Clearing the bonus

I managed to clear my powerplayer bonus yesterday. It didn't take as long as I thought. I cleared 1,645 points in seven days and made a nice profit doing it. Now I have an extra $300 added to my account.

I played in a SNG last night after clearing the bonus. I finished 5th when my A-Q couldn't outrun 6-6. Oh well. I was shortstacked and not too upset about the play.

After that, I did something I had sworn off and now realize why I shouldn't be doing it. With a freshly pumped up bankroll, I jumped into a 5-10 limit game. I love to play at this level, but I don't really have the bankroll to play it. I bought in for $205 and never got above the buyin.

The first hand I played, I picked up 8-8 in late position. There is one preflop raiser before me. I raise to 15 and the origional raiser calls. The flop comes 7-K-Q, all clubs. I have the eight of clubs. My opponent bets, I raise, he calls. The turn is a 5h. He bets, I raise, he calls. The turn is an A. He checks, I bet, he calls. He flips over a red K-Q. It was played poorly by me.

The next hand I pick up AA two off the big blind. I raise and get reraised by a guy in late position. So I reraise him. He calls. The flop 7-3-4. I bet he raises, I reraise and he is all in. The turn and river don't improve me and the guy flips over 6-5 of diamonds for a flopped straight. Now that's what I deem a loose call.

The next hand, I'm one off the big blind and have decided this will be my last hand. I pick up A-Q and raise. Mr K-Q from above calls me. The flop comes A high. I bet, he calls. The turn is another Ace. I bet he calls. I'm a little nervous here because he could have A-K or possibly trips, but I'm doubting trips. The river is a blank. I bet, he calls and I pick up a nice pot. This pot left me only $38 in the negative for the 45 minute 5-10 session and it could've been worse as after the 8-8 hand I was down to $102.

I played for about 30 minutes today with only one hand of note. I bought into a 3-6 game with $80. I'm down to $54 mostly because of blinds. I pick up A-J in late position and call one raise. The flop comes 4-5-4. The guy bets, I think for a minute. Then call. The turn is an A. He bets, I call. The river is a blank. He checks, I bet and he calls. He flips over K-K. I know how he must feel cause I've had my KK cracked too many times to count. Either way, it was a nice pot for me and put me ahead $3 for the 30 minute or so session.

Since I have cleared my Powerplayer bonus, I'm kinda thinking of giving River Belle a try. I hear their bonus, while not large, is easy to clear. Any thoughts?