Dancing with the one who brung you considered harmful

In cash games, it certainly makes sense to dance with the one who brung you. That is to say, stick with your bread and butter. The techniques which have brought you the most success should be the techniques you stick with. Tournaments, however, are an entirely different kettle of fish. Tournaments require you to morph your playing style at various key points. Failure to change your playing style when it's called for will seal your doom. That's what happened to me in the MTT 8-game I entered on Friday night. I'd nearly made it into the money, had a chip stack well above the average, and only needed to play tight to ensure myself a profit. Instead, I played as if I were nowhere near the bubble, bled huge amounts of chips on two of my last six hands, and finished four places outside the money. Live and learn!

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 45000      5000           6       107     3        0
  4500       500           6        76    28        0

delta: $-55,000
MTT 8-game balance: $122,730
balance: $9,382,870