I'm stuck in fish hell

I have been playing $25 NL at Party during my lunch hour. I started out carefully watching out for my opponents' play; I quickly figure out who is a donkey versus who is a super donkey. I quickly lose my first buy-in by playing AK very poorly. I move to a different table that is FULL of super donkeys. I play tight and aggressive. I identify one donk who is playing crap and raising with it. I wait until I have AK. He raises; I re-raise; he calls. The flop is perfect: K 8 2 rainbow. I bet; he raises; I re-raise all-in. He turns over 22. Shit. The next hand that I am dealt, I get AA. It is folded to me; I raise and get one caller. The flop gives me a set. I check. The turn fills me up. I check. The river is a blank. I make a minimum bet; my opponent folds. Sometimes... poker can be VERY frustrating.

Weekend update: I played pretty mediocre all day Sunday. I managed to lose some at Stars, Full Tilt, and Party, but not much. I won a little at Paradise and cleared some bonus. I am temporarily in the black again at Paradise, but I am trying to build enough bankroll to keep playing there so that I can clear their nice bonus. I would like to have about $25 to start (plenty for their $0.05/$0.10 no limit game).

Grinding away at Paradise; some up-and-down at Party

The background story: A month or so ago, I deposited $200 to do a PSO promotion to get a poker table. I played mostly $0.50/$1.00 limit and I was about even when I cleared the promotion. After that, though, I donked away about $75. Fearing losing the entire $200, I cashed out $100, leaving me short-stacked. I eventually got my stack as low as $5 before I made a comeback playing $0.05/$0.10 (blinds) no limit. As of this weekend, I had my stack back to $50.

So, I spent most of yesterday playing at Paradise, trying to get back to even. I was assisted by a reload bonus, which would normally clear rather quickly, but given the micro-stakes that I am playing... it clears slowly. The good news is that my new-found no limit strategy is working well. So, I scratched my stack from $50 to about $67 by 3-tabling $0.05/$0.10 no limit. Then, last night I started playing a single table of $0.10/$0.25 no limit, and I donked away some of my winnings, but not much as I had much of my money donked back to me. Seriously, I flopped a full house and I had a guy raise me on the flop, turn, and river with 23s, which was the WORST possible hand. After that, I played a little 5-max $0.10/$0.25 and I won a few more bucks and I cleared $10 of bonus. My stack at Paradise is now $83, which means that I had a great day considering the piddly stakes that I was playing.

I played a little bit at Party also yesterday. I decided to play $0.25/$0.50 no limit, and I immediately donked off $25. I eventually won most of that back, losing a total of $3 on the day. I didn't play very seriously at Party, which is a big mistake. I really want to start playing winning poker again. I plan is to reward myself with a $100 cash out if I ever get my stack there back to $600.

The other big activity of the day is that I went fishing yesterday morning, probably for the last time this year. We started right at day break. The action was generally slow, although we each caught about 5 fish in 90 minutes. I caught two of my fish casting a tube jig up a storm-sewer that held warmer water. I caught my last fish accidentally; I casted the tube up to a good spot and then had to maneuver the canoe around a bit. When I returned, a rather large fish was attached to the end of my line. It was a ~5 lb carp, but it was still fun to catch. That was literally my last cast of the day, as Jeremiah had to leave to watch the Gophers get beat by OSU.

I've stopped sucking (well, mostly)

Yesterday was another good poker day. I played almost exclusively low stakes no limit hold em, and I netted nice wins at Full Tilt and Party Poker. I lost some at Stars, but my net (all sites) was +$30. This is nothing to get excited about, but at least I have it moving in the right direction. Perhaps more importantly is my win rate, which is HUGE. Considering the mistakes that I have made, I really feel like I can start being a regular winner again soon.

