Absolute Poker
Limit Holdem Ring game
Limit: $0.25/$0.5
9 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: $7.80
UTG+1: $4.30
MP1: $4.40
PayMeDaMoney: $13.80
MP3: $9.20
CO: $12.85
Button: $0.95
SB: $12.10
BB: $4.75

Pre-flop: (9 players) PayMeDaMoney is MP2 with
UTG calls (1.4:1), UTG+1 calls (2.4:1), MP1 folds, PayMeDaMoney calls (3.4:1), MP3 folds, CO calls (4.4:1), Button folds, SB calls (5.4:0.5), BB checks.

Flop: (6SB, 6 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, PayMeDaMoney bets, CO calls (7:1), SB calls (8:1), BB folds, UTG calls (9:1), UTG+1 calls (10:1).

Turn: (5.5BB, 5 players)
SB checks, UTG checks, UTG+1 checks, PayMeDaMoney bets, CO raises, 3 folds, PayMeDaMoney calls (8.5:1).

River: (9.5BB, 2 players)
PayMeDaMoney checks, CO bets, PayMeDaMoney calls (10.5:1).

Results:
Final pot: 11.5BB
CO Shows 4d Ad

Absolute Poker
Limit Holdem Ring game
Limit: $0.25/$0.5
9 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: $4.40
UTG+1: $9.90
MP1: $22.65
MP2: $2.65
PayMeDaMoney: $11.85
CO: $10.75
Button: $12.25
SB: $4.50
BB: $11.55

Pre-flop: (9 players) PayMeDaMoney is MP3 with
4 folds, PayMeDaMoney raises, 2 folds, SB calls (3.4:1.5), BB folds.

Flop: (5SB, 2 players)
SB checks, PayMeDaMoney bets, SB calls (6:1).

Turn: (3.5BB, 2 players)
SB checks, PayMeDaMoney bets, SB calls (4.5:1).

River: (5.5BB, 2 players)
SB checks, PayMeDaMoney checks.

Results:
Final pot: 5.5BB
SB Shows Kh 7h
PayMeDaMoney mucks 9h Ac

These two runner-runner losses took place 7 hands apart and here is the conversation that followed the 2nd one........

Me: Nice call on the flop although I'm kinda wondering what you thought you could have been ahead of there?
Answer that would inevitably follow.....
Fish: I thought you were bluffing.
Me: Ah, so I was open raising in middle position with....what?.....Jack high? Because that's the only thing you can beat there? Pair of 2's, your behind. A-high, your behind. Q-high turned into a pair of Queens, your behind. So what was it?
Fish: Uh, I was suited?
Me: Ok, very nice. Great hand.

No, this conversation never actually took place (not outside my head at least), but tell me the truth, isn't it a conversation you want to have every time someone does something stupid like this and draws out on you? But we can't. Because we're not supposed to tap the proverbial "fish tank". So we keep our mouth shut and grind our teeth when the fish goes ahead and re-distributes our chips to the other players. I know I wasn't way ahead, but the idiot with K7s doesn't know that.

So why did I re-open this journal that is almost a year old?
1- Because I can.
2- Because I'm too lazy to start all over again.
3- Because I'm beginning to think that it's better therapy to bitch in here, all in the same thread, than to keep opening bad beat posts.
4- Because I'm still not EVEN!

Ok, technically No.4 isn't true. Not if we count all forms of poker at least. I'm pretty far ahead in tournament play and that actually more than makes up for my short-comings in the limit and NL ring games, but it just frustrates me to no end that I can't seem to get ahead no matter what site I play on, no matter what stakes I play.

My typical session goes a little something like this....

I go about and play about an hour of about break even or slightly ahead poker and then I lose a monster pot. Or I win very little or break even 3 or 4 sessions in a row, then I have a monster loss. I'm getting better at not going on tilt, much better in fact. I have to keep telling myself that it's all one continuous session and believe it or not, this works. Yet I hate coming away from sessions supposedly happy because I should have lost a lot more than I actually did. I saved myself a bet on the river both times in the above hands.

What about the monster winning sessions? They are far and few between. (Like I said, I'm gonna do some bitchin' in here. If you don't like it, don't read it. This is my therapy god-damnit!). I sometimes think about moving up because I have the bankroll and I've even beat larger games on other sites previously, but I figured I hadn't played ring/cash on any regular basis in about 6 months so I wanted to start at the lower levels and work myself back up after 10,000 hands of profit at each level, but it just ain't working the way I envisioned it would.

