My $5/$10 shot, and What Is Next?

I just realized I had never given anyone the results of my 25 BB shot at $5/$10 during the last two days of my bonus clearing. Probably for the obvious reason - because it didn't end positively. I lost $170, but wouldn't have played any of the hands any differently in hindsight - this was 17 BB of pure variance as far as I am concerned. I did learn that 3 outers hurt a bit at $5/$10 though.....

I still cashed out for $2,300+ which is still an amazing run having started at $500 only three months previous. I got the check yesterday, and it will be interesting to see if there is any problems depositing it, given that there was an insert in the envelope saying (essentially) IF THERE IS ANY PROBLEM CASHING THIS CHECK, PLEASE CALL THIS TOLL FREE NUMBER IMMEDIATELY. Not exactly the most confidence-inspiring message. But it appears to be drawn on a bank in the U.S. (Las Vegas, in fact) so hopefully there will be no issue.

So what's next? I think I'm going to take a mini-break (only playing Stars Steps tournaments with FPPs or playing $0.25/$0.50 limit) until the beginning of next year. Then I'll likely roll a significant fraction of my withdrawal back into another Cake skin to continue playing $2/$4 and $3/$6 under a bonus or bonus / rakeback combination.

Unless something horribly interesting comes up while in my mini-break, I wouldn't imagine there will be much to post about until the new year. Happy Holidays, all!

$2,500 and a shot at $5/$10 ???

Last night continued my streak of running crazy-well at Cake and I surpassed $2,500 with two days to go on my bonus.

So it got me to thinking - since I started on the site playing a bankroll of 250 BB ($500 playing $1/$2) and I've tended to add a table at a higher level when I hit 250 BB for that level (I started dabbling at $3/$6 when I hit $1,500), is it time for me to take a shot at $5/$10? Just the thought of it sounds crazy to me - I was grinding out for one-tenth those stakes not that long ago. It is also a psychological thing - being a red-chip game and seeing the sizes of the pots can be a bit offsetting.

But if I look at it rationally, the step from $3/$6 to $5/$10 is less drastic than the doubling of levels from $0.50/$1 to $1/$2 or $1/$2 to $2/$4. Plus, based on recent history of me peeking into the $5/$10 game the play is looser than at the levels I've been playing - VPIPs in the high 30's to low 40's rather than high 20's. Then again, the play is probably better and they can get away with playing more hands.

All that being considered, I've decided to carve out $250 and take a 25 BB run at $5/$10 if the conditions are right in the next two nights. What is the worst that could happen? I lose it all, generate about $20 worth of bonus, and still be sitting on $2,270? I think I can handle that.

If anyone wants to talk me off this ledge, they don't have much time.

A Few Milestones

Short post to mention a few milestones I hit in the past 24 hours:

• Passed $7,000 earned online total
  
• Passed $1,000 earned through limit poker play
  
• Passed $2,000 Cake bankroll (although I ended the evening at $1,978 after two top pair hands ran into AA overpair both times)

It has taken quite a bit of work to get to here, especially given the time off and the lack of really good bonuses to clear - for reference, I passed $5,000 over a year ago.

Quite some time ago I also (nearly) reached $1,000 through limit play right before my massive downswing which left me with negative profit through play. It turns out almost my entire limit earn ($1,020.34, listed at right) is equal to my Cake earn alone in the last 10 weeks: $1,007.84.

Not much else to say. Just felt like a mini-celebration from where I had been. Go me.