Crash and Burn

I crashed and burned in my first attempt at $1/$2 Limit in my Poker Challenge. I had cleared $125 so it was time to move up, although I had trepidations, I knew it was the right thing to do. I played at Titan Poker and played just 4 hands in 3 orbits, all of them were A/10, one suited and 3 offsuit. I split the pot with one hand when the Jack/King/Queen/10 came on board but the others I failed at miserably. I didn't get one ace to show and the one time I did get a 10, another player turned it into a straight and beat my pair. I tried to play conservatively but I proabably went to far to the river in each of the hands. Twice I folded at the river so I'm not even sure what my opponent had. A real donkey play if you ask me, but.........

I skinned my elbow and bloodied my knee and now I have to decide what to do next. My stop loss was $20 and I dropped the entire amount in one session. My chart says that I drop back after I lose down to $75 dollars but I am thinking of readjusting my chart. Do I go out with another $20 and try to play a little better, making better decisions? Hopefully getting better flops with my good hands and maybe taking down one or two pots in a session. I don't think the players were any better than me but it was definitely tighter than the .50/1 Limit. I am really under bankrolled for this level and the smart thing would be to drop back and build up my bankroll to a decent amount and then try again. That is what I am leaning towards doing. I have only been at my challenge for less than a month and feel like I am moving up just a bit too fast. I would probably be more prudent to take it a bit slower, keep learning, and build my bankroll to a considerable amount and then move up.

I know some of my fellow bloggers will probably disagree with me, and rightly so, as the one school of thought is that the Challenge is for learning and if I am so concerned with my bankroll and not with learning how to play poker, then maybe I should get out of the Challenge altogether. The thing is I am learning!! And, I am learning a lot!! And I am building a bankroll that I am not ready to throw away just for the experience when, in my opinion, I can do both. I can learn and become a better player as well as build a bank roll that allows me to move up in limits. Things are moving too fast, IMHO, and I did not expect to be to this point until after two months or so of playing.

I think I'll sleep on it and then try and decide what is best. Right now it is too soon after dropping my buyin at the $1/$2 Limit and I need to distance myself from that before I make any hasty decisions.