One thing that has greatly helped me get through this latest stretch is reviewing my 3 biggest losing hands in terms of pot equity before the river from each session. Most times, about two-thirds of the time, I have a significant edge in pot equity when I'm putting money in the pot so I know my decisions are right. Sure sometimes I lost a big pot because I did something stupid, sometimes I have a great hands that I can't get away from, but my opponent was better, sometimes I get trapped, but generally I am making the right decisons.

One tournament as well today. Blinds were 20/40 (3rd round) and I still had approximately the 1500 that I started with. Shortie (600?) raises to 200 from MP and I have pocket 10's in the SB. He has been playing a little fishy so far so I re-raise him all-in. He calls with [7s]. I'm happy......for about 2 seconds. He flops 2 pair and doubles up. A full orbit later, with the blinds still the same I pick up QQ in the BB. 4 players limp and the SB completes. I have a little over 900 left and figure why not push? One of these numnuts will think their pocket 5's is good to my AK and call. Unfortunately 2 numnuts call. The fish from the previous hand, with pocket 5's of course, and a new fish in the SB with A8. AA7 on the flop and I'm gone.

Thank god for the casino bonuses that Derk and Emma's Dad introduced us too a few months back.

Anyway, going to the Mets game in Philly tomorrow so it'll be a day off from poker, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Daily stats:
$.25/.50 Limit:
207 Hands 20.29 VP$IP 5.8 PFR (3.8)BB/100 (-$3.93)
No Limit:
None
MTT:
129 out of 195
SNG:
None

Overall: (Year)
$.25/50 Limit:
2114 Hands 18.59 VP$IP 5.91 PFR .06 BB/100 $.68
$.10 No Limit
1,431 Hands 24.18 VP$IP 5.87 PFR (9.45) BB/100 (-$27.04)
MTT's -Online
129 MTT 48.2% ROI
MTT's - Live
14 MTT 30.98% ROI
SNG's
100 SNG .39% ROI

Annoying Stats:
Last 23x I have seen a flop with AKs/o in a NL ring game, I have completely missed 19x. 2 of the times I made a pair or better, I lost a big pot. Ouch!
I've been dealt pocket 10's 12 times in $.25/50 Limit ring games. I've won only 25% of those hands. Only won 1x without flopping a set, but I'm only losing .22 BB/Hand so I don't think I'm overplaying the hand.

It's nice to get away from poker for awhile and laugh at your friends' problems.

Went to said Met/Phillies game tonight. So far, been to 2 Mets/Phillies games in the highest offensive park in the league and much like in poker, the odds F me. My Mets, 0 runs in 2 games. I was so close to letting loose with an obscenity laced tirade, but there were children present.

At least it was funny to listen to my friends who have, what they consider, larger problems than I have (girls). One is getting married to a girl that we suddenly aren't allowed to mention his ex-girlfriend around because the fiance believes that they were dating at the time he was with his ex. Uhm..WTF??? Next, my other friend has been seeing this girl, slighly wierd, long story, don't have time for, but I actually met her 5 years ago before he ever met her. Anyway, they work together (teachers) and at the end of the school year, exchanged phone #'s just because they all hung out in the same group of people. Month and a half later they call, have an awkward conversation, go out a few times, and now are seeing each other. Funny thing is, couple of days ago she admits to him, because her best friend told her to confess, that she actually originally called him by accident while trying to call another of her friends with the same name. He was an accident! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I was laughing so hard I was in tears. I don't know, I guess you gotta be there.

1 Late Night MTT when I got home tonight. I was a little buzzed and I'm one of those people that plays better when buzzed, but not trashed. I was on fire. I was calling out other players hands and had them pretty much amazed. However, that still didn't stop the guy from calling the UTG PFR in LP w/ A9o and hitting. Nor did it stop the button from calling my open CO raise all-in w/ 88. He had AQ. Flop was clean, I said my goodbye's and good luck, he hit A turn, Q river.

I played great. Sometimes you know you are the best player at the table, but you still can't win if they're not folding and your not hitting.

Here's the hand of the day, tough to follow, but the post-hand conversation is good stuff.

