Last try - an action junkies story.

[Juskimo]

Again, the thing that Xas leaves out is that he is very well bankrolled for the level he chooses to play, and can afford to drop a dime or two without killing his broll.

-Jus

[Xaston]

That too

[the_last_chance]

25 January 2006
5,3h
-$26
3 tables
NL 50 SH

[the_last_chance]

Hi, I've been away from the poker tables for a few days.
I'm wondering what you think about these stats for position - shorthanded NL 5-6 - handed.
I have a feeling I'm too loose in the sb, any other comments?



The stats are from different limits (I think) so the actual amount of dollars won is probably not interesting.

[the_last_chance]

A good start of the new month! I was down a lot and with my normal way of playing I wouldnt win anything today but I kept my composure and didn't make any huge mistakes.


1 February
5,5h
+$106
3 tables
NL 100 SH


How would you play AA here? This situation doesn't come up too often but when it does it's definately sweet indeed.Maybe I should have gone all-in? I'm representing extreme strength the way I play.

Or maybe even flat call. Is this really a move with a good hand or someone on tilt? Or both?

- RAB1967 sitting in seat 1 with $91.64
- onlyme33 sitting in seat 2 with $35.69
- butcher18 sitting in seat 3 with $119.32 [Sitting out]
- Spathi sitting in seat 4 with $72.13
- me sitting in seat 5 with $276.76
- rad1977 sitting in seat 6 with $13.32 [Dealer]
- canaryjim sitting in seat 7 with $122.60
- PontLa-mera sitting in seat 8 with $99.00

canaryjim posted the small blind - $0.50
PontLa-mera posted the big blind - $1.00
** Dealing card to me: Ace of Spades, Ace of Hearts
RAB1967 called - $1.00
onlyme33 folded
Spathi folded
me raised - $4.00
rad1977 folded
canaryjim raised - $18.00
PontLa-mera folded
RAB1967 folded
me raised - $64.00
canaryjim folded
me mucks: Ace of Spades, Ace of Hearts
me wins $84.00 from the main pot

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

And finally, one of my sickest calls ever. The way he was steaming I actually fancy my play. But it's still sick.

- porpe sitting in seat 1 with $97.58
- Jack55 sitting in seat 2 with $100.00
- me sitting in seat 3 with $101.80 [Dealer]
- staffyPL sitting in seat 4 with $89.08
- zeubalomu sitting in seat 5 with $468.14
- kisenx sitting in seat 6 with $48.50 [Sitting out]

staffyPL posted the small blind - $0.50
zeubalomu posted the big blind - $1.00
** Dealing card to me: Jack of Diamonds, King of Hearts
porpe folded
Jack55 folded
me raised - $4.00
staffyPL folded
zeubalomu raised - $13.00
me called - $13.00

** Dealing the flop: Jack of Hearts, 9 of Diamonds, 7 of Diamonds
zeubalomu bet - $94.00
kisenx was disconnected
me went all-in - $88.80
zeubalomu shows: 9 of Hearts, Ace of Hearts

** Dealing the turn: 5 of Clubs

** Dealing the river: 2 of Diamonds
me wins $202.10 from the main pot

Enjoy!

[Zuccala]

Hey man,

On that hand when u had AA and re-raised to $64....i would have played it way different.

You had it heads up. Why not just call his re-raise then c/r all in on the flop. This will give u a MUCH better chance to scoop his stack. Especially, if the player is the type to lay down KK,QQ or AK for that matter.

[the_last_chance]

2 February

The bad new is that I played heads-up, too high for my bankroll.
The good new is that I won 2 buy-ins.
The bad news is that I got outdrawn by two outers and AQs vs AA all-in pre-flop.
The good new is that I didn't get tilted at all because of it.
The great news is that I'm up for the day.

I still don't like the fact that I played heads-up though. But otherwise, I do feel that grinding (especially with a good sized bankroll) sort of nullifies the longing for fast action.

By the way, I have a good tip for improving your game. Keep a log where you write down the errors you make after you've played a hand wrong. Quite soon you start to become very aware about what errors you are doing again and again and can correct them!

-------------------------------------------------------------

And todays hand! What would you have done on the turn and what if the opponent goes all-in? He is extremely loose, fishy and an aggressive player.

- me sitting in seat 1 with $140.20
- thaa sitting in seat 2 with $43.80
- JAMMY_DODGER sitting in seat 3 with $29.80
- DevilsFriend sitting in seat 4 with $132.55 [Dealer]
- winnum sitting in seat 5 with $107.90
- WendelClark sitting in seat 6 with $51.30

winnum posted the small blind - $0.50
WendelClark posted the big blind - $1.00
** Dealing card to me: King of Clubs, King of Hearts
me raised - $4.00
thaa folded
JAMMY_DODGER folded
DevilsFriend called - $4.00
winnum folded
WendelClark folded

** Dealing the flop: 3 of Clubs, 5 of Diamonds, 5 of Clubs
me bet - $7.00
DevilsFriend raised - $14.00
me raised - $32.00
DevilsFriend called - $32.00

** Dealing the turn: 8 of Clubs
??

Enjoy!

[the_last_chance]

[the_last_chance]

Juskimo was absolutely correct in his first post in this journal. I have indeed built up and blown several bankrolls the last month. Poker is obviously much more challenging for me than for other people.

One gift I have though is that I am fairly good at scrutinizing myself. I know that I can play quite good poker and very good heads-up poker but that I don't have the right discipline or mindset at all. I guess I really should quit but still, I've put in a lot of hours into this game. So, I have not ruled it out to give this another try later on in the future but my mindset/attitude must change drastically before I try again. Swings of about $1000 with an equally large bankroll is _never going to lead to any winnings.

I've also noticed that poker really can "consume" you in a bad way. I easily play longer sessions than what I had in mind when I started and I also find that I use time for unproductive poker related things such as watching "poker shows" or railbirding a high stakes cash table.

But maybe I'll be back in a couple of months after long sessions of contemplation and meditation.

Or is it the case that some players just never can become winning players in the long run (even if they know the game farily well, are well read, and not stupid)? What do you think?

Great foum anyway! Keep it up!

[Felonius_Monk]

It sounds to me from everything you've said in this journal that you are a borderline problem gambler. You probably shouldn't play poker as (although it's obviously not lost you anything so far) it could become a problem down the line. My advice would be to just walk away and try something else with your spare time, building and blowing BRs time and again won't do you any good and you'll end up feeling quite bitter about the game IMO and potentially leading to more problems with addiction to it.

If you keep trying to convince yourself that you have to play to justify the amount of hours you've put into the game I guess you will return to it in future, but I really can't see any good coming from that. Honestly, everything you've said so far is 100% classic words of someone who MIGHT develop a serious gambling problem. I really don't think poker is for you, even if you are obviously an erudite and intelligent person.

Hope this helps, best of luck for the future!

Monk