Holly shit!!! I thought you killed yourself.

Christ, that's a bit morbid!

where have you been? You've been a topic of conversation in my outside world.

Be fair, man. Everyone wants some of the TW.

Okay, I suppose it's really about time to get back to this ol' rag. I'll start out with a special edition of "THE WEEK IN REVIEW!"

Last week sucked. There ya go.

Okay, to go into a bit more detail, last week didn't really suck as much as other weeks I've had, but it was a lot more frustrating. I feel like I played my most solid, least tilty poker all week, and yet kept getting completely shanked right up the hindquarters. All that said, I did manage about 200 in winnings, along with enough bonus/rake money to give my bankroll a small boost after my cashout.

So I really shouldn't be complaining, but hey, it's what I do best. Well, aside from performing unspeakably naughty acts on Monk's sister, anyway. Speaking of the merry monkster, I briefly pestered him at his PLO8 tables the other day and whined a bit about my "terrible break-even slump." In typical british fashion, is response was heartless, sarcastic, and more than a bit insulting. There may have even been bits of irony and perhaps even satire in there, but being the uncivilized, undereducated American scum that I am, I really couldn't say for sure.

But it's true. It's really a bit unfair to whine about a break-even slump to another poker player, because everyone on this board (except possibly for that lucksack Xaston) knows that slumps can be a helluva lot worse than breakeven. Anyone who's followed this journal knows that I've managed to produce weekly losses that'd make a 10/20 player shudder. But looking back, I know that in all of these bad weeks, the cards were only partially to blame. The real problem was that I'd either engage in shocking displays of undeniable tilt, or more subtle forms of tiltage such as playing too weakly or altering my game rather than just riding it out.

This past week, on the other hand, I've continued to play my absolute best, and I just kept getting hosed. But in a way, I feel pretty damned good that I managed any sort of win at all. I think it shows that I've taken a few steps forward, because I have no doubt that a slump such as this one would've lead to a solid -$500 week a couple months ago. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm actually pretty proud of my rather unimpressive week.

ANY-FUCKING-WAY, the good news is that it's a new week; a "clean slate" if you will allow me use of such a god-awfully overused cliche (even by cliche standards)...and I'm really pretty pumped about how I'm playing lately. So you can all look forward with eager anticipation, or perhaps trepidation, to a return to daily updates of this god-forsaken bane of my inexplicable existance! Later.

Current bankroll : 1694
Current limit : 3-6 LHE

-TW

Read my journal punk, I lost $842 in a session yesterday and I'm damn proud of it! So what if I made it back and then some later on, flopping about 15 sets in the process, I am by no means a lucksack. In the BTP tournament I got it all in pre flop with J4s against 88 and didn't even win, sheesh, I'm like the favorite there.

I just want to personally thank you sitting in on my PLO8 table and tutoring me on some of the finer points of play. Some of your new PLO8 technology I have never read about at all but it was nice to see how it works in action.

My GOD, what an awful session! I stayed true to the "marathon" thing and booked 8 hours and 20 minutes. Here's how it went down: Things started off pretty slow as I kinda swung between even and up 50, right until piers and norton showed up. Things got a bit wild then, and I managed to mize a few pots off of the nortster, including a daring 3-bet with KTs against his AQ, and a beautiful hand where I decided to keep him honest with bottom pair and hit trips on the river. Mecos knows how that feels, and now so does norton. Anyway, I managed to get up about 150, and then went into a bit of a can't-hit-a-hand decline. Slowly bled back down to even, and then kept going.

Over the next few hours, I went on the most disgusting anti-rush of my life. I kept on sinking and sinking, getting seemingly ever good hand cracked, till I bottomed out at about 600 down 5 hours into the session. WOW. There were a few too many times that frustration got the best of me in here, but I do believe for the most part I played solid. But...wow! Anyway, I eventually started to make a comeback, working my way all the way back to 250 down, but then things went to shit again and I eventually ended the session $400 down. Pretty sad.

OF COURSE, it doesn't help to get AA 7 times and lose a total of $97.50 with it, or to manage a startling -2.50 with my 29 AK's, or to get TT 11 frickin times and win twice (one of which was a blind-steal). Let me just toss out a quick summary of some of the hands I had to deal with.

There aren't all bad beats (though most of them are), but if nothing else, they're all painful.