STAGE #474699523 TOURNEY ID 1177156 HOLDEM MULTI NORMAL TOURNAMENT NO LIMIT $60 - 2006-08-17 03:02:57 (ET)
Table: 4 (Real Money) Seat #2 is the dealer
Seat 2 - DMILLER777 ($4060 in chips)
Seat 3 - EDREED20 ($420 in chips)
Seat 4 - DONNABELL ($2410 in chips)
Seat 5 - TVNEWZMAN ($3335 in chips)
Seat 6 - BARCODEBILL ($1035 in chips)
Seat 7 - PABROB ($6230 in chips)
Seat 8 - DRAGNET ($850 in chips)
Seat 9 - PAYMEDAMONEY ($1955 in chips)

EDREED20 - Posts small blind $30
DONNABELL - Posts big blind $60
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to PAYMEDAMONEY [3c]
TVNEWZMAN - Calls $60
BARCODEBILL - Raises $120 to $120
PABROB - Folds
DRAGNET - All-In(Raise) $850 to $850
PAYMEDAMONEY - Folds
DMILLER777 - Calls $850
EDREED20 - Folds
DONNABELL - Folds
TVNEWZMAN - Calls $790
BARCODEBILL - Calls $730
Pot $3490

*** FLOP *** [7s][Ts]
TVNEWZMAN - Checks
BARCODEBILL - Bets $60
DMILLER777 - Calls $60
TVNEWZMAN - Raises $120 to $120
BARCODEBILL - All-In(Raise) $125 to $185
DMILLER777 - Calls $125
TVNEWZMAN - Calls $65
Pot $4045

*** TURN ***
TVNEWZMAN - Checks
DMILLER777 - Checks
*** RIVER *** [2d 7s 10s 4c]
TVNEWZMAN - Checks
DMILLER777 - Bets $1980
TVNEWZMAN - Folds
DMILLER777 - returned ($1980) : not called


*** SHOW DOWN ***
DMILLER777 - Shows [Jd] (One pair, jacks)
BARCODEBILL - Shows [Ad] (One pair, aces)
DRAGNET - Mucks
BARCODEBILL Collects $555 from side pot-1
BARCODEBILL Collects $3490 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***

First off, the turn $60 bet is just precious. Bless his little heart. Then after the hand, TVNEWZMAN, who has my favorite movie character, Ron Burgendy, as his avatar flips on BARCODEBILL, saying that he had KK. Says that some people just don't understand poker. YAH, RIGHT! I love Anchorman, but what kind of idiot doesn't move all-in with KK here? Even worse, what kind of idiot folds KK at the end? Ahhhhh, if it weren't for luck, I'd win ever one!

In keeping with my basic pattern, I lost another 2 stacks when I was way ahead. I had the right read on both hands, got my money in with a dominating lead (especially on the 2nd hand) and got stacked each time. As I've said previously, I usually pick out my big losing hands and check the pot equity. Today I didn't even really need to do that, although I did anyway just for effect. (I've posted each of these hands in the BB section.)

Absolute Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.05/$0.10
8 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: $2.30
UTG+1: $16.40
MP1: $1.20
MP2: $11.41
CO: $12.85
Button: $8.05
SB: $19
PayMeDaMoney: $10

Pre-flop: (8 players) PayMeDaMoney is BB with
UTG calls $0.1 (pot was $0.15), 2 folds, MP2 calls $0.1 (pot was $0.25), CO calls $0.1 (pot was $0.35), Button calls $0.1 (pot was $0.45), SB raises to $0.35, PayMeDaMoney raises to $1.2, 4 folds, SB raises to $2.8, PayMeDaMoney calls $1.6 (pot was $3.9).

Flop: ($6, 2 players)
SB bets $7.5, PayMeDaMoney calls all-in $7.1.
Uncalled bets: $0.4 returned to SB.

Turn: ($20.2, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $20.2)


River: ($20.2, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $20.2)


Results:
Final pot: $20.2
SB Shows Ah Kh
PayMeDaMoney Shows Qh Qc

I went with my read that he was bluffing, I could have been wrong, but I wasn't. I had a very big lead when all the money went in....

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=1923994
pokenum -h qh qc - ah kh -- 9d th 2d
Holdem Hi: 990 enumerated boards containing 9d 2d Th
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Qc Qh 721 72.83 269 27.17 0 0.00 0.728
Ah Kh 269 27.17 721 72.83 0 0.00 0.272

and I lose an entire stack again.

This 2nd hand is just sick. I've played over 500 hands against opponent. I knew he had a hand. He's one of the tighter and better players at this level. I was pretty sure he knew that I C-Bet over 90% of my PFR's. I thought I was stacking him and.....

Absolute Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.05/$0.10
7 players


Stack sizes:
PayMeDaMoney: $11.02
UTG+1: $4.70
MP1: $7.35
CO: $16.55
Button: $8.75
SB: $11.15
MP1: $1.2
BB: $19.80

Pre-flop: (7 players) PayMeDaMoney is UTG with
PayMeDaMoney raises to $0.6, 2 folds, CO calls $0.6 (pot was $0.75), 3 folds.

Flop: ($1.35, 2 players)
PayMeDaMoney bets $1, CO raises to $2, PayMeDaMoney raises all-in $10.42, CO calls $8.42 (pot was $13.77).

