25 NL and the academy

So, I played a very few hands of regular 25NL last night, and it went well. I lost a buy in overplaying AKs in a situations where I was 4 bet folding. I got flatted and thought hey, maybe I can take it away on the flop. Yeah, that worked. So yeah, its not all sunshine and roses as I increase the 3 bet/4 bet dynamics, but thats OK. I pulled off my first 4 bet bluff at 25NL and am generally getting a feel for player types and situations where you can 3 bet light profitably. I played a little less than 300 hands, lost a full buy in, and still managed to come out up half a buy in. The swings in session with this new style are greater, but overall the swings are less, and over the admittidely small sample I am winning at just over 8ptBB/100 through 3.5K hands, which has me really stoked. I actually expect to play better in the future as I am, for the first time, making a concerted effort to both mark players and to take notes.

And on the you should read the fine print front, I had always thought FT academy was kind of retarded. I mean, if your really serious about improving your game, your not going to get that through some 10 minute sessions at FT. So, I heard some people at 2P2 talking about the free money, and finally looked into it. Seems like good value, but damn, some of those things are just dumb. I did the Ferguson in 500 5NL rush hands, but really? You want to encourage people to min raise premium hands in EP, 2.5 in MP, and 3x in LP for a cash game? This is good advice for a beginner? Still, free money is free money, and my bankroll can use the padding where ever I can get it.