Week 6
Well this week will certainly be different. No daytime play until at
least Thursday, and I won’t be able to play late at night until around
Wednesday.
Sunday.
Our company left this afternoon. We had a great weekend except my brother
kicked my butt at golf again. I went several years without ever losing to
him. I wasn’t any better than him but he always seemed to choke trying to
beat his big brother. We both played to about a 9 handicap then. Now he
plays to about a 5 and I’m probably a 15. I think it’s 6 years since I’ve
beaten him now. My excuse is he’s a teacher and gets all summer to play
and practice. It’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Very little poker today. 2 ½ hours, and a $44 win. I have an interview
first thing tomorrow for a contract and the rest of the day in a
brainstorming session with a potential full-time employer.
Monday.
Interviewed this morning and I think it went well, but the guy was
impossible to read He had a “poker” face. I know I’m asking for more money
than my competitors, but I bring a lot more experience to the table. It
took me 1 hour exactly to get there which isn’t bad, but longer than I was
hoping for. I should hear by the end of the week as they want someone to
start next week. The brainstorming session was a disaster. The job doesn’t
interest me in the least. It’s a good friend of mine who asked me to come
out and meet them but I can’t see myself working there.
Poker was limited to 3 hours again. I’m going in to work for a former
client tomorrow. Had a bad night. No cards essentially. - $190 for the
session. That’s the problem with the short sessions I think, the long term
doesn’t always have a chance to kick in, but maybe it saved me money.
Tuesday
Well, that was the easiest money I ever made. Went in this morning to do
a day’s work for a client, and they had no place for me to work and no
network connections. Sent me home after an hour and asked me to come back
tomorrow. 1 quick hour’s work for the price of about a cup of gasoline
(the office is very close).
So I got to play some poker this afternoon. One of my big fears is that
the games at paradise will tighten up now that the promotions and the
extra play the WSOP seems to bring. I believe that is happening. The games
have been very tight this week and it continued this afternoon. Again I
was quite card dead and got no action when I did make a hand. For 2 hours
I hovered about even, then the rush hit. I don’t know if others experience
this, but I can almost feel it coming, and when it hits it’s like I can
tell what everyone else has. In 45 minutes I won $480 and got onto the
plus side for the week.
2 hands of note.
EP raises (he is solid but having a rough day) and I call cold with Ks Qs
on the button. BB calls too.
Flop As Kd 7s
Checked to me and I bet. BB calls and EP raises. Hmmm. AK, AA or KK.
Spades are probably my only outs. I call and BB calls.
Turn [As Kd 7s] Jh
EP bets, I call and BB folds.
River [As Kd 7s Jh] 4s.
He bets and I raise. He calls. I then get called a chaser after he shows
Ad Kd. Nothing special about the hand, but when he raised the flop I knew
he had AK. Not the most difficult read in the world, but I would have
folded even if a K had rivered I was that sure of it.
2nd hand from earlier in the session when the mojo wasn’t happening.
UTG limps and I limp too with As Js. I will raise this 75% of the time,
but today was spades day. Suited aces J and under are always a tough call
for me whether to raise or just call, so I will pick a suit(s) before I
start each day and the suit will determine if I raise or just call. Spades
was a call today . 3 more callers and the BB. 6 to the flop.
Flop Ac 7d 4c
Checked to me and I bet. 2 calls, then 2 folds and now UTG raises. I
think it much more likely he is drawing than he is ahead of me so I 3 bet.
Guy to my left folds, but LP calls. Al I can put him on here is clubs.
Unless he’s got 77 or 44. UTG calls too.
Turn [Ac 7d 4c] 8c
Yuck. UTG checks and I check too. This is a bonehead move. I have to bet
here. Fold to a raise perhaps, but bet here. I was so set in my read that
one of them was on clubs that I got blinded. LP bets, UTG calls and I
fold.
River [Ac 7d 4c 8c] 8s
Check, bet call. LP had TT (ten of clubs) and lost to UTG with KK (K of
clubs). $119 of mine went the wrong way. That’s 4 hours of work lost. I
felt sick after that.
Wow. My post from last week has generated a lot of discussion. I guess
that’s good, but I’m exhausted from explaining myself and answering posts.
What a night. Just when I thought things were tightening up. I played 3 ½
hours, saw 32% of the flops and won 16% of the hands I played. And for
most of the session I was down. I got great starters and kept coming 2nd.
Then a series of snapped bluffs got me going and I ended up $470 for a
$950 day.
One of the things I think I do well is to win hands that nobody seems to
want without being one of those obvious “bet if checked to me” bluffers. I
try to pick spots (always unraised pots) where the flop misses me but
gives me some outs. Here is a hand I chickened out on that I probably
should have continued the bluff.
I open limped 4 off the button with Qh Js. This hand came up as a
criticism of my play in the posts today. I use a chart put together by
Abdul that some of you I’m sure have seen. It has QJ and KJ as playable 3
off the button. I have stretched that a bit here. One LP call and both
blinds play.
Flop Ks 5d 9s
Two checks to me. I have a gutshot. But I think a K would have bet, and
the LP player is not likely to have limped with a K, he is the kind of guy
to raise with it so I bet here hoping to win it right now. LP folds, but
SB calls. BB folds.
Turn [Ks 5d 9s] 7d
Checked to me. Decision time. When do you carry on with your bluff and
when do you bail. I bailed.
River [Ks 5d 9s 7d] 6h
Checked around again and I lost to A5. No telling if he would have laid
down to a turn bet, but I think I should have tried.
Here is a flop play I question.
Two limpers and a raise from the cutoff. I call in the BB with Jh 9c. I
know most of you will think that’s too loose but J9o is my low limit in a
multi way pot. Heads up against an EP raiser I fold this.
Flop Js 8h 9h.
I hate slowplaying flopped 2 pairs so I bet out. The position of the
raiser in the cut off though would have given me a better chance to thin
the field with a check-raise. I got 2 folds anyway and just a call from
the button.
Turn [Js 8h 9h] 2s
I bet again and he raised me. QT seems unlikely, as do JJ and 99. 88
perhaps, but he could easily put me on something like JT or just a naked
T, so I put him on an overpair and 3 bet. He just called.
River [Js 8h 9h 2s] Kc
I bet out, hoping it wasn’t KK he had. He called and showed AA after I
won. I think I got an extra bet by playing it as I did, but I’m not sure
it was optimal in general.
Wednesday
Not a great day. I did get a full day of paid work in. that’s the good
news. The bad news is I didn’t get the contract I interviewed for on
Monday. They went with the less expensive alternative. Tonight the poker
was awful. I played 800 hands and won 6% of them. There were hardly any
bad beats, just hour after hour of fold fold fold. Raise, fold. And so on.
I ended up down $440. It could have been much worse. This one hand saved
me somewhat. The table had 2 bona fide maniacs, and one real loose
aggressive all sitting side by side, across from me. Unfortunately I never
got the hands you need to take advantage. Except this one.
I limp utg with Kc Kh. With those 3 sitting in LP there is virtually no
chance of it getting past them without a raise. 2 limps and sure enough
maniac1 raises. LA cold calls, and M2 calls from the SB. BB folds and I 3
bet. 2 folds and M1 calls. Now LA caps it. M2 calls, so do I and M1. 4 to
the flop.
Flop 6c 7d 6s
SB checks and I bet. M1 calls and LA raises. M2 calls. It’s virtually
impossible to put these guys on hands. Maybe someone has a 6, probably
not. I 3 bet. M1 calls 2 more, and LA caps it. M2 calls 2 more and I call.
M1 calls too. Hmm. I may be behind.
Turn [6c 7d 6s] Kd
OK. Now I don’t care. I bet, M1 calls, LA raises (I guess he does have a
6, but he capped preflop??), M2 calls 2 again (I love these guys), I 3
bet. M1 folds. LA caps it again (could he have 66?), M2 calls 2 more and I
call.
River [6c 7d 6s Kd] 2c
Checked to me, and I bet(I actually thought about check-raising here but
decided to bet out), both of them called. LA had Ad 6d. His post flop play
is ok, I don’t like his cold call or 4 bet though pre-flop. M2 had Ks 7s,
again probably ok post-flop and just a little loose pre-flop. Pot was
$332.
It used to be a raise from the BB meant a huge hand. Lately it seems to
me that people make the play with anything. This guy gets my vote for the
worst played hand in history.
I limp in EP with 8d 8c. CO calls, SB calls and BB raises. I have no
notes on him. We all call.
Flop 3c 4c 2s
SB checks, BB bets and I raise. Only the BB calls me.
Turn [3c 4c 2s] 4d
Now he bets out. Uh oh, I’m thinking a bigger pair than mine. I call
anyway.
