so i'm in one of these now where the top 18 get tickets to the next level...i'm currently sitting in 8th place with almost 12000 chips and 34 people left. i'm thinking of just only playing realllllly premium hands so i can just make the top 18. i know if i keep going i will probably come in 19th.

i just realized that no one is probably on here right now, but any input would be nice espeically anyone that has played in one of these before.

update: now 25 people left and i got dealt k/a suited. minimum raise. 1 caller. i had position on him. 5/a/7 fell and he bet. i knew he had an ace but i had the kicker. he bet 400 (blinds are 200/400 25 ante) and i raise to 1600. good raise? next card paired the board. either 5 or 7. he checked to me and i went all in. about 9500 or so. he called with a/q. sigh of relief. 10 fell and i took the pot. i think i played that about as well as i possibly could have...

i'm now sitting in 2nd with oh now 24 people left. so i just need 6 or 7 more people to go out. i suppose i should be able to just sit back and let the poker gods sort it out right?

i'll update again in my little journal here before its over

i just figured out the hand history thing and how you all post it.

PokerStars Game #1903156979: Tournament #8862168, Hold'em No Limit - Level VIII (200/400) - 2005/06/15 - 03:03:14 (ET)
Table '8862168 5' Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: AnthonyCook (10620 in chips)
Seat 2: bear711 (25946 in chips)
Seat 4: WCAWCA (12195 in chips)
Seat 5: SunTzuReps (8934 in chips)
Seat 6: HolywoodSlim (11180 in chips)
Seat 7: shiznatty (9040 in chips)
Seat 8: Viper1046 (6940 in chips)
Seat 9: nuTTT (14359 in chips)
AnthonyCook: posts the ante 25
bear711: posts the ante 25
WCAWCA: posts the ante 25
SunTzuReps: posts the ante 25
HolywoodSlim: posts the ante 25
shiznatty: posts the ante 25
Viper1046: posts the ante 25
nuTTT: posts the ante 25
SunTzuReps: posts small blind 200
HolywoodSlim: posts big blind 400
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to WCAWCA [Kd Ad]
shiznatty: folds
Viper1046: folds
nuTTT: calls 400
AnthonyCook: folds
bear711: folds
WCAWCA: raises 400 to 800
SunTzuReps: folds
HolywoodSlim: folds
nuTTT: calls 400
*** FLOP *** [7c Ah 5c]
nuTTT: bets 400
WCAWCA: raises 1200 to 1600
nuTTT: calls 1200
*** TURN *** [7c Ah 5c] [7s]
nuTTT: checks
WCAWCA: bets 9770 and is all-in
nuTTT: calls 9770
*** RIVER *** [7c Ah 5c 7s] [Tc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
nuTTT: shows [Ac Qd] (two pair, Aces and Sevens)
WCAWCA: shows [Kd Ad] (two pair, Aces and Sevens - King kicker)
WCAWCA collected 25140 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 25140 | Rake 0
Board [7c Ah 5c 7s Tc]
Seat 1: AnthonyCook folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: bear711 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: WCAWCA (button) showed [Kd Ad] and won (25140) with two pair, Aces and Sevens
Seat 5: SunTzuReps (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: HolywoodSlim (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: shiznatty folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Viper1046 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: nuTTT showed [Ac Qd] and lost with two pair, Aces and Sevens

Dear WCAWCA,

You finished the tournament in 1st place.
You qualified to play in Tournament #8314813 and are automatically registered for it.
See Tournament #8314813 Lobby for further details.

Well i guess that means i did it.

When we got to the final 18 i was in 3rd place i think. So that's cool. Now i'm registered for this next tournament. Thing is this...I dont know if i'm going to be able to play it. Its fathers day AND my mothers birthday and my girlfriend and i are going to ct for it. I believe it starts at 2 eastern time which is smack in the middle of bday lunch.

does anyone know if ps allows you to unregister and then register for the same tourney a week later?

that would be absolutely wonderful. i dont want to unregister until i'm positive i will be credited with the 100 fpp and the ticket to the tourney.

just email support@pokerstars.com... they are very helpful and will let u know

oh yea thanks. i did that actually earlier today and got it taken care of. i'm playing in one the next sunday.