The first hand I remember winning a good pot was...I had about 1700 and raised 3x to 150 with A2h.  I got a caller behind me, and one in the blinds.  The flop came T67 with two hearts.  The blind checked, and I bet out 150, a smallish bet into the pot.  The player behind me I believe min raised to 300.  The blind smoothe called and I thought for a while and called.  At this point I put the blind on a couple of hands.  He either had flopped the straight, flopped a set, or had a hand with a T with J-A kick.  I thought he would definetly raise with AT, so I more so put him on KT. 

The turn came a 2, giving me bottom pair to go along with my flush draw.  The blind checked, I checked, and the re-raiser only bet 100.  The blind reraised 300 more, making it 400 to me.  If I missed my flush draw I would be left with about 900 chips I believe, and I decided I wanted to get some chips here, so I called (not sure if it was 'mathematically' right).  The other player folded. 

The river came a sweet 2, and the blind immediately pushed all in and I gladly called with my running trips.  He showed ATo which I believe he played pretty poorly, but was a nice weird suckout for me.

I than proceded to lose two flips with AJ vs KQ, and than my AK vs. 88 for a nice sized pot.  I had about 4000 chips I believe.  On the very next hand after I lost with AK, I raised 3x to 450  UTG+1 with A6h.  I had one caller in the blinds, and the flop came A62.  He checked to me, I bet 450 and he reraised me to 1300.  I could have slowplayed this, but I used the fact that I was "tilting" after losing the previous flip, and pushed all in immediately.  He called after a slight delay and showed AJo, and my hand held up.

After that, I believe I was moved to a new table where on the first 3 hands I won every pot without a showdown - something I rarely do.  I don't like to win a lot of pots in a row at a new table, because I don't want people to target me as being  a really loosey goosey type player.  So, even though the fourth hand I was dealt was actually the best one (AJo) I believe, I was forced to lay it down to keep a solid table image.

I had about 9K and a top ten stack with about 70 left.  I just played pretty basic steal poker, and was able to steal about 2-3K in chips as the blinds and antes were now worth taking.  I made a concious effort to steal from the other big stack, to make sure that he knew if he wanted to mess around with me, he was gunna have to be prepared.  I furthered my chip lead, and I only
had to lay down twice to reraises.  It was funny because both times I had to laydown, I actually had a decent hand, compared to the hands I was stealing with.  I typed in some smiley faces and lied about some hands I had hoping that it would keep my image that I wasn't stealing with nothing. 

I don't really remember too much about the individual hands as the tourney dwindled down, but I just remember that I was stealing occasionally to keep up with the blinds, and picking my spots according to the table timing.  Nothing fancy, most times I would have to laydown to a reraise but I was fortunate enough that no one played back at me too hard.  With about 30 players left, I figured out that the average stack at the final table would be about 32K (193x150/9=32166).  I wanted to haveabout 45-50K so I could do some damage.

The one hand that did get me a lot of chips, is when I just completed the SB with 7s4c, and BB checked his option.  The flop came 8s6s5s and I flopped the straight with a straight flush draw.  I checked and he checked behind me.  The turn came a 2h, and I checked again and he went all in.  I thought I had the best hand so I called and he was drawing dead with 34o, so I  was able to pretty much double up there.

When it got down to two tables, I played pretty tight considering.  My CO-BB man was the shortstack, which made it easier to raise when I had a hand like KJo, because I could easily lay down to the button or SB raise, and I had a pretty decent hand to go against a random BB hand.  I was able to make some smart laydowns and timely steals, which I will talk about how to recognize later on.  I was very aware of my opponents, and did my best to hide in the shadows for the most part.  Once I got a stack of about 32K, which was about even with my 3 opponents, I turned it up and started raising a lot to take a chip lead.  Suddenly, we were at the final table.  Sweet.

The break started a few hands after the FT had assembled, and I went upstairs to get a bottle of water to cool myself off.   I wasn't nervous really, because I figured that all my SNG experience should probably serve me well.  I reminded myself to play smart, but play aggressively.  I didn't want to be run over, but I didn't want to tilt away hard earned chippies.  I had a pretty good read on most of my opponents, and was ready to win some races if I needed to.

I entered the final table in third in chips with about 43K I believe.  I had the to other big stacks as my Button-Blinds, which kind of was a good thing for me.  Even though they had me outchipped, I had position on them - and they weren't playing very unorthadox poker. 

A few guys were knocked out and I lost about 15K in chips due to stealing and being reraised, but that was fine I didn't mind.  I still had plenty to work with.  I was confident that if I could win a big pot and hopefully become the chip leader, I wouldbe able to bully the table with some of those cool tricks I learned during the SNG challenge. 

