Ramblings of a Mad Man (The Divorced Years)

Brutal

2018-04-27T05:25:00.001-07:00

Brutal run of 10 losses in a row finally kicked in my destructive streak. Blah. Anyways building it back up.. Going to play out the $30 I have remaining. Still cashed out $50 earlier so am only down a few bucks..

Going to become a $4 Omaha cash specialist. OMG. It totally hit my gambooler streak today.. lost 4 buyins then came roaring back and won 7. 6-Max Omaha is fun as fuck at the $4 level.. but probably not gonna live long on my $30... Anyways the side effect of this is I get to play a lot of .11 cent tourneys. I donked out of one last night which didn't help.. Raised 1200 pre.. got called by J8.. I had J7 but that is still a horrible call.. flop gave me TP Gutshot Flush draw.. no way I am folding there. However it gave my opponent 2 pairs with his J8.. sooooooooooo.... I was doing ok till then.

Kinda glad I hate poker.

Pushup failure happened this morning. Oh well. I still did 88.. Gonna try and enjoy the weekend. Fishing derby with the kids. Peace.

Meltdown Smeltdown

2018-04-23T05:44:00.003-07:00

So I failed to make my goal this week. Not the most horrible thing in the world but still disappointing in week 2. I did have a nice meltdown on Saturday that did not help. Basically ate up my profits for the week then fought back and got my losses back. I kept getting so fucked so far up my ass with stupid people calling with bullshit hands and going runner runner on me.

Anyway that is poker. I am implementing a 2 game stop loss. If I lose two in a row I take a short break and peek at cute anime girls buttocks. Just finished the disastrous life of saiki k, and watching the second season of WakFu.. as well as some other Anime on Netflicks. They have really gone all out with this stuff. I think it would be cool if they bought crunchy roll and like for 1-2$ a month extra you got all that content.

So this is a new week and I am starting up $42. Took third in my first game of the week. I made one mistake calling a short stack with 55.. this guy was pretty tight all game and he had QQ.. I convinced myself he could have AK and I should race. I should never race.

That one ended when a guy who was min raising my blind all day long min raised my blind. I was already ITM so I shoved over the top of him. He calls with QJ s0000ted and flops the flush draw, turns the flush, and rivers a second flush just to rub it in.

These things are always such a coin flip at the end which is why I think my strategy of trying to always just cash... then switching gears and getting super aggressive to win is a good one. I can usually outplay my opponents on the flop. I am slightly concerned that my most outcomes come in 3rd and 4th... but.. still...

Almost to my first 50 hands tracked. My results so far 19/24 with a profit. Over 43 hands. Lets see what this week brings. Goal for the week is to crack 300. Lets see how we do.

1st	4
2nd	6
3rd	9
4th	10
5th	3
6th	3
7th	4
8th	3
9th	1

Hahahaha I am so fucked

2018-04-20T04:52:00.003-07:00

Still winning. Slightly less than 50% cash rate. Still up $67 this week playing 6.60s on a $150 bankroll (now $117).. Still feels like I am a loser bwahahahaha.. oh my. I am gonna like get two 1st places in a row and then be like "I be killin it bitches immma ballah your moms!!!!"

1st	2
2nd	5
3rd	2
4th	6
5th	3
6th
7th	2
8th
9th

Until then.. peace out..

SNG Continued Fun

2018-04-19T04:28:00.003-07:00

Still mentally a fuckup. Still kinda losing more than I would like.. However now up like $62 for the week... and still 4 more days to hit the target of $100 for the week. I have been winning at about 50% right now.. some good and some bad ones. Won two in a row today thought. Got some quickies in this morning. Finally got my first 3rd place too! Was a cooler HU A9 vs AT I decided to shove.. he decided to call.. it is what it is..

SNGs

1st	2
2nd	4
3rd	1
4th	5
5th	2
6th
7th	1
8th
9th

Hate that I always need to win. Not likely to change though. As long as I keep a cap on it might not go insane..

Losing Streak

2018-04-18T05:51:00.001-07:00

A lot of you know me already but here is another look into the bad mentality that makes it hard for me to succeed in poker: I am on a losing streak.

What do I mean by a losing streak? I am only up 44$ this week. I have lost like 2-3 SNGs in a row. My stats are 4-5 since I started taking notes. Big fucking losing streak right? Hell I even cashed in 88th place in a 780 person MTT. It was a eleven center for 1.10 but still..

Fuck me if I have not gotten lucky too.. I mean first hand of my last first place win I get all in on the first hand with no reads with AK vs AA and KK and I spike my straight on the river. I then cruised to first place win.

