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| I haven't updated in forever and I really need to get out my thoughts and show myself that I am improving.
Tonight I lost $135 at Commerce.
I started at the $40 nl table and played looser than I ought to have, but had a couple pairs and had good price preflop to call and try to hit a set. I Eventually had a little less than $10 and called all in with QQ (no spade) a guy two to the left of me raised it up big, which would have been great protection for me, but there were two other callers. The flop brought out 3 spades and got checked around. The turn was a K of spades and the river was another random spade. The guy who reraised had no spade and the other two players had trash hands with a 7 and 6 of spades between them which beat the boards low spade. I had the best hand by far preflop... so that was the first bad beat.
I bought in again and was in the BB with 99. there was one caller and this really loose guy at the other end of the table playing crazy. He raised to $4 and I reraised to $12, trying to steal the pot or get it to just me and mr. Random. But two others call, the guy who reraised earlier and the lady in seat 1 just to my right. The flop comes out 2 5 7. I bet and get raised by the guy to my left who goes all in, the maniac folds and the lady calls. I call all in. The turn was a 4 and the river was a 3. The guy to my left had AQ and the lady had A7... they hit runner runner for a straight and I was felted again.
I then basically blew my last buy-in reraising all in against the lady (who was a bit loose too) with AJh and she had QQs that held up.
I then went to the $1/$2 limit table and way too loosely wasted another $15...
I need to play patiently... I need to have fun while playing, but not play for fun... I need to play to win...
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| That is how my last two nights of poker have been.
The best hand I've had each night was pockets J's. And I played them well I think.
Monday night I raised preflop in late position. two players position before me called. The flop was J xh xh. The first player checked. The next bet like $10 and I went all in for like $24 or something. Both players called and checked it down to the river where they made their flushes. The first guy with K high. Now, I had the odds completely in my favor. With both of them on a flush draw they had 7 hearts to hit between the two of them. after the turn they lost one because matching the 8 with an 8 of hearts would make me J's full. The flop had me at a 78% favorite. The turn made me an 85% favorite, then a heart comes on the river. There went my second buy-in.
My first went to raising preflop for a little with AJ, the guy to my left goes all in, covering my $40 buy-in - whatever I lost in a couple preceding pots. I know he's been playing super agressive with mediocre hands, so I call. He has KQo and I am a 60-40 favorite, costing me way less than the odds I'm getting. (This hand maybe should have been a fold, just to avoid risk).
I then played less than optimally and blew a couple more buy-ins.
Last night I had JJs again early on and bet $15 on the flop with my overpair and again on the turn against a guy who seems to call with very bad hands. A king comes on the river and he shows K9 for the 3-outer suckout. I should be glad he called, since those are the kind of mistakes I want people to make, but it still was very annoying.
I then played good and bad back and forth for a couple more buy-ins.
It seems that I play good at the beginning and I am proud that I am improving with my patience and skill. But it begins to deteriorate a bit as I keep getting bad hands that look better than they are cause I haven't seen better in a long time.
I think I will start to only take 2 buy-ins from now on, and even if I play great and lose to bad beats, I don't need to risk more until I have some winning sessions and my good plays actually hold up.
The guy who beat me with the KQ Monday night at Hawaiian Gardens was actually at my table last night at Commerce. There was a hand he bet $12 preflop and I raised to $24. On the flop there were a number of low cards and I led out for $20. He thought about it for a while and mucked. I went to muck my hand as the dealer passed me the chips and my cards bounced off the dealers hands face up. It was strange to have my bluff exposed in such a strange manner. He claimed he had AJ, but I think he could have been beat anyways. That was a good hand followed through the rest of the night by me making poor marginal calls and some weak bluffs. I need to play patiently consistently.
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| Here is a huge mistake I made last night and have made before. I am under the gun with Queens. I raise to $6 (at a $40nlhe table). A guy in middle position raises to $15. The small blind goes all in for $7 and I want to limit the rest of the guys between me and the reraiser. I had thought the $15 was an all-in and was willing to race if he had better cards and thought he might be in with any decent hand.
MISTAKE: MAKE SURE IF YOU THINK SOMEONE IS ALL IN, THAT THEY REALLY ARE ALL-IN.