Making some progress

A strange thing has been happening to me... I have been winning! Sure, I am playing low stakes no limit hold'em, but winning is winning. Part of my success is undoubtedly due to my use of Pokertracker. Pokertracker has done two things: (1) it is helped me self-analyze myself, and (2) it allows me to identify the weakest players at the table, allowing me to develop a better plan of attack.

I have definitely learned that I am way too aggressive. I need to tone things down a bit and I need to learn to let go of hands easier. Part of my problem is that I feel like I need to attack the short-handed tables, but I am attacking far too aggressively.

Anyway, I have been primarily playing 6-max ($25) NL at Party, plus full ring no limit at Stars and Full Tilt (blinds = $0.05/$0.10). I am doing really well at Stars and Full Tilt, averaging somewhere around 10 big bets per 100 hands. Sure, it is low stakes, but I am building confidence in my game and I am building my bankroll too. My bankroll at each of these sites is really poor right now. I have not been as successful at Party because I keep falling victim to "the hand" where I lose my entire stack by pushing in a bad spot. After castigating myself, I have always been able to calm down, play solid poker and win it all back (or almost all of it). But still, breaking even is not winning and I want to win.

I also escaped from perhaps a BIG mistake last night when I sat down for a $1/$2 (6-max) limit game at UltimateBet. These tables were CRAZY aggressive and I fell victim to some ridiculous suck outs early on. For example, I raised with QQ, got re-raised, and I capped. The flop came jack-high... so I bet it aggressively and I kept getting raised. The dude then caught runner runner diamonds to make a flush (he has 67s). I eventually figured things out a bit and tried to isolate myself against the maniac preflop. After that, I knew I had an edge because I was generally playing better hands. At one point, I was down $10 (I brought $50 to the room) and I was dealt 33 on the button. I limped as did the small blind; the maniac raised (big blind) and we both called. The flop was a dream flop: 2 2 3. I got all of my money in the middle and more than doubled my stack. I ended the session with two scary hands. I was dealt KK both times and both times the flops came down ace-high. Both times my opponents had smaller pocket pairs from the big blind and called to the river with them. I netted a win of $1.50 plus I cleared some bonus money. I think it'll be awhile before I risk that again.

Sometimes I suck, Sometimes I am good

I have played some really bad poker lately. About a week ago, I had my stack at Poker Stars over $200, playing solid poker at $0.50/$1.00 levels. In an attempt to clear the old bonus (and $120), I started playing bad poker at $1/$2 level. Yesterday, I followed that up by playing some bad tournament poker. The net result? My stack at Poker Stars was approximately $35 last night when I sat down to play.

Luckily, I can also play some damn good poker when I am properly motivated. I played three tables last night. I played a $2/$4 limit table at Party (way above my bankroll), a $1/$2 limit table at Absolute, and a $0.05/$0.20 NL table at Stars. I played almost perfect poker for the entire night, such that my net loss for the day was less than $1. I won maybe $8 at Party. I won $23 at Stars and another $20 at Absolute.

I made one mistake on the night, where I flopped the under-full house from the small blind. I checked it, hoping to get to check-raise. Unfortunately, it got checked around. I bet out on the turn and got three callers when a queen came. The bad-beat came on the river when another king came, making the board K 8 K Q K (I had 88). My opponent flipped over Q6o for a better full house. Grrr.

More struggles

My poker game continues to struggle. In spite of family visiting our newborn, I managed to play quite a bit of poker. I did great at Absolute and UltimateBet, but bad at Full Tilt and Poker Stars. Poker Stars was the worst, where I managed to tilt off 60% of my bankroll play short-handed $1/$2 limit.

I really think my problem is discipline, or lack thereof. Out of every ten sessions, I probably play 7 of them "really well". Meaning, I will have big wins in two of the them, moderate wins in three, and slight losses in two. This is typical of poker and where I should be. Unfortunately, I will play bad in two of the other sessions, giving me a fairly large loss... and then I will play HORRIBLE in the tenth session, resulting in an overall loss for the ten sessions. I need to avoid bad sessions and I really need to avoid HORRIBLE sessions.

