Back to tourney poker...for now

I'm still barely alive in the Steps, currently playing my last remaining ticket (Step 2). I should have been back up to Step 3 last night but I suffered a bad beat with 4 left to stay at Step 2. Anyway, while I've been playing my steps one at a time I've also been playing some $1.10, 45-turbos in the background and the combination of the two has rekindled my love for tourney poker. Right now I shudder at the thought of going back to grinding 10NL cash. Unfortunately this is a pattern of mine. I just can't stay interested in any form of poker for an extended period of time, so I tend to bounce back and forth.

So since I'm down to a single ticket and don't plan to buy more in the very near future, I figure I might as well get back into my Grade 3 studies with a focus on tourney play (in particular the 45-turbos). My hope is that eventually I'll be able to move up to the $3.25's, though with my current Stars bankroll at just about $180 it will be a while before I get there.

In any case, the one major thing I have to work on in my MTT game is taking advantages of opportunities to chip-up in the mid stages. I feel I have a pretty comfortable handle on early stage play and late stage/shortstacked play, but where I tend to falter a bit is in my ability to chip-up in the mid stages when I have a stack in the range of 12-20BB. It's about getting over the psychological block of "I have a relatively healthy stack, no need to put it at risk," thinking that prevents me from pulling the trigger on moves during this stage. One move in particular that I'd like to work on is the resteal. In the context of 45-turbos, I can't be afraid to bust out in 15th-20th to put myself in better position to finish deep.

*Edit: And I'm out of the step system. Here's the final hand:


Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em Tournament, 50/100 Blinds (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO (t1302)
Button (t3480)
Hero (SB) (t1848)
BB (t3145)
UTG (t2230)
MP (t1495)

Hero's M: 12.32

Preflop: Hero is SB with K♠, A♣

UTG bets t300, 3 folds, Hero raises to t1848 (All-In), 1 fold, UTG calls t1548

Flop: (t3796) 7♣, J♣, 3♣ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t3796) 4♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t3796) 8♥ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: t3796

Results:
Hero had K♠, A♣ (high card, Ace).
UTG had 9♥, 9♣ (one pair, nines).
Outcome: UTG won t3796


In hindsight it was a bit careless. The raiser had been a fairly tight raiser thus far in the SnG and this was the bubble, so getting it in here w/ AK when the blinds are still relatively low and the preflop pot fairly small probably wasn't worth the risk. Probably a sign that I was growing a bit tired of grinding away at the bottom steps, so a break will be a good thing. I'll probably try once more a bit later in the WSOP satty season.