My multi-table play is coming into form I think. Not great, but definitely leaps and bounds stronger than even last week. Played a $11 + Rebuys on PokerStars last night, 1042 players. I did an immediate rebuy before the start which is my usual strategy, then proceeded to lose half my stack when I hit a straight but ran into quad Aces (ouch). Even so, I was pleased with my play. I merely called down his $250 reraise where a week ago, I probably would have pushed all in and went bust. I read him for trip Aces, although I couldn’t rule out the boat. It was a bad misread, but I didn’t let it bounce me out of the tourney so I gotta see that as a sign of improvement. Since that pot knocked me just below the starting chip amount, it conveniently allowed me to rebuy at that point, and then I did the add-on at the end of the first hour. The second and third hours I tightened way up because four of the top twenty chip stacks were at my table and I wouldn’t be able to see any cheap flops. I picked my spots and used my tight table image to my advantage, stealing just enough to keep from having to get desperate; maintaining about enough for 8 orbits. Finally I got some hands to work with, pocket rockets twice and kings once. I milked them as best as I could although I got minimal action the first time I got the aces. Still, it was good enough to get me up to about 90k in chips with the blinds moving to 1000/2000, and best of all, I got moved to another table surrounded by more pedestrian sized chip stacks. By hour 4, we were all in the money (top 99 got paid), but my cards went cold. The only hands I played were to pick on the little stacks and steal their blinds. It was barely enough to hold my chip count (I’d steal about one blind per orbit, just enough to cover my blinds when they came around, but the antes were about to go up to 200). Meanwhile players were dropping left and right as everybody was trying to make a move because really the only significant payouts were going to be to the top 7 finishers or so. I got impatient too and with a 145k chip stack and blinds at 3000/6000, I opened from middle position for 24,000 with JQ suited. Unfortunately a bigger stack two seats behind me reraised to 58,000 and I had to fold. That dropped me from about 10th place down to 15th or so. After a couple of orbits not catching any hands at all, I had slipped down to about 22nd place with 104k in chips when I got an AQ suited clubs in the big blind with blinds at 6000/12,000. A big stacked excellent player in middle position opened for 36,000. He was called by a medium stacked player in late position that I had yet to get a read on. 3x the big blind was about the standard raise for this table, and since mr. excellent had the big stack and knew how to use it, he likely had Ax, or any two paint. The caller was a bit more difficult to guage, since calling a standard 3x raise from late position didn’t necessarily put him on anything. I paused to think, the time bank kicked in, and I decided to push in right there. I think there was about 92k in the pot and I had about the same in chips left so I went for it. The big stack folded and the other guy called with AKo. Board came 10c,4,J,8c,Q to give him the straight and I was gone in 36th place. I still don’t know if it was a bad play on my part. I could have just called the 24k preflop and then pushed in on the flop, but that would have kept the good player in the hand, and he may well have held something like QJ and called anyway. Or I could have folded, but I don’t know. I would have had to give the 36k cold-caller credit for AA, AK, KK, or QQ, all hands which I think would have wanted to re-raise. Just calling with AK would kind of suggest he wanted leave room to get away from the hand, yet when I pushed in, he didn’t get away from it. I’ll have to think about it some more.