with a bang....my favorite hand Kd-Kh in early position. I raised and got a caller because I was in early position. 2x-Ks-5c on the flop...BOOM. I bet T200 and the guy called me...I'm thinking draw maybe? an Ac falls on the river. I bet T500...the guy calls...I'm thinking club draw....straight draw? We checked at the end and I rake the pot. He had Ax-Kx....the only other king in the deck and top two-pair. That's the shit I need to get to the final table I thought. I sat on about T4000 in chips for quite a while. We went from about 39 players to probably 25 and I still had T4000 after some Blinds and small pots came my way. After the break there were probably 20 left and I started to get a few more small pots. After folding for a while the final table bubble was going to pop soon. There is one kid that is there and 'always' makes the final table when I do. I've had some pretty good battles with the kid...he's good. He makes some good reads and usually goes with them...but I doubled though him later on. I labeled him KOJ (King Of Junk) because he doubles up with junk hands every time I see him play. He thought that was kind of funny and I just sort of knew he was going to the final table to battle me...again.
At the final table (11 players...5-paid) I had a guy next to me that plays all the time...he has a game to respect and told us about the WSOP 1,500.00 tourney he was in. That was the 11th bracelet win for Phil Hellmuth. The kid next to him was the internet-KOJ kid. The guy next to him was aggressive...but was able to lay down some hands...someone I could bluff. The guy next to him would call with some mediocre hands so I would have to wait for a decent hand to go through him.
The kid next to him was...friend of KOJ and busted out first. Next to him was the guy that I eventually ended up heads-up with. He is an odd-quirky sort of dude who seems to be able to calculate the right move every time. Next to him was a younger internet kind of kid. He had a big stack to start the final table. The guy next to him runs a social club in my town...he had a big stack and would call all sorts of hands. The guy next to him makes the final table pretty often...good with the short stack...when he goes all-in he always has the right kind of hand. The guy next to him was a big Mexican dude...he's usually pretty good. Then there was me...short stacked and ready to push on any decent hand.
I still had T4000 to start and dwindled down to T2000...not good with only two other people knocked out. Down to 9 and I am on the button. I had Jx-Qx....I push....and was called by a guy that had Jx-10x...I got a Qx on the turn and doubled-up. A couple of orbits later I had utter crap and was looking for another double-up. I had the vaunted Kx-3xo....I push on the button again....guy who was in the WSOP tourney that Phil hellmuth thinks for a second and calls...Ax-Qx....crushed....or so I thought. I was dealing and dealt myself a Kx on the flop...then a 3x on the turn...I double through again although a little sheepishly. So I had T8000 at that point and was in pretty good shape. Big mexican dude got all-in with the social club guy and doubled-through with QUAD Q's. I got a couple of walks on the blinds and was at about T9200. I think the blinds were at 400-800. I raised a couple of late position blind steals and chipped up to about T12,500. The was the hand that gave me a big stack.....I was dealt Ax-Kx and raised in late position. KOJ called my T6000 bet....??? WTF is he holding...I thought. The flop was a beautiful Ax-10x-Xx....I went all in with T6500 left. He goes into tank is just agonizing over this. He kept talking about me not having an ace and I actually had one this time! He's made some great calls on me in the past and at this point I knew he was calling. He called with pocket J's....blanks fell on the turn and river and I was at something like T28,000. A couple more people go out. There were 6 people left and 5 get paid. I was one of the big stacks now. Later on I had Ax-5x and wanted to steal....I raised it probably twice the BB which was 1500. One of the guys to my right goes all in...the quirky dude. I said "I can't call that....I think you have AK" and sure enough he had AK when he showed. We got down to 3 people and there were two big stacks. Me and the quirky dude had the big stacks and other guy had a small stack of about T15000. I pushed on the button with Kh-Jh...quirky guy thinks about it and calls!...He had Kx-Qx..ugh. The flop was Ax-Ax-8x...turn 10x....river 10x....chop it! That was a relief and the second time I got lucky at the final table. It was getting close to 1:00AM at this point...we have to end and get out of there because the bar closes at 1:00. The guy with the short stack got knocked out after a couple of hands and at 1:00AM we chopped with about 27,000-28,000 in chips apiece....I took home 387.00....minus the 40 enty fee and 30 tip for the TD for a total profit of 317.00. I just may have to go through a full season in the bar league again. Friday the 13th is lucky after all.........