Turn: ($22.19, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $22.19)


River: ($22.19, 1 player + 1 all-in - Main pot: $22.19)


Results:
Final pot: $22.19
PayMeDaMoney Shows Js Jc
CO Shows Qh Qd

http://twodimes.net/h/?z=1923996
pokenum -h js jc - qd qh -- 8d 6c jh
Holdem Hi: 990 enumerated boards containing 6c 8d Jh
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
Js Jc 889 89.80 101 10.20 0 0.00 0.898
Qd Qh 101 10.20 889 89.80 0 0.00 0.102

I played it F'in PERFECT. I flopped top set and lost....AGAIN! 2nd time in a weak this has happened. Last time I had TT and flopped T9x vs KK. Q on turn. Money went in and I lost to J on river. Exactly how sick is this? PT says I'm actually in a negative money situation when I flop a set.

If anyone has read the previous entries this week here, you know much trouble I'm having with pocket 10's. I wasn't overplaying them in the 1st place, but I still decided to be even more cautious with them today. 3x dealt, 3 winners. Still not even yet, but it's a start. Not posting the hand here, but I did catch a 2 outter (Posted in Bad Beats section) on the river one of those times today to beat someone who caught a 3 outter on the turn. Updated pocket 10 stats:
9x 55.56% (-1.97) BB/Hand

2 outters all over the place today. Here's a sick hand where I sucked out on the river. It was against the same player who got me with the Queens before, but for less money.

Absolute Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.05/$0.10
9 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: $5.25
PayMeDaMoney: $19.74
MP1: $9.68
MP2: $12.65
MP3: $5.49
CO: $9.90
Button: $7.50
SB: $4.24
BB: $5.80

Pre-flop: (9 players) PayMeDaMoney is UTG+1 with
UTG calls $0.1 (pot was $0.15), PayMeDaMoney calls $0.1 (pot was $0.25), MP1 calls $0.1 (pot was $0.35), MP2 folds, MP3 calls $0.1 (pot was $0.45), CO calls $0.1 (pot was $0.55), Button folds, SB calls $0.05 (pot was $0.65), BB checks.

Flop: ($0.7, 7 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, PayMeDaMoney bets $0.5, MP1 folds, MP3 calls $0.5 (pot was $1.2), 2 folds, BB calls $0.5 (pot was $1.7), UTG folds.

Turn: ($2.2, 3 players)
BB checks, PayMeDaMoney bets $1.3, MP3 folds, BB calls $1.3 (pot was $3.5).

River: ($4.8, 2 players)
BB is all-in $3.9, PayMeDaMoney calls $3.9 (pot was $8.7).

Results:
Final pot: $12.6
BB Shows 8d 3s
PayMeDaMoney Shows Jh 9h


Still disgusted though because I should have had a big day. I never actually committed all that much money to the pots that I sucked out on the river before I was ahead. Instead it's another unlucky session.

Played 1 MTT today as well. Not much to speak of. I played aggressive and ran my AQ into AA when the last A in the deck hit the flop. It was a Blind vs Blind situation too. Not much I could do to avoid getting crippled. I actually made it back to respectability before losing a 3 way all-in where I open-pushed a small stack from MP and was called by both blinds with small Aces. The smaller Ace hit his kicker twice (flop and river) and knocked me out.

Daily stats:
$.5/.10 NL:
227 Hands 27.31 VP$IP 7.05 PFR (-8.72) BB/100 (-$3.96)



Overall: (Year)
$.25/50 Limit:
2114 Hands 18.59 VP$IP 5.91 PFR .06 BB/100 $.68

$.10 No Limit
1,658 Hands 24.61 VP$IP 6.03 PFR (-9.35) BB/100 (-$31.00)

MTT's -Online
131 MTT 46.44% ROI
MTT's - Live
14 MTT 30.98% ROI
SNG's
100 SNG .39% ROI

I'm just disgusted with my damn luck right now. I know I'm not the only one who suffers these beats, but it just never seems to end and they are usually huge hands because I'm just dumb enough to push all my money in when I know I'm ahead. Still waiting for it to turn around.

Beautiful way to end a disgusting night.

MTT:
[Jh] in SB. EP raises 4xBB (160) and 3 callers. I just call. Flop is [2s][4c]. I don't usually slow play sets, but with 3 others in the pot I figure one would take a stab at it and I would C/R, but no. Turn is . I bet half pot and 2 call. River is completing every draw out there. There probably wasn't any other card that could have been worse for me. I check and 2 guys go all-in. One has [9c] and the other [8d].

