Decided to change the pace up a little and played 45 minutes of 100 NL. I could tell my feel for the game was a little off though after not having played it in quite a while.

Figure I might as well get all the bad beats of today on one page but the hand converter doesn't work with Crypto so phuck it, we'll just say it was another thrashing that was took at the hand of a flurry of 2 and 3 outers. All I can say is that I am certainly glad this last run has been at limits well below my bank roll requirements because I have dropped 158 Big Bets in 3-6 and 2-4 6 max games over 2 days, that's alot of negative love sports fans particularly when I am playing pretty darn well at the moment.
Well here is one to show the continuing nature of the situation in the last session.

Seat 1: NonNodal ($238.98 in chips)
Seat 2: pochlov11 ($229.54 in chips)
Seat 3: Qvist ($162.75 in chips)
Seat 4: cerveza ($122.37 in chips)
Seat 5: Wazzer001 ($36.39 in chips)
Seat 6: Wicca ($389.01 in chips)
Qvist: posts small blind $1
cerveza: posts big blind $2
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to cerveza [7c Tc]
Wazzer001: calls $2
NonNodal: folds
pochlov11: raises $4
Qvist: folds
cerveza: calls $2
Wazzer001: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [7d 8s 7h]
cerveza: bets $2
Wazzer001: raises $4
pochlov11: folds
cerveza: raises $4
Wazzer001: calls $2
----- TURN ----- [7d 8s 7h][8d]
cerveza: checks
Wazzer001: bets $4
cerveza: calls $4
----- RIVER ----- [7d 8s 7h 8d][Jd]
cerveza: checks
Wazzer001: bets $4
cerveza: calls $4
----- SHOW DOWN -----
Wazzer001: shows [8c Ks] (A Full House, Eights full of Sevens)
cerveza: mucks hand [7c Tc]
Wazzer001 collects $39 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $41 Main pot $39 Rake $2
Board [7d 8s 7h 8d Jd]
Seat 1: NonNodal folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: pochlov11 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Qvist (small blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: cerveza (big blind) mucked [7c Tc]
Seat 5: Wazzer001 showed [8c Ks] and won ($39) with A Full House, Eights full of Sevens

I did manage to hit the pocket aces bonus twice while playing for an extra 40.00.

I tell you what there is nothing quite like having some bonuses and rake back to cushion these bad blows. For all of this nightmare run I am only down about 300.00 and that is definately something to smile about because when this worm turns I am due to put some serious asswhippings on some cats.

Put in one more short session and made a little but still another small losing day. Still pretty happy with my play overall. Just try to get them again tomorrow.

Eurobet 3-6 limit 5 max, ca, 1350 hands, -285.05
Crypto 2-4 6 max limit, 541 hands, -121.13
Eurobet 100 NL, 121 hands, 27.80
Rake: 99.98
Bonus: 223.70
-----------------------------------
Total: -54.70
Time: 7h15m

YTD$: 696.23
YTDR$: 557.39
YTDB$: 1512.19
YTDTotal: 2765.81
YTDTime: 62h10m
Year wins: 26 Year Losses: 2
Winning streak 0 days
Biggest win: 286.10
Biggest Loss: 221.06
Most hours in day: 7h15m

Damn I am just in a massive getting my ass whipped funk. Sitting at short handed tables with 3 or 4 people with VIP's > 60% and I can't get a hand to hold up. I take a fair amount of bad and marginal beats everyday so that is nothing new but the sure magnitude of the numbers within this short time frame of the last three days is pretty damn impressive in a negative way. I have dropped right at 190 Big Bets in that span in the 2-4 and 3-6 SH games. I can't remember a time in the last 11 years where I have been down more than 150 Big Bets so this definately ranks up there in the worse short term run of poker that I have every faced. Just glad that the extra perks are softening the blow somewhat.

Can you feel the love

PokerRoom 3/6 Hold'em (4 handed)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
1 fold, Hero raises, 1 fold, BB calls.

Flop: (4.50 SB) , , (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB calls.

Turn: (3.25 BB) (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, BB raises, Hero calls.

River: (7.25 BB) (2 players)
BB bets, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 9.25 BB

Results in white below:
BB has Ad Th (straight, ace high).
Hero has Ac Kh (one pair, kings).
Outcome: BB wins 9.25 BB.

Put in a short session and was on a roll when this hand then another flopping a set gets cracked by 35sooooooooooted in a huge pot to dampen my little run.

Decided to play a couple of hours of stud to finish off the remaining Crypto bonus and the nightmare beats just continued with some gawd awful hands staying in to make some improbable winners. All I can say is those stud games are a beautiful thing. If someone is interested in only playing a single table of a low limit game then you should definately look into learning stud well.

