The first home game of the new year was played in Stuttgart tonight. 10 Players entered, all bought in for the same amount (no rebuys or add-ons allowed), two tables were formed in a random seat draw and it was decided that the final three of each table would merge to form the final table. Payouts would be: 1st = 60%, 2nd = 30%, 3rd = 10%. I managed to sneak into the final table without playing any real major hands (although I won a nice pot early on when my K-K won against Q-Q on a 9 high board with a pair and a flush draw). I was pretty shortstacked (with < 10% of the chips)...the first hand I looked down at was A-Jo and I pushed...one caller...who showed a pair of 9s. The Ace on the flop doubled me up. From there on it's quite a blur, but soon enough we were down to 3 and I was able to steal some blinds before that to put me in a better position. Not as good as my two opponents though as they held a combined (estimated) 80% of the chips. I won a pot or two and finally the two big stacks clashed, busting one out...so I was still the short stack, but 30% won already. Nice...then it was a long heads up battle, which I finally won when my suited Ace found help on the board vs a small pair. So I won, w00t! 60% of the price pool...cha-ching. Although it was really early already (2:30am) we decided to play a smaller second round with the buy-in cut in half...five players wanted a shot and we decided to pay out: 1st - 80%, 2nd - 20%...we were down to there pretty quickly (1.5 orbits) and I look down at As-Ks in the BB...I push folded around to the SB who ponders and calls...he shows 9-9...I don't improve and I'm out in 3rd place. Not a biggie though as I already took down the W of the first tourney, so I'm happy as the two remaining players battle back and forth...after some 1h of play (?!) it's finally over and we can make our way home...just walked through the door...5:30am now...need to catch some sleep now....Night night...