My goal for now is to re-build my stacks at Full Tilt and Poker Stars by playing heads-up tournaments and even sit-and-goes (Stars only). I also plan to grind back at Party Poker. I hope they give me a good bonus next month. I need to start earning some cash.

A bad night...

I did not get the opportunity to play much last night. I started playing but then about 25 minutes into it... Kelly became very frustrated with the baby (and likely me!) and I had to quit. What little I did play was REALLY bad.

I was six tabling again, playing two at Stars, two at Full Tilt, and two at Absolute. At first, I played really aggressive and I lost some pots that I should have folded either preflop or on the flop. So, I was stuck pretty quickly. After that, I got cold cards for a LONG time. At one point, I had played somewhere between 35 and 50 hands at each of the three sites and I had not won a SINGLE hand. Eventually, I won a hand at Stars when I raised from UTG+1 with AKo and everyone folded! Yeah, stealing the blinds! After my bad start, I really did start to play well and I recovered some of my losses. I won a nice pot at Full Tilt from a guy who clearly thought I was a donkey. I had KK and he called my raise with QJo. He paid me off nicely when the flop came jack-high. I won another nice pot at Stars when I had AA, flopped a set, and finished with two callers on the river. I was worried that someone had a straight... but no... someone had two pair and another person had a pair of aces.

Still running good... except...

I played a little bit more poker yesterday. It was all $0.50/$1.00 and most of it was full ring. The exception to the full ring was during my lunch hour yesterday, where I played a single table of $0.50/$1.00 6-max at Party. I was using PokerTracker and I had a juicy table that had 3-4 people who had VP$IP's greater than 60%. Sounds great, huh? I lost $35 in 52 hands. I still have no idea how. I would get a good hand (for 6max), raise and get 4-5 callers. And then I would totally miss. I would get a small pocket pair on the big blind, flop a set and lose to a straight. It was terrible. Absolutely terrible. These donkeys would make the worst plays possible when I was not in hand (capping on the river with less than top pair!) but they would flip over the nuts against me.

Anyway, after that... I played for about an hour last night at home. I was feeling confident, so I played 2 tables at Stars, 2 at Full Tilt, and 2 at Absolute. I had nice wins at Absolute and Full Tilt (somewhere in the 5-6 big bets per 100 hands range), but I lost $7 at Stars. The net was a win rate some around 2 big bets per 100 hands. I was pretty much card dead at Stars. I was making a huge score at Absolute until I lost a huge pot on the turn with AA vs. KQ and AK. I mistakenly thought that my set of aces on the turn were good, when they actually gave KQ the nuts. This was a 6-table mistake in that I did not see and/or consider the straight draw carefully enough.

I played REALLY well at Stars though. I made some nice lay downs of AK very early in hands when I was essentially drawing dead. One hand was capped 5-ways pre-flop and I became very worried when the big blind came out firing. He had 22 and the flop was A 6 2.

The baby is screaming.... hmmm.... I think I'll raise

Last night, I discovered that my days as a semi-serious online poker player are now over. I have been running good lately at every site that I play and I totally wish that I could play more. Anyway, when I got home last night, I needed to watch the baby for awhile. No problem. It actually coincided with the WSOP on ESPN, so I laid her on my chest, convinced her to fall asleep and watched TV. My plan was to do this until 9 pm, after which I was going to play an hour of cards until I needed to go to sleep.

The session started out rather suspiciously. First hand, I flopped TPTK and lost to a set of two's. I won the next hand though and I was back to even. Eventually, I was playing four tables (two at Stars, two at Absolute) and I was grinding away. Things were going really well, except for when my KTo ran up against AA. Actually, that was not the problem. I figured that I was against an overpair. The problem was.... I flopped a pair plus a straight draw. I caught the straight on the turn, but this put a 3-flush on the board. I bet it because my K gave me the draw to the second nut. The final diamond came on the river, where my opponent turned over AA (with the nut flush). Crap.

