Well, not really. I've been doing pretty well the last few weeks, so I've pretty much got the buy-in covered with just cash on hand. I'm doing event #2, the first $1,500 no-limit hold'em tournament. There are a few of us from San Pablo doing events, Dutch & Chris are doing event #4 (limit hold'em) and JD is doing event #6 (no-limit hold'em). Tim, another guy I play with, will be covering the event for a publication Card Player magazine is doing. Hopefully, he'll get to play in one of the press events.
I made the final table at San Pablo again last weekend. I made about $170 at $3/$6, then won $245 for finishing 6th place. I was pretty happy with my finish, considering I had all my money in with the strongest hand. It didn't hold up, but at least I was in the money by that point.
I've been playing a lot of 2000+ person tournaments online to practice for next week, but not making it much further than just barely in the money. Not because I was playing too tight, mind you. Most of the time, I'm one of the early chip leaders. Then I lose most of my stack right before the money while holding a strong hand, so I just buckle down and squeak into the payout structure.
I've also given up on playing limit poker online. Instead, I've started killing time at the $50 buy-in no-limit table on Party Poker. That game is freakin' great! I just hang out, and either practice being aggressive or just wait for a spot to double up. I've only lost my buy-in once, but managed to double up quite a few times.
I still haven't decided if it's better to switch tables once I double up (to bank my winnings) or if I should stick it out at the current table. Does anyone else here play no-limit cash games online? How do you normally deal with doubling up? I understand you usually want a big stack so you can win the most money, but since very few bad players have more than $50, it seems that my money is just a target for the better players. Am I making a mistake?
So I fly out to Vegas on Sunday. Then it's a day and a half of side games before my event on Tuesday! I'll spend the rest of the week either drinking heavily & doing the tourist thing in a bad mood, or flying around in a private helicopter enjoying some cristal. You know, depending on how things go.