I am setting values in my database for tourneyID,Selected,Paid,Entered,date then separating each selection with a colon So I have a string that may look like this 187,S,,,09-21-2013:141,S,,,06-21-2013:144,S,,,05-24-2013 but it also could look like this 145,S,,,07-12-2013:142,S,,,05-24-2013:187,S,,,09-21-2013 and some times is looks like this 87,S,,,07-11-2013:125,S,,,06-14-2013 I am trying to find this sequence: 187,S,,,09-21-2013 I have data stored like that because I paid a programmer to code it for me. Now, as I learn, I see it was not the best solution, but it is what I have till I learn more and it is working. My problem is when using LIKE it returns both the 187 and 87 values $getTeams = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM teams WHERE (team_tourney_vector LIKE '%$tid,S,P,,$tourney_start_date%' OR team_tourney_vector LIKE '%$tid,S,,,$tourney_start_date%') AND division='$division'"); I tried this using FIND_IN_SET() but it would only return the the team id for this string 187,S,,,09-21-2013:141,S,,,06-21-2013:144,S,,,05-24-2013 and does not find the team id for this string 145,S,,,07-12-2013:142,S,,,05-24-2013:187,S,,,09-21-2013 SELECT * FROM teams WHERE FIND_IN_SET('187',team_tourney_vector) AND (team_tourney_vector LIKE '%S,,,09-21-2013%') Any thoughts on how to achieve this?