Tour 90 $3 + .30 KO End 21st won $0.25 1/2 of a KO 72 Hands

Payout 1st - $72, 9th - $5.62,  KO = $0.50          3000 chips, 5 min blinds
It seems to me that it is hard to make any progress in this kind of a tourney. I had a VP of 4 for almost 1/2 of the session and was able to play very few hands. I don't know if it's just the run of cards I'm getting or the way the players bet and raise. Certainly, handwise, I had few decent hands to try and make a challenge with, and when it came to stealing, often one of the early players opened the betting so there weren't many steal opportunities. Most of the session I was within 5 of the end and hanging on because other players were dropping out rather than my being able to increase my chip stack.

I had one lucky hand when I needed it. I had pocket 4's and went all-in and was called by a player with pocket A's. I hit a set on the flop and more than doubled up. I noted that it was interesting that I wasn't as up feeling about that hand, as down feeling I'd have felt if it was my A's being cracked. Last hand reinforced this for me. I had pocket J's and went all-in to be called by a player with 5c 10c. I had both his cards covered and was feeling pretty good about that. Flop 7h 2d Kc. Good so far. Turn 8c. River Jc. I hit my set but they hit their flush and I'm gone. They needed three cards in a row to win and got them. My J's were cracked with worse cards. Grrrrr. The down feels much more intense than if I had won.