Through the Muck

I would like to post some hands, but it's not worth your time or my own.

I've won a couple of 5.50 9-players the last few days.

I finished 22nd in a 180 person when I couldn't get my KJ to hold up against JT all-in preflop for 7 BBs.

I played decent in a 90-person HORSE SNG but got coolered twice immediately after the first break, and I couldn't make my money back despite getting it all-in good in hold'em.

Last night I finished 2nd in a SNG where I thought I played about as close to perfect as ever, then got my money in facing three outs with two pulls against A4. Turn 4, river A. Heartbreak.

In the last week I'm up a small amount online, but I think I'm playing tremendously. When I'm in the zone, the decisions make themselves- abstract concepts become crystal clear and it feels like play slows down to the point that I become attached to no hand. I think a lot of this has been because of some extra aggression I've instituted in my play since my last bad run of cards. If you asked Paul the poker player a year ago whether he would bet out with two pair in the SB on a ragged flop, he would give a resounding "no." Today... ABSOLUTELY.

But despite what I consider solid play, I've been taking some rough beats lately. Not unexpected beats, but tough ones that cost me my tournament life in many cases. I can't race or win a 60/40 to save my life, and it seems like every time I get my money in facing three outs the dude turns or rivers his miracle. Since I started playing five years ago, I've never cared all that much if I was beaten as the result of being outplayed. In fact, that's the way I want to bust, knowing I can improve and fix something in my game. But over the last year it feels like most of my beats and bankroll drainers have not been the fault of getting outplayed, but rather getting outdrawn. Like I said, usually those outdraws fall under the category of "expected variance," but it still sucks when you're making a solid push with your bankroll and you hit a series of speed bumps when AK can't hold against AQ and JJ can't best AJ.

Either way, I'm happy with my play. In hold'em, anyway. I took too long of a break in Omaha and my game has suffered noticeably. It sounds funny, but I am really fond of my razz game. Stud... er, not as much.

I'm gonna end the blog here because I'm in a big Omaha pot that I should actually win!

-The Gerk-

P.S. I did win that pot, but didn't get the action I anticipated. I apparently don't have the reads I thought I did.

A Full Tilt Tournament

I played in a 90 person Sit-and-Go today on Full Tilt. I started by doubling up with 99 in the third level. Then I lost a huge pot when I got it all-in with 7h9h on a board of Th-Jh-Ts-6h. He had Ace-Ten and checked the flop. Of course he rivered an ace.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491653
I moved to a new table, this was the second hand. The first hand I jammed the 7-J-7 flop with 44 and took it down.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491662
Three hands after the KKKK hand, this happens. I was ready to give it up on the turn, which I was surprised he checked. I guess I can fold the river to a minraise, but it is possible he would be betting that flop with the lower straight draw. Idk, I'm not folding here.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491694
I was sure I had the MP caller, but I was just praying the blind didn't have it.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491724
Eeeeewwwwwww... I feel bad for him, but I'm not folding Blind v. Blind for 2BBs. Sorry.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491759
The good ol' limp-re-raise. One of the best moves in my poker game. My style makes this look like a steal... but in reality, I'm stealing your chips.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491778
He's not supposed to be button limping with JJ on such a short stack lol. But either way, better to be lucky than good.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491802
Haha luck's way of letting me know I can't always win. Ride that 5% baby! I guess I was lucky it was a short stack.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491921
This was the hand that burst the bubble. He ridiculed me for calling his tiny stack in my BB with A8. Moron.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1491948
My last hand. I should've raised preflop, but seeing how he played the hand postflop, he would've just called me and I would've busted anyway. At such high blinds, it's almost impossible to know that he's getting sneaky with AQ.

15th place is okay, but I wanted to win it. Damn.

-The Gerk-

Tilt Talk, A Huge Hand

My PLO excursion over the last week has been filled with ups and downs. Some days I felt like I was playing pretty well, given my relative skill level, and I would squeeze out a buy-in or two profit. Other days, I would be tilting pretty hard, without ever taking a beat to encourage such bad play, and I would drop 2, 3, maybe 4 buy-ins before I finally signed off in shame.

