Weekends @ Tulalip

For the last 3 weekends, I've spent some time at the Tulalip: 6 hours the first Friday evening, 12 hours a week later from Sat-Sun, then this past weekend another 12 hours from Sat-Sun. I'm hoping to do this for the next 2-3 weeks as well, trying to cram in as much as I can before I start classes in April (Saturdays will be for homework, so this will cut into massive poker playing, though I do hope to still go up maybe once every other week or so - try to pay for my classes through poker). Incidentally, I've played nary a hand online since getting back into playing live. I'm much more fond of live play (though BBT3 will likely see me come back into online tournament action).

Basic stats:
Week 1, 6 hours: +$250
Week 2, 12 hours: + $500
Week 3, 12 hours: - $46

Not a bad start, though this past weekend I started off very very shakey.

First hand I sit down to JJ and raise. SB is short-stacked at ~$35 and re-raises about 1/2 his stack. I know him from last week, and he's quite aggressive, often re-raises light, and didn't appreciate re-pops. I should have thought a little closer, thogh, as if he puts in $18 pre he's not folding, but I hoped he was on AK/AQ and we'd race so I put him all-in. Of course, he has AA.

Being that the max buy-in at $1/$2 is $100, I already feel short at $65.

2 hands later, I run my QQ into a set of 3's and am crippled down to $20 and reload. Within the next 20 minutes my turned 2-pair runs into a rivered straight.

Within the first 2 hours, I've bought in for $300. Not a big deal, and nothing I'm not prepared for (mentally and cash-wise), just a little disheartening that I kept on getting 2nd-best hands. The only hand I feel I really misplayed was JJ. I could have easily folded to the re-raise and given up $6 instead of $35, but I also wanted the table to know I wasn't going to be bullied, and I'm willing to gambool a bit.

So I'm in for $300, and my stack has gone from a high of $150 to about $30 by 11pm (I started around 4). Over the next hour I double-up twice; then the fish sit down. Awesome. Over 3 hours I go from $30 to $360. No joke. Guys calling down with pocket 4's on a 3-heart AK-high board board; guys pushing all-in with bottom set on a 345 flop (thank you 67 :) ), and one big stack who didn't think I ever slow played (flopped broadway tyvm).

I ended down after I raised to $8 in position with As10s; bb called. BB check-called my $12 c-bet on the KQx flop. Ace on the turn gets check-called ($30). 8 on the river, BB checks and I'm not sure what he's check/calling with, so I check behind and say "I have an ace." He turns over Q8o for a rivered 2-pair. Yea, the guy calls with 2nd pair on the flop (not horrible, but not great), calls with 3rd pair on the turn (when is 3rd pair good here?!), and checks his 2 pair. Awesome.

This game is so damn soft. If I hadn't been run down at this point I'd have ended right around even., which after being down $270 is a good feeling.