Cash Wins? Who, ME? Whatta Ya Know!

I played quite a bit this weekend trying to relax and a funny thing happened ... I actually did well playing cash! And in a reversal of fortune, I played 5 tournaments and did not cash in any of them.

Let's talk about the tourney first. I played in two $5 MTTs, two $11 MTTs and I decided that I was going to start playing in at least one $26 MTT each week. The only one worth mentioning is the $26 MTT. I was card dead for most of the first 90 minutes. It was a Double Stack tourney so I started with T3000 chips. At the end of the first 90 minutes I had one a couple small pots and lost a little bit so I was hovering around my starting chip count. The blinds started to take their toll and before I knew it I was way down. Then I started to pick up some hands and before I knew it I was at T7000 chips and feeling like I was making a move. I picked up JJ two in back of the button, raised to T1200 and was promptly reraised by the guy behind me who has a lot of chips. At this point I figure that I am ahead and, worst case scenario, I am in a race. I go all in and he calls. AK vs JJ ... yup, you guessed it. Ace comes on the turn and am I sent to the rail 939th out of 3,637. The top 380 got paid so I needed to make a move if I was going to cash. Picking up JJ is as good a spot as any. Overall, I am not disappointed in my play but I really want to go deep in one of these $26 tourneys.

My cash play is another story. I can't get over how much easier NL25 is than NL01 or NL05. I guess the nits at NL01 and 05 are just really bad and I thoroughly enjoyed moving up to NL25. I made $163 this week playing NL25 and I am confident that a) the play is inferior to NL01 and NL05 and b) I am more comfortable where I stand. Two things that I seem to be more conscious of lately. First, I seem to be more aware of position - I am analyzing position when deciding whether or not to come in or open and I am also more aware as play continues. I make sure that I am betting when it is checked around to me in position.

I managed to win several large hands over the week and most came at the expense of players with really bad stats. I am learning that table selection does not necessarily mean "finding a table with a bunch of losers" ... it is sufficient to find a table with one loser. Just avoid getting into big hands with competent players with big stacks and pick on the guy who is calling down every hand.

As it relates to my progress, I added $240 to my account this week. I had not added $50 per month for 3 months so I added $150 to catch up (remembering that my intent was to add $50 to my online bankroll at the outset of each month). Also, I added $90 that I won when I played at Choctaw a couple of weeks ago. I actually should add another $30-40 because I played in home games twice over the last couple of months and walked away with about $25 from the game that Kent plays in and another $10-15 from a game in Edenham. I may add that additional bank on 2/1 ... truth is, I just forgot.