Yet in my mind the last results are: you lost 3 times! WTF! Will you ever win again? What is wrong with you!! You will never be good in poker.

I mean look at my stats over my first recorded games:

1st	1
2nd	3
3rd
4	4
5	1
6
7
8
9

I have 4 1st and 2nd place finishes... and almost ALL my loses are coming from having to shove the bubble and race for a win. I mean if I get a tiny bit more lucky then a lot of those 4th places start becoming first and seconds...

So I am doing fucking fantastic but can only dwell on my last results. Not a good sign. I did have some fun at a $4 table today though trippled up on the first cash hand with KK vs 44/55/KQ all in pre-flop. I know I know donkey gets lucky sometime. Left the table with my $15+ and then spent that on the losing SNG..

Ah well.. Not sure if I will succeed or fail but its always fun to play.

The Good Things In Life

2018-04-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

The nice thing about playing poker online besides not having to drive 45 minutes to a casino... You can just sit there, doing an Al Bundy with your hand down your pants.. maybe picking your nose a few times.. and it's all good.. Nobody even looks twice at ya.

The Global Poker cashout went perfectly. I applied on Friday night I think.. so I did not expect a response until Monday, on Monday they said they wanted a photo of my license not a scan.. so I sent that.. and by Tuesday the funds were sitting in my PayPal account.

I am heading for the next goal - $300 - and the next cashout of $50. Want to build the roll a little so I can throw in some bigger tourneys but also want to do some regular cashouts and not keep too much online. Right now I am sitting at a $38 profit since the cashout. My goal right now is about $100 per week. I also decided to track my SNGs just for the hell of it.

First 5 since tracking: 3 2nd places, and twice out of the money.

Well that is a Weight off the Shoulders

2018-04-14T22:04:00.001-07:00

Bought in and pending my first cash out at Global Poker. Bought in for $100 and in my first week doubled up to $200 and cashing out $50. So far the cash out process is somewhat easy. It is kind of hard to find as you have to click buy coins.. then there is a cashout tab. Once you are verified via license and a bill from your address you get your cash back in PayPal. A fee is attached to payout apparently so will have to watch that. Will keep you informed as to how well this works.

We all know that pushing towards a goal can sometimes drive us mad so I am a little relieved I have reached phase 1- da first cashout. Phase 2 - da second cashout is going to be at $300.

I have no idea if $100 a week is sustainable at this site... but hey an extra $400 in the paycheck a month would not hurt anything. Also as I grow the bankroll and cashout along the way I will be rolled for bigger tourneys and SNGs which may or may not be a good thing. I think I could easily enjoy 10/20$ SNGs and tourneys on the site.

I will probably not leave large amounts on the site.. Will keep the poker money on PayPal and watch it grow a bit.. and then cash it out and use it for something at some point. I also probably need a "poker" bank account.. cause I don't really want my main account linked to PayPal.. although it is probably fairly safe..

Other than that I have been playin well since my first meltdown.. Had 2 4th place finishes and 2 2nd place finishes today before taking a nap.. and then waking up and taking down a first to pass the threshold I set. Will keep you informed if the checkout goes well.. and how the game progresses.. I will either keep on track or meltdown which is why you all read right? Not feeling too crazy right now but give it a day..

Going Well

2018-04-14T07:46:00.003-07:00

The upswing continues. I am hoping to be up a hundred by the end of the week and then cash out 50, and do it again to $300. I think making $100 a week would be pretty cool. I am not sure it's not possible at $6.60 SNGs. I am also not sure it is.. and I am usually hesitant to make these goals because if I start moving the other direction I get chasey.

One other thing I am noticing. I had great success at the non-turbo games playing hard and just trying to make 3rd every game. I go on the site this morning and no games are running so I blow $8 on a 5.50 super turbo guarenteed $100.. and a $3.30 turbo SNG.. where I spewed out when I did not have to..

The point is stick to my game selection. Do the really cheap/free tourneys and know that it is ok to not play if the right game is not there.

On other notes it is sorta spring today.. Been working out doing 50 pushups 3x a week and jumping jacks.. Add some gym in for today... Not saying it is going to be in the routine forever but we will see.. Did curls with barbells, leg lifty thingies, and shoulder lifty thingies.. and then 10 mins on the bike and like a quarter mile walk to and from the gym. Not to self - Leg thingies may cause walking to be a problem.