Very next hand, the biggest maniac at the table raises 8xBB (320) from UTG+1. MP min-reraises him. He's only mildly psychotic. I am on the button with [Qh]. UTG+1 usually raises any PP like this. Last time it was 22 OOP. I expect the 2nd loony to have some kinda Ace. Well it was the reverse.
UTG+1 calls AI with [Qs] (At least I have him covered.)
Total dipshit calls AI w/ [4s] and has me covered.

Board [3s][9s] Well, there goes most the pot right away to 3 outs.
[Ks] and there goes the rest to another 2+ outter.

Yup so I finished with all the money in and coming up 3rd against AQ and 44 w/ my QQ. Let today be a lesson to everyone.....It doesn't pay to get your money in when your ahead. If you don't lose on the F' Me (Flop), and survive the Tease/Torture (Turn), then you'll catch it in the Rear (River).

Two hands stand out from today's MTT.

Absolute Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t40/t80
9 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: t3195
UTG+1: t4125
PayMeDaMoney: t3445
MP2: t940
MP3: t3185
CO: t3400
Button: t1900
SB: t1570
BB: t1460

Pre-flop: (9 players) PayMeDaMoney is MP1 with
UTG folds, UTG+1 calls t80 (pot was t120), PayMeDaMoney raises to t240, 5 folds, BB calls t160 (pot was t440), UTG+1 calls t160 (pot was t600).

Flop: (t760, 3 players)
BB checks, UTG+1 checks,

UTG+1, who was probably the 2nd best player at the table, hesitated before he checked. He hadn't hesitated like this in any hand I've watched him previously. I had intended on betting either t500 or t600, but his pause made me lessen my bet to t400. He was slightly tight and I didn't think he'd limp with an 8 and he's raise AK so it was probably KQ.

PayMeDaMoney bets t400, BB folds, UTG+1 raises to t800, PayMeDaMoney folds.
Uncalled bets: t400 returned to UTG+1.

Results:
Final pot: t1560

Right after the check-raise I told him that I knew it was coming so I bet less. My comment had the intended effect because he jawed back at me and even said that he had KQ which was exactly what I wanted to know. So once again I know exactly what my opponent has, but this time, even though I didn't win, it saved me money.

Here's the real bitch.

Absolute Poker
No Limit Holdem Tournament
Blinds: t75/t150
8 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: t11925
UTG+1: t7560
MP1: t8085
MP2: t1170
CO: t3625
Button: t4874
SB: t2665
PayMeDaMoney: t4955

Pre-flop: (8 players) PayMeDaMoney is BB with
5 folds, Button calls t150 (pot was t225), SB calls t75 (pot was t375), PayMeDaMoney checks.

Flop: (t450, 3 players)


I hated this F'in hand as soon as I flopped it. I just bet the pot and prayed that the Button didn't have a Queen and everyone folds.

SB checks, PayMeDaMoney bets t450, Button raises to t900, SB folds, PayMeDaMoney raises all-in t4805, Button calls all-in t3824.
Uncalled bets: t81 returned to PayMeDaMoney.

Not that easy, I was pissed when he raised and I knew that he was gonna hit his kicker and I was gonna lose all my chips, but I had to play it.

Turn: (t9898, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t9898)


River: (t9898, 0 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: t9898)


Results:
Final pot: t9898
Button Shows Ac Qs
PayMeDaMoney Shows 9h 5s



So this is what this streak has done. I pray that they fold when they are way behind. I know what they have, I play accordingly and just pray that they fold. Aren't you supposed to win a lot of money when you play as if you know what your opponent has? Jesus F'in Christ this is just so ridiculous. If I had known it was gonna be like this I would take my poker bankroll and just throw it on football games because at least that takes up an entire day and you go in expecting to lose money.

After sleeping it off, I figured I was being a little too melodramtic last night. I'm too competitive to even take a break. I jumped right back on the horse today, but something strange happened.

I spoke about the possibility of this run catching up to me and altering my play and it actually did tonight. It wasn't tilt though. This was a new phenomenon. I was playing in shock.

I flopped top set again and was beaten by top pair. This was the 3rd such time I'd flopped top set, gotten all the money in on the flop, and lost to an over-pair. Not only the 3rd time, but the 3rd time in a row. I was past being mad. Instead I just ceased to be there at all mentally. I didn't get up and leave the table immediately as I probably should have done, but I must have sat there for about 50 hands and folded. I know this because PT tells me I played those 50 hands. I was just sitting there being blinded off without even realizing it for about 5 rounds. Then when I finally woke up I lost all of my aggression. I stopped betting draws. I slowed down to a dead stop on monsters that weren't the nuts when I was called. I didn't bet big over-pairs past the flop when I was called. This doesn't mean I threw them away, as a matter of fact I actually evened up for the session when someone kept betting his JK into my AA with a K on board even on the river and JT kept betting at a T4TQ3 board when I had AT.

