Rhound,

I've played quite a bit with MVP, prior to inebriation, and he's much much better than I am. Seriously better. That may put me below a trained monkey. I'm improving, but I've got to give him credit. It's due. The boy has chops.

Crunk,

I know what you mean, but instead of negativity, it's more frustration. I can't catch any cards lately. Many times, when I do catch, I'm coming out second best. I've seen some weird combos, and most times I come out on the bad end.

I'm not playing that badly, although MVP might differ, given my play on one hand that was horribly stupid. The times I've played badly have been instructive and made me better, which is one good thing about running badly. I'm getting quite a bit of support from friends who know I can play. It's not as bad as it sounds.

Good is that even running bad, I'm not losing nearly as much as I could be if I wasn't staying disciplined. I've steamed more than a few times, but haven't gone off on any chip-spewing tilts. Just whined a lot. I'm prone to that, obviously.

I agree that sometimes negative thought brings forth more negative results. One guy said I have a negative aura around me. That's BS, imho. You can realize where you are, fight against the negative thoughts and not give in, and come out the other side whole and intact. It won't change where you are, however. You are still running bad and will until the variance turns around.

This is why we have a bankroll.

Thanks for the support. Someday soon, I'm gonna kill it again. (Like that one day last week, when I get the cards, I'm pretty lethal.)

sigh

I guess I really should try no limit again. I'm pretty much back at where I was when I started the Tour. I did well, but this bad run has been costly. So...

I'm going to start by rereading Angel's book, then NLTAP, and starting another Budget Tour, this time, no limit.

As soon as MVP returns from Florida, we begin? He promised that if I wanted to do a No Limit Tour, he'd be onboard. And I need a guide.

We'll see how it goest. I'm on a short leash.

CJ I didn't mean to insinuate that you were worse than a trained monkey. I like to give MVP shit but really is is a very good NL player, there is no shame in him being better than you. Just because he is better doesn't by any means mean that you cant be a winner. If you move back stick to playing pairs and AK AQ and get a feel for the game, playing limit and no limit has a much much different flow of the game. Ready Angels books is a good start, also read one of the tells books, either Caro or the Book of tells. I found NLTP to be pretty much useless.

Hey CJ I am going to be up there for a few days starting next Wednesday/Thursday. There are a bunch of places I'd like to play that I havent, some of the more out of the way places. Also if you are looking for a guide for your tour that "Where to play in Vegas", post in the poker rooms section is all the places I have played.

Well, day one of the No Limit Budget Tour was interesting. I need some thoughts here.

I was playing the 1/2 game at the V. (Shut up, MVP, just listen.)

I'd increased my stack to almost $600, but was down to somewhere around $550 when the following hand came up.

I had KK in MP and raised to $10 (anymore and everyone folds). Guy to my left has been somewhat weak all game. Get him and 2 other callers. Flop comes

Jd 3c 2c.

I bet out $40, the size of the pot. Dude on my left raises to $80. He's made these min raises a lot. Folded to me and I reraise $120. That should be enough to get him out if he's not really strong. He's folded a number of times.

Without too much thought, he pushes all in.

I have him covered by maybe $50. There's about a thousand in the pot. I try to get some kind of a idea what the hell he's doing. Finally, I fold my KK face up.

He had Js9c. Top pair, bad kicker.

I think I did the right thing. I don't like it, but I think I did the right thing laying down the KK in that situation. The only thing he could push all in with is a set, I think, even if he was willing to go broke with top pair it turns out. I can't see going broke here with a pair and very little chance of improving.

Did I do okay? Or am I weak tight and am always going to suck? I played well to that point. I said, "it's just one in thousands of hands. There'll be more." I racked up and left.

Well, day one of the No Limit Budget Tour was interesting. I need some thoughts here.

I was playing the 1/2 game at the V. (Shut up, MVP, just listen.)

I'd increased my stack to almost $600, but was down to somewhere around $550 when the following hand came up.

I had KK in MP and raised to $10 (anymore and everyone folds). Guy to my left has been somewhat weak all game. Get him and 2 other callers. Flop comes

Jd 3c 2c.

I bet out $40, the size of the pot. Dude on my left raises to $80. He's made these min raises a lot. Folded to me and I reraise $120. That should be enough to get him out if he's not really strong. He's folded a number of times.

Without too much thought, he pushes all in.

I have him covered by maybe $50. There's about a thousand in the pot. I try to get some kind of a idea what the hell he's doing. Finally, I fold my KK face up.

He had Js9c. Top pair, bad kicker.

I think I did the right thing. I don't like it, but I think I did the right thing laying down the KK in that situation. The only thing he could push all in with is a set, I think, even if he was willing to go broke with top pair it turns out. I can't see going broke here with a pair and very little chance of improving.

Did I do okay? Or am I weak tight and am always going to suck? I played well to that point. I said, "it's just one in thousands of hands. There'll be more." I racked up and left.

Weak tight... A set pushes there like 1 time in a million...

Not to gang up on you CJ but I would echo Iceman's comment about folding big hands face up. Didn't you also do that with a full house recently? Anyway, never NEVER NEVER give others the satisfaction of actually knowing that they are able to make you fold a huge hand. Let him think you had AK, 74o, whatever. When you say you folded something face up I think it's a bit of a cry for validation from others that you are a good player when in fact it shows that you are not currently playing at your best.