Ace Magnets, Pocket Rockets, and Big Slick.

The Chip and a Chair multi has started out going pretty well. All it took was two all-ins, with callers, to put me in fifth position with 78 remaining players. The tourney pays to 30th. If I can keep my head I should be all right.

The first was a pair of pocket Kings in small blind. I bet the pot by the time it came back around to me and Frenchy pushed me all it. It's ever so painful to play Four Tits against a couple of righteous bastards, and the river completes the nativity for that extra bit of sarcasm.

Three hands later I've got a couple of Aces, and everyone wants to fight. There are 4 callers, but they're all short stacked, and they don't quite double me up. Still, I'm comfortably in the money, as long as I'm careful.

Speaking of careful, we've reached that point where everything slows down. The tourney pays to 30, and we're to the point where half the remaining make a profit. At this point the point seems to be just outlast the other guy. Now you'll see people wait to play just to make the game go slower. In theory, they are slowing their rate of loss below someone at another table. I'm never sure how I feel about this tactic. From a pragmatic standpoint I think it's probably a smart move, like checking down an short stacked all-in. On an emotional level, I'm against it.

Now 60 players remain. I'm in seventh. I haven't lost any since the Aces, in fact I'm up a couple of purchased blinds, but the field is slowly passing me by. Here is when I usually choke. It's very difficult for me to wait. I've the itch to play, and I'm worried about my stack, but I'm trying to learn patience. Suited big slick takes a bite out of my stack and I drop to 11th with 40 remaining. I've got to learn patience. I know I've got to learn patience. I tell myself I have to learn patience.

But I don't.

Big slick in late position and a shorter stack in front of me goes all-in. There are 35 players remaining. I call the all-in. So does the monster stack in big blind. The flop is Ad Qd 6c. The monster wants to put me all in. Deep down somewhere I know I should dump top pair, but I just can't do it. The monster had Ah Qh and I'm going to finish 32nd. Two places out of the money. Life is a bitch, and it's a bitch that put me down.

I gotta learn some patience.