Finally.

Ending Balance: $800.23

Isn't it sad that it took a big win to bring me back to blogging? To be honest, I had grown so frustrated and disheartened with low limit poker that I felt like writing about it would only make me more frustrated. Mitch has suffered through a number of frustrated phone calls, most notably when I got it all in as a 90/10 favorite and lost 7 out of 9 times in a span of 3 hours.

To say I am not happy when my friends log big cashes would not be true. But to say that it was growing an eensy bit aggrevating to watch each and every one of my poker friends final table at at least one big tournament might be kinda true. What was I doing wrong? Their game seemed so similar to mine and they were having so much success when I was not. While my two big cashes today pale in comparison to Mitch, Brad, Brian, or Robinette, I still feel like I have finally joined the club.

I played a $5 MTT this afternoon just to have something to do while I researched for my paper on the computer. A few hours and 2700 people later, we were at the final table. At that point the blinds had been capped at 30k/60k, but with the exception of one person, we were all in shove mode. I was content to finish 7th for $378, literally doubling my bankroll plus some. After that, I decided to grab some dinner and play the 5:45 $10 Stud Hi/Lo. It is a much smaller field, ergo a much smaller prize pool, but I am really trying to work on my Stud8 game and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. A couple of hours and 88 people later, we were at the final table. I finished 3rd after I got short in a boat over boat situation and getting it all in with a flush draw a pair and 4 to a low for an additional $132.

I fully realize these are meager in comparison to others, but to finally be in a position where I can play $10 and $12 sngs fairly regularly is HUGE for me and something I have been working towards for a year or so. I can only hope I will have some success at them, but I hear they aren't THAT much different from the $6, so here's hoping.