River [3c 4c 2s 4d] 8s.
Ahh. He bets, I raise and he calls. He shows KJo. What did he think I
had??
Thursday
Afternoon starts out even worse than last night. I won 1 hand in the
first 120, and had some big hands beat. Dropped $350 in the first 1/2
hour. The site went down for a reboot and when I rejoined I started
getting some cards. Got back to even for the session before going stone
cold again for an hour. Gave it all back again to end up down $350. I am
up less than a hundred for the week now. I had such a rush of cards on
Tuesday night, I guess I’m paying for it now, but the cold run has lasted
much longer. King of the Zoo II tonight. Watch out, I’m due.
Evening
KOTZ 2 went much as my week has. Boy I love playing in these things. But
man do I have a lot to learn about no-limit. It can’t be coincidence that
the same faces end up near the top each time. My limit mindset doesn’t do
well here. I lasted until the break, but went out on the first hand after
the break in 27th I think. Just like last month KK was my demise. I limped
in EP with it hoping to get my meager 700 all-in against someone but
everyone folded to the BB. On the flop of Q 6 4 the BB bet 100 so I just
called. Turn brought an 8 and he bet again and I pushed all-in. He had 75
and I was toast. The hand that cost me half my stack was AJo on the button
for a limp. Board was J high and an EP let me off the hook by only making
a small bet with a set of 7’s. Other than that I didn’t play a hand that
went past the flop. I must brush up on NL before the next one.
Back to paradise and the nose dive continued. I’m getting sick of
rebuying. At one point I looked and my balance was lower than I started
the week. Ugh. Then I finally started hitting some flops, and I went on a
nice run for the rest of the session. Ended the evening up 595 and the day
up 245. For the week up $587. I’ll need a couple of good days to avoid
this being my worst week.
When you’re running bad here is what happens.
I’m in the BB with Q4o and my mouse is hovering on the fold button. 2
limpers plus the SB and I get a free play.
Flop 4d 4s 4h
I don’t even notice at first, I’m playing my other table and I had this
hand ready for the muck in my mind. I check and so does everyone else.
Drat.
Turn [4d 4s 4h] Ah
I check again, and it gets checked around.
River [4d 4s 4h Ah] Qc
Damn. It’s tough to get action when you have all the cards. I bet this
time and everyone folds. Grrr. I didn’t show.
Finally a card reading mistake that cost me $20.
I lost the hand history so it’s going to be from memory. Big multiway
pot. I have 77 in EP and the flop comes 7 4 2 rainbow. One of the blinds
bets into me and I smooth call. 2+2 lurker Looba calls right behind me.
There is a raise on the button, the blind calls and now I raise. Looba
calls again, button caps it. 4 of us to the turn. Turn is a J. I bet out.
Looba calls and the button raises again. Blind calls 2 and it’s back to
me. At this point I’ve forgotten about Looba and the blind. As far as I’m
concerned it’s me and the button and it’s starting to look like the most
lucrative hand in hold’em, set over set. I 3 bet, and he caps. The blind
and Looba both keep calling cold. River brings an A and I can’t bet fast
enough. Looba raises!! I quickly check the board again. AA or JJ beat me,
but there is no way given the betting that he has either of those. Button
calls, and the blind finally folds. I raise (I’m sure you’re more
observant than me. I missed it completely), and Looba raises again. Poor
button has to keep calling here probably realizing he’s lost, and I call
too. Of course he had 53 (suited I think but it’s all a blur now). I
couldn’t have avoided losing the huge pot, but the last $20 was stupid,
and it’s those little things that add up by the end of the week. Grrrrr.
Friday
No doubt the craziest day of poker I’ve ever played. After being so card
dead yesterday I got lot’s of big hands this afternoon. And they kept
getting cracked. Hand after hand I would raise pre-flop, bet the flop and
turn and get raised on the turn. Most of the time I would call down to see
a flopped set or even quads(twice). I had to rebuy once on each table and
ended the afternoon down $350.
The evening was more of the same. Found myself at two really tight
tables, didn’t play many hands but when I did I got rivered again and
again. I have tried not to spout too many bad beat stories here, but this
is an example of how the whole day went.
I got a free play in the BB against 6 others with Jh Th.
Flop Qh 9h 8c. I’ve flopped the nuts, plus I have an open ended straight
flush draw as well. I bet the flop, get 2 callers then a raise. Folded to
me and I 3 bet. 1 fold, one call, then a cap. 3 of us see the turn.
Turn [Qh 9h 8c] 7s
I bet, call, raise. Hmm am I chopping? I still have a free roll on the
flush if so, and I raise again. EP finally folds and now the LP calls.
River [Qh 9h 8c 7s] 9c
Oh crap. Here we go again. I check, he bets and I call (anyone save the
$10 here?). He of course has 88.
After losing 2 more hands on the river when a 2nd deuce hit (AK vs A2,
board of Kxx22, and QQ vs K2), I took a break. I was now down another $150
or 500 for the day. I made a dubious decision to play some 8/16. The games
looked good (a couple of known loose players in the game, and although I
was on a bad roll I thought I was still playing well.) But in reality I
had gotten gun shy. I missed some good value bets when scary cards rivered.
Even when nothing rivered I began to see ghosts and checked down winning
hands. The calibre of player is better at 8/16 and I can’t afford to do
that. Anyway, the losing continued. I had to rebuy again ($400 at these
stakes, and as midnight approached I was down over $1,000 for the day and
seriously considering packing it in. I don’t ever remember feeling so
uncomfortable at the table. Every time I got a good hand I dreaded playing
it. But there were two really bad players with big stacks in front of them
and I wanted some of that. Ironically enough it was a river suckout of my
own that got me back on track. I flopped a set of J’s on a KJ9 board and
got 4 way action capped on the flop and 3 bet on the turn. A 9 rivered and
I beat the QT that had flopped the straight. Then the flood gates opened.
Strangely enough I only won on 1 table and continued losing on the other.
But I won over $1,100 on that one table. I flopped 2 more sets of J’s, and
my AK’s hit and held up. After grinding it out all day I posted a $100
win. But coming back from $1000 down felt good. That leaves me up only
$700 for the week, but what a strange week.
Saturday
For the first time this week everything went well. I got good cards and I
took advantage of them. I played 1 5/10 table and 1 8/16 table. The 5/10
shifted from tight to loose, with one horrible player who bluffed almost
all of his money to me. The 8/16 was loose all night with lot’s of capped
flops including hands like ATo and QTo. I love games like that. I played
very few hands, but all my big pairs held up, I won my fair shre of
drawing hands and I made all the right moves on the river. Ended up ahead
$870 for the night, saving my week with a $1560 win for the week.
It was an unusual week, I played fewer hours because of the interviews
and the day of work, and I really struggled for a few days. I’m proud that
I hung in as well as I did, and minimized the losses, and I rode the good
runs very well. Now if only I could beat some of those Zoo dwellers in
their tournament.
I don't know if I'll keep up the day to day recaps. I'm running out of
things to say that won't be repeats. I am still surprised at my success
here. In a nutshell this game is very simple. Play better than your
opponents and over the long run you will win. There always seems to be a
number of players in the games I play who are very bad. That's a good
start. Then there are a larger number of good players, who don't make the
value bet on the end, when I was prepared to call, saving me money. They
also play quite tight post flop allowing a more adventurous player to
steal a pot or two an hour. I think this is th ekind of player I was for a
long time. Then there are the very good, and even expert players. I don;t
think I see many experts at 5/10. Maybe I just don't notice them they are
that good, but more likely they are playing higher limits. Most of the
2+2'ers fall into the very good category. We seem to play each other
pretty straight up. Raises are respected. I sometimes wonder if I
shouldn't be tryingt obluff more as these are the guys most likely to fold
to a raise, but I don't think I'm going to make much money in the long run
from them, so it's probably better to hope tho break even against them. I
guess the big question is are there enough bad players to keep th egames
profitable. I hope so because I'm back to no immediate job prospects.
Until next week.
Week 7
Random Musings. I am so much better suited to online poker than live. My
strengths are analyzing data (information) and making good decisions. When
I go to a casino, I get overloaded with extraneous stuff. I have a hard
time check-raising the guy beside me who’s been telling me about his sick
kids and obviously needs the money he’s losing. I also have tells. My
hands shake like a leaf when I get big cards. I have never looked at
someone and been able to tell what he has. Online we’re all in the same
boat so I don’t feel I’m giving up anything to my opponents.
Musing #2. I seem to get down right away in almost every session. I need
to review my play when I first start. I don’t know if I’m subconsciously
trying to take control of the table and overplaying borderline hands, but
it seems like I’m always in a hole. Maybe it pays off as advertising
later, but I’d rather just play solid right from the start.
