Finally a win!!!!

As everyone knows I haven't been doing well at the tourneys at CardSharks. Well last night that all changed. I went to play in the $60 freezeout. You start with 3000 in chips and the blinds start at 25 50 and move up every 15 mins. I was in the big blind on the very first hand which is where I usually don't like to start but it was good this night. I looked to down to see a measly J 7 off but everyone limped around so I checked. On the flop it was J 7 2 with two spades. First hand and I flop two pair...its going to be a good night. The small blind checks so I bet out 250 only to have everyone fold which is fine with me. The next hand I get A 7 off in the small blind once again to see everyone limp. The flop came aout 6 8 9 rainbow....so right there I am open ended to a straight....not to shabby. the guy in the 10 seat beats out 250 everyone folds to me and I call. The turn brings the Ace so now I have top pair and the open ended...even better. He beats out 850 and now I have to think. Could he have flopped the joint with 10 7 or even the sucker straight with 5 7? My read is that this guy likes to bet people off pots which is what he was exactly trying to do with the 850 bet so I just call. A Queen comes on the river and he checks, now I went with the safe play and checked even though I was sure I had the best hand. The reasoning behind this was I didn't want a check raise bluff cause then Im faced with a tough decision. Sure enough he had A 2 which resulted in a split pot since the Queen and the 8 9 played. Two hands later I get dealt Q 10 off now this isn't really a premium hand but I was in late position and the intial raise was only to 150 so me and two other guys so a flop. The flop came 8 9 J with two diamonds. SWEET!!!!! I flopped the joint! Now the guy who intially raised is a rock meaning he plays solid poker and usually has a big hand when he comes in the pot. He leads out with a 450 bet, the guy in front of me folds and i raise to 900 hoping to get him off the draw if he has it. He calls. the turn brings a non diamond 2 which is good for me and the guy checks so I bet 1200. He calls. Much to my horror the river brings a diamond. Now I am swetting it but luckly he checks giving me the opportunity to check safely behind him and find out my nut straight did not get outdrawn. Nice! A few hands later I made a mistake that almost lost me the tourney. I had pocket fives and I limped in with the blinds at 50 100. The button raises to 600 and I read him at making a position raise so I call. The flop comes Q 6 6. I am sure he got none of this flop and Im really sure when he checks so I make it 1800 to go. He think and thinks and pushes all in. Now I have to think. Does he have A Q? Im sure he doesn't have pocket 6s and I know he didn't raise with A 6 because he is usually pretty tight. So I thinking that I have the best hand call only to find out my 5s are dominated by his pocket Jacks. Im down to only 1300 chips. A few hands later with blinds at 100 200 I look down at Q J. Im pretty sure that no one will raise so I limp but my read once again was incorrect when the guy on the button pushes all in. Im sure I have two live cards so I think now is a good a time as any and I call. I have him covered by 100 in chips. He turns over A 9. I am behind until the flop brings a J and the river a Q for me to have two pair. Survival! We are now down to 4 players. Two hands later I am in the big blind and I look down at 8 5 of hearts. The button limps and the small blind calls. the flop comes out 5 7 8. I flop two pair again. The small blind checks and so do I. The guy I lost most of my chips to earlier pops it for 800. The small blind folds and I immediatly go all in. He calls with 5 6 off. He has a pair and he is open ended. I survive the turn and the river and I am now in 2nd place. I win a couple more small pots. Then once again I am in the small blind with 8 9 off with the blinds at 200 400. The two guys in front limp and I call. The big blind then pushes for 1700 more. The two before me fold. Now to win this tourney I am going to have to gambel sometime. I figure I have two live cards the pot is sitting at 1600 before the all in and after the bet it is at 3300. So I have to call 1700 to win 3300. My stack is deep at this time so I gamble. I am way behind when he shows me Q 9. I have to hit an 8. The flop comes out 8 3 3 there is a 7 on the turn and another 8 on the river to give me a full house. Gamble pays off! We are down to 3 and I am a monster chip leader. The very next hand I am on the button with pocket 10s I make it 1200 to go the small blind pushes with 2500 more, the big blind folds and I call. He has A J of hearts. The board doesn't help him and we are down to two. Now heads up went pretty fast. I would just like to say that my first few hands were as follows. 10 9 off, pocket nines-black, very next hand pocket nines-red, 9 5 which I flopped two pair, K 9, and 10 9. Thats a lot of nines. We traded blinds back and forth for a while. I won a couple small pots and then the big one happend. I looked down at two black Aces. How sweet and delicious. Now everytime I limped on the button the guy would push all in on me. Hoping that he would continue his trend I limped. Then the angels sang and the trumpets blaired as I heard those all magical words ALL IN! I called immeditaly and flipped over my aces to hear "Jesus Christ!" He showed me A 5 off and he was dominated. The board was no help to him and I came back from 1300 chips and certain elimination to win. Being the nice guy that I was I gave him his buy in back and took home $290. Its about time! Until next time Hit the felt hard!!!!