The Badger Claws His Way Back Up

My first session after getting to Asia was quite dismal: I played cash games and slowly saw my balance erode from $155 to ~$120.

Dismayed, I switched to an SNG and was doing better--I was running 1st in a 3-table event--until (and Douchebag witnessed this tragic performance) my pocket K's got cracked by lowly pocket-3's. Being the moody badger I am, I promptly tilted, my playing eroded, and I ended up 4th.

Last night I decided that it was time to regain some of that lost ground--not to mention pride! I signed up for some $.10/$25 cash games with the following rules:

1. Play 2 tables, with a paltry $5 buy-in at each.

2. Cash out of a particular table once balance is >$15.

The reason I do this is that I find that I am winning many (most?) small hands, but then losing the occasional all-in, when, say, my set gets beaten by a straight. So by keeping my stack small, I minimize the risk of a big loss which would wipe out scores of hands of tight play.

This approach makes sense for me right now, but *sigh* is probably the opposite of how a professional player would play (she would live for the opportunities to get all-in with her massive stack when the odds were in her favour). I am just not 100% confident in my judgment when it comes to cash games regarding when to go all-in vs. when to away (but I am much more confident when it comes to tourneys). This is a glaring, growling, snarling weakness that the badger needs to stare down!

So how did it go? After a disappointing start (full-house losing to a "fuller" house and the usual misery) I began slooooowly clawing my way up, careful to cash out/switch tables when I got to $15.

After about 5 hours of play, my $125 had grown to $174--my biggest balance thus far. So the badger is feelin' pretty good.

The bad news? It was a helluva lot of scratching, clawing and grinding...and I am still small-stack in comparison to Herr and Douchebag!