Week 7 started poorly. I’ll blame it on my golf game. I finally hit the
ball pretty well Sunday morning. I made 2 birdies in 9 holes (one was a
chip in), but only 1 par. The rest were bogeys and I shot 39 for my first
sub-40 score of the year (par is 35 if you’re counting). Still can’t putt,
but I hit some good irons today. I think I used up all my good fortune. I
lost $660 putting me in a big hole right off the bat (I know I shouldn’t
worry about the results by 7 day chunks but I do…so there.) Just like last
week it seems like I was being checkraised on the turn every hand I
played. I dropped around $350 at 5/10, then I got into 2 8/16 games and
lost a little more than $300 there. There have been some very good 8/16
games lately. Same players as 5/10 for the most part and flop %’s much
higher than the 5/10 game. Rake is a little less as a percentage than 5/10
and I like the blind structure better since I play too many hands from the
blinds anyway.
Monday
My youngest daughter turned 8 today. I can’t believe it. Their birthdays
make me feel older than my own do. She was born right in this house in my
bed. I’ll never forget that night. The kids went to bed and when they woke
up they had a sister. That must have been so cool for them. I was running
around all day making preparations so I only got an hour of play in this
afternoon and broke even. Monday night was game 7 of the Stanley Cup
Playoffs. If you’re not Canadian you might not understand, but this is
like the Superbowl. There won’t be many TV’s not turned on to the game
tonight. As has become my custom I found myself down $150 before I knew
what hit me. I got into a good 8/16 game and won $240 before the table
broke. I broke two tables tonight (I like to think I was winning so much
they all ran away). I quite like shorthanded play so I usually stay until
no one else wants to play. But I stayed too long I guess and after being
up around $300 around 1:30 I ended up very close to even around 3:30. Same
story as most of the last week. Big pairs getting cracked, or winning the
blinds. AK hitting, then losing to rivered straights. I feel a huge day
coming. Hope it’s soon.
Some hands.
Did I miss a bet here? Maybe 2. I have A9o in the SB. One EP limper. He’s
an ok player who isn’t afraid to make a move. I call and we see the flop 3
handed. Flop is AK8 two hearts. I have a few options here, and I’m pretty
sure I’m best. I like to check-raise from the blinds a lot and this seems
like a perfect time to do it. The EP guy will almost certainly bet, and
I’m not really concerned about getting drawn out on because the flush draw
is seeing the turn anyway. So I checked and it gets checked around. Turn
brings a 5, no heart and now I bet. BB folds and EP raises. Now he thinks
I’m making a move at this pot. So the raise doesn’t have to mean a big
hand from him, but of course it could. So there is some doubt in my mind.
I hate re-raising here though because if he folds, I’ve lost a potential
BB. And I don’t want to be facing another raise from a player I know likes
to make moves. I can’t fold this hand against this player. So I just call.
River is my 9, no heart. And I bet out. He calls and I’m good. He had K9.
In this hand a check-raise sure would have worked. But if he hadn’t
rivered 2 pair would he check behind me on the river? Hard to say.
Opponents bad play helps me. You have to wonder what they’re thinking.
Known bad player open raises utg. His raising standards are non existent.
This honestly could be 54 offsuit. I 3 bet with AKo. This is perfect for
me. I could live a comfortable retirement if I could play hands like this
all day against him. Now suspected bad player caps it. I will tell you he
had Qh Th because it’s easier to follow that way. It would seem to me that
a hand like that would much rather play 4 or 5 handed 3 bet, than 2 or 3
handed 4 bet. I don’t understand these guys that make these plays. I’ll
give him the benefit of the doubt and say he thought I was making a move
on the bad player trying to isolate him. Everyone else folds and the BP
calls 2 more (I love this guy). I call. Flop is Kd Td 7s. KBP checks and I
check. SBP bets as I was almost positive he would and KBP calls. I raise
and they both call. Turn is 5h. I bet, SBP calls and KBP folds. River is
the 3d and I bet and get called. I guess the pot was big enough for him to
make the crying call, but what could he put me on that he beat? 99?
How hard to push a monster? Table is breaking and we’re 4 handed. Button
raises and I’m in the BB with 9d 7d. I call. Flop Ad 9c 9s. Sweet. I check
he bets and I just call. Oh I hope he has an A. Turn is the 7c. Now I hope
he has a 9!! I check, he bets and I raise. He 3 bets. Oh really Sweet. Do
I cap here? I think a cap here leads to just a call on the river. Maybe
even a fold. So I just called. River was 6s. I check, he bet, I raised, he
3 bet and I capped. He had T9. I don’t know if I got the max. I don’t
think pushing harder early in the hand would have worked, but would he
have capped the river if I capped the turn? Hard to say.
What a read. I open raise in the cut off with Ad 8h. Button cold calls
and the BB calls too. Yuck. Flop 9c 3d 3s. BB bets. I have no notes on the
BB but in a couple of hours he has shown himself to be a fancy play guy.
If he had any part of this flop he would go for the check raise. Maybe I
just got lucky, but that was my read on him. I probably should have raised
right here. I find though with habitual bluffers I’m more comfortable
calling them down, especially when I have position. I can get a bet on
every street, and I’d hate to face a 3 bet because he would bluff that
too. Button folded. Now I’m much more comfortable. Turn is the 7d and he
bets, I call. River is the Td, he bets and I call again. To be honest the
only thing I was afraid of was a bigger Ace. He didn’t have a 3, I would
wager a lot on that. Any other pair would have checked somewhere along the
line wanting a showdown but fearing a big pair from the pre-flop raiser
and not wanting to get check-raised. His bet on the river actually made me
even more sure of that. He turned over J5o. I got a lot of comments on
that call.
Tuesday
I have never been so frustrated. I dropped another $350 this afternoon. I
am not card dead either. I’m playing as many hands as ever. I’m just
making 2nd best hand after 2nd best hand. It’s getting perverse as I call
the turn raises just to see how I lost this time. The reason part of my
brain tells me it will pass, but right now it sure doesn’t seem like it.
Evening
The misery continues. Played 700 hands and won only 7%. They always
seemed to be the blinds. Dropped another 550 making it a $900 loss for the
day. The very first hand was a good indicator of how the night would go. I
flopped a straight holding 98 in the BB with a flop of T76. I bet out and
got called in two places. Turn was an A and I bet and got called by 1.
River a K and I bet and got raised. He had QJ. I don’t think I’m playing
as well as I could, but I’m losing at a rate of about $80 and hour. It
can’t all be me. Thank god for the 8/16 games, at least I’m winning there.
I was up $100 on that table. I don’t know if it’s better to take time off
or keep playing. Maybe go down in limits, but my brain tells me to just
keep on playing.
Wednesday
More of the same. Another $300 loss in 2 hours. I have depleted almost
all of the $2500 cushion I have built up over the last 7 weeks. It is the
most helpless feeling. I flopped broadway on my first orbit with KT and a
flop of AQJ. 2 callers and the K turned and the T rivered. It just keeps
on like that. I’ve been invited to play a beautiful golf course tomorrow
so I will skip the afternoon session. Maybe the break is what I need.
Evening. RELIEF!!! Finally things went well. I won just over $300 on the
8/16 table and $500 on a 5/10 table to have a $500 day. Still down over
$1,000 for the week. Tonight when I was raised on the end it was always a
bluff…or I held the nuts. Is there any better feeling than being bet into
when you hold the nuts? The 8/16 game again was terrific. I don’t know why
but the games are looser than the 5/10 game. The 5/10 game featured 1
player who was wild loose and making some crazy raises. Amazingly he made
his $300 last for 5 hours before he threw it all away. The flop % for the
table stayed between 30-35% while he was there, and went down to 20% after
he busted out. Granny Mae made an appearance at that table too. First time
I’d played with her, she’s usually a tournament specialist.
It’s interesting how much more I feel like writing after a win. After a
losing session I just want to think about anything else. When you’re
losing it seems you lose some of the weapons in your arsenal. Everybody
calls your raises, and your image is poor. It makes me wonder if I
shouldn’t be changing tables more often during a losing streak to try and
keep a better table image.
A good read. One MP limper to me on the button. I call with Tc 8c, and
both blinds call too.
Flop Kd Kh Ts.
Checked to me and I bet. SB raises and the other 2 fold. I love to make
this play from the SB too, so now the question is does he have it? My gut
says he plays a K slower so at best he’s got a T. I 3 bet. This is one of
those plays I would never have made during the losing streak. Confidence
can be very important in poker. He just called the 3 bet. Turn is another
Ten, and he check folded. More than likely he had QJ. That’s an extra
small bet I wouldn’t have got the day before though.