Eurobet 3-6 5 max, 605 hands, -138.45
Crypto 7 stud 1-2 limit, 125 hands, -12.5
Rake: 42.95
Bonus: 73.98
------------------------------------
Total: -34.02
Time: 4h20m

Well it is pretty damn hard to imagine this running getting any worse. Just dropped another 44 big bets at 2-4 which brings the negative run to about 232 big bets or so. It really is just getting laughable with the hands that are getting turned over to beat me. I am getting out flopped, out turned or out rivered just in a non stop stream of nightmare hands. I can't hold off a draw to save my life.

Game #1586008474: Hold'em FL ($2/$4) - 2006/01/31 - 16:01:38 (ET)
Table "Linen" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: Igor ($160 in chips)
Seat 2: willvstom ($82.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Walpole ($19.90 in chips)
Seat 4: cerveza ($176.25 in chips)
Seat 5: andiezz ($177.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Wicca ($156.75 in chips)
cerveza: posts small blind $1
andiezz: posts big blind $2
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to cerveza [Ts Qc]
Wicca: calls $2
willvstom: folds
Walpole: calls $2
cerveza: calls $1
andiezz: checks
----- FLOP ----- [Ac Td Tc]
cerveza: bets $2
andiezz: folds
Wicca: calls $2
Walpole: raises $4
cerveza: raises $4
Wicca: calls $4
Walpole: raises $4
cerveza: calls $2
Wicca: calls $2
----- TURN ----- [Ac Td Tc][5c]
cerveza: bets $4
Wicca: calls $4
Walpole: raises $8
cerveza: calls $4
Wicca: calls $4
----- RIVER ----- [Ac Td Tc 5c][Js]
cerveza: bets $4
Wicca: calls $4
Walpole: is all-in $1.90
----- SHOW DOWN -----
cerveza: shows [Ts Qc] (Three of a kind, Tens, Ace high)
Wicca: shows [9c Jc] (A Flush, Ace high)
Walpole: mucks hand [8h Th]
Wicca collects $4.20 from Side pot #1
Wicca collects $58.70 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $65.90 Main pot $58.70 Side pot #1 $4.20 | Rake $3
Board [Ac Td Tc 5c Js]
Seat 2: willvstom folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Walpole (button) mucked [8h Th]
Seat 4: cerveza (small blind) lost
Seat 5: andiezz (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Wicca showed [9c Jc] and won ($62.90) with A Flush, Ace high
****HAND ENDS****

Game #1586617994: Hold'em FL ($2/$4) - 2006/01/31 - 16:46:53 (ET)
Table "Linen" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: pippdog ($133.37 in chips)
Seat 2: The_Hawk1 ($100 in chips)
Seat 3: drhook ($174 in chips)
Seat 4: cerveza ($64.25 in chips)
Seat 5: jonnyace1 ($98.63 in chips)
Seat 6: Momentum sits out
cerveza: posts small blind $1
jonnyace1: posts big blind $2
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to cerveza [Js Jd]
pippdog: calls $2
drhook: folds
cerveza: raises $3
jonnyace1: calls $2
pippdog: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [2s 4c 6h]
cerveza: bets $2
jonnyace1: calls $2
pippdog: calls $2
----- TURN ----- [2s 4c 6h][9c]
cerveza: bets $4
jonnyace1: folds
pippdog: calls $4
----- RIVER ----- [2s 4c 6h 9c][3d]
cerveza: bets $4
pippdog: raises $8
cerveza: calls $4
----- SHOW DOWN -----
pippdog: shows [Kd 5s] (A Straight, Six high)
cerveza: mucks hand [Js Jd]
pippdog collects $40 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $42 Main pot $40 Rake $2
Board [2s 4c 6h 9c 3d]
Seat 1: pippdog showed [Kd 5s] and won ($40) with A Straight, Six high
Seat 3: drhook (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: cerveza (small blind) mucked [Js Jd]
Seat 5: jonnyace1 (big blind) folded on the Turn
****HAND ENDS****

Game #1586178944: Hold'em FL ($2/$4) - 2006/01/31 - 16:13:32 (ET)
Table "Linen" Seat 3 is the button.
Seat 1: Igor ($172.50 in chips)
Seat 2: willvstom ($113.50 in chips)
Seat 3: cozmoK ($76.25 in chips)
Seat 4: cerveza ($147 in chips)
Seat 5: andiezz ($190.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Wicca ($158.40 in chips)
cerveza: posts small blind $1
andiezz: posts big blind $2
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to cerveza [Kc Ad]
Wicca: folds
Igor: folds
willvstom: folds
cozmoK: calls $2
cerveza: raises $3
andiezz: folds
cozmoK: calls $2
----- FLOP ----- [3d Ts 2d]
cerveza: bets $2
cozmoK: calls $2
----- TURN ----- [3d Ts 2d][Ks]
cerveza: bets $4
cozmoK: calls $4
----- RIVER ----- [3d Ts 2d Ks][6s]
cerveza: bets $4
cozmoK: raises $8
cerveza: calls $4
----- SHOW DOWN -----
cozmoK: shows [As Js] (A Flush, Ace high)
cerveza: mucks hand [Kc Ad]
cozmoK collects $36.25 from Main pot
----- SUMMARY -----
Total pot $38 Main pot $36.25 Rake $1.75
Board [3d Ts 2d Ks 6s]
Seat 1: Igor folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: willvstom folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: cozmoK (button) showed [As Js] and won ($36.25) with A Flush, Ace high
Seat 4: cerveza (small blind) mucked [Kc Ad]
Seat 5: andiezz (big blind) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Wicca folded before Flop (didn't bet)
****HAND ENDS****

