9/363 ($100)

The other night I finished 4th and made over $2500; last night I finished 9th in the same event and made a measley $580. I was the first one out at the final table when it really started to pay to move up each spot with first place netting nearly $9k. I was the chip leader at one point with a stack of $29k when that was really something. I stagnated around that mark for a long while and then Mr $140k sat to my left, putting me more in line with the others at the table. I was around $32k but I came to a grinding halt once he showed up. I couldn't bully any more because there was a new bully on the block. All I could do was go all in like the other losers whenever I had cards I was willing to die with.

I made it to the final table with $42k or so but that was good for 8th place of the nine remaining. On the second deal, I got wired tens and there was a raise in front of me by the seventh place stack. I didn't fancy folding in that spot so I pushed it all in. I had nearly his stack so it was a critical decision for him. I imagine he would have folded a smaller pair but he wasted no time in calling with AK. He flopped a K and I was done. Could I have played it differently? In retrospect of course I could have flat called and taken a flop in position. That flop brough KJx and I could have gotten away and lived on to move up the charts. I suppose that would have been a better play given the reasoning that he probably folds preflop any hand I have dominated. If I had called and folded to any AK board then I keep from going broke against AK. I still go broke versus a higher pair on a rag flop but that would just be a cooler. If I had that hand to play over, I flat call and look at a flop with tens.

That payout structure is incredibly top heavy. I made the final table in a field of 363 and made only enough to pay for my next four failed attempts to cash. That is a tournament I must place top three once a month to show any decent profit. Earlier in the day I invested about an hour in a $5/10 NL short-handed game and came away with nearly $1200 so it was a good day.