But I digress. About the same time that crappy hand happened, the baby started screaming. Now, Kelly was taking care of everything, but still... she was screaming. I mean; she was SCREAMING! In the grand scheme of what is most important, my poker session ended right there. Bummer.

The winning continues with a royal and a four of a kind

I think my game is in really good shape right now. I am playing tight, aggressive, and I am making great reads. Even better... I am getting VERY lucky. I played 3 tables tonight, one at Stars and two at Absolute. I won 3 pots at Stars in 55 hands, but all of them were very nice sized and I won $12.75. I got even better cards at Absolute, winning more than $25 in 134 hands (all of this: $0.50/$1.00 limit) plus $10 more in bonus. I even caught my fourth (I think) royal flush as well as quads. Simply amazing! Oh yeah, I even won at Paradise today! The royal and the four of a kind are shown below:

Table: Reston (Real Money)
Seat #5 is the dealer
Seat 5 - RJG66 ($43.10 in chips)
Seat 6 - 1JEDIMASTER ($19.50 in chips)
Seat 7 - XX FINZ XX ($12.27 in chips)
Seat 8 - CHIPMERLIN ($25 in chips)
Seat 9 - FRAZWOOD ($36.60 in chips)
Seat 1 - DRAGON88 ($6.60 in chips)
Seat 4 - PROFI1375 ($37.25 in chips)
1JEDIMASTER - Posts small blind $0.25
XX FINZ XX - Posts big blind $0.50
CHIPMERLIN - sitout (wait for BB)
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to FRAZWOOD [As Ad]
FRAZWOOD - Raises $1 to $1
FINZ XX - Calls $0.50
*** FLOP ***
[Js Ks Qs]
XX FINZ XX - Checks
FRAZWOOD - Bets $0.50
XX FINZ XX - Calls $0.50
*** TURN ***
[Js Ks Qs] [6s]
XX FINZ XX - Checks
FRAZWOOD - Bets $1
XX FINZ XX - Calls $1
*** RIVER ***
[Js Ks Qs 6s] [10s]
XX FINZ XX - Checks
FRAZWOOD - Bets $1
XX FINZ XX - Folds
*** SHOW DOWN
***FRAZWOOD - Shows [As Ad] (Royal flush)
FRAZWOOD Collects $6 from main pot


Table: Reston (Real Money)
Seat #3 is the dealerS
eat 3 - FOXYTRISH ($7.19 in chips)
Seat 4 - PROFI1375 ($37.50 in chips)
Seat 5 - JDSTRAYT ($25 in chips)
Seat 6 - 1JEDIMASTER ($23 in chips)
Seat 7 - SLICKME ($30.30 in chips)
Seat 8 - CHIPMERLIN ($25.75 in chips)
Seat 9 - FRAZWOOD ($37.85 in chips)
Seat 1 - DRAGON88 ($6.70 in chips)
PROFI1375 - Posts small blind $0.25
JDSTRAYT - Posts big blind $0.50
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to FRAZWOOD [Jc Jh]
1JEDIMASTER - Calls $0.50
SLICKME - Folds
CHIPMERLIN - Folds
FRAZWOOD - Raises $1 to $1
DRAGON88 - Folds
FOXYTRISH - Raises $1.50 to $1.50
PROFI1375 - Folds
JDSTRAYT - Folds
1JEDIMASTER - Calls $1
FRAZWOOD - Calls $0.50
*** FLOP ***
[2c Qs 5h]
1JEDIMASTER - Checks
FRAZWOOD - Bets $0.50
FOXYTRISH - Raises $1 to $1
1JEDIMASTER - Folds
FRAZWOOD - Calls $0.50
*** TURN *** [2c Qs 5h] [Js]
FRAZWOOD - Checks
FOXYTRISH - Bets $1
FRAZWOOD - Raises $2 to $2
FOXYTRISH - Calls $1
*** RIVER *** [2c Qs 5h Js] [Jd]
FRAZWOOD - Bets $1
FOXYTRISH - Calls $1
*** SHOW DOWN
***FRAZWOOD - Shows [Jc Jh] (Four of a kind, jacks)
FOXYTRISH - Shows [Ah As] (Two Pairs, aces and jacks)
FRAZWOOD Collects $12.60 from main pot

What's this? A winning streak?

