I think I lost the taste for poker.
This isn't a bad beat story. I decided to hit Foxwoods Saturday night. I don't go often, the drive is an hour and I normally don't have the money to play, but I had been wanting to play for a while. The entire drive, I was thinking, "I'm not looking forward to the drive back." I get there @ 8:30 and the place was packed (in the middle of the preliminaries of the Foxwoods Poker Classic- WPT event. I did see Men the Master sitting at a table (must have busted early from the Reno event). I put my name on a bunch of lists (I love that you can now put yourself on lists); 1/2nl, 2/4 lhe, 4/8 lhe, even 2/5nl. About an hour or so in, I get called for 2/4 and take my seat. I like the tables, a couple of cute girls to flirt and smile with, it's the same as microlimit online so the play wasn't great. I stayed about even, went up a bit with a split pot on a straight. Made a small profit when I played Ah3h with a raise from one of the blinds (I was folding hands like that all night, and decided to try to build a pot in case I hit)- flopped the draw and bet out. Hit the flush on the turn and bet out. Bet the river and won. Unfortunately, unlike most hands, only one person stuck around after the flop.
Around midnight, I get KK in the SB. One limper, I raise, BB and limper calls. Flop is T high. I bet, both call. Turn is a 2- I bet, BB calls, limper raises, I call (but I know I'm in trouble), BB calls. River is a T. dang it. I check, BB bets, limper raises, I fold. BB calls. BB has T6, limper has T2 for the boat. At that point, I though, dang it, I wish this was NL. I can't blame either of them for their calls in limit. Well maybe the limper, but his T2 WAS sooooooted. Anyway, wishing it was NL, but not wanting to put my name back on this very long list, I sighed. Suddenly, God (or the floor person) calls my initials for the 1/2 NL. Wow, 3 1/2 hours on the list. I take it.
Normally, I love the feel and the sounds of the casino. I'm not a "gambler" by nature, but I can feel the excitement. This time I didn't feel it. It felt... depressing. It reminded me of the time I went the Horsehoe in Bossier City, LA. I feeling of desperation in the air.
I stayed until 3am, but then headed home. I booked a loss for the night, mostly on one really bad play. A "zero" play. Put all my chips in (a HUGE overbet), when, in reality, I wasn't going to be called by anyone with a hand less than mine. They don't call it the idiot end of the straight for nothing.
There was a play before that. I had 3d5d in one of hte blinds. The flop comes JJ5. This one lady bet out $10 and I called. No other callers. The turn was a 2. Check-check, and the River was a 5. I bet out $10, she re-raises me to $40. I think and muck with my 5 up.
She later asked if I knew what I threw away. I said, Yes, I put you on the J. She told me she had a 5, as well. At the time, I felt I played it well, even though I was wrong. I trusted my read and went with it. I figured I'd be willing to pay $10 to find out if my read was right and her raise told me it was. The guy next to me (who I ended up stacking off to later) said he put her on the Jack as well.
But if I would have put some actual thought into it, was it likely she had the J? She bet out on the flop, which is fine, nothing says she had to slow play, but if she's willing to bet the flop with a J and I called, why would she just check the turn, instead of betting again? Her bet then check says she had either a different pair (over/under) or a 5 and was worried I was slow playing a jack. Then the 5 hits and what is she betting there? AND if I was willing to call the bet on the flop, what was I waiting for when the 5 came on the river? What other card could I have possibly wanted to hit? What was the reason for calling a flop bet if I folded on the river when the perfect card hit for me? The only hand I didn't beat had one of the 2 final jacks in it. I beat over pairs and under pairs and an Ace which were all possibilities.
So, for the future, I don't plan on playing poker for anything other than fun (ie- home games). And until I'm willing to take the time and think through hands properly, there's no point in playing at a casino. This is live play, no clock to worry about, I should have taken the time to think the hands through.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
The Taste...
I'm Done With Online Poker
...again. I'm not raging against suckouts and what not, I just don't have the mentality for it. Not yet anyway. I let myself tilt. I don't tilt in lives games, but on the internet I tilt.
The other week I deposited $62 . I wanted to sit down at a .25/.50 no limit table, which I did, and play in a 11+1 turbo SnG. Which I did.
The SnG failed miserably, the cash game was a success. Until I took a hit and ended up only about 22 bucks, but once you subtract out the SnG it was a mere $10 profit. Sad, when I was up 40 at one point. The next night, I jumped into another .25/.50 table and a couple of SnGs, again, my profits were less because I didn't manage to cash in any of the SnGs.
Finally the third night. I had been playing a video game that night and came across a glitch which cost me about 2 hours worth of progress. I turned it off and hopped online. I, again, sat in a .25/.50 table. I was building a decent stack, when I let a guy set me up.
A5off in the BB. Middle position min raises. I call. I hit my 5, but I'm done with this hand. No point in losing too much. It goes Check, check. Turn is an Ace. Ha. Now I'm hope he has a good ace. I bet, he raises, I push. He calls. He has a good ace. He has two of them. My $60 is down to about $25.
A little while later, I have QJ and raise it up. I get one caller. The flop comes all low. I bet, my opponent raises, and I, for whatever stupid reason, I push my stack. It's a huge overbet and my opponent calls with 77. He actually had a OESD as well. I didn't improve.
Now, I got some rakeback last night. About $25. I put it all in a .10/.25 short handed game. I built it up, but took a hit when I called a small raise with J9 suited. Flop comes J9T. I bet, raiser calls. The turn is a low card. But it puts two flush draws out there. I bet my two pair (I think about half the pot, the OR raises about 4 times my bet, and I push. He thinks and thiks, then calls off his stack with AQ. OESD. He hits a K on the river and I lose all but 4 bucks. I steam and push a few hands, but no one calls. Then I cool off and start playing smart again. I did make two slightly tilty moves. I trusted my instincts on two hands and bluffed two people off hands when I had nothing. Not smart when you have a short stacked. Especially if you're pushing on a big stack. One of the people I bluffed could easily have called and been only a slight dent. But they didn't want to give me the courtesy double up.
Then I raised 3 hands in a row and put out continuation bets when I was called, and took down 3 hands in a row. I was starting to make a comeback. I was dealt AA in the small blind. I'm hoping the BB notices I keep raising and will my raise. Suddenly, someone in late position makes it a .85. I raise to 2 something, and the BB, shoves (something like $35). I'm kinda hoping the LP calls, but he folds. I easily call and I'm up against KK. The flop more or less ends it with an A. I play a few more hands, but end up cashing out with only a 1.50 loss.
However, with FTP's new tournament $$$, I've been playing in the 90FTP 27 handed satellite into the midnight madness (11+1). I've won two of those satellites, then I unregister from the Midnight Madness tourny and I have 11 in tournament cash. I used the first one for a SnG, but didn't get much very far. I still have the second T11.
Last night when I won my second one, I played in about 5 of these satellites. At one time I had 3 tables going and managed the final table in all 3. With healthy stacks. One of them, the chip leader had a huge suckout on me to knock me out in 4th. So I'll probably play those to try to get some more cash.
Basically, I'm done with online poker DEPOSITS.
-My name is Unimpressed, and I'm an donkaholic.
