NOVICE VIEW - One step forward two steps back

Every time you think you`ve taken a step forward, you take two steps back. I have been playing $5 and $10 Sit & Go tournaments and I`m starting to hit the final three or four players regularly. Hey, I`m even starting to win some. My strategy is basic. I don`t take risks at playing bad or even marginal hands. Last night, after some solid Sklansky reading and an hour on chat with Marc, I decided I have to work in getting into the game more towards the end. After all, Sklansky advocates that you have to start playing looser as the blinds get nasty, else you get sucked dry in no time and your opponents are probably playing fairly loosely too.

So I decided to go up a notch. I entered a 35 player, $5 buy-in No Limit Hold`em tournament at Pacific Poker (like all poker rooms, there are some good and bad things here, but more on that in another post). Things went pretty well. Kept to my strategy. tight play, raise with a good hand (taking note of my position), avoid fist fights. It paid off. After about 90 minutes there were four players left, and I had the second smallest stack, only about 3000 chips behind the leader, who was very aggressive. I hit a dry run as far as good cards were concerned and finally hit 4d4h and I thought this is it, I have to make a move. I raised off the big blind and as called by two players. The flop came 2h 3s 6c. Raised again, two called. Then the turn hit Qs. Uh-oh. But I felt pretty good. Everyone checked to me so I raised again. Called again by two. Now I was getting twitchy as a 9 hit the board. Again, all checked, and I raised. Boom! I got re raised. By now I had put a ton of chips in the pot and realized it was the aggressive guy re-raising. I knew I was beat. He beat me with a pair of nines. Damn, it went well up to then and I actually fancies myself. I should have laid my hand down when he re raised, but hindsight seems to be a really cool poker skill of mine that is worth about zip.

Looking back at the hand, I think what would have made sense was for a bigger pre-flop raise, as well as after the flop. I was cautious as I held a low pair. Marc! Help! Should I have played that hand as assertively, or more so? Should I have laid down when I was re raised on the river? I seem to keep picking a pop gun to enter a artillery battle towards the end of the tournament - another great skills of mine...