As I had the afternoon off of work, I decided to play a game online. As I expected, I was not able to grind it out and stick to my usual $3 tourneys, so using my latest winnings, I entered a $12+$1 90 player Double-stack, Turbo, Knockout tourney... and I won it too!
$288 for my efforts, + various knockouts, meant my account now sits at just over $380. I'm very happy about the win, it is easily my biggest cash in online poker. Now I just have to stay focused, and not let myself play in any cash games, which has always been my Achilles heel.
The most amazing part of my recent success isn't that I'm making money, because in general I was cashing in about 1/3 of the tournaments I was entering previously. The most amazing part is that I've won three of the last four 90 player tournaments I have entered. A fantastic streak to be sure, especially when you consider that just a few months ago I was complaining about being able to make it to the final table (top 9 pay) but I was never winning, or even finishing in the top 4.
Now I have 3 victories in short-order, and I actually think I know what I'm doing that has made the difference. Obviously poker is a game where luck is a significant factor, I'm not claiming to be the next 'Great One" of the poker world, but I know I was in some key situations that I managed to avoid getting in to trouble, whereas previously I may not have been able to get out of the way.
I picked my battles, not the other way around. I was very patient, waited for my opportunities, and was fortunate to take advantage of them and not take any devastating bad beats. Well, that's not entirely true. With 12 players left, I lost half my stack when I called an all-in preflop. I had A-K, my opponent had A-Q and flopped two Qs to win the pot. I thought that was all for me, but I avoided going on tilt, and got all-in shortly afterwards in a great situation to make all the lost money back and then some. From that point on, I was very patient and focused... and lucky. You always have to be lucky to win.
So now, I'm left possibly with the answer o my question at the end of my last blog entry. I knew I couldn't keep myself from playing larger buy-in tournaments, but now I at least have enough of a bank-roll to justify playing in $6 to $12 tournaments. More to follow soon as, not shockingly, winning has rekindled my desire to play poker.
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