It was 5 Handed and I raised UTG with A5c, and the BB called.  The flop came out something like T86 or something and he checked, so I checked behind him.  The turn was an Ace, and he checked again.  Here's what I was thinking on the hand.  Since I had been playing with him for a long while, I believe he thought I would continuation bet at the flop.  I believe he flopped a pair, like maybe KT or QT.  When the Ace came on the turn, and I made a normal bet at it - I believe he called because he thought I thought that was my bluffing card.  I thought he was kind of making a frustration call with KT and just didn't believe I hit the ace.  The river came out a blank, and he checked to me again.  Now, normally I would check behind him with an ace and a weak kicker, but I honestly felt I had the best hand - so I bet out about 10K, leaving me with about 11K back. He called and showed AQo, and took a big pot off of me.  I was very surprised to see how he played that hand, and I wasn't  too upset about losing another 10K, because like I said, I thought I had the best hand.  With the big stack over 100K, and the other 3 stacks with about 35-50K each, I was in desperation mode with my last chips.  I knew I had only one move of pushing all in but I wanted to give myself the shot of doubling up.

I was fortunate enough to get some no brainer push-hands, and was able to steal a few pots uncontested.  I showed down 88 and and AJo I think, so that helped.  I than got 66 on the button with about 16K and raised all in.  The SB big stack, reraised the min to isolate and I was pretty sure I was up against a bigger pair.  I raced against his AJo and survived the scary TQxxx
board.  I had about 26K now and kept on the pressure.

Eventually I stole my way back up to 4th place in chips, and had KQs on the button.  I slid the bar all in when I thought  "I really don't need to play this all in game anymore, I'm back in it.  I can fold if the BB raises all in, and all in looks more desperate than a normal raise."  I made a 3x raise, and took it down.  I was back in the thick of things. 

The next key hand that happened was I was in the BB with 58d.  The big stack one up raised it UTG, and I called. The flop came 5s Qd 9d.  A very good flop for me, but I also knew a one up raise is kind of fishy.  And I didn't want to go broke a hand that LOOKS a lot better than it was.  I checked and he bet 3x and I called after some delay.  The turn brought a sweet diamond and I checked.  He bet the same, and I decided I had to reraise now because he would probably check behind me on the river if I checked the river, or he might fold to my all in if I pushed the river.  I raised a little bit more and to my delight he called really quickly.  I think he called mostly because I had been doing so much betting and raising beforehand, that he thought I was just representing the flush.  The river brought another Q, which was kind of a scare card, but there
was no way I was folding.  If he had a boat he had a boat, I bet about half of my stack on the river pretty much just hoping for a call, but he reraised all in quickly.  Like I said, I can't fold there and called for him to show me QT for trip queens. I took down that HUGE pot, and was now the chipleader with over 100K.  This is my bread and butter.

I continued to raise preflop when I knew I could get away with it, and kept pressure on the smaller stacks.  I was feeling very confident about my game and about my opponents.  One particular about was very timid and I definitely was aware of that.

I had a significant lead over the remaining 4 players, when this hand came up.  The UTG raised and I reraised about 3/4 of his stack with Q4o.  A squeeze play that worked because of a few reasons, but a calculated risky play none the less. I was very glad when the shortstack typed in "C'mon take him on."  This might have factored in his decision to fold because he was probably thinking "No way f u man, I'm not going to call with the risk of being knocked out in 5th so your shortstack ass moves up in the pay latter... I fold to spite you!"

And than, a few hands later.  The same timid UTG player raised 3x and I was next to act.
I had 56o and decided to raise all in.  The reason for this was...A) the player I won the huge pot off with the flush only had about 4-5 BB's left  B) the original raiser was playing (and talking) like he was playing to move up the pay latter  C) If he did have a monster (overpair)  connecting cards low in the deck have one of the better shots of cracking them.  D) I wasn't going to be crippled if he did call.   E) His 3x raise left him about even with the two other stacks   F) I would
win his 3x bet plus the blinds and antes, futhering my strangle hold on the table.

Unfortunately, even with all of these reasons, sometimes you can't predict that the SB is going to wake up with KK.  He called and the original raiser folded after some delay.  The board came like A5xxx and the KK held up for him.  I was back down to about 85K in chips, but I still had the chip lead.  The orginal raiser typed in "Gidders I hate you" which I found funny, because it became clear to me that he had to fold AQ.

Even after that minor setback, I still continued to put pressure on the blinds and built back over 100K.  There's also something intimidating about having a stack that has an extra figure to it.  Later, the Trip Queens guy was eliminated somehow and we were down to four.  I had the chip lead and the table was set up beautifully for me.  This is what you want really.

