Should I be cashing more?

[Brave_n_Crazy]

Well, I played three .25 90 man non-turbos today. Cashed in the first one in 6th, came in 13th in the second because I was a moron and broke my own rule about going all-in when there's only one more to go to cash, and the third was such a total donk-fest that I never got going and came in 34th. I'm not sure whether I entered a poker tournament or a fishing contest on that one. I think I like these! I have also learned that Russians are crazy.

 

[Pascal-lf]

Not going all in on the bubble is a terrible rule - if you've got a good hand then you have to go all in. You are aiming to win, not min cash.

Don't worry about samples of 3, you need to play a couple of hundred to get a true idea of how you are doing. Playing more will also help you to get used to the bad beats because you'll have seen it all before.

 

[Brave_n_Crazy]

Well, I was sitting in third, would have cashed high if I had just believed the huge preflop reraise meant the opponent who had played two hands in an hour really did have AA. It wasn't a bad beat, it was a poor call on my part.

 

[MediaBLITZ]

I was going to say, with what little there is to go on in what you have shared, my hunch would be you are staying too tight around the bubble and before. This explains a decent ITM, yet an ROI that would be lacking (which might be the case if you subtract a couple of those higher finishes).
You need to exploit those players who are hanging on for dear life waiting for pocket rockets. Of course there will be times where they actually have it - but in the long run you should be able to run over the top of them if you are smart and paying attention. Are you using a HUD?

 

[Brave_n_Crazy]

Yes, I have PokerTracker. In the case that knocked me out, it was the 2nd place player versus myself, the 3rd place player. I had been playing quite aggressively against smaller stacks and just didn't process who I was calling until it was too late. The way the hand played, with the number of hands I had on that player, I should have known I was beaten.

I know I've been playing too tight right around the bubble and am trying to "loosen up". Just came in 8th in another 90-man where I applied the 8-10BB all-in shove theory. I've had a bit of a problem of late running into players I can't shake off a hand, who will call any bet with any two cards and hit but I am learning better how to deal with them.

 

[MediaBLITZ]

It's good that you are progressing by breaking these things down. A lot of guys will not progress because they would rather evaluate the other guy's donkitude than their own play. You can't control them so let it go and start with if YOU even should have been in the hand to begin with. Then the same questions at flop, turn and river. If you can do that you can't help but get better. Oh guys will still suck out and the odds will still spit in your face - but as long you are doing what you can it will start to swing in your favor.