Semi-bluffing the wrong guy.
This opponent was the Suspected Bad player from Monday night. I limp in
EP with Qc Tc. SBP raises in MP and the BB calls. I call too.
Flop 5c Ac 5h
I have the 4 flush. We both check to the SBP who bets, BB folds and I
just call.
Turn [5c Ac 5h] 7h
I check, he bets and I raise. My thinking was that his raising standards
are not very high. This has to make him worry about a 5, and if he doesn’t
have an A he can’t call here. Plus I have the flush draw. He calls, and I
put him on an A.
River [5c Ac 5h 7h] Ts
I bet to keep the bluff going and he calls. I was good???? And surprised.
He had 99. In hindsight I don’t think he is a good enough player to make
this play against. I was trying to play it like I had a 5, but against
this gut the raise on the flop might have been better.
Thursday
Days like this I don’t miss working at all. I made the short drive to
Niagara Falls this morning and played a fantastic golf tournament. We had
a 12:30 shotgun start. They had a gift package for all of us that included
a dozen golf balls and a fantastic carry bag. The weather didn’t cooperate
and it rained most of the day, but we had a lot of fun. I had a hot and
cold round and shot 89. 3 triple bogeys hurt a lot. I didn’t stay for
dinner but rushed back for my daughters soccer game (2 more goals, that’s
12 in 5 games) and then a night of poker. I may have died and gone to
heaven.
Again the 8/16 game was the highlight for me. I lost $100 at 5/10 but won
almost $1,100 at 8/16. I am now down only $70 for the week which is pretty
remarkable because 48 hours ago I was down almost $2,000. In one of David
or Mason’s essay’s I remember reading that even winning players can expect
a 200 BB downturn periodically. I hope that was it for me for a while.
Interesting hands
I have Ah 9d in the SB. 1 EP limper and an MP caller. I complete and the
BB checks.
Flop 9c 3s 2d.
OK, I’m almost certainly ahead here, but my experience is that a bet here
is unlikely to thin the field and other than the BB they probably have
overcards that I would rather not see the turn. So I check hoping for a
bet from the MP. Unfortunately the BB bets out. EP calls and the MP
raises. My read is that the BB has paired the board, the EP is on
overcards and MP might have a pocket pair but it’s unlikely to be higher
than 9’s, he would have raised. So I go ahead with my plan and
check-raise. BB folds but the other 2 call.
Turn [9c 3s 2d] 4h
I think I’m still ahead. I bet out, and they both call again. Yuck. I’m
now sure I’m still ahead but there aren’t too many cards I want to see
here.
River [9c 3s 2d 4h] Th.
I bet again. EP folds and MP calls. He has AKo.
I really don’t like his limp with AK, and the chase is crazy. IF the A
had fallen on the turn or river he was going to lose 2 more BB’s.
Something to think about when you stay in a hand with overcards.
The more I play this game the more familiar you get with the betting
patterns. Each bet or raise is like a message to your opponent. I read
this hand perfectly, and still failed to act properly. Gaining confidence
in these reads is extremely important if I want to be a better player.
I have KhKs in the BB. UTG limps, EP calls and MP raises. Everyone folds
to me and I 3 bet. UTG calls 2 and so does the EP. MP now caps it. My
first thought is I can’t have KK vs AA again. 3 times it happened during
my “dark” 72 hours. Everyone calls.
Flop Qs 9s 5h
I decide to check, hoping to raise the 4 bettor and see where we stand.
I’m a little concerned about him having QQ. Surprisingly UTG bets. His bet
says (I’ve got at least top pair). EP folds and MP just calls (I can’t
beat a pair of Q’s but I do have a draw that could). I now raise (I can
beat your pair of Q’s). UTG raises again (I know you have a big pair and
I’m still ahead of you). MP calls 2 cold (my draw will still be good
enough , I’m thinking JJ here). And I just call (I can’t beat 2 pair or a
set).
Turn [Qs 9s 5h] 7h
I check, he bets, MP calls and I call. Has he got a set or 2 pair is the
big question. If a T or J falls, or maybe a spade I’ll be concerned about
the MP, but I’m focusing on the UTG mostly.
River [Qs 9s 5h 7h] 7d
I strongly suspect I just drew out on Q9. I don’t think I need to bet
here, he will bet. I check, he bets, MP calls(what does he have?) and I
typed “bad river for you?” to him. And I didn’t pull the trigger. He
answered “maybe” at the same time I just called. He did have Q9 as I
thought and the MP had Td 9d, and I was good. I’m still annoyed that I
read it so well and didn’t act on it.
Friday
Afternoon. I slept late and only played 2 hours, but posted another $200
win. I find it intriguing how one hand can set up another. Had a guy on my
left that I didn’t have any notes on. I raised with AT in MP and he cold
called. Flop was AQx and I bet and he called. Turn was another blank and I
bet and he called. River was my T and I bet and he raised. He had KJ. SO
he calls cold with KJo, that tells me something. Taking one off on the
flop with a gutshot is not bad but the pot was pretty small, but calling
the turn bet is pretty bad. So I make a note and file it away. He made a
lot of weak cold calls that I was able to win bigger pots than I would
normally have. I just made sure to bet the turn on unimproved big Aces to
get that last bet from him.
Evening
There are two kinds of cold streaks, and I experienced them both tonight.
I won only 1 hand in the first hundred I played tonight and I was down a
little over $200. I don’t mind these cold streaks, because I know I will
win my share of hands eventually, and sure enough in the next hundred I
won a lot and was up around $300. Then I had the bad kind of streak. The
one where you do hit your share of hands, but they are all tiny pots, and
all the big ones you get involved in go the other way. Plus I stopped
winning pots. By the end of the night I was down $750 making it a $550
loss for the day, and leaving me down over $600 for the week. That’s 3 big
losses in 6 days. I guess it was bound to happen, I just hope it’s the
exception.
A very good read. You get used to the betting patterns of a player or
game and any change to that rhythm tells you something. 5/10 table 2
limpers to me and I limp on the button with Kc Th. SB raises. BB folds and
3 of us call the raise.
Flop Qc Jh 5d.
It gets checked around to me and I have my open ender and I checked. As I
read the hand history I stopped to wonder why I checked. Then I
remembered. This particular guy in the SB would never check this flop no
matter what. I would bet my kids he had QQ or JJ. I decided to take one
off and see if I could make the straight without being raised by him.
Turn [Qc Jh 5d] Ks
Sure enough SB bets out. It gets raised and re-raised before getting back
to me and I folded. I think this is an easy fold, but I thought long and
hard. SB just called as did the first raiser. River was an A so I would
have chopped it. AT took it down and SB had QQ sure enough.
Fancy play on turn, does it cost me a bet.
8/16 game and I limp utg with Qs Js. There are 2 posters before the
button who check, the button calls and the SB completes. 6 to the flop.
Flop Ac 5s 3s
Checked to me and I bet. Only the button and SB call me.
Turn [Ac 5s 3s] Ks
I get cute and check. Button bets and SB calls. Now I raise and both
call.
River [Ac 5s 3s Ks] 5c
I bet and button calls. He had the smaller flush. So if I just bet the
turn, he probably raises, but we might lose the SB then. I could 3 bet or
wait for the river to raise. Don’t know if this play was good or not.
Saturday.
There were 4 8/16 games going at one point tonight. And the players play
the same crap I saw at 2/4. It’s quite remarkable. I’ve had a great run at
the 8/16 tables and tonight was no exception. I managed a $735 win to give
me a $117 win for the week. I think that’s $2 an hour this week. Sigh. It
sure beats the 2 grand I was stuck on Tuesday at lunch though. I played
well tonight. The higher stakes keep my concentration at a higher level.
When you see players making bad mistakes it helps your resolve not to do
anything too risky. You know you’ll get paid when the time comes. I won
the biggest pot I’ve ever won on this hand, only because the 3rd player in
the hand seemed oblivious to the fact that he was clearly behind, making
my draw unbelievably expensive. In fact I really screwed up on the river.
UTG raises and I make one of eMark’s favorite cold calls with Qh Jh.
Button calls and the BB plays too.
Flop Kh Td 7s.
UTG bets, I call and the button raises. BB folds and UTG 3 bets. I call
again and the button caps it. Wow.
Turn [Kd Th 7s] 3h
Now I have the flush draw too. UTG bets, I call and the button raises.
UTG 3 bets, I call and the button raises. We both call again. I think it’s
KK and TT, but why doesn’t TT see that it must be KK? Jeez this is getting
expensive.
River [Kh Td 7s 3h] 9h. Yippee
UTG checks, I bet and button raises. UTG calls 2 and I think. There is no
way he has hearts. Is there? Could he possibly have overplayed Ah Kh like
this? I wimp out and just call. This is really bad. I know its KK and TT
raise it up, how often does this chance come along, but I just called.
