My unfortunate run at limit holdem continues on into another day. In 11 years this is without a doubt the longest bad run big bet wise that I have ever sustained and it isn't even close. If I can get the chart to graph for me I will post it in the limit section but the fact of the matter is I have dropped over 600 Big Bets from a high point in September until now. This has been in full ring games and short handed games both. Tho only bright spot to the equation is that the majority of this loss has occurred at a fairly low limit and has been balanced for the most part by rake return and bonuses. I sincerely think I am playing pretty damn well during this run and not donking off too many extra bets but you start to wonder at some point. When playing live I kept very good records for the 4 years that I was playing primarily live or exclusively B & M games and during that time period I had a BB/hr of right at 1.6 at 4-8, 5-10, 6-12 and 8-16 limit games and between 1.3 to 1.5 in the higher limit games of 10-20, 15-30 and 20-40. These are very solid numbers and I credit alot of that to good game selection as well as being very good at reading people in live games. On line I don't have many of the dbases from over the years but I suspect that my numbers would lie somewhere between 1.4-1.75 BB/100 which isn't great but sufficient for someone that multitables and isn't always as selective as they should be in choosing a table. So what has happened in the past 5.5 months that has sent me on this skid? I would like to think it was just alot of unfortunate flops, turns and rivers but it has to be more than this. I have had a shitload of bad breaks but I think I have also been really poor in taking my time to pick good tables to play at which came alot from playing for a bonus at a places that didn't have a tremendous selection of table to choose from and from just being lazy which is a very poor excuse. The final thing and it correlates alot with table selection is that the difference in level of opposition at limit holdem between my ability and that of the average player is just not as great as it is in live games in general. Even if you are highly skilled in post flop play it is tough to extract bets from players that are not getting involved in alot of pots. So again it isn't magic to where the money comes from, it comes from putting yourself in places where your ability is significantly higher than your opposition.

Well with all of that being said I think that I am going to have to pay alot more attention to the limit tables I am playing or I am going to have to spend alot more time in other games where for the most part I believe the difference in my abilities compared to my opponents are at the greatest. While limit holdem is no doubt my best game the difference between my skill and the skill of your average tight player that seems to be stocking the lower limit online tables is just not that great. So if there is anything to be gained from this dribble is that if you are seriously considering playing online poker for a living you best be damn selective in the tables you are playing if you are a limit holdem player or you better become more than passible at playing a wide range of games where the pickings are at least in my opinion much easier. And for all of those folks out there with a 3-3.5 BB/100 may god bless you and keep you from ever suffering through a 600 Big Bet slide

A short session of bonus killing at Empire where I managed to keep the suckouts against me to one hand of digits but as usual one real nasty two outer again that justs keep happening over and over and over.

Party Poker 1/2 Hold'em (6 max, 6 handed)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
1 fold, MP raises, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets, 2 folds, MP calls.

Flop: (7.50 SB) , , (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets, MP raises, Hero calls.

Turn: (5.75 BB) (2 players)
MP bets, Hero raises, MP calls.

River: (9.75 BB) (2 players)
MP checks, Hero bets, MP raises, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 13.75 BB

Results in white below:
MP has 7h 7d (three of a kind, sevens).
Hero has Ad As (one pair, aces).
Outcome: MP wins 13.75 BB.

I just don't know how many more two out rivers I can take. Just got molested across three different sites. I think I will be taking a break from all limit holdem games 3-6 and below for the foreseeable future.

Par for the course lately as I play something other than limit holdem and bust them up pretty good.

I ran about as bad as possible in the Limit O8B game at Pokerihuone and I still made money. That should tell you something about the lineup. Those guys really had no idea how to play the game.

Played and lost some at the BTP 2-7 Triple Draw game but that was ok because I had another monster of a winning day.

B2B 2-7 Triple Draw 1-2 limit, -20 euros (-23.84)
B2B 1-2 limit O8B, ca. 190 hands, 24.06 euros (28.71)
B2B 1-2 limit, 54 hands, -27.25 euros (-32.53)
Empire 1-2 limit, , 162 hands, -77.75
Empire 1-2 limit 6 max, 289 hands, 47.50
Crypto 1-2 limit, 118 hands, -55.00
Empire 0.5-1.0 limit, 189 hands, -8.25
Empire PLO8 25, 100 hands, 48.85
Rake: 0
Bonus: 74.51
----------------------
Total: 2.20
Time: 7h35

YTD$: 1264.57
YTDR$: 641.37
YTDB$: 2325.46
YTDTotal: 4233.40
YTDTime: 140h30m
Year wins: 45 Year Losses: 4
Winning streak 11 days
Biggest win: 414.44
Biggest Loss: 370.73
Most hours in day: 12h45m

Guess I should have went to bed after the triple draw game but I decided to dick around a while longer and just wanted to rip the god damn computer out of the wall. Get a short stack all in with JJ on a KKx flop, I know he doesn't have a king he calls with A7 and turns a god damn A to start the ball rolling which just compounds itself to gut shots, rivered sets and on and on and on in the short handed games. I accidently posted 1 in front of the blind in the 10-20 6 max game and won a big pot and just called it quits for the night as that was about the only thing that went right for the last two hours.