I know I'm not tilting because if I were, I'd be throwing money away. Now I'm just being timid about playing big pots with big hands, maybe even the nuts when there is a draw that can beat me. Even if it's a 2 out draw. I hope this was just a 1 night thing that I can sleep off again. Hopefully the next time I flop top set I can be just as aggressive because I really have been playing the best I've ever played. It's hard to believe when you see that I can't seem to win, but in essence it has saved me from losing a lot more money.

The one area I have noticed a large leak in my game is playing draws, open enders and flush draws precisely. I usually like to play these draws aggressively. I don't like checking and calling because that just looks like a draw. It hurts in 2 ways, I won't get paid off when I hit and I can't win without hitting. I'm mostly playing in games, though, where nobody can fold top pair with any kicker so there is almost no fold equity to pushing or even betting your draws. I found one exception yesterday where I had position and I knew the player to be particularly tight because he was yapping about how he is able to lay down top pair. He PFR'ed, I called with 75s and the flop came 644. He bet out, I raised a healthy amount and he laid down. He later told the table how smart he was to lay down pocket 10's. Other than that though, I can't seem to get any profit out ot these draws. If I flop a draw with 12 outs or more I'm not as concerned with the fold equity because even if they call 95% of the time I'm about a 50/50 shot or better to win and that includes the money that was already in the pot so the odds are there for me. Should I back off with the suited connectors and Aces in a game where fold equity is virtually non-existant on flopped draws? If anybody has any advice on how to play these hands on the flop or turn, I'd be open to it.


Daily stats:
$.5/.10 NL:
217 Hands 19.35 VP$IP 3.69 PFR 0.68 AF (Yes, very passive) +4.08 BB/100 +$1.77

Overall: (Year)
$.25/50 Limit:
2114 Hands 18.59 VP$IP 5.91 PFR 1.01 AF .06 BB/100 $.68

$.10 No Limit
2144 Hands 23.51 VP$IP 5.83 PFR 0.70 AF (-6.22) BB/100 (-$26.68)

MTT's -Online
134 MTT 43.53% ROI
MTT's - Live
14 MTT 30.98% ROI
SNG's
100 SNG .39% ROI

Stat of the Day: I gotta take a look at those flopped top sets. My opponent's pot equity on the flop the last 3x I flopped top set and all the money went in on the flop was 34.04% (I just realized for the 1st time looking back at tonight's hand that he had flopped a K-high flush draw as well so his odds were better than I thought), 10.20%, & 10.20%.
I think there's less than a 1% chance that I would lose all 3 of those hands consecutively, but it happened.

I have flopped top set 11x (4 of those times with Jacks) in 122 pocket pair hands (which actually seems like quite a lot). I am only 6-5 in those hands for a total of (-174.2) BB. UGLY!

Out of those 122 pocket pairs, 19 of them were Jacks. The 2nd highest total is 12 Queens.

It finally happened. 3 consecutive pocket pairs (not consecutive hands) turned into sets with KK,77, and 77. The amazing thing is that I won all 3 hands and I was finally sitting there up an entire stack. Only took about 2500 hands.

Then, inevitably, I lost it back and more. One player re-raised my PFR then called an all-in with ATs vs my KK. He flopped the flush draw and hit the Ace on the river. One stack gone, now I'm back to even. Next loss I had AK in the BB and raised an open limper in CO. He called, flop was 669. I continued full pot and he called, turn was A. I bet half pot and he called. I checked the river and he bet half pot, I had to call and lose to 99. That was another half stack. Last one hurt. I had 87o in BB. 4 players (2 blinds, UTG and UTG+1) and flop comes 567 w/ 3 different suits. I bet two-thirds pot and the 2 EP players call. Turn is 8, I bet half pot and only UTG+1 calls. I'm about to give up when 9 comes on the turn putting a straight (56789) on the board. I check and UTG+1 bets two-thirds pot. I can't really see him sticking around for the runner-runner striaght there so I have to call. He has T9o. There goes another 1/2 stack. So despite the early success I still finished down almost a full stack......AGAIN!

Solution, I withdrew most of my money from all of my poker sites and I'm either going to start someplace new or do something else. I left $50 in my account to mess around with. Tried a little Omaha H/L today at the lowest of levels, but I took a couple of ugly river 2 outters there too. 626T3 and I lose the entire pot with 2452 in the BB to 2 players with 63A4 and 63xx on the river. I'm no Omaha expert, yet, but I think that's a bad beat.

