Exams

I am currently in the process of reading for exams. That takes up a lot of time. I really want to do well. At the moment I am reading philosophy, which I find very interesting.

This was a good time to take a little break from poker. As can be deducted from my previous post, all the bad luck finally started to get to me. Last week my play deteriorated notably. On Saturday I played some tournaments. The $26 pot limit tournament was particularly juicy, and had the largest field I've ever seen it have with 358. I was doing great. Right before the money bubble at 42 players, I was in 10th place or so. But then I completely blew up with a 3 street bluff that was totally unnecessary. A couple of days earlier I played the same tournament and was a massive chip leader with 20 players left, but that time I also blew up with some really poor bluffs. On Saturday I also played a H.O.R.S.E. tournament where I had 13k chips when second place had 8k. In that tournament I also went out on the money bubble. Not because of bad play, but simply because of bad luck. For instance there was a crucial Hold 'Em hand where my top set of queens lost to aces that hit the two-outer on the turn. At the same time I also managed to to turn what was a nice profit in cash games into a big loss. What looked to be a great night turned out to be a really bad one. I think this was mostly because I was very tired and had been drinking.

The last two weeks I have only been playing 50NL after my big cashout. That has worked out decently. I could have made a much larger profit, but it's been a while since I played at that level and I kind of forgot that at that level you absolutely cannot bluff ever. After exams are finished on the 8th I will probably just be grinding 50NL a bit, trying to make a modest income. After Christmas I will have a lot more money and I can start to do some serious poker playing again.

Fuck Poker

This is getting silly. I have played some more sessions where I just have had to sit and take one bad beat after the other. For instance, I called a 3-bet with JT of hearts because I knew the 3-bettor was full of it and we were deep. Flop is A high with three hearts and I get it in against Qx of hearts. Today I lost KK vs. AK and AK vs. AK for full buy-ins. I might have to take a break from poker soon, because this is getting really annoying. I am breaking even money-wise, but with all that I'm spending recently, I am in danger of going broke. I withdrew $1.5k yesterday. I have some small jobs that give me a little extra income, but I don't want to get a real job!

Still Running Bad

Once again I had one of those dreadful sessions where I lost every all-in. Things went wrong right from the start as I lost JJ to ATo. I lost two $400 pots. In the first I had JJ against KK on a J87 board. I'm a 90 % favorite there. In the second it was a coin flip; TT vs. 98 on a 987 board. But unlike the previous sessions, I actually managed to come out ahead in this one, winning $100. I have had terrible luck this whole month. Still, I am a slight winner for November. That means my poker future is looking as bright as ever. Bankroll: $3.7k.

The end of the semester is approaching at school. I'm working on the final project before exams. We will finish this project in a couple of days. After that I will concentrate my efforts to preparing for the exams, which are in early December.

Frustration Again

It's Saturday night. I received rakeback yesterday. I felt pretty good that I finally could meet the standard bankroll requirements for playing 1/2 ($4k is liberal, but still standard). Of course in my session I got absolutely raped by the poker gods.

It started out when I fired a big three-barrel bluff with a missed open-ender against a player that I was pretty certain had second pair. It turned out he had second pair, but also had hit a runner runner flush. I didn't have to bluff all streets, but I'm sure it was a good play. I just got unlucky that he hit the flush.

Then I got limp/re-raised by a fish and stacked off with JJ. He had 44 and hit a 4.

After that I only flatcalled an UTG raise with QQ and hit a set. Turned out that the raiser had KK and hit a set as well. Amazingly enough, I only lost $80 even though we were $220 deep.

Afterwards I payed off the same guy when he min-raised the river again and I had TPTK. I thought maybe he was trying to level me, but he had a very weirdly played flush.

Then I got all my money in with 99 on a 964 board against a flush draw. The flush came like clockwork on the turn.

At the same time on another table I got all-in with AQ on a Q high flop against KQ. The three-outer hit on the river.

