I HAD A GREAT TIME AND A GOOD RUN AT THE IP CLASSIC

Well, Well, Well, first i would like to thank Wild Bill, Gene, Big Ray, My backers and all the other people that supported me and cheered me on at the IP Classic. I got several chances to play with Bill and Gene and really enjoyed playing with them and learning from them. Those guys showed me alot about character. Bill has more patience than i could ever have in a million years. Gene will put pressure on you until you crack. I love both styles of play. But i did have a good tourney overall. As bill mention i finished with a 2nd place finish on Friday night and made the final table on Saturday. It was not all fine and dandy though. I had the worst of luck when i first arrived on Friday. I played well on Friday, but doubled people up later and went out 28th. Saturday, started with 3000, and never had more than 3800, got knocked out early. I played in a couple of second chance tourneys, no good. I played on Sunday, I played really well but got sucked out on all night long. Knocked out about 38th. Well i decided to go home on Sunday night just to get away for a while or to blow off some steam, when i returned on Monday night, I played in a $110 sit and go and won it.($500). I felt like things were starting to change, and it was. On Tuesday i played in the $230 event, although i did not cash, i went real deep and went card dead, i finished 13th and they paid 9 spots. I played in the mega on Wednesday and finished 6th with only one spot winning a seat. on Thursday i played in the $340 event and about midway thru i got QQ and ran into 1010, we got it all in and he got a 10 on the river to knock me out. So i decided to play another mega satellite, well i won it to get a seat into the main event and really that's all i wanted to do is win a seat to ease the mind of my backers. Friday came along a $340 event, the key word for the day was patience, patience, patience. Well i arrived late which is not all bad, i arrive in the big blind, looked at my cards, 5 3 off suit, 2 callers, i check my option, and the flop comes J 4 2, small blind checks, i check and the other player checks, turn card is a 6 all rainbow. small blind bets 300 i raise to 675 player 3 mucks. small blind looks at me and ask if i hit my set. i ask him if he has 2 pair and if so how high, he looks at me and says i have 2 pair so i will just go all in, i smile and say i call. then he says do you have the 5 3, i said of course I'm in the big blind, double up on the first hand and knocked out my first of many players in that event.(wish it was a bounty tourney) i make it to the final table and played big pairs mostly AA, got heads up and tried to bully the other player, it worked for awhile, word to the wise, always have RESPECT for your opponent. then he adjusted his game and we swapped stacks for about 2hrs. then i went card dead and he picked me apart, because when i got 9 6, he would pick up A 10 and so on. Congrats sir, game well played. Well it was on to the main event. of course the first person i see at my table is the guy that beat me the night before, but this time i was ready for him, i knew his style of play and used it to my advantage. I also drew monkeys table and he was to my right, and talked to me the entire time. i was begging to get moved and finally the poker gods answered, i move to another table, it was somewhat better. a guy named Nikki was just as bad, but Nikki was very loose, and he would show after every hand he played, which was good information for me. i got involved in a pot and lost half my stack, so i was short stacked all day. the most i had at any given time was 10900, we started with 5000. well after being card dead for most of the day, i just hung around and hung around picking up a small pot here and there to make up for the blinds i was posting. and i also was noticing the people that had big stacks at the other tables were getting knocked out. then i noticed that there were alot of short stacks or stacks that were about average. that's when i figure if i hung around enough that i might have a shot to pull this thing out. well we finally got down to 10 players and i had the shortest stack at the table. about 12 hands in one player goes all in, i pick up 10 J spade. without hesitation, i muck. the big blind calls. he has AA the player that went All in had A 10. AA holds up and i make the final table on Sunday. when we resumed on Sunday i had 3300 not 33000 but 3300, the blinds were 600 1200 with a 100 ante. there were 4 other short stacks, 10300, 17500, 23200, 24000, everyone else had between 57000 and 71000. i had plenty of chances to finish higher on the food chain, but the other short stacks all doubled up against the big stack on the river each time. so i get down to 1400 in chips and decide to play any face card. well i get K 3 under the gun i go all in. i get 3 callers and i just knew i was dead. the flop comes 9 Q K, check around, turn card is a 6, check around. river is a 3. check around and i pick up the pot. well after going card dead and being raised by Cub every time on my blinds, I'm down to about 4200 again. I'm on the button and pick up AA, Cub raises to 3700 as always, i go all in he calls he shows J9 off. the flop comes 8 j 3. I could not believe it, i reach to shake his hand, here come a 2 on the turn, then come the magic card on the river, it's a 3 and i make Aces and threes to double up. then what do ya know another short stack doubles up thru Cub, and i go card dead again with no opportunity to even think about stealing a pot. so I'm down to about 5000 in chips and i am 2 from the big blind, i get KQ of spades, i go all in, the one seat says I'm all in, at that point i knew that he had JJ's or better. Cub folds and we turn them up. he has QQ the flop comes 2 A 10, turns a 9 and the river was a 4 and my hopes of a remarkable come from behind win was gone. i played solid, took home a little cash and look forward to the next big event. so if any of you guys want to back DaRock, just let me know. well guys it's been fun, until next time.......



REMEMBER: AA, PLAY THEM HARD OR THEY MAY HARDLY PLAY......

DAROCK HAS SPOKEN
PEACE............
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