Going well so far

2018-04-13T05:46:00.002-07:00

Now that I have calmed down a bit and am playing to a strategy things are coming along. I have won +80 in the past couple days just sticking to my basic strategy. Also the summer is coming so back into pushups and other exercises.. the pool will probably open soon too.

Two Waffles

2018-04-11T19:56:00.001-07:00

Last night I was all over the place. Losing every SNG. Getting out drawn but really getting into too many hands and situations when I did not have to. Poker was making me so sick to death I was really ready to quit already.

Tonight I refocused and had one rule: make 3rd place. I decided not to play the turbo format either. So how were my results? I finished 4-1 with 2 firsts and a third. The one I lost I think I was just getting tired of winning. heh. I went out with AK vs KK vs AQ.. which is not horrible but I had a stack where I did not need to gamble. Tonight I loved poker.

Going to stick with what I did tonight if possible and see how it goes. The swing between last night and tonight was -40 to +60. Crazy. Not sure if I will be able to keep the insanity under control but it's free money and for now I am having fun.

First cash out will come if I reach 200. It is a big IF.

Online Welcome Home Again

2018-04-10T13:49:00.004-07:00

Playing online again... there is a site called Global Poker and it works like a sweepstakes. Not sure how long it will be around so I just dumped a hundred in and am playing for fun. Poker is the same as I remember. Gonna be interesting.

State of the Union

2017-03-31T04:35:00.000-07:00

Good night at the Mohegan. I am now up $500+ over 25 sessions for a win rate of like 1.44BB/HR.

The last session was a plus $364 session so that helped the bottom line.

Nothing was too crazy. I started with $100 and quickly lost $70 to QQ vs 84. Yes I did raise pre to $15. I also think I lost the minimum. I did not lose the whole 70 on that one hand but that was the biggest hand. I think I probably lost $30-$40 on that hand.

I then was feeling a little spewy. First position comes in for $15, second position raises it up to $22. I decide to jam all in. The next spot re-jams and both guys call. So I am in it for $120. The hands turned out to be AA/AA/QQ and me with... Ducks. 22. Haha. Guess who won?

So now I am flush with my awesome victory. What else happened all night. I got paid off with Aces 3 ways vs AK and some shit hand. I lost a decent sized hand with AJ vs 22 on a JJ2 board. I was really close to not calling his re-raise and losing like $45 less... but I also am trying to get paid off on my good hands and not leave money on the table.. So probably could pick better spot to not see monsters under my bed but what can you do.

I chased a few flush draws in multiway pots and got paid off good. Other than that I bet my good hands strong and people folded.. Ending up $364 was pretty nice though since I only bought in for $100.. So basically almost won 4x my buyin. Would love to see some more nights like that or hit the high hand. I could live with around $100 an hour earn rate.

Otherwise still reading and trying to stop seeing monsters everywhere.

Back In the Saddle Again.. Again..

2017-03-26T01:24:00.002-07:00

Played again. I took a short hiatus because A. I was a little pissed, and B. I was really busy making consulting money which is always much better than poker money.

I was slightly pissed because I play and play and play and make like $160 profit over all my sessions lol. Better than nothing. I started reading some poker books again too. I realize this describes my game perfectly "The tight-aggressive person who thinks that every flop holds a monster under the bed and thinks he should always win with his aces." Basically I hate to be wrong and do not gamble enough. It's hard to change that style though and not sure I would be more profitable. It's possible.

Tonight was interesting. I got smacked by the deck but sucked out on terribly. I did not let it effect me and made some big laydowns with Aces and other big hands that got cracked. I showed several hands all premium. I worked up to like $140.. then I decided to try and cash in on my reputation with someone I thought could fold. I raised pre-flop to like 15 and the flop comes KQT giving my AK top pair and decent draws to outs. I think I played this hand ok but needed more money behind. I lead out for like $25.. and got raised at which point I jammed in for my stack. In hindesight since my opponent raised me I probably did not have enough left to make him fold.. however I jammed anyways. He called me with QT and I did not improve. I may have the numbers slightly wrong but it was a good $78 for him to call my re-jam.

I may be just going by the result.. but I think there could be better spots. My read was right on 2 pair.. and I was trying to represent a set or made straight. I thought I had good fold equity though and was trying to be more aggressive.. anyways.....

It might be that I should just keep playing tight-aggressive and sort of weakish. It does pay off but the thing that hit me most was that if I can adjust my game and not go crazy I can really take advantage of limpers and call-folders and make a lot more. Not sure I can play that way but am going to keep reading.

