I am happy that the Four Queens poker tournament returned to Las Vegas. The last tournament at the Four Queens was three years ago, and I really enjoyed it, as I entered six tournaments and finished in the money five times, resulting in $14,000 in total prize money. At this year's Four Queens tournament, I entered the first "sunset" event. It was my favorite type of tournament, no-limit hold'em. The buy-in was $120, and we received $500 in tournament chips. The blinds started at $5-$15, and they increased every 30 minutes. There were no rebuys.

The following is a discussion of several key hands that I played during the tournament. We started with 200 players, 20 tables, and $100,000 in tournament chips. In the early stages of the tournament, I suffered a few beats and was down to $200 in chips. They broke our table, and I was moved to another one. At that point, the blinds were $50-$100. I was in the big blind with A-Q suited. Someone raised all in, I called, and one other player called. The flop brought a beautiful ace, so I tripled up to $600. Two hands later, I was on the button with A-K. An early-position player limped in with Q-9 suited. A late-position player then went all in for $1,500 with pocket jacks. I called with my $600 and the early limper made a very poor call with his Q-9 suited and $900. The flop was perfect for me, A-K-X. My flopped two pair held up and I won the pot. In two hands, I went from $200 to $1,950.

A few hands later, they broke my table again, and I was moved to another one. I proceeded to win several hands and was up to $5,000 in chips. At that point there were 27 players left, and we all had made it into the money. We then drew for seats at the final three tables. By stealing some blinds here and there and winning a couple of pots, I increased my stack to $10,000. We then broke down to two tables. I continued to steal blinds and increase my stack size. Practically every time I raised, no one called. Then, I raised on the button with A-J after everyone had passed. The big blind thought about it for a while, and finally called me. I did not like that. When the blinds are at the level that we were playing ($300-$600 and antes) you should be happy to pick them up with no action at all, no matter what your hand is. The flop came with three rags. He checked, and I shoved my whole stack in. He immediately folded.

When we got down to 11 players, I had $15,000 of the $100,000 in chips outstanding. At that point, a key hand was played. A player in late position went all in for $5,000. I was in the small blind with A-K. I came over the top of him with my $15,000. The big blind folded, so there were just the two of us left in the pot. We turned our hands over. He had K-J against my A-K. I liked it a lot at that point. The flop came Q-10-10. The turn brought another 10, and the river brought a jack. I normally would have loved that jack, because it gave me an ace-high straight. However, since there were three tens on the board, it gave my opponent a full house. That hand cost me $5,000 and left me with $10,000. If I had won that hand, I would have had more than $20,000, which would have made me the chip leader in the tournament with 20 percent of the $100,000 in chips outstanding.

Soon thereafter, a player was eliminated, and we were down to 10 players. We then drew for seats at the final table. After a few hands, another player was eliminated and we were down to nine players. The blinds were $500-$1,000, and I had only $7,000 left. Everyone passed to me in the small blind. I looked at my cards and found K-J. That is a huge hand heads up against the big blind, so I immediately shoved in my entire stack. The big blind had about $9,000 in chips. He thought about it for approximately a minute, so I thought he was going to fold. However, he called with A-10. No one hit anything, so his A-10 held up for the win. I finished in ninth place and won $310 in prize money, but I would have preferred the first prize of $6,000. Good luck at your next tournament.