A little deeper each time

I've been adventuring out of the $1 tournaments lately. My bankroll is back above par again and my play has been getting more stable.

Today I ventured back to the $5 9 person sng. Felt good to be playing at this level again. I played it pretty much by the book and took it all the way to 2nd place. Not a first, but definitely a nice cash and big confidence builder.

Tonight, OhCountess got the hall pass and is out with friends...so I decided to play a $2 180 person tournament. They take forever. What do you expect, there are 180 people in this thing.

To make a long story short, I just played it very tight and patient. I was a bit disappointed in the way I played a couple of hands. They were mistakes and point to a leak I know I have.

The button limps, I'm the LB and fold and the BB checks. I had A8. I hit the set of 8s on the flop. Oh wait...I folded. I was a massive chipleader at this time and should loosen up a bit, but I folded tight.

2 hands later, a short stack 2 to my right moves all in and I call with A5. WTF! That was 15,000 chips well spent. 400 chips to call with A8 and I fold...I gotta work on that steaming and dwelling thing.

Well, I composed myself and got back into the hunt. I busted on a hand I probably should have folded. I raise pot to 9750 with pocket 9s in the cutoff. The big blind pushes. I instantly call...why instantly...that the quiz question for the week...why do I insta call with 99? He turns over A♦Q♦

I know I'm ahead, but we all know how Full Tilt Poker works. The guy with the shortest stack loses the coin flips automatically. The real question is why I would risk my entire stack for a most likely coin flip and at worst an over pair? Dumb!

I'm looking for advice...how do I correct this final table donkey call?

Well, I might watch the final players finish...but they are still playing long after my busting. And it's late. But look at that...A 5th place finish!