The road ends...

After the Tuesday freeroll tournament which I finished 402nd out of 403, I played in The Metro 75 where the winner gets staked by Nick Galan. I tried to play the way I used to. I'd folded cards that didn't deserve to be played and I raised with cards that are worth raising with. Still I busted out pretty early. But this time I paid very close attention to what's happening around me and I've realized several points worth talking about.

Contrary to what is ideal, people play a lot of hands during tournaments. It's pretty hard to put a person on a hand when they play every other hand. There were several instances when there were 6-7 people who would see the flop. I've seen 2 people battle it out with more than half their stacks in the pot holding A7 and 54. Mind you that it was early in the tournament and neither of them were considered short stacked. I mean, why would you ever limp in with A7 and why in hell would you ever consider calling the blinds with 54?! These kinds of plays belong in the cash table and not in a tournament.

I considered myself to be a decent tournament player. Though this was before I played too many cash games and it impaired my judgment. One shouldn't play the same way in both and expect to win.

Now I'm at a crossroads. I've been playing terribly lately and I need to get back on track. I'll need to bring my bankroll up again and this is going to be hard. I need to play smart. (I've written about this before but I need to keep telling myself this for the lessons to sink in.)

I will start by winning my first Metro 75. I give myself 3 months. By April 30, I should've won my shirt.