Amazingly UTG did indeed have KK but the button had KT. A little
overplayed I’d say. $450 pot.
Playing a draw from the button. Poker is full of little decisions that
depend on your read of your opponents. In this hand I have Qs Ts on the
button. 2 limpers to me and I limp. BB checks.
Flop 6s 3s 3h
Two checks to the 2nd limper who bets. Now I would much rather play a
draw for 1 bet against 4 opponents than for 2 bets against 1, so do you
semi bluff raise, or just call and hope for more players? To me the
texture of the board decided it. I don’t believe I’m going to get callers
on that board, so I raised. All 3 folded. CHING!!
So clearly my worst week yet. I hope it’s just a blip. We’ll see.
Week 8
My goodness time is flying. It has been quite an adventure so far. Great
success for 6 weeks certainly made this seem like a breeze followed by a
break even week that was extremely frustrating. It’s amazing how the short
term results seem to overshadow anything that came before it. Let’s hope
for some successes this week.
I took a horrible bad beat to start the week. My computer crashed. My
wife and daughter have big assignments due this week as school draws to a
close and there is a line up to use the computer constantly. Sunday both
of them complained that the computer kept shutting down on it’s own and
was making funny sounds. While I was playing Sunday night I experienced it
myself and when it restarted there was a message saying a hard drive
failure was imminent. Eeeek. All my digital photographs were on there, all
my personal documents, including these reports, invoices from the
business, tax filings etc. And do you think the computer expert has a
backup? So Monday morning I went to back it up and it wouldn’t start. When
I finally got it started it wouldn’t stay up long enough to make a save.
After praying to every God I could think of I managed to get 30 minutes of
continuous up time to burn everything onto a CD. I’ll have to remember
those prayers next time I’m drawing to an inside straight. I took it in to
the store where I bought it and he confirmed the hard drive was gone. They
replaced it and I hit my inside straight when I discovered I had bought
the extended warranty, so the replacement was free. I never buy extended
warranties so I was very happy they checked. Now I had to get a hold of
another copy of the Microsoft suite so my wife and daughter can finish
their assignments. When I was working it was easy, just go to the tech
department and borrow their disks. Luckily the tech guy from my last
company lives just down the street and he brought the disk home after
work, and by last night we were back in business.
Guess what I forgot to save though. My Paradise Poker notes. 18 months of
player notes are gone. I was playing blind last night. My bluffer notes
and my fish notes and starting hands etc. I guess I’m starting again.
Now on to Poker. Sunday there were actually 4 8/16 games going at one
time. I started playing 2 of them and while I posted a modest win on one
of them I had to rebuy twice on the other. Same story as last week. Every
time I raised with a big pair I got no action. I got AA, KK and QQ in a 5
minute period, twice in the BB, and had everyone fold to me. Of course if
I raised with AK, I would get 3 bet and called in 2 places and then see a
flop of 987 same suit, none of my suit. I start the week off down $450.
One of the posters reading last weeks report asked me if I’ve changed my
game somewhat, and I’m starting to wonder that myself. I hope this is just
a tough run of cards, but I can’t help wondering if my game is changing.
I’ve had several comments at the tables lately about how tight I play (“davidross
only raises with a monster” etc) if you can believe that. There is no
doubt I’m playing tighter than I used to. Mostly because there is a lot
more raising in these 8/16 games and I can’t play my baby pairs or suited
connectors cheaply from EP. The result of this is I’m not winning the big
pots as often as I used to. Having said that though, I am winning a
considerable amount at the 8/16 games, it’s the 5/10 that is eating me
alive lately. Something to watch for.
Here’s an example of playing scared from Sunday night. I have 6c 5c in
MP. One limper to me and I limp along. Two more limpers behind me and both
blinds play too.
Flop 6d 2c Qs
Checked to the 1st limper who bets. This is a raise or fold situation.
Two weeks ago I raise this without blinking. This week I call and so does
everyone else. 6 see the turn.
Turn [6d 2c Qs] 6h
Checked to me and I bet. 2 folds and the SB calls. Now the BB comes to
life and raises. Yuck. This almost certainly means a full house or a 6.
And there aren’t many kickers I can beat. I call anyway and so does the
SB.
River [6d 2c Qs 6h] 3d
BB bets and only I call. He has A6. Would he have called 2 on the flop
with middle pair? I doubt it. This is such a text book example of why you
have to raise the flop or fold in these situations.
On the plus side I made a straight flush against a full house and got the
river capped and won a nice pot.
Monday
Afternoon. I only played for an hour on the old computer. I was running
around trying to get repairs done and ran out of time. I was up a small
amount for most of the hour but two bad hands at the end left me down
about $40 for the session.
Evening. Started out very frustrating. I got very few hands and was
hardly playing at all. My wife was working until after midnight on the new
computer, so I was stuck on the old one (now that I have no notes it
really doesn’t matter except instead of two tables that I can watch side
by side I have them on top of each other which I don’t like). She was
getting quite concerned with the number of times I was swearing as river
after river either beat me or chopped me from a winning position.
Interestingly enough it was a lucky river that seemed to change my
fortunes. Around midnight one of the 8/16 table shut down and I was
playing one 8/16 and one 5/10. My wife went to bed and I got back on the
good computer and my fortunes shifted. I had re-bought on both 8/16 tables
earlier so I was down over 400, but I managed to turn it around and was
actually up over 500 for the day at one point. A couple of bad losses in
the last orbit took me down a bit and I ende up with a $380 win. This
means I’m almost exactly even for the last 9 days and that’s not good
enough. With the volume of hands I play I think it equates to a month of
live play for a normal pro. I bet most of them don’t have too many break
even months. I need to do better.
Here is the hand the I got lucky on. 8/16 and 4 limpers to me in the BB
with 8s 7c. I call and so does the BB.
Flop 5c 4d 5h
Checked around to the button who bets. I decide to take one off with my
gutshot/overcards and so does everyone else except one. 5 see the turn.
Turn [5c 4d 5h] 7s
Hmm. Maybe I’m ahead, and I’ve certainly got some more outs if I’m not. I
check anyway and an MP bets. One fold, the button calls, so do I and one
other. 4 to the river.
River [5c 4d 5h 7s] 7h
Yippee. I check, the same guy bets, button calls again and now I raise.
One fold but both MP and button call. MP had a 5 and slowplayed himself
out of it. Button had 99. I had no business being in that hand as it turns
out. But it felt good to do it to someone else for a change.
Tuesday
Afternoon. Another frustrating session. The games seem good, players are
still playing crappy hands out of position, but I can’t beat them. I win
small pots and lose big ones. 3 hours -$80.
Evening. The boys soccer team lost tonight, so the day keeps getting
worse. If you hate bad beat stories skip to tomorrow. This was the worst
poker session in my brief career. Not dollar wise although that was bad -
$500. Brief summary, I played 650 hands, flopped 3 sets, lost them all.
Made one flush, lost to a higher flush. Made no straights and flopped 2
pair 3 times. Lost all 3, although 2 of them turned into full houses,
there was a bigger full house out there. I would get down $400 then grind
my way back. Twice I got back to almost even then would have my Aces
cracked and sink into the hole again. I was even on the 8/16 table again
so I can’t blame that. 5/10 sank me again.
On the very first orbit I got KQs in a 4 way raised pot. Flopped a Q,
Turned a K, and saw a 4th heart river and lost to Ax with the A a heart.
Then I got a free play with 32 suited. Flopped two pair, turned the full
house, then a Q rivered and a slowplayed QQ made a bigger boat.
I don’t know how to deal with this. I don’t know if I should take a break
or just play through it. I can’t think straight right now so I don’t even
want to review the hands I saved for discussion.
I don’t think I’m playing badly, in fact for most of the session I’m
playing as well as my cards will allow, but I am playing tentative, and
looking for a big score instead of playing aggressive. Here’s an example.
I’m on the button with KK. My buddy Looba (2+2 lurker, and now occasional
poster) raises 2 in front of me with 88. Instead of 3 betting I decide to
smooth call and hope the Blinds come along to build a pot. BB calls. Flop
is A 9 5 rainbow. BB bets, Looba raises and I muck. BB called his turn bet
and the river got checked. BB had A3. I don’t believe he calls a 3 bet
with A3 (although you never know). So instead of winning a small pot, I
gave away another $16. It seems every close decision I make right now is
the wrong one.
Wednesday
I opened an account at Party Poker today on the advice of some posters. I
was only able to deposit $500 so I’ll need to top it up again. I don’t get
the interface yet. I joined the waiting lists for two 5/10 games, but you
can’t tell where you are on the list. I never got called to either game so
I played paradise again. I’ll try again tonight.