and so foth. Probably won't play anymore tonight as my mouse likely wouldn't make it through another drawout. If so this will be my first three day losing streak in over a year which definately sucks but on a positive note if there is one they are all very manageable losses. February is going to be my bitch as Kenny would say.

Eurobet 3-6 5 max, 605 hands, -138.45
Crypto 2-4 limit 6 max, 195 hands, -174.50
Crypto 7 stud 1-2 limit, 125 hands, -12.5
Rake: 42.95
Bonus: 91.08
------------------------------------
Total: -191.42
Time: 5h15m

YTD$: 370.78
YTDR$: 600.34
YTDB$: 1603.27
YTDTotal: 2574.39
YTDTime: 67h25m
Year wins: 26 Year Losses: 3
Winning streak 0 days
Biggest win: 286.10
Biggest Loss: 221.06
Most hours in day: 7h15m

Piers - I feel dumb even giving a Pro advice, BUT (there's always a but right):

Ive been following your journal for probably 8 or so months, and the one thing I've noticed about you historically, is that when you have a losing session, youve posted pretty big negative numbers, the result of moving up trying to chase back wins...I am VERY impressed with how it seems you've plugged that leak through this awful bout with the muppetry...

very impressed.

I guess if youre able to intellectuallize the following, it goes a long way to avoiding tilt:

The reason youre able to have such good results is the 80% of the time these guys chase their longshots and miss, it makes swallowing the 20% of the times they hit that tmuch easier. That was an awkward sentence, but it looks like your paying Ms. Variance (a man could never be so foul and mean spirited) all at once here.

Keep on truckin man...as a long time lurker whose just beginning to contribute here, I must say Ive enjoyed following your progress.

Thanks for the comments Allstar. You are right about those past misdeeds Right now despite these losses I am feeling real good about my play and not down at all. Of those 24 losing days last year about 15 of them were monstrous and let me tell you even though it didn't affect my play they were still emotionally pretty hard to take at the time, nothing like dropping 3000 in a day to make you want to smash something but I have that firmly under control now and will just continue to combat these guys with time on my side to even the score.

Just been looking over my PT stats over the month and nothing that I can see that is out of line, just a bad case of alot of draws, second best hands, etc. hitting me at once and I fully expect that to begin evening out soon as I certainly don't want to test out that 300 Big Bet theory

Nice start to the year there P. $38.18 per hour. That gives me a goal to shoot for by the end of the year. I am going through some of the same variance that it seems you are experiencing right now so I can sympathize. Do you feel this is strictly variance or does it seem to you like there are more folks playing extremely LAGy at the SH tables these days? I know variance plays a big part in SH but it just seems like lately there are many more SLAG's and they are winning at a much higher rate than they were just a month ago. I've actually started looking for tables with a lower than average "average pot" stat. Dont seem to be as many of them at those tables.

I made Risotto for the first time the other night. Turned out quite yummy. Then the next night I used the leftovers to make fried rice balls with mozzarella in the middle. Kinda like the cheesesticks you get at restauraunts except in ball form and MUCH more filling and flavorful.

It's early but February has started off ok with only a couple of brutal beats in the early morning. Still haven't posted a session win at the 2-4 game on Interpoker yet which is pretty pathetic but I will just keep on keeping on there as I have three more bonuses stacked at the place.

I did an interaccount money transfer at Empire so was playing just a few hands before cashing it out at the 25 NL tables. Perhaps my luck is changing as nothing quite like raising a flop bet and getting reraised when you have top set and current nuts I guess I can say my opponent was in the least very imaginative

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $ BB (9 handed)

Button ($31.20)
SB ($4.29)
BB ($21.80)
UTG ($27.70)
Hero ($24)
MP1 ($29.60)
MP2 ($22.90)
MP3 ($23.15)
CO ($55.98)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with , . SB posts a blind of $0.10.
UTG calls $0.25, Hero calls $0.25, 3 folds, CO calls $0.25, 1 fold, SB (poster) completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($1.25) , , (5 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG bets $0.25, Hero raises to $0.8, CO raises to $1.35, SB folds, BB folds, UTG folds, Hero raises to $6, CO calls $4.65.

