Hey, it's been a while since I've posted; thought I'd check in. I cashed out a sizeable portion of my stack the other day. I think I just play better with a shorter bankroll, despite the greater possibility of going broke. I'm less tempted to call short stacks that push in all their chips when I only have mediocre hands like AQ off or TT.

Played in a $20 multi-table last night with about 1750 entrants. I finished a bit out of the money in 210th (top 130 places paid). The blinds were 400/800, and I was getting somewhat desperate with only 2,800 chips. I got AK off in the small blind, and it was raised before reaching me. I re-raised, and the previous raiser ran his clock to the ground thinking about it, then finally called. Flop was all rags, and here's where I made my mistake: I pushed in. I should have probably just made the minimum bet--if the guy had nothing, he would have folded. Trouble was, he had 99, and had flopped a set. I caught a king on the turn, but wasn't lucky enough for the runner on the river, and that was that.

It wasn't a terrible play--even a minimum bet would have been almost all of my chips. And I don't think I would have made the money if I had just posted and folded.

Aside from poker, I've been working again on the novel. I have a good idea where I want to go with it now, and I finally figured out how to write my way out of a spot that I'd been trapped in. You can expect an excerpt soon--probably the first page.