Had just a few hands to go to clear one 90.00 bonus at Interpoker so went ahead and knocked that out. I have withdrew all funds from all the Cryptos with the exception of Will Hill and Ritz Club. I may withdraw from there as well as soon as I finish up RC. I think I may move the majority of play over to Stars as it is my favorite site and just concentrate on getting in good games and not worry so much about bonus whoring for a while as I have my BR in a good shape although taking a gander of where the majority of my profits have come from this year I might should reconsider

Well these mother phuckers have done got me pissed off so you might as well go ahead and chalk up a marathon day. Playing 10-20 O8B and just got phucked every which way possible (1 scoop in over 3 hours and about two more 3/4 pots and that was about it) but I have to say I still walked away happy because if the state of affairs is always like this I am going to have to throw my hat into that 100K race.

That session was alot more like it. Crushed the Stars O8B game but got a little waylaid at party but made up for it in a higher limit short handed game. Got that loss from early on down to a manageable level at least.

Chopping that big negative monster down a few pieces at a time. Got caught in a bad hand where I thought I played it pretty well just an unfortunate river for me gave the donk a straight when I hit my set for a stack.

More small forays toward the positive. Still feeling pretty well after being up since yesterday morning at about 7. Will probably crash pretty hard tonight.

Well for what it is worth I managed a full comeback from being over 600 down this morning. It wasn't easy but was something worthwhile in doing in making an attempt at recovery while playing within the bankroll. The final touch was a 5.00 HU PLO match which I played masterfully. It was only a 5.00 match but I picked him apart playing small pots. It lasted for 40 minutes and I never trailed. Another one of those small wins but this victory taste pretty damn sweet.

Party 20-40 limit 6 max, 11 hands, 272.00
Party 10-20 limit O8B, 101 hands, -314.00
Stars 10-20 limit O8B, 267 hands, -127.00
Stars 10-20 6 max limit, 6 hand, 199.00
Stars 200 NL, 9 hands, 9.05
Pokerihuone 100 euro NL, 71 hands, 87.45 euros (104.21)
Stars 100 NL, 79 hands, -82.65
Stars 5-10 6 max limit, 32 hands, -135
Stars 5-10 stud, 3 hands, 2.00
Stars3-6 6 max limit, 240 hands, 73.25
Empire 3-6 6 max, 90 hands, 0.00
Stars 2-4 6 max limit, 5 hands, 2.00
Crypto 1-2 limit 7 Stud, 34 hands, -22.00
Pokerihuone 50 PL O8B, 23 hands, 22.39 euros (26.66)
Empire 25 PLO8B, 189 hands, 3.92
Pokerihuone 20 PLO8B, 38 hands, -22.95 euros (-27.33)
Empire 0-5-1.00 6 max limit, 21 hands, -10.25
Stars 5 NL, 16 hands, -7.66
Stars 5+0.25 PLO HU match, 1rst, 4.75
Rake: 0
Bonus: 30.97
--------------------------------------
Total: 1.92
Time: 11h35m

YTD$: 1235.52
YTDR$: 641.37
YTDB$: 2356.43
YTDTotal: 4235.32
YTDTime: 152h5m
Year wins: 46 Year Losses: 4
Winning streak 12 days
Biggest win: 414.44
Biggest Loss: 370.73
Most hours in day: 12h45m

A good opening session. Decided to just play some stud while finishing up a movie.

Just another molestation of the Crypto 7 stud players if I can be so bold as to call them players. Another of your average 28 Big Bet pots with three flushes emerging by river time. Running at a modest 16.48 BB/100 in the stud games. Sustainable probably not but against these guys who knows.