The rest of the night was rather boring.. I tightened up. Got lucky. Got unlucky. Tried to hit the high hand jackpot every hour. Had my stacks incorrectly stacked and thought I had more than I did.. and ended the entire night with a slight profit of $27. Better than a kick in the balls.

Nothing too Exciting

2016-07-14T18:52:00.002-07:00

Nothing really exciting happening on the tables. Planning on getting the book suggested. Have not done so yet.

Last session I basically was down $3 till the last round. I always set a cutoff time of 10:00 so I can get to bed at a decent time. So I was on my final pass. I look down and have 77.. Someone raises and the flop comes 3 clubs with a 7. I pop it for 5 bucks just to end the hand basically. I get called 2 ways. Turn is a red 4. First position check, I check, last position check. River 4. First position bets 10, I raise to 20, then the last position jams.. First position folds, I instacall.. and my runner-runner boat beats the river Ace high flush. I ended the session up $140.

My hardest thing as always is seeing like people make $600-$1k at a 1/2 table.. and me just eeking out my small wins.. occasionally I get the $600 win.. I know realistic poker is small wins small loses.. and growth over time.. Not my specialty .. Every game I seem to lose around $100.. make a comeback.. and then either end up down a little or up a little..

This game was kind of good for me. It started out with my worse style: super aggro.. and I kept pretty even.. got down like $100 from a few overcalls maybe.. some AK missing.. and then having to fold to a flop bet.. and then got even and finally the table slowed down a lot and I made a good profit. It does get a little frustrating when your week looks like - -$85, -$42, +$142.. anyways getting used to the slower pace of poker live.. only playing Wednesdays..Running at a solid 2.6BB/hr.. sooooo I guess I have nothing to complain about but it sure looks like I do...

Hell maybe I will come back here next week and tell you I won the ATV from the Quads for a Quad contest I got a free entry to a couple weeks back. Poker and life are funny that way,

Pokering With The Drunks

2016-07-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

Had a fun day at Mohegan and put together another nice win. It was a good win as I was down the first half of the session by $90.. and just hung in there. I was having fun chatting with another Red Sox fan and the table was good and social. At the beginning I made a few minor mistakes.. Letting myself get check raised on the river when the better move would have been checking behind. Small things like that. I got a few pairs and nothing hit. So I kind of lost money in the grind.

The second half the deck kind of smacked me in the face. A drunk guy joined the table and I was having fun with him. He was nuts. He could not stack his chips. He kept saying "You dun did that!" at people and "You dun did it now!".. and I would should back at him "He done did dat!".. Was hilarious and friendly drunk. I made a bunch of money off him. Made money from hitting quad 2's. First quads I have seen since I started playing this year. I also hit a straight flush with one card.. but that would not count for the HH.

I made some mistakes and got a little unlucky or else I would be leaving with $1,000 instead of like $240. I also took it easy on the drunk.. I was just enjoying his company and did not wan't to bust him yet.

The two biggest changes of fortune in the night were a hand where I had TT. The board ended J3324. On the river drunk dude led out with $100 after checking the turn. I asked him if he was bluffing me. He turned away and would not look at me. I felt like he was TOTALLY bluffing me.. but I ended up folding. The pot was worth $300 or so... and I feel like I made a bad fold. The guy after me only had $40 left and he called winning the pot with 55. Curse you Fuel!

The other big thing I lost was when my quad 2's did not make the HH. I held the spot for like an hour but then got beat by quad 5's. I had no control over that and figured quad 2's was too weak to hold up.

I feel kind of bad that I left like $700 on the table between those two things.. But I am happy to put together a couple of nice wins.

Kids are off at camp. Life is hot and slow right now. Not too bad though.

