Unanderra - Monday

After the 101 class today i went out to Unanderra to play poker for satellite. I was off to a dominant start. Within the first few hands i was dealt pocket 10's, raised pre-flop in late position and got 2 callers. One scare card was present on the flop, it was a J. It was checked around to me and i led out with a bet... i was called by both people involved in the hand. The turn was a low card, action was checked to me and i bet out again. this time slightly more than the previous bet. I managed to get rid of one person but was called by the other. The river was also not scary, the only card that could beat me was a J. I had been taking note of the way this person was calling me everytime when i bet... She seemed new and was very reluctant each time. I figured if she did have that top pair she would not have been so reluctant to call. So, i thre another bet out at the river of 600. She called and turned over a pair of 7's and i won a pretty big pot.
A few hands later i had 6D's 7D's, i called the blinds, i was raised howver by someone in late position. Suited connectors are hands that are very adapting to any flop and it is very likely for you to make some kind of draw. I made a flush draw on the flop... i checked it... the pre-flop aggressor led out... the bet was callable at a mere 225. I missed my flush on the turn and had to call another 225 to catch my diamond. I hit it on the river card but, someone led out with a massive 1000 chip bet. I did not want think the hand over cause i could have convinced myself to fold so i threw my chips in without thinking. I showed my flush and it turned out i had the best hand. He had made a bluff on the river and it was unfortunate for him that the card had made me a pretty strong hand.
I was moved tables a few moments later. I was under the gun (first to act) and looked down at A K. Im starting to change my technique with mediocre - strong hands in early position. I decided to minimum raise. Min raising in early position is a great technique to use, people put you on incredibly strong hands that you want action off. So many times when i have done this, the people on the table have put my on pocket K's or A's. However, i get a re-raise of basically ALL of my chips down the other end of the table. I put him on a pocket pair, in which case it was a coin flip on who would win the hand. I called and sure enough he turned over pocket 2's. I missed everything on the flop... no draw no pair. on the turn... BANG K. I made top pair... the river missed him and i took down a pot of over 10k and was chip leader in a 40 person tournament.
There was not much action from me until later on the final table. I chose the dealer position and started to grind away with a chip count of 29 000. Hands were slow and it took ages for people to get out... We were down to 7 people. Top 6 were getting money, i was probably second in chips. I started to take advantage of how tight everyone was playing and stealing a lot of blinds by pushing all in. There was one hand however, up against the chip leader, that i was unlucky on. I was dealt an A J in the small blind and told my buddy sitting next to me that i had to raise. I made in 12k on top of the blinds and he called. The flop was A 9 Q... i made another bet of 12k with a strong hand of the top most pair. He reraised all in... i had a weird feeling about the hand but could not lay down such a strong hand. Sure enough he had me beat, floppig 2 pair with a Q 9. This knocked me out of the tournament at 7th place, i was pretty happy with the way i played, i was just unlucky in the end.