Turn: ($13.50) (2 players)
Hero calls $17.75 (All-In), CO calls $17.75.

River: ($49) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $49

Results in white below:
Hero has Ks Kc (three of a kind, kings).
CO has 5h 8h (high card, king).
Outcome: Hero wins $49.

Damn I must be hitting on all cylinders as I also booked a small win at 7 stud.

Spoke too soon I guess as I took more anal stretching at Eurobet although I did manage to tough it out and finish up the first of two 600.00 bonuses.

Well I may just have to change my game over to Omaha 8B Deposited for the Party reload and was clearing it playing 8 tables of 0.5-1.00 O8B and as expected those folks have no clue whatsoever about how to play properly. I made 71 Big Bets in 1h20m and I didn't have any spectacular luck. Folks wanting just to make some extra scratch on the side need to learn this game because it is a gold mine at the lower limits.

Eurobet 3-6 5 max limit, ca. 540 hands, -68.75
Crypto 2-4 6 max limit, 78 hands, -13.75
Crypto 1-2 limit 7 stud, 58 hands, 13.50
Empire 25 NL/PL, 83 hands, 18.15
Party 0.5-1.0 Omaha 8B, 537 hands, 71.38
Rake: 41.03
Bonus: 135.98
----------------------------------
Total: 197.54
Time: 5h25m

YTD$: 391.31
YTDR$: 641.37
YTDB$: 1739.25
YTDTotal: 2771.93
YTDTime: 72h50m
Year wins: 27 Year Losses: 3
Winning streak 1 days
Biggest win: 286.10
Biggest Loss: 221.06
Most hours in day: 7h15m

c'mon... he just KNEW that was coming on the river.

What are your thoughts on carpaccio?

Xas,
You have something against heat being used in food preparation or what? I bet I can guess what your favorite Eddie Murphy stand up recording in the '80's was. Yep, "RAW". LMAO!!!!

Was not familiar with that Xas although it doesn't sound too bad as I don't cook my steaks very long to begin with. Perhaps with a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the right mix of greens and roots it would be quite tasty.

Hi Rainer,

Yeah that simple outline of what hands to play in conjunction with some of that stuff in another sticky about playing from the blinds. You will be able to play a few more hands at your real low limit games because of the number of folks entering preflop but make sure you do so from position. Part of the plan, when playing low limit especially, is to take advantage of all the good bonuses out there as well. Just recently I went through a horrid run of dropping about 240 big bets but it didn't hurt that much because I was making quite a bit clearing bonuses and getting rake back. Use everything within your means to aid your development. Good luck in continuing to improve your game and glad I could be of some small help hopefully.

Today I just whipped some ass at the Martins 50 NL game. Never had more than 1/3 of a stack in jeopardy in a bad situation and was able to get away from some hands that saved me quite a bit as well. Very happy with my NL play at the moment as things seemed to have fallen back in line to where I was when I quit playing as much of it.

Damn as somebody once said, "it feels good to be a gansta" Played another short session at Martins in 2-4 SH and busted a little ass.

Short stud session puts me over 400 for the day for the first time this year.

A couple more sessions at Martins in PLO8 and O8B. Just checked the dates on my deposit there and perhaps this is day 90. Thought I had a couple of days to go but perhaps not. Going to probably try to play another 500 raked hands later to get everything finished just in case this is the last day for my bonus clearance.

Two more short sessions and I just don't think I am going to be able to put in the additional hours tonight to finish the bonus up. Hopefully I will have tomorrow as well to clear it. Still need 500 VIP to clear the last 100 euro bonus.

Martins 2-4 6 max limit, ca. 120 hands, 132.5 euros (159.21)
Martins 1-2 6 max limit, ca. 50 hands, 9.50 euros (11.4)
Crypto 1-2 limit Stud, 9 hands, 13.00
Martins Omaha 8B 1-2 limit, ca. 30 hands, 5.68 euro (6.83)
Martins 50 NL, ca. 1000 hands, 179.91 euros (216)
Martins PLO 50, 16 hands, 7.8 euros (9.38)
Martins PL 50 5 Card Draw, 24 hands, 1.1 euro (1.32)
Martins PLO8 50 euro, ca. 30 hands, -3 euro (-3.6)
Rake:
Bonus: 0.9
---------------------------------------------------
Total: 414.44
Time: 5h40m

YTD$: 922.72
YTDR$: 641.37
YTDB$: 1761.24
YTDTotal: 3325.33
YTDTime: 84h20m
Year wins: 29 Year Losses: 3
Winning streak 3 days
Biggest win: 414.44
Biggest Loss: 221.06
Most hours in day: 7h15m

Many thanks piers, I will take a beer now, but no more gambling today.
the best rainer.