satisfiedDave thought about it for quite a while, then called and revealed his own A-x: a split pot, because both of us had the same full house (A-A-A-5-5). He figured I must have either had an ace or a 5. Of course if I'd had A-5 or 5-x, he's screwed, but he decided it was more likely I had the ace, and he was right, so in the end, neither of us made much because nearly all of the money in the pot was ours.
I had a decent run of luck and was able to avoid a lot of dangerous hands, and I think I was the chip leader for a while. I know I ended up with a lot of the smaller chips, because I had to start making change for everyone. The table began to shrink, and at about 90 minutes, we were down to four, one of whom was Zoe Wells, who I'd eliminated last night. This is where I made my mistake. I some medium-decent hands, and I thought she was trying to bluff me out, and decided to pay for the information (what did she have), and twice she beat me, taking chunks of my stack with her. I managed to survive to be one of the final two by ducking the next few times around (a series of 7-2, 7-3, 8-4, and similar junk hands helped me make up my mind -- this lot do not bluff easily). But by the time we reached heads-up, I was dominated by Zoe's massive pile of chips. However, I think that three double-throughs (not at all unheard-of) would have reversed our positions, and I was dealt K-Q of spades, which is pretty good hand heads-up. I went all-in and Zoe called with 8-9 off-suit. I ended up with four cards of the flush, but Zoe paired one of her cards, and I was eliminated.
"I've been beaten," I said.
She said, "You've been beaten by a fourteen year old girl."
I laughed and said, "No, I was beaten by a smart girl. The better fan won tonight," and I shook her hand.
That was still a lot of fun, and hey, I got two hours of entertainment for free.
Now it's off to the parties, and as it happens, Denver's Worldcon bid party is across the hall from me and Chicago's is next door. (I volunteered to be party-buffer space since they know I won't complain.)