More frustration at Paradise. AA cracked 3 times. Down $400 in 3 hours.
Winning 20% of my showdowns and only 7% of the hands. If I don’t win the
blinds I lose the hand, simple as that. I can’t wait for this to end. I
have to keep reminding myself that as bad as it seems right now, I still
haven’t had a losing week (although I’m going to need a great recovery to
pull out this week), and my turn will come.
The only bright spot in this day for me was this hand. I rarely try this
but I was desperate.
I limp with K9o on the button after one MP limper. BB checks. Flop is A55
and gets checked around. Turn is a second A and the MP bets. My K might be
good or split the pot, and I call. River is a 3 and after he bets I raise.
I don’t ever remember bluff raising the river. He thinks a long time and
folds. Maybe I was good anyway, but I’m a desperate man right now.
I gave Party Poker a try for the first time this afternoon. I played two
3/6 games and the games were indeed as soft as everyone told me they were.
I was the only one raising hands other than AA, and 5 or 6 seemed to see
every flop. Hello baby pairs and suited connectors. It reminded me of the
2/4 games I loved at paradise. If only I could live on $12 an hour. It
sure didn’t hurt that I made every draw and my big pairs held up. I won
$300 in the first hour. Maybe all those conspiracy theorists in the zoo
are on to something. Let the new guy win so he stays. I will give the 5/10
games a try tonight.
I have to say I hate the software. I find it really hard to tell who
still has cards and how the betting has gone so far. This is crucial for
me when I play 2 tables because I often just get the screen up when it’s
my turn to act and I need to piece together the action quickly. I can’t
get to the notes easily as you can at paradise, and you can’t tell where
you are on the waiting list or what the tables are like. Maybe I’ll get
used to it.
Evening
Played at Party for 3 hours. 2 5/10 games which will leave me a little
short if I run bad. Got off to a good start, but then hit the same bug
that’s got me at paradise. Bad cards. The 5/10 games were very much like
the Paradise games. Not like the 3/6 games I played this afternoon. I wish
there was a place to see flop % for the table to tell if I was just at the
tightest tables. At one point I had given back almost all the winnings for
the afternoon. I ended up down $90 for the session and up $210 for the day
at Party.
When I review this hand I know I’m playing scared. Warning…. don’t try
this at home. I’m in the BB with Ks Jd. There are two limpers and a raiser
on the button. I know this guy from paradise. He’s OK but likes to raise
from the button with a lot of hands. I make the call in the BB and the two
limpers call too.
Flop Ac Qd Qh
Checked to the 2nd limper who bets. Button folds and I take one shot at
my Ten. There’s $40 in the pot and it’ll cost me 5 to try and hit my 11-1
shot. I think I have the implied odds. Limper 1 calls too.
Turn [Ac Qd Qh] Ts
I check, now Limper 1 bets, L2 calls and I chicken out and just call.
Visions of QT, TT and AA are running through my head. The pre-flop raiser
has already folded, so QT is really the only reasonable hand I should
fear. There is almost certainly a Q out there, a raise will get called.
“PULL THE TRIGGER” you wuss.
River [Ac Qd Qh Ts] 7h
I check, L1 bets, L2 calls and……..I call again. Phhhhttttt. This move is
the difference between between a winning player and a break even player.
Of course I’m good, but I’m short at least 1 BB and maybe 2. L1 had Q9 and
L2 had A5.
Then I went back to Paradise to play a few hours. I got on a good 8/16
table with 2 real bad players. Also played a 5/10 table. Posted a modest
win at 5/10, but at the risk of sounding like a broken recors, I was cold
decked again at 8/16. Started with this beauty. I raise UTG with TT. I get
cold called in LP by a good player. Button(Bad player 1) calls and the BB
(Bad player 2) calls too. Flop is T A A. Sweet. BB bets out and I smooth
call. LP raises. He’s good this may or may not be an Ace. I hope it is.
Button folds, BB calls and I decide to just call. If the BB were a better
palyer I would raise here so as to get an extra bet from him too, but he’s
not folding before the river no matter what. Turn is a K. Yuck. Could he
have AK? BB checks, I check, Button bets, BB calls and I raise. Button 3
bets, BB calls I cap it and they both call. River is an Ace. OMG. Here we
go again. I can’t think of a hand I beat here but I call his bet anyway.
He had AQ. BB had 88. Got to love him. Within 45 minutes I was down $500
and thinking about jumping off the roof. Unfortunately I live in a
bungalow so I’d probably survive. Then the strangest thing happened. I
tilted. Sort of. I didn’t go crazy, but I was sick of winning blinds. I
started raising anything barely playable in EP. And still they folded to
my raises. I started showing cards after I raised (in EP only, my LP
raises are getting 3 bet). And for 10 minutes I hit a bunch of flops. $500
isn’t that many big pots in a 8/16 game. A runner runner flush got me
started and suddenly I was winning big pots on both tables and I was even
for the night. Just as quickly I went cold and dropped back a bit before a
final rush put me up $260 for the session.
So to summarize the day, I was down $140 at paradise, up $210 at Party
(and a $50 sign up bonus is due). I’m still down $590 for the week. I
think short term I will continue to split time between the two sites and
see how they compare. The 5/10 games will need to be better if I’m going
to play there most of the time. I don’t think I can make what I need to at
3/6.
Thursday
Played a short afternoon session at Party. Running into more 2+2’ers.
Comments like “Go back to Paradise” just warm my heart. To be blunt, the
games aren’t very good. I’m not getting any cards so maybe that darkens my
view, but I’m not seeing many bad players at 5/10. Pots are almost always
raised and frequently 3 bet. And the players weem very tricky post-flop. A
lot of bluffing going on even 3 handed. I was down $100 for an hour and a
half.
Evening
More misery at Party. While I broke even on 1 table, I dropped $250 on
the other. I won exactly 1 pot in 2 ½ hours. I had AA cracked twice and KK
cracked 3 times. It was unreal. Again I didn’t find the games that good.
Certainly no different from Paradise. I suspect the juicy games are at a
lower limit than 5/10, but the same can be said of paradise too. The 2/4
games there were very good. I’m left with only $360 in my account and I’m
not sure I want to add to it. I’ll give it another chance tomorrow.
Again at midnight I switched over to paradise. The 8/16 game looked
brutal. 15% seeing the flop so I got into 2 good 5/10 games. Both tables
maintained a flop % in the 30’s. And again I took a brutal beat right off
the bat. Dropped a lot on a button vs blind heads up with me having A9 and
a flop of 899. We capped the flop and turn before I got the hint. He had
88. It wasn’t my last hand like that either. After an hour of level play I
left one table and took a shot at 8/16. The game had changed and so did my
luck. I adopted a much more aggressive style than normal for me. I didn’t
limp with anything. If they’re going to fold to all my raises I’m going to
raise more. And people started calling my raises, and I started hitting
flops for the first time in days. I was quickly up over $300 on my 5/10
game and around $200 in the 8/16 game. I took some more bad beats, but
they don’t seem so bad when you are actually winning some other hands.
Ended up a $370 winner for the paradise session.
So for the week I’m down $420 at paradise and $140 at Party. If I could
somehow come out of this week even I would feel very optimistic. I think
I’ve had the worst run of cards anyone’s ever had these past two weeks
(Who hasn’t said that eh?). I think I can over analyse this. I just need
to be patient and wait for the cards to come again. I haven’t made a flush
in 2 days. And the 1 straight I made yesterday got chopped on the river.
I’m grinding for al I can, and it’s forcing me to play more aggressively
which is probably good for my game. I’ve stopped playing some marginal
hands during the slump which is probably also good for the long term
health of my game. Lets hope for a good conclusion to my week.
Friday
What a nice day. I finally got a glimpse into the good Party Games that
eMark has described to me. Both tables were good although one was
particularly good. Lots of cold calling when I raised and lots of unraised
multi-way pots for my draws. I ended up $470 to the good. Something
happened to me that has never happened to me in a ring game. I went
all-in…3 times. With my depleted Party bankroll I had to sit down with
$180 only at each table. Not much room for error and sure enough I got
down on one table. A very bad chase in a huge pot with JJ and an A on the
flop left me with about $20. From the BB I pushed with A6 and won
unimproved to double up. Then a few hands later I played an AT
aggressively against two opponents and tripled up when two tens flopped.
That dwindled again and I found myself all in later with 99 and all
undercards on the board. So I survived 3 all-ins and now I have enough
money to hopefully avoid that problem in the future.
What would you do here. I’m in MP with Ad Qd, UTG raises and the next guy
3 bets. I folded, correctly I think, but the pot was won by an AJo that
called 3 cold and beat 99(the 3 bettor) when an A flopped.
