Trapping yourself

I have been slowly rebuilding my bankroll over the last couple of days. I am not playing a huge quantity of poker, but I am enjoying myself. The one thing that I have learned is that a $15 win looks huge when your account only has $50 in it. In contrast, a $15 win seems tiny when your account has over $1000 in it.

I played a bit today at $25 NL. I generally played tight-aggressive, but I bluffed at a few pots in spots where I’d either win the hand or I’d be forced to give it up. In the following hand, my bluff got called on the flop, but the turn gave me a good draw, so I tried again. My draw hit on the river, giving me a runner-runner straight. This hand is illustrative as to why you should rarely slow play, and if you do… that you should spring your trap on the turn at the latest.

$25 NL Texas Hold'em - Thursday, February 09, 13:01:54 EDT 2006
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: skywlker19 ( $40.55 )
Seat 2: atdae ( $32.80 )
Seat 3: pseudonym065 ( $31.45 )
Seat 4: DONKEY ( $14.58 )
Seat 6: Tenfiftyfour ( $29.75 )
Seat 5: frazwood ( $11.37 )
skywlker19 posts small blind [$0.10].
atdae posts big blind [$0.25].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to frazwood [ 8h 7h ]
pseudonym065 calls [$0.25].
DONKEY calls [$0.25].
frazwood calls [$0.25].
Tenfiftyfour folds.
skywlker19 folds.
atdae checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4h, 9d, Ac ]
atdae checks.
DONKEY bets [$0.85].
atdae folds.
pseudonym065 folds.
DONKEY calls [$0.85].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Td ]
DONKEY checks.
frazwood bets [$2].
chs6868 calls [$2].
** Dealing River ** [ Jh ]
DONKEY checks.
frazwood is all-In [$8.27]
DONKEY calls [$8.27].
DONKEY shows [ 4d, Ad ] two pairs, aces and fours.
frazwood shows [ 8h, 7h ] a straight, seven to jack.