Let's talk about tilt for a minute. "Tilt" is a word generally used to describe the frustration of a player due to any number of causes, and the resulting effect on the way he plays. Most times, a particularly bad beat will send a player into tilt mode, causing him to try to recoup his losses as quickly as possible, by playing more hands and pushing all-in with very modest holdings. Sometimes, when a player is tilting badly, he just wants to bust and get away from the table. It is important for a successful player to understand who at his table is steaming so that he can adjust his play against that player. When a bad beat doesn't tilt a player, any number of things might alter the way he plays- fatigue, boredom, hunger, frustration, table talk, or the need to be somewhere else are just some of the factors that can cause tilt.

Back to my talk about PLO. In Hold'em, I find that I only tilt when I'm frustrated or take a big bad beat that would've greatly changed my chances of winning a tournament/ making money in a cash game. However, in Pot Limit Omaha, I sometimes find myself tilting IMMEDIATELY upon sitting down at a table. I'm playing too loose, making too many crying/hero calls, and just all around not playing the game the way I need to play it in order to win. I'm unsure what causes this- maybe it is the huge emphasis on draws as opposed to legit hands like in Hold'em. When I sit down, I feel like the best way to make money is to get my stack in with the nut flush draw and suck out- but clearly that is not the best way to profit in Omaha. It feels like I'm tilting in one way or another 75% of the time at a PLO table. But that other 25%, I don't think I'm a bad player, just inexperienced.

I had worked my roll on UltimateBet up to 105.00, from the 75.00 I started with. I have played almost exclusively .10/.25PLO, but I have also sat down at a .25/.50 NL Hold'em table and a .01/.02PLO table (While I was waiting for a .10/.25 to open up). I lost a couple buy-ins Wednesday, a couple buy-ins Thursday, a couple buy-ins Friday, made a little on Saturday, and lost 2.5 buy-ins Sunday before making a push. I was down to like 20.00 in my account besides the 10.00 I took to the PLO table. I had about an hour to screw around, and before long I had doubled up. Then, just like that, I turned a set and completed my full-house to bust a guy and was up to 35.00 at my table. Common sense told to me to just leave the table- I had to be at my parents at 7:00 for my dad's birthday and I hadn't even gotten him a card yet. It was 6:15 and I needed to shower, but I felt like I was running well so I didn't leave the table. Then a monster hand came up, an incredible only-in-Omaha hand... that I will break down in it's entirety during my next blog posting. :)

(A CLIFFHANGER ENDING?!?!? WTF?!?!?)

-The Gerk-

Live Games Are My Specialty

I have had no success whatsoever on the internet lately. Every time I've had a chance to make a splash in an MTT or even a 9-person Sit and Go, something terrible always happens and I bust outside of the money. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I've run QQ into KK, KK into AA, or AK into KK. I feel like even my monster hands are about to be outdrawn or counterfeited. It has been a very long time since I've felt this insecure at the poker table. I am playing scared- and scared poker is losing poker.

My Pokerstars bankroll is very, very low. Dangerously low. Like, I could very soon have no Pokerstars bankroll low. My bad run the last few weeks has absolutely destroyed me- I've switched gears, games, and playing styles and yet nothing can get me out of this internet funk. I'm not sure what I'm doing differently that is resulting in me losing money, but I need to get out of it and save myself before I lose it all.

Meanwhile, I am incredibly happy with my live game. Although I busted fast in the big K of C tournament last week, I know that I played well, and it has carried over into the weekly games I play with the guys. On Saturday we had a crew over at my apartment, playing Hold'em tournaments and NBA LIVE '07 on the Playstation 2. That night I won two out of three. On Monday, we played our usual game, and I won two out of three tournaments that night too. In fact, the only tourney I didn't win was the first one, where I was essentially coolered into busting. The blinds were 1.00/2.00, and everyone limped into me in the BB. I found AcQs, and pushed for 18.00 more. The SB folded and Derek called instantly, turning over the hand he said he had, AhAd. The flop came all spades, giving me outs, but Derek faded the turn and river to bust me. Five handed, I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to do with AQ there.

Today I worked on the website a bit and then hit the .10/.25NL tables where, once again, I could get no momentum. I'd really like to have to go back and edit this blog entry to mention an incredible victory at the tables, but I'm fairly sure that won't be necessary.

-The Gerk-