I was a bit concerned with the way things had been going and tried to think what I could do differently. I thought about the way I had played a few hands and posted one on the Two Plus Two forums. I got a few comments, did a bit of reading and decided to change things up a little for my next session. I was going to play just two or three tables at a time (instead of 4), focus in a bit more, look for exploitable spots and generally be more aggressive in the mid and late stages of the tournament.
I was out last night for a function at a hotel but was home early enough to put in a few hours of play. Things started quite well with a cash in a $2 180 man, bubbling the final table. A tournament or two later I got a 6th place in a $3 45 man before bubbling the next one finishing a frustrating 8th. From there things really picked up with a 2nd in a 180 man and another 2nd in a 45 man to finish the night. So all up, 8 tournaments played, cashed 4, bubbled the money once and had two second place finishes.
I was pleased with the second in the 180 man because its a good score for the bankroll but I'm yet to win one and had a GREAT chance to do so last night. I was well stacked down the stretch and in a comfortable position. When it was down to 3 handed I took down a large pot to gain the chip lead. I then lost a sizable pot and found myself in third before fighting back a bit. I OPR'd the other players and neither were very good and this could be scene in the way they were playing. I think one took out the other and I was in to the heads-up battle. I won a couple of pots early to narrow the gap between us and then the turning point came. I called from the small blind with jack 6 suited and he min-raised so I called. The flop came queen, jack, rag with two hearts, he min bet I called. The next card out was the 6 of hearts, he min bet I raised strongly ... and he called. The last card out was the king of hearts which is not what I wanted to see as there were four hearts on the board and I didn't have one ... he checked and I checked. He turned over ace 7 off ... the 7 being a heart and took down the pot. I was basically crippled and while I did manage a few more hands, I was eventually knocked out when he called with crap and hit.
The heads up of the final tournament lasted one hand I believe. He had a big stack after taking out the last player, he raised first hand from the small blind, I had king queen off and re-raised all-in. He called turning over 6 9 off and I was in front until a 6 hit on the turn, I had plenty of outs still (straight draw and over cards) but couldn't find any of them.
After a week of basically losing every night, it was great to get back on track, cashing regularly and having a profitable night. I think playing only two tables at a time really helped and I'll do this again over the next few sessions.
As you can see from my graph below, the week-long downswing was my sharpest and biggest fall to date. Just before it happened I was at US$630 so I would like to get back above that again soon.
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