1) AA vs T9o, guy flop a 9 and turns his ten.
2) AA vs KJ, flop is jack-high, we go 4 bets and 2 more on the turn, he rivers the king.
3) AA vs Q3s, the flop is QQ3. I REALLY should've been able to get away, but i was steaming a bit.
4) AA vs KK, king on the flop
5) KK vs AA, no help for me
6) JJ vs AA, ragged board...I suppose I could've gotten away but it was the table fish and I thought I was all set to finally win a biggy off of him
7) TT vs JJ
8) TT vs JJ. Again.
9) TT vs KQ, A-T-9 flop, he rivers the gutter
10) 99 vs TT
11) AKs vs 88, he caps preflop, flop is A-Q-3. We go 3 bets on the flop, one on the turn, he rivers the 8.
12) AK vs AJ, we flop an ace and get nuts, he hits a runner-runner jack-high flush
13) AK vs 73o, flop is K-7-3
14) AK vs AA, king-high flop
15) AK vs T3s, A-T-3 flop...actually managed to get away from this one, still sucked
16) JJ vs KK, J-9-7 flop, board makes a straight on the river and we split.

Okay, I think that's all out of my system now. I wish I could say that I'm proud I stayed disciplined and focused during the session, but as I said, I did have a few moments of weakness. But I do think I showed some resilience to be 600 down and stage any sort of comeback at all. And I also think it's fair to say that the cards did not break even during this marathon session. I really wish this slump would end, because I know that game has really improved a lot over the last few weeks. I'm disappointed that I still steam a bit, but my fuse is a lot longer than it used to be; my game didn't really start to deterioate in this session until I was about 300 down and got 2 AA's cracked within 5 minutes. Grrrrrrrr...

Anyway, the point is that I'm in a pretty god-awful slump, but it hasn't really hurt my confidence as much as past slumps have. I know I can win at this game, and I know I can be a pretty big winner. So I guess the simple answer is to ride this bad run out, and try to learn a thing or two about resilience and discipline along the way. Sounds like a good idea, anyway...

Current limit : 3-6 LHE
Current Bankroll : 1430

-TW

Waaah! Waaah!

Yes, those were some truly horrible sessions. I think I managed to lose about $150 sitting at your tables. I was even trying on the second one.

Fortunately though I made $120 back playing HU and shorthanded.

I think this was my favorite hand, where I try to steal your blind and make a brilliant river CR:

Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , . UTG posts a blind of $3.
6 folds, Hero raises, UTG (poster) 3-bets, Hero calls.

Flop: (6 SB) , , (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, Hero calls.

Turn: (4 BB) (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks.

River: (4 BB) (3 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets, Hero raises, UTG calls.

Final Pot: 8 BB

Results
BB doesn't show.
UTG has Ac 7s (one pair, sevens).
Hero has Ah 7d (one pair, sevens).
Outcome: UTG wins 4 BB. Hero wins 4 BB.

I found you guys after I was done for the night and managed to piss away about half my win for the night. Was up $120. I had shut down PT and GT+ and was reading TWs journal and on a whim found Tighty, Piers, and then Nortesque. Only played about 20 minutes but It was fun. I managed to get my QQ UTG raise called by the BB who had the mighty 36 and he ends up with a FH by the river. Made me wonder if it was Mecos . FUN STUFF, I also was able to execute two miserable bluff attempts that were called to the river and embaressed myself.

Hope to run across you guys again.

BK

Well, put in a pretty nice 2 hours, 45 minutes session before the ol' nightshift tonight...made about 200, ALMOST getting me back to where I started the week. Damn that marathon session, lol!

No worries, though, I'll show those damned poker gods who's boss! Sadly, though the poker went well, I had a pretty tought session of 20 questions against Piers. He's proven himself a tough opponent, though our battle has just begun and there is still much to be decided before a victor is crowned. I started off with a solid win on Mussolini, but then he pulled an ace out of his sleave and dropped the hammer with Tiglath-Pileser III, who he claims founded the second Assyrian Empire. I did get all the way to figuring out he was Assyrian, but then my ancient Mesopotamic knowledge gave out. I then proceeded to snap off a nice little victory with Herman Hesse, but just when I thought momentum was in my favor, he rallied back strong with Sappho. Damn him!

Anyway, I'm off to train a 3rd shifter so that I don't have to work 'em anymore...I'll probably play a morning session when I return, since they've historically worked out pretty well for me. Unlike those damned midnight sessions. Bleh!

Current limit : 3-6 LHE
Current Bankroll : 1625

-TW