Annoyed with myself - and my foray into 2/5

I was determined to play 2/5 tonight, so I put myself on the list without even checking the 1/2 seating.  I was able to grab a seat almost immediately - and bought $1k in chips to sit down (figuring I'd top off along the way).  I never even needed to fish any additional money out of my pocket, as I doubled through within 4 hands with a turned flush - I raised pre and got it in on the flop with AhQh vs. QcTh on a 8h9hJd board.  I figured my gutter, over or flush would be good and got it in on the flop.  Turned 7h sealed it when the river blanked.  Playing a few more hands, I switched tables and doubled through again (for $750) with a set.  This 2/5 thing is pretty cool.  I was able to steal a few straddle limps and worked my way up to a $2k profit, which I would leak back a few due to missed flush draws / straight flush draws / etc.

After awhile, I took a dinner break and decided I would go home in an hour.  I switched over to 1/2 because I just didn't want to deal with the stress of every hand, and [illogically] wanted to "book a win."

Here's the hand that has me so peeved - I'm so annoyed that I didin't stick the turn:

I'm in late position and feign raising to limp my KTo.  I'm pretty sure people saw me hesitate over my reds before sticking in 2 whites.  The BTN, as the BTN has been doing since I sat down, played position poker and raised to $12 among 5 limpers.  Calls back to me and I decide to get "tricky" by back raising $25 on top.  In retrospect, it should have been $30-35, but I'm cool with the results.  Calls all around - EVERY.SINGLE.ONE.CALLED.  We see a 56T 2 club board and I lead for $100.  Folds to the young-ish mega chip guy (had $1300 in front of him) who calls.  I tell him to just stick it in; he does not oblige and tells me he's not on a draw.  Turn is a 2 or something off suit.  He checks to me and I get gunshy.  I weakly check with $160 behind.  I have NO IDEA why I didn't just stick it in.  Then, to compound matters, the Jc hits the river and he auto ships.  Tells me he has the flush.  I call anyway in disbelief.  Kc9c FTW!

I'm annoyed with myself.  I lost concentration.  I lost my gut.  I think the end result is the same; he calls my ship on the turn, but I still would rather be shipping than calling.  I talked myself into him having a set on the turn, but yet I called anyway!  WTF??!?!?!

Enough said.  I should be happy with a nice win.  I'm still very upset with the donkey turn check.

A stranger in a strange land... news & notes on 2/5

Although a departure from the normal paragraph form of posting, I wanted to take down some notes / observations from the 2/5 tables and share them with you:

• Game speed: Everyone knows their move and has thought about it in advance.  The action moves along much more quickly as there isn't as much thought for routine plays.  Players are paying attention to the action and are well aware when the action is on them.
• Awareness of odds: On a number of occasions, I made an "outlandish" raise of 8x in the various positions (mostly from SB/BB because I really don't want to see a multi-way flop from OOP for the hand) and almost every time, would-be callers were investigating my stack to ensure proper odds.  On a few instances, I got folds around the table because the odds to call and set mine simply were not there.
• Aggression factor: Most players have a good grasp that aggression wins.  There were much fewer limped pots, must less willingness to stack off on limped pots, and a TON more positional raising.  Blind stealing is much more rampant and there is far less calling of 3bets.
• Bluffing: 2- and 3- street bluffing seems to be more normal.  There are definitely players who will 3bet or bet 3 streets with air.  The game is somewhat of a sit down and strap in situation.
• Thin value bets: I saw a lot of betting on the river where a 1/2 game would likely check through.  Two pair hands got more value in this game than they do in lower stakes.
• There are still donkeys: As I sat down, I quickly was reminded that this is still the same game: NLHE.  Once the nerves wore off, I settled down to play my hands and put other players on a hand to the best of my abilities.  It's still the same old game I've been playing all these years.

In summary, I was a winner for the night.  I ran well on the first table, doubling my initial buy in.  Not feeling comfortable with 200BB quite yet, I requested a table change and pocketed 100BB.  Upon switching, I immediately got hit with suckouts and monster draws not getting there, and found myself down 50BB.  I wound up winning around 50BB for the short night - I'll take that; it's around double my hourly rate!

I'll probably wind up playing 2/5 at nights and 1/2 during days until I'm more comfortable with the flow of the game.  I can still crush 1/2 and I think it's a cash cow that I shouldn't readily give up.  In the meantime, I look to 1/2 for ego support.