As much as we all like to (correctly) crack on Phil Hellmuth, there is one very insightful thing he once said, that's stuck with me and positively affected my game: "You played that crap?"

Oh. Not that. I mean, "if you think you're going to lose, you will find a way to lose. You have to go into every tournament expecting to win." I agree with that. Every single person in the tourney wants you to lose, and will do whatever they can to help you lose, so why worry about it, and help them out?

Of course, there is a very fine line between confidence and arrogance, the former being the security that comes with preparation and understanding of your opponent, the latter being the false security that comes when knowledge outpaces wisdom. To prevent myself from believing that I'm better than I am, or underestimating my opponent, I always respect them (even when I'm adjusting my game to exploit any weakness I pick up, or to counter their strengths) and (most importantly) respect the game. The moment you start thinking you're better than you are is the moment you give your opponents an extremely valuable tool against you. Do you know why?[1]

So this morning, before my PokerStars TLB Winner Heads-Up Match,  I went through my pre-tourney rituals (reviewing some well-worn notes from Absinthe, paging through Harrington, a little meditation, and a brisk walk around my yard to shake everything off and just focus on the game) and sat down hoping that I'd catch cards when I needed them, and make more good decisions than bad.

As it turns out, I only made one truly horrendous decision, to inexplicably bluff with something stupid like 75o when the board completely missed me, paired, and put a flush out on the turn. Luckily, I did it at level one, and it only cost me 300 chips or so, and I was able to play smart after that bit of extraordinary hee-haw to draw even around level three.

I played pretty tight after my hee-haw move early on, until I figured out what Payperwiew's style was (or at least what I thought it was) and adjusted accordingly. I don't recall exactly how the whole match played out (like a good improv show, when I'm totally focused on something, all I am left with when it's over is the feeling that I didn't suck, but can't recall any specifics) but here are a couple of key moments that stand out in my brains:

• I dropped the HAMMER early on, which I haven't been able to do since I played Exclusive last year.

• With pocket tens, and about 800 in chips at level two, I raised to 3x the BB, got called, and saw a flop of T-7-x with two diamonds. I knew that my opponent would call any bet on the flop with a draw, so I checked and hoped that he'd semi-bluff if he had a draw, so I could push over the top. He checked behind, and the board paired on the turn, so now I was REALLY hoping the flush would come, and when I checked, he bet about 1/2 the pot, so I counted to fifteen (ala Harrington) and called. The turn put a third diamond on the board, and I pushed my last 435, hoping he hit a flush and read me for desperation push, but he folded. I didn't show so he'd think I was the kind of player who'd call half his stack on a flush draw at level two. Looking back, I feel like this is the hand where the momentum shifted in my favor.

• There was one hand where Payperwiew and I both made smart moves: I bluffed at a board where I figured it would be very tough for him to call, and he made a very tough call with bottom pair. I call those "Raymer situations," after Greg Raymer who often says, "well, this is either the best move I've ever made, or the worst." The really great players make more "best" than "worst" moves there, and I bet you they can't even tell you why; it's just something they grok.

• I raised with Q9o, saw a 9-high flop, check-raised him, and planned to fold on the turn until it came a queen. I forget the exact action, but it held up, and my value bet was called on the river. That helped a lot.

• I had AJc, raised pre-flop, missed the flop, and when my continuation bet was called, I decided to fire another shell on the turn. When *that* was called, I was done with the hand, but he checked the river with two diamonds and two hearts out, plus a straight draw, so I checked behind and my AJc held up vs. his Ad6x. Very lucky, and it was another hand where I felt the momentum move to me a little bit.

I got very lucky and caught some good hands right around the time my opponent (who played a very good, solid match) started to hit a place where a standard raise was about 20% of his stack, and I was able to apply pressure at some key points (I'm not good enough to explain what those points are, I just sort of know when they come up, I guess)  so I was able to start raising with K-rag, J-rag, and the one little pair I caught, knowing that he would only play back with a real hand. That let me steal some blinds and keep his M low enough to set him up for playing at me with a weak hand, I hoped.

Near the end, I played SAGE and flopped a pair of 8s to suck out with Q8o vs K4o on the last hand to win the match, bringing my winning percentage up to .800, and hopefully putting and end to the Kryptonite curse. (Interesting fact: I'm 1-1 when I am playing for myself, and 2-0 when I'm filling in for someone else on the Team; I think I'll only come off the bench from now on!)

Thanks to all the WWdN readers and bloggers who sweated me. In addition to playing for Team PokerStars, I feel like I'm playing for the bloggers, too, so I want to do as little hee-haw as possible.

Now, I am so freaking excited and proud of myself, I have to change out of my jammies and into some real clothes, so I can go run around my neighborhood like a jackass.

[1] Please, please, please someone get that joke.