I also got tripped up on the Casino Bonuses last night. I deposited into 32 Red and played the required 100 GBP in order to be invited for the monthly bonus next month. It seems they've changed their minimum bet from 1 to 2 units so instead of having to play 100 hands I only had to play 50, but I had to risk more per hand which in turn led me to losing 27 GBP (over $50) in just 50 hands. Ouch! Next up is the Casino-On-Net bonus. I'm looking to deposit, withdraw, and gamble it up as I've heard that this is allowed there. I posted in the Bankroll section that I was willing to give someone the referral bonus, but no replies yet. I'll give it a few more hours before getting started. Surprised nobody wants the free money though.

Lastly I went through my PT database for all sites last night searching all NL games I've played since purchasing PT to see if it's always really been this bad and I just haven't noticed it. This is what I've come up with.......


Site Level Hands VP$IP PFR AF BB/100 Amount Won
Doyle's Room NL (.04) 5,479 22.54 3.78 .54 +5.87 +25.75
NL (.20) 1,029 24.20 5.93 .83 +15.41 +63.43
(BB/100 at NL(.04) was actually over +15 for the 1st 2,000hands and I was up over $50 before an ugly downswing

Party Poker NL (.25) 3,346 23.01 6.22 .90 +7.02 +117.50

Absolute NL (.10) 2,593 23.68 5.82 .70 -7.14 -37.05

Hollywood NL (.25) 292 22.26 7.53 1.16 -22.19 -32.40
NL (.50) 66 25.76 4.55 .88 +97.73 +64.50
NL ($1) 537 27.93 7.64 .79 -23.81 -255.75
NL ($2) 250 27.60 4.8 .52 +1.55 +15.50
(Disclaimer: All Hollywood games are 1 year+ and I had no business in most of these games. I just had a much larger bankroll at the time and decided to experiment. It's a small sample anyway.)


These numbers show a few possibilities that I was hoping they might.
1- It's probably just a bad run. I still do knw what I'm doing. It SHOULD turn around.
2- Is it possible that I'm playing too low? I can't play aggressively at the micro-limits. I was doing well at .25 at PP and .20 at DR where it's still a pretty ugly game, but they do tend to fold a bit more than the .10 level.
3- Despite the numbers, I still hate PP for different reasons.

If anybody was actually following....
1- Why? Are you sadistic?
2- You can see the end of it in my last post in the Bad Beat Section.

It's an unwinnable game. At least for me it is. 3 more stacks tonight. I give, the fish have won. I'll continue the casino bonuses until they ban me.

Good luck everyone or at least better luck than I have had.

I may need to change my mind about Party Poker. I've already doubled the $40 they gave me. More to come.......


Party Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.10/$0.25
9 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: $21
UTG+1: $28.66
MP1: $9.90
MP2: $17.90
MP3: $21.01
CO: $36.35
PayMeDaMoney: $26.65
SB: $38.10
BB: $11.15

Pre-flop: (9 players) PayMeDaMoney is Button with
UTG calls, UTG+1 folds, MP1 raises to $1, 3 folds, PayMeDaMoney raises to $10, 2 folds, UTG calls, MP1 calls all-in $8.9.

Flop: ($30.25, 2 players + 1 all-in - Main pot: $30.05, Sidepot 1: $0.2)
UTG is all-in $11, PayMeDaMoney calls.

Turn: ($52.25, 1 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $30.05, Sidepot 1: $22.2)


River: ($52.25, 1 player + 2 all-in - Main pot: $30.05, Sidepot 1: $22.2)


Results:
Final pot: $52.25
UTG shows Ah Jd
MP1 shows Jc Jh
PayMeDaMoney shows Kh Ks

Well, I was really ready to give up the game or at least take a long sabbatical as ED suggested. For christ sake, I had only lost about $100 and I was having a meltdown. I'm the kind of person where the money doesn't matter once the game starts. As long as it's all an affordable amout, $5 will drive me just as nuts as $100.

Then Party threw $40 at me. Now, after only a day gone, 283 hands later poker is fun again. I'm halfway through the bonus and the $40 now stands at $78.23.

The hand in the above thread was the biggest pot of the day of course. MP1 was so easy it was ridiculous. His PFR% was 38.14, but he had a pattern. Most of his raises were min-raises to $.50. His strong hands (AK-AQ, QQ-99) were raised to $1. He raised more than $1 just once and turned over AA. The way I had been running, I was happy just to win the $1.60 pre-flop, but I thought there was maybe a 50% chance he would call. UTG had only been at the table for 2 orbits, but had been playing 50% of her hands and PFRing 15%. Honestly, I wasn't even thinking she would call, but even when she did I knew she didn't have Aces because she would have re-raised me all-in. What kind of garbage limps in UTG then calls that? I guess we I found out and THANK GOD the Ace didn't flop as it had been all month.

