1 PM Feb 10 2012, L.A. Poker Classic (Day 1D Heat 1), Commerce Casino, 68th (469 entries)

Had a pretty good shot at getting into the money in this tournament. The first 45 places got paid. On my last hand I was up against two other hands, but since one player had called my all-in raise then folded to a higher raise, I would have more than quadrupled my stack of roughly 15K chips if I'd won the hand. My cards were

in early-middle position. With no players entering the pot in front of me and the antes and blinds at 500-2000-4000, I pushed my remaining 15K in chips into the pot. The other two players who stayed in the hand were also both all-in, holding

I was only a 22% favorite preflop against these two hands, and while the flop wasn't great, it could have been a lot worse for me since none of the overcards fell:

I was now only a 16% favorite to win the hand, but the turn card, while not a 4, was the second-best possible card for me:

This gave me eight more outs and a 26% chance to win the hand. Alas the river card was the

so instead of having a great chance of at least getting into the money, I was out in 68th place. (Nobody had paired, so the ace-king won the hand.)