Game #1639479713: 7 Card FL ($1/$2) - 2006/02/22 - 16:18:46 (BST)
Table "Abbevill"
Seat 1: winerpass ($76.25 in chips)
Seat 2: Howa11121 ($16.87 in chips)
Seat 3: mikeyme ($35.50 in chips)
Seat 4: Jani06111 ($58.13 in chips)
Seat 5: Yesherbie ($103.13 in chips)
Seat 6: majestyk4 ($82.25 in chips)
Seat 7: baraban53 ($59.25 in chips)
Seat 8: Confucius ($102.70 in chips)
Confucius: posts the ante $0.25
mikeyme: posts the ante $0.25
Jani06111: posts the ante $0.25
Yesherbie: posts the ante $0.25
baraban53: posts the ante $0.25
Howa11121: posts the ante $0.25
winerpass: posts the ante $0.25
majestyk4: posts the ante $0.25
----- 3rd STREET -----
dealt to winerpass
dealt to Howa11121
dealt to mikeyme
dealt to Jani06111
dealt to Yesherbie
dealt to majestyk4 [Ac 9c Tc]
dealt to baraban53
dealt to Confucius
Yesherbie: brings-in $0.50
majestyk4: raises $1
baraban53: folds
Confucius: folds
winerpass: calls $1
Howa11121: calls $1
mikeyme: calls $1
Jani06111: calls $1
Yesherbie: calls $0.50
----- 4th STREET -----
dealt to winerpass [Qh]
dealt to Howa11121 [Jh]
dealt to mikeyme [Ks]
dealt to Jani06111 [9d]
dealt to Yesherbie [As]
dealt to majestyk4 [Ac 9c Tc][Qc]
Yesherbie: checks
majestyk4: bets $1
winerpass: calls $1
Howa11121: calls $1
mikeyme: calls $1
Jani06111: calls $1
Yesherbie: calls $1
----- 5th STREET -----
dealt to winerpass [5c Qh][6d]
dealt to Howa11121 [7d Jh][Ah]
dealt to mikeyme [Qs Ks][3c]
dealt to Jani06111 [7h 9d][Ts]
dealt to Yesherbie [4s As][3h]
dealt to majestyk4 [Ac 9c Tc Qc][Jc]
Howa11121: bets $2
mikeyme: calls $2
Jani06111: calls $2
Yesherbie: folds
majestyk4: raises $4
winerpass: calls $4
Howa11121: calls $2
mikeyme: calls $2
Jani06111: folds
----- 6th STREET -----
dealt to winerpass [5c Qh 6d][Kc]
dealt to Howa11121 [7d Jh Ah][5h]
dealt to mikeyme [Qs Ks 3c][Td]
dealt to majestyk4 [Ac 9c Tc Qc Jc][5d]
Howa11121: checks
mikeyme: checks
majestyk4: bets $2
winerpass: calls $2
Howa11121: calls $2
mikeyme: calls $2
----- RIVER -----
dealt to majestyk4 [Ac 9c Tc Qc Jc 5d][4h]
Howa11121: bets $2
mikeyme: calls $2
majestyk4: raises $4
winerpass: calls $4
Howa11121: calls $2
mikeyme: calls $2
----- SHOW DOWN -----
majestyk4: shows [9c Tc Jc Qc Ac 5d 4h] (A Flush, Ace high)
winerpass: mucks hand [8d Kd 5c Qh 6d Kc 5s]
Howa11121: mucks hand [9h 8h 7d Jh Ah 5h 9s]
mikeyme: mucks hand [2s 7s Qs Ks 3c Td 3s]
majestyk4 collects $53.25 from Main pot

Crypto 7 Stud 1-2 limit, 74 hands, 108.75
B2B 0.10-0.20 limit 2-7 Triple Draw, ca. 40 hands, 2.55 euros (3.03)
Rake: 0
Bonus: 8.51
--------------------------------
Total: 120.29
Time: 1h40m

YTD$: 1347.30
YTDR$: 641.37
YTDB$: 2364.94
YTDTotal: 4355.61
YTDTime: 153h45m
Year wins: 47 Year Losses: 4
Winning streak 13 days
Biggest win: 414.44
Biggest Loss: 370.73
Most hours in day: 12h45m

Many thanks piers, I look at you as a kind of tutor, ok without any responbility to me.
regards rainer

A couple of short early morning session at the TD tables with not alot of good happening. I did notice that I got a whopping 0.5 Ultimate point for a pot that was over 30.00. At that rate my grandchildren probably won't have time to clear off the 1500+ bonus I have there.

In country news the Venezuelan government has stopped all flights of Delta and Continental Airlines into and out of the country as well as curtailing AA by 70%. No information was given as to why this was done but certainly not a good sign for US/Venezuelan relations.

I guess I should just make the morning Crypto Stud game my first stop everyday because it always seems to put a smile on my face SInce my last report of trying to sustain a 16+BB/100 I have increased the number to 18.55 BB/100 Only a meager number of hands but as someone once said, "Damn it feels good to be a 7 Stud gansta!"

Another short session at Pokerihuone playing limit O8B. Need another 60 raked hands there to finish up before the end of the month.

Nice short TD session before lunch at UB.

Was looking over the Poker Stars VIP program more closely and they have some pretty nice stuff if you are able to rack up some serious FPP points which one should be able to do once reaching Platinum stage which is only 10K FPP for a month. I have just about decided to restrict the majority of my play to there even without the bonuses and potential rakeback of other places.

A few more sessions with not much happening one way or the other.

Stars 5-10 Omaha H/L, 61 hands, 28.00
UB 4-8 Half Kill Omaha H/L, 6 hands, 17.00
UB 3-6 limit 2-7 Triple Draw, 4 hands, 13.50
UB 2-4 limit 2-7 Triple Draw, 47 hands, 29.00
Pokerihuone 1-2 limit O8B, 58 hands, 15.17 euros (18.05)
Crypto 1-2 limit 7 Stud, 49 hands, 27.00
Stars 0.5-1.00 Omaha H/L, 143 hands, 5.25
UB 0.5-1.0 limit 2-7 Triple Draw, ca. 80 hands, -13.10
Rake: 0
Bonus: 16.82
--------------------------
Total: 141.52
Time: 4h20m

YTD$: 1593.63
YTDR$: 641.37
YTDB$: 2413.56
YTDTotal: 4648.56
YTDTime: 164h50m
Year wins: 49 Year Losses: 4
Winning streak 15 days
Biggest win: 414.44
Biggest Loss: 370.73
Most hours in day: 12h45m