Back In The Saddle Again

2016-06-16T19:06:00.002-07:00

I settled down finally and played a good game. I decided to go to Mohegan to get a little bit of a change of scenery. I really like Mohegan too it is pretty kick ass. I even won an entry into some kind of Fishing Boat raffle.... and I have like $100 in comps for stuff I guess.. don't know how that works.. As far as the game it was good, it was bad, it was ugly, and I did get lucky at points. The first table I sat at was a lot of fun. Everyone chatted and had a good natured time. I worked my way up a bit from my initial $200 buy, then I hit a snag. I got into two hands with the same guy where my two pair was sucked out on by his two pair when I bet it hard all the way to the river. It really fucking hurts when that 3 outer hits twice in a row but I held my shit together. The next hand I misplayed slightly but it paid off for me. First guy bets, I call with AK, and a third guy gets into the hand after me. The third guy was an old dooshey horse race better. He had head phones on the whole time listening to his fucking horses race, and he got the baseball game turned to his stupid fucking horsey channel. The flop came AT3. Seems like a great flop to me. Horsey dooshey bets out $20, then the next guy jams all in for his remaining $68. I figure that TPTK is probably worth $68 in a 1/2 game at times. I feel like I go too weak with AK sometimes. Anyways I cold call his bet expecting horsey dooshey to fold. Except to my amazement he cold calls too. The next card is a total blank. Horsey dooshey checks and I jam all in for my remaining $170ish. I figure he is on some type of draw and I want to get paid if he wants to draw. I know $68 for a draw is a big amount but that was my read. Horsey dooshey thinks, grumbles, asks if I want a call.. I respond "Play your cards how you want to". Then he finally whips his cards into the much grumbling and whining. The cards turn over and I am trying to win a $180 pot.. I am again T3o. I really never expected to see that but I am not really sad to see it as I have a few aces, a few kings and even a few queens as outs... I thought I was going to lose.. but the poker gods decided they loved me tonight and spanked a K on the river. Phil Ivey lost the hand and ended up leaving a few hands later. Our table ended up being reduced to like four people.. then it went back to full.. and then back to four people, at which time we decided to break the table and went our separate ways. The only other good hand I had at that table is when I 3-bet bluffed a kid into folding when I had a straight flush draw. He believed my $15, $25, $35 line and decided to finally fold. I was surprised he was so strong and also that he folded... but he probably remembered the two pair hands he sucked out on me with and figured I had him beat. The next table had a bunch of young guns who knew each other and were having fun. I liked that table too. I had one decent hand when I called some guys 3-barrel bluff with a really low flush... I thought I might be good but was not totally sure. I made a huge mistake at this table in paying off someone. I also played the hand pretty poorly because I was not sure where I was at.. I had JJ and I bet and was re-raised a small amount... I think I raised to $11, and he rr to $17... and we ended up 3 to the flop.. The first guy bet out $10 on the 9Tx flop... and I called instead of raising or pushing.. The third guy called... then the turn was another 9... and it checked around.. I knew I should have bet out.. but I was kinda frozen on the third guy... this line to me was sub-optimal but not horrible so far.. The river completed a flush... two checks.. and the original raiser bets out $45..... I got stubborn.. thought it through for a while.. figured he might be making a play on me....... and called... I feel if I folded here it would have been a good solid play instead of calling. So my stack of $350+ got diminished to $300... I would never make it back. The final play of the night I have Fuel's hand.. 55... Presto! I was already racked and ready to leave but the dealer dealt me so I was like fuck it. I knew this was a mistake.. The flop comes 5xx... I check.. and the other guy in the hand lays out $21. The flop had two of a suit... I was ready to leave or else I would have milked this hand.. instead I just jammed another $277 in... This was one of the young bucks who thought they were poker gods... they did not know they were up against a TRUE Poker GOD! This kid hemmed and hawed and was like damn that is too much money.. but I could win... Once he started talking things out I felt really confident. He told me he was on a flush draw vs my set... and I was at peace with whatever he did.. but I sort of preferred a fold... and eventually he did fold his flush draw. I racked up and left with my $118 profit. After being a donk for a couple weeks.. I will take it...

Stupid Poker

2016-06-10T06:01:00.003-07:00

Just kidding! The past two weeks have been bad though. I think I have been pushing it too much. With the big win I am like "ACTION! BIG WINS! WOO HOO!".. haha. I just need to readjust back to solid poker and stop trying to win giant pots or play the more aggro style.. It just does not work right for me. On the bad side I gave back most of my winning from the huge pot.. but on the good side I am still up! It's good to recognize when you need to adjust. They call this game a grind for a reason.. you do not just win huge pots every day... you grind out small wins and losses and every once in a while the sexy fairy of big breasted winnings lets you motorboat her!

Who's the Donkey: Episode 1.

2016-05-20T05:00:00.001-07:00

Finally had the night I have been waiting for. I am so "gamble" adverse.. which really hurts me I think. It felt like I did something wrong but thinking this hand over again I think I played it right but .. you decide... you decide.. Look down and see AK diamonds. Call 15$ pre-Flop. It's 3-4 ways. So like $60 in the pot on the flop. The flop comes 56J 2 diamonds. First guy leads out for $86. Next guy cold calls. I think this is an easy call with potentially 2 overs and a nut flush draw. So I kinda think it over and reluctantly call.. I am trying to gamble more but I still kinda hate it. So total pot is like $300. Turn is a really bad card.. A 6 black. So the board is now paired. First guy pushes his last $85. Next guy cold calls. He has $100 more behind. I cold call. This is where I think my call is kind of iffy.. but I can not fold a $460 pot. I call. River is a diamond. Second guy leads out for $40 of his $100.. I jam. He calls. The final hands are AJ for first position guy. Trip 6's for second guy. Nut Flush for me. So -- Comments? Whatever you say though I raked in a $800 pot with $200 of it being mine, and ended the night up $605 after playing a few more hours. Peace out bitches!