Other than these 2 fish, when did Party get so tight? Of the 3 tables I played today, none of the tables had a VP$IP over 30% and for the most part they knew how to fold. I was stealing pots all day. I was getting away with things I never would have dreamed of trying playing $10 poker.

1- 9 handed. MP1 open limps, folded to me on the Button w/ [9d]. I PFR to $1. SB and MP1 call. Flop [3s][Jh]. Check, check, I bet $2 into $3.25 and I steal the pot. No way I would have pulled a move like this successfully at the $10 tables.

2- 10 handed and 4 limpers to me in the SB w/ [Kd]. I hate playing this hand OOP so I PFR to $1.50. EVERYBODY FOLDS! That never happens at $10. I'm usually in vs at least 2 players, missing and costing myself another 1/2 to 2/3 pot C'bet.

3- 10 handed MP1 limps, I limp MP2 w/ [Jd], SB completes, BB checks. [Ts][2s] gets checked around. checked to me again. I take a 1/2 pot stab and EVERYONE FOLDS!

I picked up pots like this all day long. They paid for the few speculative hands I did play and left me with a profit for the day without the above KK hand. Now it did help that I did hit TPTK with AK the 2x I had to take a flop with it. It also might have helped that I did flop 3 sets with the 11 PP's I was dealt that saw a flop. It might have also helped that I never put too much money in the pot and got drawn out on. I deserved a day like this to get my head screwed back on again.

Stats for the day:
.10/.25
283 Hands 18.37 VP$IP 5.65 PFR 0.75 AF +26.49 BB/100 +$37.48

All time PT stats at Party NL
.10/.25
3,629 Hands 22.65 VP$IP 6.17 PFR 0.89 AF +8.54 BB/100 +$154.98

Damn, does this mean I have to hang around Party after the bonus clears?

4 sessions, 4 winning sessions at PP $25NL. I'm almost to the point where I have my confidence fully back although I may still be checking the river too much fearing a check-raise when a scare card hits. Then again, maybe that is the right play most of the time. These players are a different bread. They're mostly loose before the flop, but weak/passive/tight(?) after the flop.

A common hand goes like this.....
They raise pre-flop. I call. An Ace or overcard hits the flop, they weak bet, I raise (whether I have the OC or not), they fold.
Or, they limp, I raise (w/ anything - suited connectors, suited A's/K's, pairs, etc..) they call, and I take it on the flop. It's great.

1 - UTG+2, a very aggressive pre-flop player, opens for $1(4x). MP1 calls. I call in MP2 w/ [9h]. Everyone else folds. Flop is [Ad][2s]. UTG+2 bets 25 cents into a $3.35 pot. MP1 folds, I raise to $2.50, UTG+2 folds. Like candy from a baby.

2 - 9 players, I'm BB w/ [8d]. MP1 limps, MP3 limps, Button (UTG+2 from last hand) raises to $2. Button had just stupidly donked off most of his stack last hand w/ 99 on a 8Q884 board. His opponent had AQ. What an idiot! Anyway, I knew he was tilting so I called. He only has $3.50 behind. MP1 actually calls as well. Flop comes 742 different suits. I bet $6 pot to get MP1 out and Button actually folds. They're giving me their money!

One last hand I gotta post because it redefines slow playing. I couldn't believe this, but he actually played this hand the same exact way 2x.

Party Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.10/$0.25
9 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: $13.28
UTG+1: $23.55
MP1: $31.95
PayMeDaMoney: $19.65
MP3: $34
CO: $9.55
Button: $21.85
SB: $26.30
BB: $23.30

Pre-flop: (9 players) PayMeDaMoney is MP2 with
3 folds, PayMeDaMoney calls, MP3 calls, CO calls, 2 folds, 2 folds, BB checks.

Flop: ($1.1, 4 players)
BB checks, PayMeDaMoney checks, MP3 checks, CO checks.

Turn: ($1.1, 4 players)
BB checks, PayMeDaMoney bets $0.75, MP3 folds, CO calls, BB folds.

River: ($2.6, 2 players)
PayMeDaMoney checks, CO bets $2, PayMeDaMoney calls.

Results:
Final pot: $6.6
CO shows Ad Ac
PayMeDaMoney shows 6c 8c

Summer's almost over, need to get out of the house before it ends. Weather is pretty ugly tonight, but off to the Jersey shore in any case. There's talk of a day trip to AC on Sunday.