First Big Breakthrough!

I entered the Daily Dollar last night and lasted 10 hands … the killer was losing a big pot to set over set. So rather than getting discouraged I entered a $2 180-person SNG that was almost full. I played very tight and moderately aggressive and before I knew it I was in the money. I won a couple of big pots after that and after 4.5 hours I finished in 2nd place for $61.20. This was my first foray into the $2 range and I found the game to have the usual mix of donkeys, loose aggressives (still don’t really know how to play them effectively – they steal from me a lot) and good players. It was evident that tight prevails as my last few tables were filled with players with a V$PIP of less than 20 (including me). I am also learning to lay down 2nd best hand and to believe people. One of my biggest leaks has been calling BS on post-flop raises (especially from the loose-aggressive type). These calls have cost me money in the long run. I was laying down TPTK on more than one occasion last night and put it out of my head. There was also a hand where I called a min-raise with 3d4d. The flop came 5d-Js-7d giving me a gutshot straight and flush draws (12 outs). I led out with a $600 bet into a $1,100 pot and the villain re-raises to $1,400. At this point there is now $3,100 in the pot and it only costs me another $800 so I call. I have him on a big pocket pair so I assume that I will win if my flush or straight come home as he is not likely to improve. I hit the turn when a 6s falls giving me a straight. I check and villain bets $1,800 to put me all in. I call and he begins to call me all sorts of names when he sees that I called his pre-flop raise and his re-raise on the flop. The call on the flop was questionable but I played that hand well from that point forward. I doubled up and was on my way to a 2nd place finish!