Frustrating but Busy

2016-05-13T01:23:00.000-07:00

Poker has been a bit frustrating lately.. Booking small wins or losses. I want alllll the moneyyyyssss!!

I think I really need to learn to gamble more because that is where the money is at. Just as an example .. I was playing a nice 4 hour session. I was playing pretty tight and making decent decisions.. I did call off a few times I should not.. but overall playing well I think.. and I find myself down $100 .. no plays did I see where I would have made more money if I called or was in the hand. Arguably I could have been closer to even but like I said I did make a couple slightly bad calls.

So it's the end of the night and I suppose I am feeling a little frustrated but being professional and going to leave. My last hand of the night I straddle because whatever nothing else is working.. and I see T7. We see the flop like 5 ways and I flop a double gutter... I call the flop which is like 10 bucks.. it is four ways.. I call the turn fifteen it is still 4 ways... and I jam all in on the river. I happened to have hit one side of my double gutter.. Everyone folds.. and I end up going home break even (down a dollar) .. So I don't know... Chasing double gutters.. or playing tight... getting in on draws or waiting for made hands... Poker is insane.

I actually skipped playing this week. Not because I did not want to, but because my day at work was a bit stressed so instead of going and playing like an angry donkey (as opposed to my normal crazy donkey), I decided I would go see Captain America: Civil War. Awesome movie if you have not seen it.

I will be back on the tables next week deciding how to play and what adjustments I need to make if any. Peace.

Half Day of Work

2016-04-25T04:34:00.002-07:00

Mohegan is doing 1k per 20 min HH jackpot.. So I swapped my days at work, and asked for a half day.. So noon-9PM I will have a shot at a grand every 20 minutes.. that would get the bankroll moving in the right directions! Wish me luck!

Variance Hammer - WHAP!

2016-04-22T04:19:00.001-07:00

I played good the other night but alas playing good is not enough. Twice in the night I flopped sets and got it all in on the flop only to have my nemesis turn the K to match up with his two other Kangs.. Seriously rough.

I held in there but was never able to bring it back. I donked off about 1/2 a buyin by three-barreling an AJh vs a guy with KQ TPTK.. after I raised pre-flop.. flopped the two hearts.. I am not really sad about this play.. although firing off the $25 on the river I think I could have just saved my money. Pro Tip: Old Guys Never Fold.

I ended up losing two buyins but I am too upset. I mean I kept it together. Left with my loss. Just mostly being a pro which is important. I was due for some variance as I have been running pretty true -- in other words -- my hands that I have made have mostly held up outside a few flush chasers. The sad part is I am now a losing poker player.. down a half a buyin over around 12 sessions.. Ah well.. It's good for me to get out of the hotel and have a little social time.

One adjustment I may do is leaving a little earlier.. I like leaving at 11:00.. but then I get back around midnight and it takes a bit to snuggle in.. so the next day is kind of tiring.. I think I will cut it back to 10PM.. So basically play 5ish-10PM each night... One hour is not going to make a difference.

One nice thing -- the next time I go is actually going to be Monday. They are running 9AM-9PM every 20 minutes --- $1,000 high hand jackpot! If I hit that then I will be doing pretty good... and all these losses can offset the taxes. Mwahahaha! Wish me luck bitches.

Sven

2016-04-17T23:34:00.000-07:00

Went for a little session at Mohegan today. Ended up down seven bucks. I am pretty happy with how I played. I was into my third buyin pretty quickly. Not sure how it happened. I did not really play badly.. I did a jam with 77 vs A9 and got called.. slightly unlucky with runner-runner hearts giving me the 7 flush and him the 9.. I just missed every flop and every hand went south... but not majorly.. it just kept adding up I guess...

It finally turned around when I got Queens and raised 10... Flop comes Qxx... I bet, guy raises, I jam, he calls.. and my third buyin becomes a double up. I got pretty luck against his Aces, but no way am I folding Queens to a straight call... I probably go broke there if I do not flop a Q because it was that kinda day..

The next big hand against the same guy I flop a set of 4's vs his AK .. he bets flop and I jam... and stack him.. I do not think he even had a pair at that point in time...

