Last Night's Poker Breakthrough

I did something last night that I have never done before. I played in a hold 'em tournament at my house and I didn't lose money. Sure, I didn't win any money either, but I finished high enough to get back my buy-in. Usually I'm the first one out of these things because I don't have to drive anywhere when it is over, meaning I tend to drink more and thus make bad decisions. But last night I learned that it is possible to have a few drinks and still play well enough to finish in the money. The key is to take a little bit more time thinking about what to do. Getting a few monster hands doesn't hurt either. My friend Phil from Vancouver finished first and my poker nemesis Liz finished second. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get revenge against Frederick for taking me out of the tourney two weeks ago, because Frederick played at a different table and was out of the tournament before we consolidated into one table. Maybe next time.