This doesn’t happen to me often at Paradise. I have As Qs and raise 3
limpers from the cut-off. SB calls and 5 see the flop.
Flop Ac Js 7d
Checked to me, I bet and all 4 call…??
Turn [Ac Js 7d] 3h
Checked to me, I bet and 3 of them call..??
River [Ac Js 7d 3h] Td.
Checked to me and although I feel someone might have 2 paired or hit a
gutter, I bet. Called in two places and I’m good. That has to be the
biggest pot I’ve ever won with just top pair.
I love this game. This was like the 2/4 Paradise games I used to win
steadily at. No need for deception. Fold on the flop if you miss, but push
hard when you hit. Simple poker, but very effective. Rigoletto even showed
up for the end of the session. Everyone is leaving Paradise.
Evening
I’m so numb I can hardly write. I tried to play at Party, but the server
was so overloaded we were getting 30-60 second delays between hands. So I
went to paradise and the slaughter began again. I lost $940 in 5 hours. AA
cracked 3 times. KK 5 times and QQ 3 times. Won the blinds with QQ once. I
feel like puking to be honest. I probably lost more than I should have on
some of the KK hands, but oh my fu**ing god. I think I need some time off.
Saturday
It’s now Saturday afternoon and I took my kids to the pool and sat
reading John Feeney’s excellent book “Inside the Poker mind” for the 20th
time. I think I’ve mentioned that it’s my favorite. I’m trying to decide
if I’m playing badly or not. I went over my spreadsheet to look at past
results and to be honest there is nothing unusual about this losing
streak. I have had many in the past year just like it. It was a little
unreasonable to expect I would never have a losing week. That’s not to say
I can’t play better, but I don’t think I’ve suddenly become a horrible
player overnight.
Evening
We went out to dinner with friends, and I came into th session with a
fresh optimism. And I got crushed again. Played at Party tonight. They
seem to have fixed the server problems from yesterday. The games were
good. A couple of bad players on each table. But I had to rebuy on one
table right away. Not many playable hands, and when I did play I got
rivered again and again. At least I won a huge pot on the other table when
I flopped a swt, so that kept me ahead on that table for most of the
night. I spent hours trying to crawl back to even, then in the last hour
before bed time I ran cold again. I ended up down $435 at Party, and down
$45 at Paradise (I went there for a short time to see if the 8/16 was
going, and it wasn’t). So for the week the gruesome numbers are. Down
$1,400 at Paradise, and down $65 at Party. Ouch.
I have to look on the bright side. It could have been worse. One guy at
Party called my raise with QQ from the SB, and called my bets on each
street. I showed down and he flipped over KK. Then he typed in the chat
box, “I was worried there”. And I fell victim to a Stu Ungar-like call. I
was dealt 7c 4c in the BB.UTG limped and I got a free play heads up. Flop
was Qc Jd 5c. I bet my 4 flush, and unfortunately she called. Turn was the
6s, giving me an open-ender to go with my 4 flush, so I continued the
semi-bluff. She called again. River was another J, no club and I
immediately bet again to finish the bluff. She thought and called. She had
T9o and won. Of all the possible hands in Hold’em I think she could beat
only about 10 of them. But she won. I had 99 on the button in another big
multi-way hand. Flop was 8 high and I bet when checked to me. Only 3
called me. Turn was another small card, and I got check-raised. I called.
River was a Jack, and he had AJ. It happened over and over again.
I guess the people who said I couldn’t maintain that win rate were right.
I just hope I can get back to winning at all. I had 5 losing days out of 7
this week, and one break even day. I need to string some wins together.
See ya next week.
Week 9
If you’ve been with me for all 8 weeks of this adventure you’ll know I’m
playing online poker full time while waiting for another consulting
contract to become available, or suitable full time employment. Timing is
everything in life. Had I experienced weeks 7 and 8 at the start for this
adventure, there is no way I’d still be trying this. Only time will tell
if that’s a good thing or not, but I’ve had a blast during these two
months. It would be great if I could get it to last through the summer
too, but I can’t afford many more weeks like last week.
Sunday.
More struggles. I posted my 6th losing day out of the last 8, and one of
the 2 non losing days was a break even. After being down well over $500
for most fo the session, I rallied and ended up down $250 for the day.
Thank god my big pairs held up because they were the only hands I won. I
just can’t make a draw. And if I do…I had a flopped straight beaten by a
rivered full house, and the only flush I made was a 2nd nut, and guess
what?? The free plays are killing me. At least 4 times I got free plays
from the BB with hands I had no intention of playing, then flopped 2 pair,
only ot be counterfeited on the river. This one here really hurt. I get
93o in the BB and there are 3 limpers only. Flop is Ad 8c 5c. I check
ready to fold and everyone checks. Turn is a 9. I check again and there is
one bet and a call behind me. I decide to call. River is my 3, no flush. I
check, the guy bets again, 2nd guy folds and I raise. He raises me back. I
call and he shows 33. This keeps happening to me.
Monday
Afternoon. Finally some relief. 3 hours at Party and I won $680. Hit lots
of flops, and on one table in particular played against 2 guys who always
called to the river, and called the river with any piece. If this is
normal for the afternoon games I will spend more time here than at
paradise. Just don’t bother bluffing except against the better players. I
got called down with A high a lot. I even cracked AA today after I 3 bet
his LP raise with 99 from the button. Flopped a 9 and milked a big pot out
of him. At paradise I have taken to limp-raising with AA and KK because of
the frequency I win the blinds with open raises, but here I open raised
with both and got 2 or 3 callers every time.
Here’s a questionable play. I open limped in MP with Ac 8c. Called on the
button and both blinds. Flop Ah 7h 2c. Checked to me and I checked also. I
know I give the heart draw a free card, but I thought I might get someone
to chase for a turn and river bet with 2nd pair. Button checked behind me.
Turn was 3c. I bet and got 2 calls. River was 2d. I bet and got called by
88. 88 probably calls the whole way anyhow, but the other guy might not
have given me the extra bet on the turn.
When I raise the turn with a very strong hand, and my opponent folds, I
always think I should have just called and got an extra bet later. In this
hand I have JJ in the SB. Open raise in EP and an MP cold call. I call and
so does the BB. Flop 5s 4s 2d. I bet and the BB raises. EP calls, MP folds
and I 3 bet. BB caps it and the EP folds. I call. Turn is the Jc. I bet,
he raises and I 3 bet. He folds. I was surprised. Should I have just
called? Lets hope it continues tonight.
Evening
Got a late start tonight. Harry Potter delayed me. I am reading it to my
younger 3 kids (I’ve read all 4 previous books twice, re-reading them with
my younger daughter just this winter). The chapters are much longer than
they were before and it took me much longer than expected to get them into
bed. I had to decide which site to play at and I decided to give Party
another go. The games were not as loose as the afternoon games had been,
and seemed to tighten up as the evening wore on. I was up on one table and
down on the other. Just before midnight I decided to switch to Paradise
and give the 8/16 game a try. Ended up -$40 at Party. The Games at
Paradise were terrible. The 8/16 game was missing the weak players that
had been there the last 2 weeks and the 5/10 game I chose was seeing 14%
of the flops. I lost 3 big pots right away and was down $100. The table
was so tight it would have taken me days to get back to even. So I
switched. Fortunately I won slowly and steadily in the 8/16 game and I
ended up $153 up total at Paradise. That puts me up $555 for the week so
far.
As far as I’m concerned, varying your play and adjusting to the table
conditions are unbelievably important. Since the start of the losing
streak I’ve feltlike my play has been very predictable and I think my
better opponents are taking advantage of me. So I vowed to be more
aggressive. This hand is from the 8/16 game. The game had become very
tight and Iopen raised with 77, 4 off the button. The button cold called
(He is an over-aggressive but unpredictable player) and the BB called too.
Flop was K 8 3 two spades and the BB bet. I raised and they both folded.
This isn’t a move I make very often without top pair and I guess I should
take advantage of that tight image more often.
Getting lucky. This didn’t happen for me at all the last 10 days at
Paradise. There was 1 bad player in the 8/16 game around 2:00 AM. He was
in the BB when I was in the cut-off seat. Everyone folded to me and I
decided to just call with T9o. I liked playing hands against him because
he is really easy to read. I also think limping late is very suspicious
looking and might allow me to do it with a big hand later. Anyway the plan
backfired when the SB called, and the BB raised. Now I bluff re-raised. I
do this a lot with AA and KK and the SB knows this. I don’t know if the BB
would ever notice. SB called and the BB capped it. Ruh Roh. We both
called. Flop is Q 9 9. I played it fast and raised the flop thinking he
would re-raise his presumed big pair at least once, but he went into
check-call mode right away. In hindsight it was the wrong play against an
ABC player like him. I should have called the flop hoping to keep the SB
in, and raised the turn or river. In my last orbit of the evening I got
lucky again when I called a raise in the BB with 93s (3 players, I know
it’s marginal at best, but I did it). Flop had two 3’s and the turn was a
9 and I got paid off all the way. I didn’t hit any flops like this for the
entire losing streak. It felt very good.