My difficulties with poker have been a pervasive topic in this blog for some time. I have played a lot of heads-up poker tournaments over the last few days, but little else. The result has effectively been "the break" from poker that I needed, without actually taking a break from poker.

So, after thinking about my game a lot, I came to realize that I have just been too aggressive. I am simply trying to buy too many pots. Ergo, I have decided to re-dedicate myself to patience, simply sitting back, waiting for the right time to strike. In limit play, I am entering pots with premium hands or I am entering hands that have the correct pot odds to justify my play.

Shocking news! It works! For example, I was dealt 44 in the big blind. A guy raised from early position, there were two callers, and so I did too. I flopped a set and won a big pot. The next hand, I was dealt 66 in the small blind... several limpers... I flop a set and I won a big pot.

I have had almost totally winning sessions all weekend once I stopped trying to buy every pot. I have won a little at Party Poker, a little at Poker Stars, and a little at Absolute. I have even won a little at Paradise Poker, but that situation is simply a debacle (I'm not going to say why!).

Anyway, I hope that I can keep this up!

The old standby

Last night was a bad night at Paradise Poker. I don't know why exactly I am playing there, considering that I should be playing at Poker Stars. Anyway, I lost a bunch and after cashing out $100... my bankroll was down to $11 at one point. So, I decided to resort to my "old standby", which is to play heads up ($5 + 0.25). I am pretty good at them and I can usually grind up my bankroll nicely as long as I stay focused. The good news is that Paradise has a pretty good structure for these things. The blinds increase every 10 hands, so you can play solid for awhile... but sooner or later you are going to have to take a chance. I am playing ultra-aggressive these days, so it works out well for these.

It also helps how awful the other people play sometimes. For example, a dude went all-in preflop with ATo a couple of hands ago... virtually no match for my AQs. It took me five hands to get a read on him, so I figured my AQ was good. I eventually won the SNG when he bluffed all-in on the river with 9-high.

Crap crap CRAP!

Right now, I really suck. I lost $30 at Paradise tonight playing $0.50/$1.00 limit. I am way too aggressive post-flop and sometimes too aggressive pre-flop. Also, I am running bad. Catch a set on the flop? My opponent is almost guarenteed to catch runner runner for a straight.

I had a little bit of success playing a single table of no limit earlier today. So, I am going to try that right. Hopefully, I won't get killed. I can't afford it.

A lot of baby; a little poker

We finally made our way home from the hospital on Wednesday. The baby is doing great but Mom was having a few problems. We returned to the emergency room Friday night, but it now looks like everyone is in the clear.

Given the midnight diaper changes and the fact that my mother-in-law has been staying with us, I have played very little poker lately. Party Poker came out with their monthly bonus, and mine was essentially unattainable. So, for now, I am going to try and clear my PSO bonus at Paradise Poker and clear my Poker Stars bonus.

In general, I have been playing losing poker for several weeks now, but I think that is about all to change. I am playing less seriously now, which means fewer tables and I am not trying to win every hand that I played. I had one really nice hand this morning where I was dealt KK in the small blind. I played it aggressively preflop, on the flop, and on the turn. I then checked the river, thinking that my opponent might bluff (I had him on top pair)... which he did, flipping over ace high? WTF? Oh well, that gave me a really nice session.

Baby!

The baby arrived on Sunday, October 2 at 7:07 pm. She is very beautiful (yes, I am biased) and quite the handful. So, I've played virtually no poker since Saturday morning. I'll try and write more later.