Tight Short Stack
Gidders
Mr. KK
Quiet Guy

So on my button, I had the two even stacks - Mr. KK and Quiet Guy.  And Tight Short Stack was folding UTG almost every time, so it was just a simple 3 or 4x BB raise to take it down, as Mr. KK and Quiet Guy were for sure waiting for me to knock out Tight Short Stack.  However, it would be beneficial to me to leave Tight Short Stack in the game because if he goes out, I can't steal their blinds as easily.  I need him to be in so I can effectively get more chips.  I would usually fold my UTG because I wanted him in still.  Only if I had a real hand would I raise UTG, and he was folding very quickly. 

No one raised my BB and I got several walks in a row, which is always nice.  I raised my SB almost every time and kept getting more chips by them wanting to climb the ladder.  Here's the next hand that had some great importance.

I had 25o in the BB and Quiet Guy limped from the button.  A very strange play, but I decided that first of all he must have a big hand.  He has seen me raising and raising, and wants to actually play a pot with me?  If he had a moderate hand, wouldn't he raise my BB and hope I fold?  I "put him" on a high pair, and was looking to trap me.  I checked my BB option and the flop came a beautiful J52.  I checked, and he bet out 3 or 4x very quickly.  I thought about how to play it when I really only had one option - to move it all in now.  I have to figure I have the best hand.  If my read is right and he has a high pocket pair QQ-AA, than he is calling my all in reraise, especially after seeing me do it with 56o.  If he had QQ, than I couldn't just call and risk a K or A coming on the turn, which would enevitable force him to slow down.  If he did have QQ, and the K comes on turn.  I check and he either checks behind me... leaving me to guess how much I can bet on the river to extract.  Or, he bets and I have to reraise all in right there giving him an opportunity to fold his QQ.  So, I pushed all in.

Boy was I, and the rest of the railbirds ever surprised to see him flip AQo, for no pair.  I was in a great spot to knock him out and increase my lead.  A Q fell on the turn, giving him a Q, J or A for outs, but the river missed and we were down to 3.  I was still in a great spot because my Button-BB was Tight Short Stack, who was still living up to his name.

After a few steals and a very good chip lead, I raised with 9To and Mr. KK raised all in.  I couldn't fold and actually, 9T is one of my favorite hands to "race" with.  He flipped over 99 and I just smiled because I had a feeling I was about to lay a beat on him.  Flop came TTx and he was drawing dead.  I know that T9 vs 99 seems like a huge suckout, but consider a couple of things.

First, you have to play aggressive to win.  Simple.  You can't wait for hands, and especially as the big chip leader, and  even MORE especially in the spot I was in (SB more chips than the Tight BB) I had to continually put pressure until I had a huge lead where they couldn't do anything.  Also, T9 vs 99 - I have 3 paired outs.  That's the same as AK vs A2 and KK vs AK.  My stack allowed me to take that shot to knock a player out, and even if he did win, I would still be in great shape
chip wise.  It was pretty unavoidable for Mr. 99, because of the way I was playing.  Just a tough hand for him.  I still believe I would have won the tournament anwyays even if I lost that hand, so not a big deal to me.

Anyways, we were down to headsup and I had Tight Short Stack outchipped very badly.  I think I folded the first hand, raised the second.. not really sure.  Anyways, I was on the button with K8s and I just pushed.  The reason behind this is.  A) K8s is a favourite against a random BB hand. B) He was probably so happy to grind it out on his shortstack anyways, and might have even called with a worse hand.  C) I can't make a standard raise with K8s, because I probably would have to fold to his reraise all in... and he could be raising all in with less than K8s.  Like I said, I felt he was just happy to be there.  With that, I can't fold after a normal 3x raise, because than it looks like I AM stealing.  Than he can get the idea of raising me all in whenever I raise 3x again.  D) If he does call, I'm willing to race with my big stack in order to win the tournament right there, because if I lose I still have a good chip lead.

Well he ended up calling quickly with his AQo, and after some drama... the final board looked something like  2s 5s 5d Qh Kh.

I paired up my King on the river and was able to take him out for the win.  It was a fun tournament in the fact that not only did I win, but I was able to imply a lot of my SNG strategies that I will be sharing with the community in the near future. I think I proved to myself that I am still able to compete against a larger field (193 entrants).  I feel like my mental fortitude has grown in leaps and bounds, and I am ready to play much more MTT's after my SNG challenge.

The money is nice, of course- especially since it was by and far my biggest MTT cash to date - but if you ask anyone who has ever won an MTT, they will almost all tell you that the win feels a lot nicer than the cash. 

The rail support was so cool, and I want to send a big shout out thanks to Carpainter, hatsenior and Dark Shadows for cheering me on down the way.  There were so many others too, and I want to thank all you guys too!  Makes it a lot easier to focus when you are shooting the shit with the boys from pocketfives.

Anyways, that was how I won my $30+3 MTT on Stars - one of the first tournaments I have played in months. :)

Ty, and GL all.

-gidders