Live Poker

Played in an 18 person tournament, and started off pretty strong, with good reads on those players who I have played with before. The defining hand of the first level came when my pockets names flopped a set, but an straight was also available. With two other players in the pot, I bet the flop, but checked the the turn and river. When one opponent went all-in, I had to make a call on my reads on her, and I thought she was trying to push me of the pot with nothing. I called and she asked if I had the straight, and I said no, she got excited and flipped over pockets 8s for a set of 8s. I then flipped mine 9's over, and she is the first out. I was pretty card dead for the next hour, bleeding off chips when I finally got the best hand of the night, pocket Queens. I bet 4x the blind, and get raised 2x the pot, I push my queens, into aces of course. I rivered a set, but the Q gave him a straight, and I go home 12th. Learned alot on the people I played against, and look forward to playing the next tournament next month.