That got me up by around 40-60... I donked off like 10-20, and then got into a hand I should not have been in which cost me my profits.. I am not unhappy about how I played it but I think folding at any point except the turn is good. I look down and see QT hearts. I call a small raise with it (which is slightly loose) and the flop comes KT with one of my suit... The initial raiser bets like $15.. and I call.. (Again I could have folded here)... then the turn gives me the 8h... which gives me OESD and Flush Draw.. AGGGGHHH! Guy bets out $35... and I blank the turn... Guy checks and he shows AK TPTK to take it down... I am not mad about how I played that hand.. maybe I could have played differently.. but I think I am just second guessing because I lost... If I did hit my draw I stack the guy for $100 more...

At that point I was down like $45... I played one more hand where I hit a set of Queens AGAIN and made it back to -7... at which time I decided to take a break for dinner... and since it was seven and I had a drive back, I decided to call it a night.

Overall happy that I came back from down a ton. Happy I was like fuck it, a small loss is fine. All in all a decent game... I really would like to know where that first $200 went... but I think I was just missing everything...

Willie and the Incredible Shrinking Violet

2016-04-15T07:09:00.001-07:00

Title means nothing. Do not ask.

Had a session this week where I COULD and SHOULD have put it all together and walked away with $600 profit. It gives me hope and kind of bums me out .. at least till I play again.

Basically I think I made two major mistakes in the game. I will give you the minor one first. This cost me $100 but I adjusted...

I have AK s00ted.. So my normal raise. I have $100 stack. Guy next to me cold calls. Flop comes 1 diamond.. with my Ace.. He bets out and I cold call. This was a big mistake. Turn comes second diamond and he bets and I call again.. Another mistake.. and then river comes third diamond.. and he bets $35 on the river.. I will let you guess what he had and smack me for paying him off.

This was my minor mistake. It did cost me a buyin though. I realize I am playing my tptk too weak when I am short so I will adjust eventually... also pre-flop and flop is too weak. I did adjust to this flush chaser though and he gave me it all back with interest.

My massive mistake that cost me a $900 pot. I had been in a few tough hands where I won but they were a little stressful so I was a bit tired. I had 88, and someone early bet $10, and 3 others called... So 99.99% of the time I call here. I am sitting on $300, so I am deep. Long story short is flop comes 88, turn comes 2, and 2 other guys with $300 end up all in.. JJ TPTK ends up winning it. So I cost myself $900 by not playing consistently.

I am sort of happy though. I fought back from my $100 down... Ended the night with a profit of $99. I also enjoy these nights out of poker. I also think that it is probable that as I adjust I end up seeing a lot more $200-$600 pots and I end up winning a bunch. I am reasonably pleased. I have made many mistakes and I am still up. I think I will eventually get into the swing of things and make a lot more.

Good Fail

2016-04-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

I had a pretty stupid session this week but I think it is good. I lost $200 but it was kind of a good loss.

I really played great. I also played dumb early on. I paid off an old guy, lost a buyin when I knew I was beat... However I played hard and got back up +100. Here is the dumb part though. I was like "Meh, I should leave now.. I will stay till I win another 20..".. and then as I spewed some off.. "Oh I just need to win a little more then I will leave".. and finally at 1AM in the morning.. spewed off the nice profits and booked my -200 loss.

I am treating this experience as a learning thing. So I am alright with this. Plus I am still up! Yay! I think the lessons here are --

1. Take a Watch. Never stay after 11.
I like to ALWAYS win, but I need to just book whatever loss or win I have like a pro. I also think if I am up why not leave. I mean normally my expected win for a session is like +100.. So after I hit that if I am not feeling it just leave.

2. Stop Hating Losing
I HATE to lose ever. Even $1. Even 1 hand. I am obsessed. I need to drop that shit. I need to embrace the losses and wins and just treat it all like one long session. Not my strong point. All these like "just 5 bucks more" crap things are stupid. It is a big reason I lose and screw up when I really *can* play this game sometimes.

The other lesson I learned is I SUCK right now against pre-flop/flop aggressive people. I am not sure how I should adjust.. but call $15 pre-flop.. miss the flop.. fold.. is not the way.. I really struggle sometimes about what the right play is and when I should be ok to go broke... Here is one example..