With the number of bad beats I took it's quite amazing that I only lost $500 in the session. Once again I have to say that I played very well. This is a new experience for me. Normally when I run bad, I play bad - and vice versa. It's frustrating to to see the pots get dragged away from me even when I play the hands to perfection. I could use the money these days. But all I can do is
continue playing my game and not let it get to me. Fortunately I have this blog to whine to. :-)


Edit: Just played another interesting, yet sickening, session. It started out with me holding QQ and making a tight fold preflop against a player who went all-in. I was almost positive he had AK, but there was another player to act behind me who had showed a lot of strength too. After that I called the same guy's raise with KJs. On a K72 flop we put in $220 each. He showed 88 and I was happy until an 8 hit the river. After that I flopped a set only to get outdrawn by a runner runner straight. At least that's what he claimed (and I believe him) to have, cause I made a very tough laydown with the set. The night ended when my 99 lost all-in preflop against A5o. What a day. Miraculously I only lost $100 in this second session. I feel like a lesser player would have been stuck thousands if he had my bad luck today. Bankroll: $3.6k

Finally a Good Session

Things finally went my way today. I played 6 tables of deep 0.5/1. At one point I was up $400, but then I got coolered in a few pots. I managed to only lose 1/3 of my stack when my AK flopped top pair in a button vs. BB situation and the other guy had a set. In the end I won almost $300. Bankroll: $3.7k

Frustration

I played another frustrating session. I moved down to the 0.5/1 deep tables this time. I think I played very well, but once again luck was not on my side. I did end up +$70, but it could have been a lot more. I got unlucky in some key pots:

An aggressive player had been getting re-raised quite frequently lately and I sensed he was starting to tilt. When he raised my blind and I was staring at two kings I felt pretty good. He called my re-raise and I could just sense that he was weak and was about to do something stupid. The flop was 882 with two spades. He raised me all-in and sucked out with his 79 of spades. I lost the $230 pot as a 2 to 1 favorite.

I had been hammering on a fish two my right all night as he limp-called my button raise. I had 99. Flop was J75 with two diamonds. He check-raised me quite big. I pretty much thought that he was completely full of it. I called. Raising is not really an option in that spot. Turn was an offsuit 8 and I picked up a gutshot. He quickly bet $40 into $56 and I called again. River was an offsuit king and he instantly moved in for his last $70. I'm getting almost 2 to 1 at this point. If he had a pair and a gutshot on the turn, my nines are still good. He could have missed a flush draw. My initial read was that he had finally cracked, so I called. He showed KQo to scoop the $278 pot. That was very frustrating. I had the correct read, but he hit his 6-outer.

I'm realizing now that I have been whining a lot lately over bad beats that are standard for any serious poker player. I did actually end up in the green for this session. If I just keep up playing my game I will eventually have big winning sessions again. A professional poker player should find satisfaction in making good decisions and not care too much about short-term results. Patience!!

I said I wouldn't withdraw more money, but I'm going to have to make withdrawals again. I need money to pay for plane tickets and hotel for a chess tournament I'm playing around New Year's Eve. The hotel is about $100 a day, so that's gonna hurt a bit. All this means that I'm staying away from 1/2 again, at least until I get rakeback in a week's time. Bankroll: $3.4k

Variance is a Bitch

I have been playing at 1/2 this week, although sparsely. I've been very busy at school lately, and exams are approaching. I am also involved in a project with a local newspaper. It has 80,000 regular subscriber, so it's a good chance for me to make some contacts in well-renowned company.

Unfortunately, variance hasn't gone my way at the poker tables. Yesterday I was up a good amount before I ran AK into 77 on a KK7 board with deep stacks. There is really no way anyone is getting away from that hand, it's just a huge cooler. That made my session only slightly above even. Today I ran absolutely terrible. The games were good and I think I played well for the entire session. I was disiplined enough to quit before I started steaming. There were some key hands that made me a $200 loser today:

I trap a guy I know squeezes very light by only flatcalling in the SB with QQ. I knew he would push like 80 % of his range. He pushed with 77 and hit a 7 on me.

I raise A5 of spades in the CO and gets called by a crazy Swedish donkey on the button and a fish in the BB. Flop is 762 two spades. I check to the Swede, expecting him to bet 100 % of the time. He bets $10, I raise to $50 and he shoves another $50 on top. He has Q2 and holds. I don't know if he thought he could bluff me out or if he just thought he had the best hand. Anyway, it worked for him, as he dodged my 15 outs.

I flatcall a button raise with A5 of diamonds in the SB (not really a good play, I was getting a little steamed up already). Flop is Q52 with two hearts. I check-raise to $36. Calling is not really good there against most people, since most cards are bad for my hand. He insta-shipped his $200 and I called quite quickly. There is no way he goes instantly all-in with a hand that has me beat. Sure enough, he had a flush draw and I got it in as a 2 to 1 favorite. But he got there.

In other news, mad props to local hero Johnny Lodden, who made the final table of EPT Budapest. Of course, he got very unlucky and busted out in 8th. Once that kid gets luck on his side, he will start winning big tournaments.