I raised to $30 and the guy goes all in for 18 more. If I had called the $15 raise I might have been able to fold on the flop (though hard with a bunch of low cards and me having a huge overpair). Or I could have read his strength and folded. But instead I made what I thought was a good play, but with incredibly poor information due to not observing what was going on at the table.
The other main mistake I made last night was with a bluff from the small blind. The button raised pre-flop to $6 and I called with KQo. The flop came a bunch of low cards. I bet out and he called. I made another bet on the turn and he called again. I checked the river and he check behind me (I was stupidly hoping to check-raise). He checked and showed pocket 6s to beat my bluff.
I made several errors here: 1) I didn't take any time to think about what he had. I often worry too much about people with 'made' hands like straights who simply call a guy leading into them while they have the nuts. I should have made time to place him on a hand and figured out whether to bet on the turn in the first place and to make a final bet on the river (which he said later that he would have folded to). The check-raise hope on the river was stupid cause there was already plenty of money in the pot and he didn't want to risk anymore anyways.
2) I need to follow through with my play.
This follow through is what made a later hand crazy.
I again had KQo and was leading into a low card board. This guy who I saw call down with very weak hands before simply kept calling. I made a final large bet on the river and he eventually called. It freaked me out that he 'sniffed out' my bluff, or had a great hand. I showed my KQo and was embarrased, but then he turned over a 9d Td. He hadn't even made a pair. I won with a bluff that was called. It was just really weird.
Last night was fun, I need to keep fixing my leaks, as I have dozens of them.
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| I didn't see AA or KK for 4 nights. Then last night I get AA under the gun and double up against a KQ suited. Then the very next hand the guy underthe gun raises to $6. there are 3 callers and I look down at another AA. I raised to $18 total, which is my big mistake. This made a total of $45 in the pot with only $12 more to each caller (And the pot grew with each caller). I should have instead gone all-in happy with the $24 profit from the earlier calls, or gone to heads up. As it was a K came on the flop and not much else. I bet $20 more and everyone called, noone had anything yet, so I was in the lead, but some guy with ducks (22) called when he stated he shouldn't have and hit a deuce on the turn. I had any spade (but one that paired the board to give him 2s full) and any A to come back on the river, but it didn't work out. With the side pot I only lost about $6 in the hand, but I definitely know how I'd play it differently next time.
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| I lost a lot of my bankroll Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Monday I really didn't get many cards and had a couple bad beats. But a part of my game I need to work on is not giving chips away trying to chase and such. Basically, know more when to fold'em.
Tuesday I again had bad luck, but I know I hurt myself more with playing too many hands and not playing optimally. When a run of bad cards comes one must know how to not let it hit too hard. A Good poker player gets the most out of good cards and loses the least out of bad. One particular good call I made was AQ against an A4 preflop. This guy sucked out a 4 on the river. A bad call was an all in from a guy. I had the ladies, but he had bullets and I knew I should have folded.
Wednesday was much better. I bought in once for the $40 and won nearly $40 on my first hand with Q4 under the guy (they accidently dealt me in and I had to post). I was up and down. I won a big and against a really loose guy and then followed by bluffing away most of my new winnings. I think I put myself on tilt with that win because I had my adrenaline pumping and played stupid which I only realized after than hand, unfortunately. Then because of that I got called with the flopped flush and was back up higher than before my bluff/chip-dumping. In all truth though, I know that if I had had the discipline I know I need in poker then I would have (as I said above) earned more with my good cards and kept my chips when I didn't have what I needed. With a $40 buy-in game I need to play the rock. I do want to get better at my all around reading skills and plays, but I know that to get paid off, all I need are the best cards and a rock-image. I think once I get a great table image and build up my stack then some plays are more reasonable.
I have been playing stupid and stupid loses money. I am taking several days off before going back, even though I very much want to go sooner and work on my discpline. By waiting I hope to create some more discipline in myself and give myself a bit of a game-plan for when I go in again. (And yes, I know a good player doesn't have a pre-game 'plan', but I'm talking about a plan to make myself play the way I know I should and not get lazy, apathetic, or on tilt).
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