Tournies & Rambling

Tournaments: I've been trying to play 4 or 5 NL tourneys per week. It will be tough this and next month, but I would like to be a consistent casher by the time winter gets here and I have more time to devote to playing. Last week I had some frustrating hands. Three tournies in a row (all Stars 10+1 @ 19:45) I got it in with the best hand and lost to either a coin flip or 2 outer. Bummer! It's really frustrating. Last night I made a play that I thought was right but in hindsight may have been dumb. Blinds were 100 & 200, I made it 600 with TT. I had one all-in caller and 2 others call pre-flop. Both callers had me well covered. The flop came 8d,5d,5h. I pushed. My logic was to get rid of strong Aces (what I thought both players had) and any possible flush draws. I was called by an opponent with 88 and lost to the boat. Out in about 220th out of almost 1200. I only had 2k chips after my pre-flop raise. I would have normally bet 1k, but with just 2k left, I pushed. I really thought I had the best hand and wanted to at least take down the side pot.

In tournament play I find that I can navigate through about 60 to 75% of the field with relative ease, but I don't accumulate chips well at all. This leaves me shortstacked when the ante's start and I'm forced to play a different game than I'm comfortable with. I'm learing how to bet in the early stages, but in the middle stages of a tourney I'm far too passive. I need to work on that. I also need to read HOH. I meant to read it while on vacation and still haven't. Oh, I had pocket Aces twice in the first 4 hands of the tourney last night and got no action. Netted fewer than 100 chips. Bummer man.

My Regular Game: It's going well. Over the last 60 days, I've gone from a player with a 21 to 25 VP$IP to 17 to 19 (full ring games). I haven't made a conscious decision to tighten up, it just happened. The only thing I can think of is that my 4k foray into a limit 2 over my regular caused me to change my game. At first I was losing with the new strategy, but over the last 5k hands, I've had a nice turnaround. If I continue on this path, I'll actually be making about 50% more in the bb/100 department. I'm not holding my breath, but it's nice to be back on track.

Observation: I knew how to win with a "slightly" loose playing style. I have to say that I'm finding that changing my numbers isn't enough. In fact I can have perfect numbers and still lose if I'm not playing properly, and spewing chips a few times a session. Style of play matters less than knowing how to beat your opponent. It's just like in no limit when you're up against someone and the cards don't matter. I know I can beat the level I'm at playing loose, but in order to be successful as I move up the ladder, I need to learn how to win with a tighter style.