Strikes and Gutters

Wow, it's been a hell of a week. Got home from kungfu last Wednesday desperate for a quick game, and what do you know, I got myself in a hole. A deep, expensive, awake-til-nearly-4am-with-work-the-next-day hole. I went through nearly $1600 before I left the tables. Now for a lot of people, this is a lot of money. I am one of those people, and went to bed feeling like I'd been sucker punched solidly for a day. The loss started off as usual with a few bad beats, and then I started losing a lot to people who were calling and raising with literally any 2 cards (provided they were suited of course). My TPTK would run into an unlikely 2 pair. My overpairs would go down to a set. I just couldn't get a handle on my opponents aggression and the rebuy button was getting hit more often than Lebanese residential blocks.

The really bad thing is that I decided I couldn't face work the next day, and so, I swallowed my pride and called in sick. *hangs head* I can't function well when I'm tired and I just couldn't face work in my current mindset. I even managed to get through til the afternoon before I sat down at the felt. I won $400 back in an hour and stopped, feeling much better. Unfortunately, I didn't quit while ahead, and sat down again after dinner and lost another $1200. I'm smiling as I write this but there were definitely no smiles at the time. That said, I did manage work the next day so I felt I was getting at least some handle on the situation, though I cannot deny I was very concerned that my bankroll had dropped from 12k to under 10. Very. Concerned.

I had my usual "Why did I have such a bad session?" internal monologue the next day and realised I had been trying to fight fire with fire. Playing suited semi-connectors from early position just because your opponents are winning massive pots with them is a terrible plan, however smart it may seem when your opponents are destroying you with them nearly every hand. I had been limping with lots of KXs, raising from the middle with mid-connectors and generally playing weak poker. And, as I was unable to lay any bad beats my results were subsequently poor. And so once again, I focused, screwed down and tried to get into a good routine. I do think about the game constantly when I'm winning, but nothing sharpens the mind more than losing a few thou in my humble experience. And, I'm pleased to report, the new play has so far been going rather well.....

I've been on holiday this week so had much more time to play, and so far I think I've made over 2.5k in about 8 hours, and on top of that I actually feel I've been playing very well. There have been a few situations where I was leaving money on the felt unnecessarily;either by chasing draws too aggressively, or getting trapped in a raising war with hands that were at best marginal to begin with. There were also a few occasions where I did not extract the maximum value from my monsters, but that has all been in the name of extreme caution and in fear of the gods Draw and Suckout.

The highlight of the week so far was a hand I was playing on VC against a guy who clearly has no understanding of implied odds but never-the-less enjoyed the fortune of Lady Luck on this particular occasion. The guy who put in the first raise was a very weak player who was tilting wildly and I was aiming to isolate. Enjoy....

 

Table Name	Hand ID	Game	Stakes
Police Academy	10474745-39429		Holdem No Limit	$2/$4
[Aug 15 14:54:09] : Hand Start.
[Aug 15 14:54:09] : Seat 1 : dawsey has $333.25
[Aug 15 14:54:09] : Seat 2 : homer jayy has $249.39
[Aug 15 14:54:09] : Seat 3 : RX forPoker has $182
[Aug 15 14:54:09] : Seat 4 : Sub_Zero has $275
[Aug 15 14:54:09] : Seat 5 : amirmi99 has $225.72
[Aug 15 14:54:09] : Seat 6 : tailormerd has $296
[Aug 15 14:54:09] : amirmi99 is the dealer.
[Aug 15 14:54:10] : tailormerd posted small blind.
[Aug 15 14:54:10] : dawsey posted big blind.
[Aug 15 14:54:10] : Game [39429] started with 6 players.
[Aug 15 14:54:10] : Dealing Hole Cards.
[Aug 15 14:54:10] : Seat 4 : Sub_Zero has Kh Kd
[Aug 15 14:54:13] : homer jayy called $4 and raised $16
[Aug 15 14:54:13] : RX forPoker folded.
[Aug 15 14:54:22] : Sub_Zero called $20 and raised $40
[Aug 15 14:54:25] : tailormerd : i didnt play my habd well
[Aug 15 14:54:26] : amirmi99 called $60
[Aug 15 14:54:27] : tailormerd folded.
[Aug 15 14:54:27] : dawsey folded.
[Aug 15 14:54:29] : homer jayy folded.
[Aug 15 14:54:29] : Dealing flop.
[Aug 15 14:54:29] : Board cards [2s 5s 7c]
[Aug 15 14:54:38] : tailormerd : hand
[Aug 15 14:54:41] : Sub_Zero bet $100
[Aug 15 14:54:43] : amirmi99 called $100 and raised $65.72 and is All-in
[Aug 15 14:54:43] : Under-Raise rules are now in effect.
[Aug 15 14:54:45] : Sub_Zero called $65.72
[Aug 15 14:54:46] : Showdown!
[Aug 15 14:54:46] : Seat 4 : Sub_Zero has Kh Kd
[Aug 15 14:54:47] : Seat 4 : Sub_Zero has Kh Kd
[Aug 15 14:54:47] : Seat 5 : amirmi99 has 2d 2c
[Aug 15 14:54:53] : Board cards [2s 5s 7c Tc 3c]
[Aug 15 14:54:53] : Seat 5 : amirmi99 has 2d 2c
[Aug 15 14:54:53] : amirmi99 has 3 of a Kind: 2s
[Aug 15 14:54:53] : Seat 4 : Sub_Zero has Kh Kd
[Aug 15 14:54:53] : Sub_Zero has Pair: Kings
[Aug 15 14:54:53] : amirmi99 wins $474.44 with 3 of a Kind: 2s
[Aug 15 14:55:03] : Hand is over.