Cake Challenge Update - Austin

Austin's Cake Challenge Results

After losing all of my winnings in one day by tilting and then going up a level only to lose even more, I pretty much started back at the initial buy in of $50. I decided to be much more meticulous about keeping track of how I was doing, so I imitated Ryan's spreadsheet and have found that it actually improves on my play to keep track of how I'm doing. I concentrate more on the tiny wins and can see the big picture much better. I've noticed that the best time to try to win money is on a weekday night at about 11pm. It seems like half the people on are just asking to lose their money most likely because they've had a few drinks at that point and play much worse than they normally would. I've also adopted Marsh's style of betting pot with good hands pre-flop, c-betting occasionally (when appropriate), hammering pot sized bets when I hit, and getting out of the way when I miss. It seems to be a pretty good combination as is evidence from my $20 jump in two days. When I got about 2x the max buy in, I would leave regardless of whether or not I thought it was a good table so I couldn't lose it all back. I think that also helped me tremendously as there were times when it was tempting, but I just didn't want to risk it.

Some hands:
First and Last hand of a tournament (QT of clubs) - I have a feeling I played this extremely poorly, but I can't think of another way that it would have ended up. I had to have felt I was good at the end, but ugh.
ATs - Decisions, not results. That would have been a massive pot, but I didn't feel I was ahead at all after the bet.
QJ - Good flop only gets better. I tried to make the bet small enough that the third guy in the hand would have called, but I guess it was too big. Maybe I should have only called the all in from the other guy?
QTs - I knew I was probably good at the end, but I didn't want to bet it just in case (although he had checked, so that's an even bigger indication I was ahead).
K6o - I love me some two pairs. They seem to make me most of my money.
JQs - Something felt off here, his bet went against everything I'd seen him do and I had a pretty good feeling I had him beat.

So aside from the tournament loss in the first hand, I think I've been doing fairly well lately. I can see it taking a while to get up to that magical $200 mark, but I think it's really going to be worth it when I get there. This challenge is certainly teaching me about bankroll management, and even though I'm not playing as much as I'd like, I'm benefiting from the challenge none the less.

One question about etiquette I had though is whether it's bad form to play on a table where you know someone else is. I saw Marsh one day and said hi (although I doubt he saw me from observerland) and accidentally sat down at a table with Ryan for two hands before I realized it. Should you avoid tables with friends if possible or just treat them as a normal player? I certainly don't want to be the cause of someone I know losing money (which is odd, considering I have no problem taking money when we play in person).