Tuesday
Afternoon
One step forward and two steps back. That’s the way it seems to be going.
Sat down for the afternoon session at Party and there was a long wait for
5/10. I started on some 3/6 tables and before I had gone once around the
tables I was down $130. AA, KK and QQ all got cracked right off the bat. I
don’t think this qualifies as a “Homer” tilt, but by the end of it I was.
It didn’t get any better either as I gave back everything I won the night
before and ended up down $550 for the session. I’m at a loss to explain
the huge losses I’m having.
Evening.
Frustrating would be a good way to describe this evening. I played well
for several hours at Party and pecked away at the deficit I created in the
afternoon. At one point I was up $450 on one table and only down $100 on
the other, but in one hour I gave all my gains back and ended up exactly
even. When I was running well for all those weeks it was the exact
opposite. I would play even or gain slightly for long periods, then go on
a big rush for my gains. Now it seems I’m losing every big pot I compete
for. I even misread the board twice on big pots and made a river raise
with the nut straight, not noticing there was a flush there, and another
with another straight, missing the fact there was a bigger straight
possible. These things don’t happen when you’re concentrating. It’s just
so frustrating to play so well for so long, and then lose it all in a
short period of time. I switched to Paradise and got killed in the 8/16
game right away. I rebought within 30 minutes of starting and was down
$500 at my normal quitting time. However the game had gotten a little
easier at that time so I stayed and finally got some cards. I made a nice
run before the table broke and ended up down only $170. For the week I’m
down $330 at paradise and up $160 at Party. I’m playing golf on Wednesday
so there will be no afternoon session.
The right move at the wrong time. What do you think of this play. From
the Party 5/10 table where I was running well. These games feature lots of
chasers. I have KQo UTG and open raise. 2 cold callers plus the BB. Flop
is K K 8, two spades. I bet and get called by all 3. Turn is a 2d, and
this time I check. Guy on my left bets, two more calls and now I raise.
Everyone calls. River is a 7, no spade. I bet and get raised. Two folds to
me and I think. K7 seems to be the only hand I should fear. K8 or K2 or 88
would have re-raised the turn I think. So I raise him back and he caps it.
He had 77. I hadn’t considered that. Just the way it’s going for me these
days.
Wednesday
We picked the hottest day in 3 years to play golf. And we walked a course
right on the Niagara escarpment. It was pretty hot. I played ok but my
putting was brutal. 7 3 putts, all of them with the 2nd putt being in the
2-4 foot range. I don’t know why I put myself through that. I still shot
87. Poker was a roller coaster. Started out at Party. Wednesday night I
think is the poker on TV night when they run all their ads. The site was
overcrowded. 40 people on each waiting list and the system was real slow.
I only stayed for 30 minutes. I couldn’t stand the delays. I started at a
3/6 table waiting for a seat at 5/10 and had the following hands back to
back. I raised 5 limpers from the button with QQ. Flop T 8 4. One MP bet
out. I raised he called. I bet the turn and river he called each and
showed 84o. Very next hand I get AA in the co and raise 3 limpers. Flop K
7 2 and same guy bets out. I raise him and bet turn and river and he calls
both. He has 72o. How’s that for a start? I managed to be up $17 before
the speed of play drove me to paradise. The games were very good at
paradise for some reason. No 8/16 going when I got there but 6 or 7 5/10
games all with flop % in the high 20’s and 30’s. Unfortunately I wasn’t
getting any hands to play. I was down a little after an hour winning only
7% of my hands. This has been quite usual lately. Seeing 22% of the flops
and winning 20% of the flops I see. Fortunately, the pots I won were big
ones as I made 4 flushes to keep me not too far down. Finally the 8/16
game started and it was excellent, but not for me. I was down a bit then
almost even etc. Never up. A couple of guys were way ahead including my
buddy Looba. Around 3:00 AM the winners all seemed to leave at once and
new players arrived and my luck changed. I went on a mini tear and found
myself up $600 within the hour. Unfortunately I kept playing and gave a
lot of it back as my fortune turned again. Ended up +$250 for the night.
That leaves me up $100 for the week.
Hands of interest. I seem to have acquired a real weak tight table image
so I’m trying to take advantage of it. I limped in EP with Ks Qs and
played the button and both blinds. Flop was 6 6 3 rainbow and it got
checked to the button who bet. Only I called. Turn was an A, and I bet. He
folded. Yeah!!
This one will haunt me for a long time. 8/16. A limp a raise and 2 cold
calls to me in the BB. I have the lovely T7o and I decide to play with all
these players. I do that sometimes. Usually when I’m running well but not
lately. I’ve decided to do more of it in multi-way pots. 5 of us see the
flop of 8 7 5 two spades. Checked to the raiser, who times out and is put
all-in. This adds a new twist to the hand. Red hot Guy bets. He is up
600-700 already and is making everything. We all call the bet. (Mistake 1
I think. I should have raised here). Turn is another 5. Again we check to
him and he bets again. One fold and two of us call. River is another 8.
Checked to him he bets, and faced with him and the other player I fold my
2nd pair. Other guy calls. Bettor has 66. It’s good. I puke. He wins the
$112 side pot, and then the rest of it when the PFR shows AK. I puke
again. I believe David and Mason call this a catastrophe. That was my
profit for the session.
One more day at home then we go to Montreal for the Canada Day long
weekend. I hope to play a little but my hours will be way down. Not sure
how I’ll do the report just yet.
Thursday
Afternoon at Party. Just a short session as the kids finish school today
and we went to pick them up. Games were very good again. Although I lost 2
big pots on my last orbit I managed a $90 win for the session. I had been
up $200 though.
Evening at Paradise. I played as well as I possibly could tonight. I
didn’t play any hands out of position and I didn’t chase. And I still lost
$175. The 8/16 game was very tight and broke after about 90 minutes. I
managed to take $150 out of it though. I played 600 hands tonight and got
AA once and KK once. I only saw 21% of the flops which is really low for
me. And what turned my night from a win to a loss were 4 hands that I got
semi-bluff raised on the turn on while I was ahead, only to have the guy
hit on the river to come from behind. All of them were poor strategic
raises because there was no way I was folding, but they hit their cards on
the river. I know if I keep playing like that the wins will come.
It may be Tuesday before I can make another entry. I will try to catch up
then.
Friday
It is actually Tuesday now and I’m trying to catch up. On the personal
front it was a great weekend. This was our National holiday weekend and I
went to Montreal (where I grew up and my family and my wife’s family still
live) for a visit. We also sprinkled my Dad’s ashes up at the cottage
which was his favorite spot in the world. It was very nice and his wish.
He passed away in January and we were waiting for a time when we could all
be together. My kids did some fishing and we had a great time. On the
Poker front the news was not so good. I just can’t seem to win at all.
I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing this. I can’t believe I’ve gone from
being a winning player to a losing player just like that. I do believe
that at the end of another frustrating session I am not playing my best,
but overall I am just getting bad cards. Real bad. If I have AQ, AK is
behind me. If I have AK behind A4, the 4 rivers. I lost another $400 on
Friday night, and I just took Saturday off. Sunday I dropped another 200,
and another 200 on Monday. So I will call week 9 an extended week since I
don’t have exact dollar figures for each day. I do know that from last
Sunday to today I lost $1,200 at paradise and won $300 at Party. Another
awful week.
I am now faced with a really bleak future. If I didn’t need to withdraw
funds to live on, my bankroll would be healthy, but I do, so it’s not. I
can’t afford another $1,000 loss this week so it’s time for this to turn
around. As a competitive person this is very frustrating. In any other
sport you just practice more, work harder, etc. and feel like you are
doing something. Here, I’m just waiting for better cards. I wish I could
blame the games, but the games have been very good, even at paradise. 8/16
games with 30-35% seeing the flop. Same with the 5/10 games. It’s hard to
complain when someone chases your AK to the rive with his A4, and an A on
the flop. But when the 4 rivers, again and again it starts to wear on you.
Last night I finally hit some flops and got some big pairs, and I still
lost. 4 big hands that I led going into the river all lost on the river.
I’m estimating $800 that would have been mine disappeared on 5 outers or
less. That turns my $200 loss into a $600 win. Soon I hope.
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