no money, but an extended lead

Tonight in the Monday night game, I placed fourth (of nine) without rebuying. I made no money, but since Chip went out in seventh place, I advanced on him in points. Going into the tournament, I had 103 to his 102 pts., and have added six more to that lead, which will make it tough for him to catch up unless I get a zero.

I survived a couple of brutal beats along the way, including losing a pot in which I flopped top set of queens and my opponent caught running straight cards. Fortunately, the only player I'm mildly concerned with gaining points on me was Lee, who placed third. Andrew and Jake played heads-up, but at this point I don't think they'll be much of a threat to take down the end-of-the-year jackpot.

Which, by the way, is getting good. I know that a lot of the Monday night regulars have contributed quite a bit to it thus far, myself included. The great thing about it being such a gradual build is that the dead money doesn't know it until the end, and by then, they have to put in or they get no action since they agreed to the (completely fair) rules at the beginning of the year. I bet there's at least $200 in there by now, and we're only halfway through, which means over $100 for both first and second at the end of the year, most likely. As long as I can continue doing what I've been doing, I should be pretty much a lock to take down one of those two prizes.

Plus, let's assume that the total jackpot is $400 at the end of the year - a dollar per week of that was mine to begin with, and at the end of the year that'll be around $50. I can't give that up, can I?