Guy raises pre- $15.. I have Jacks. I call. Flop comes low not really coordinated.. I really feel like I am ahead here. Guy bets $25.. Turn does not change anything. I decide to fold to his all in on the turn... Folding the flop is kind of weak.. but is stacking off there bad or good? I hate stacking off with an overpair or even a pair... but what do you do? These are the marginal hands that cost you a lot and win you a lot... so what is the right play? It turns out the guy had pocket 5s and outplayed me. I am okay with that. He did have a big draw on the turn... but if I saw his cards it is a definite calling situation... So I really need to figure out those types of hands.

I do not think it would be bad for me to fold all the "ok" hands to pre-flop aggressive raisers.. especially if the rest of the table is not really raising.. My strength lays in playing flops, and making money there... Perhaps I should study a bit more and see what hand sets are ok to call pre-flop... I usually like calling with big pairs, sometimes with AK... and smaller pairs that can make sets... the rest I dump except suited face cards when the high hand is active.. lol.. Ok ok.. But yeah, you do kinda have to play for the HH.

Also Mohegan Sun is no longer doing HH, so I am forced to play at Foxwoods if I want the extra EV from HH every 30-mins. I think it is worth doing. I do not really like Foxwoods.. When the HH stuff is all done with then the closest casino will be Twin Rivers which sucks... So what do you think? Travel further because I like the casino.. stay close so it does not seem like a trek... keep chasing HH deals... Ignore all that shit.. Dunno.. for now I am going to do Foxwoods and maybe Mohegan will kick in a HH again.. If there is no HH next month then probably Twin Rivers but leaning more towards Mohegan..

Any advice would be good.. I am pretty happy with my play. I think I need to play better but I am not too mad. It is more the stupid things that I do that are part of the meta-game that frustrate me.

Perspective And A Nice Win

2016-03-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

It is kind of fucked how poker messes with your mind. One week you are the biggest loser in the world who could not win a hand if you sacrificed a virgin to the devil.. and the next week you are a ballah ready for the WSOP.

Last night I finally had the kind of night I want to have EVERY week. I was helped along by the high hand jackpot too. Poker is funny because the entire night came down to one hand that normally I would not gamble on.

I was in late position and raised to like $15. I had been up and down all night. I started out good when my kings held vs a guys overplayed tptk. I try and keep these overcard hands small, but the guys playing top pair try and make them huge. I then had my Queens cracked by bottom pair who rivered his Ace. That one hurt. I paid off an old guy too which always is a bad idea.. never pay off an old guy.

So anyways I was sitting with $75 and had my $15 in the pot.. and this guy a few seats after me jams all in. He has me slightly covered. I had Ace Kang. Now in my opinion in a cash game there are better spots than all in pre-flop with AK. However I had seen this guy jam one time before.. and he showed AQ. I am thinking - fuck it.. I am down a bit, I have a really good chance of dominating him, and fucking hell I should gamble more maybe. I make the call and the flop comes KKA. The guy has AQ so my read was dead on. This hand qualified me for the high hand jackpot which runs every 20 minutes.. If this hand happened like a couple hours earlier I would have made $600... but we were at the $300 portion of the every 20 minute promotion so say-la-vee.

I had to sweat out 18 minutes of the 20 minutes until my hand was declared the winner. I ignored the clock until it got down to like four minutes... then it was impossible to ignore... a few seconds after I won someone hits quad threes.

In one hand I was suddenly up $375. I tipped the dealer $25 and topped my stack off with the remaining $75.. I was entirely tempted to leave because how could it get any better than that? I stayed though because it was early and the table was very sociable and interesting.

I finished up with a net profit of $425. With the larger stack I was able to win some bluffs, and got lucky on a few more hands.. hitting good flops and the like.. I got a little spewy at times but nothing horrible.

Poker is funny. It fucks with your mind. If I lost the AK hand maybe I am writing that I suck at poker and never should call pre-flop with AK. Last week I pushed a diamond flush and gutterball draw and called it a shit move.. but it was a gutsy poker move, and had a ton of fold equity.. maybe I just need to stop searching for what is right and just play. I always seek the absolute right answer and maybe there is not one. Who knows.

I am pretty happy so far. It has not been perfect. I have had 8 sessions. Two of them have been losing my entire buyin. The first one was my first time back and I was rusty and was getting setup a bit with the cards. I played sucky too. My next two sessions were good sized wins. I then had a couple of tiny wins followed by a decent win because I said awfuckit in a 4-way pot vs lose players with AJ s00ted. Do or die! My last session I played good and I played bad. I tilted and spewed. Finally this last time I put it all together, got lucky, and had a monster session. I am averaging 2.3BB which is a good rate.. and I am up around $260 for the sessions. I so wish I had a casino in Boston. Ah well.