$2000 Tourney in Tunica

Well, I just recently got knocked out in 70th place at the $2000 no-limit event at the WPO in Tunica, MS. I'm now 0 for 4 in tournaments on the trip with only the $3000 no-limit event and the $10,000 main event to go. Everyone started the tournament with $2000 in chips and blinds started at $25-$25. 369 people entered and 36 got paid. I didn't play a pot for a while and was blinded down to $1850 when I got a free look at a flop from the BB with 10 3 offsuit. The flop came 10 5 3 rainbow and I slowplayed it enough to extract about $500 from one player. He said a couple hours later that he had KK so possibly I could have gotten more out of the hand but my stack was at $2300 about a half-hour into the tournament and I was feeling good. Later I got TT, raised in middle position to $125 (blinds still $25-$25) and got one caller on the button. I led out for $225 on a flop of 9 5 3 rainbow and was quickly called. I figured the guy would raise with a hand that could beat me like JJ, QQ, KK, or AA and that if he had flopped a set he would have taken a little more time calling me if he was going to slowplay. I put him on a hand like 66, 77, 88, or maybe A9. I checked when a 7 came on the turn to see what he would do. He led out of $400 and I decided then and there that I had the best hand. Sometimes you can't put a finger on it exactly but it didn't feel like he had a set right there so I raised to $1000 total. He called the extra $600 fairly quickly and I started to second guess myself. When a 2 hit the river I couldn't believe it. Not a bad board for a guy holding TT huh? This is where I made a huge mistake though! I was totally committed to the hand (my opponent had only $800 left) but I only bet $500 on the river into a huge pot. My opponent again called quickly and tapped the table when I showed my tens. He turned a 9 face up and tossed his cards in the muck. But, I left him with $300 in chips and that would come back to haunt! Why not just push him all-in? Well, to be honest I wasn't paying close enough attention to how much he had left. I definitely wanted him to call me on the river but if he was going to call $500 he almost certainly would have put his last $800 in also. Nevermind that for now, I had doubled up and was feeling pretty good. I played very tight for the next hour or two and didn't make a move at one pot, of course, I wasn't getting any cards. A very aggresive kid at my table on my right who had been raising a lot of pots came in for another raise midway throught the third round and I looked down to see Ah 10h. Since I hadn't done a thing for a long time I figured the table would let me have a hand so I reraised to $1000. Oops, the table folded to the kid on my left who moved all-in for another $925. So, I had to put $925 into a pot that would contain $4000 ($100 BB, $50 SB, my $1000, his $1000, his $925 more, and my $925 more if I called). $925/$4000 is 23.125% (which I literally calculated while making my decision). So I would have to win the hand 23.125% of the time to make this a profitable call. It seems like an easy call when I put it that way but I wasn't so sure. There was a great chance that the kid had an Ace with a better kicker which would put me in bad shape. But, I'm still going to win 30% of the time vs. AK offsuit whether or not he has the King of hearts. He could easily have a hand like JJ, QQ, or KK, but even then I still have about a 30% change of winning. Of course, if he has AA then it's time to cry. But, the thing that caused me the most torment is the fact that in a tournament every chip is precious. Did I want to throw away another $925 when I knew I was behind (he re-re-raises one of the tightest players at the table!)? I finally decided that although it was almost certain I was behind that I just had to call with that much in the pot. I wasn't surprised when he showed me JJ, just a little sad. But, low and behold a beautiful Ace appeared on the turn and I was up to $6000! Ship it! I lost about half of my stack later, though, when I pushed my JJ up against QQ on a flop of 752 with two diamonds. Shock of all shocks it was the guy who I could have eliminated who had come back from the dead to cripple me! Well, I wasn't exactly crippled but I didn't see many hands after that and was forced to play a short stack the rest of the tournament. The end finally came when I moved all-in from the cut-off for my last $2600 with A9 offsuit. The button thought and thought and then called with KJ of spades (leaving him with about $500 chips left). I couldn't believe he called off almost his whole stack off with only King high but just as I was patting myself on the back for my good fortune a King hit the flop and sent me packing. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.