Had another losing day. Its safe to say i'm feeling pretty down at the moment. I'm not going to turn this into a bad beat history lesson so i'll just say I ran awful. The kind of awful that makes you question why you play. Very little went right even though I stuck at it for as long as I could.
I played one Sky tournament - the £2.30BH that I got bumped out with flush over flush. I managed to take one head.
I played two cash sessions. Just over an hour at lunch to finish £1.72 down and then an almost four hour session to finish £6.37 down.
Ive still had more winning sessions than losing ones and I guess I'm still up from my starting balance but I still cant shake the bad feeling of losing. The way I lost is about the only respite I have (which may sound funny) but I know the majority of the time I got my money in ahead but couldn't hold.
Right now I feel like never playing again but I know it wont last and tomorrow I will give it my all again. Here's hoping for better news tomorrow.
Moral is low. I dont know what is happening but I'm having an horendous time on cash. Cant hold hands, cant get paid on big hands, have shared hands numerous times and been rivered into losses or chops too many times to count. Add onto that some lazy calls and some bad play towards to end through frustration i've hit a low ebb.
In MTT's I had some success. I played the two morning £3.30BH. In the first I was doing well until I ran KK into AA. In the second I played very well. I took a head early and then half an hour in I won a big pot when AQs v AQs clashed and I won through a flush. A head a few hands later propelled me into 2nd and from there I bossed my table and cruised into a cash never dropping below 4th. Things got sticky and slow with 12/13 left and chip stacks evened out. I got to the final table in 5th and eventually finishing 4th when I jammed the flop with a FD but got called by a superior FD and didnt hit any outs. I left with a profit of £20.26 which made me just about break even after an horrendous 45 mins of cash that saw me lose over £17.
In the evening I got no joy from the £2.30BH. Gaining a head but crashing out early when my stack was devestaed by a rivered better two pair after chips had gone in. My demise came soon after when I lost a race.
In the £2.20 Rebuy I made the first hour with no rebuys but took the add-on (essential). Was playing decent but again the luck wasnt on my side and losing two races and then being dominated I crashed out in 31/73.
Again in another hour of cash it was the same story. Lost over £7.
BR £155.52 PP 1220
Im not sure where this leaves me at the moment. I'm feeling down and not enjoying my poker. I'm not playing as good as I know I can and I know a lot of that is due to me assuming the worst every hand so either forcing worse hands out too early for fear of yet another outdraw or passively playing a hand already assuming I'm beat but cant fold 'just in case" and therefore not charging them to hit and getting value.
My strengths are MTT's and SNGs although for some reason I dont like playing the SNG's on sky as I like 10 seater SNGs and the SNGS here take a long time to fill up unless its a hyper.
My cash play is a work in progress and I never like giving up but after nine (didnt realise it was that many!) losing sessions (and big ones at that) I think I need to take a step back until I can build up my BR a bit more and gain a bit of confidence.
I'll probably give it one more go tomorrow afternoon and then take a couple days off to refresh. I think its important to use this feeling as a positive and learn from it as best as I can. Its hard but i'll always try.
Chin up Craig, we all have spells like that, I have for most of this week too, where you hit a set and it runs out 4 suited for their flush etc.
Your game looks fine whenever we have met on the tables. Just have a look back at your hand history see if there are things you could have done better, and maybe play fewer tables for a little while to see if there are things that you might not pick up on, when multi-tabling.
Give it another go tomorrow (the weekends are usually a bit easier) and if you feel like a break after that, no harm in using your main strengths in MTTs to brebuild the roll and confidence before going back to cash.
Don't forget to post some hands up too, which might invite some interesting comments.
Hi clubhammer. First of all, love your avatar. Only just got into Breaking Bad a few months ago and viewed said episode last week. Best episode ever!!! Working through last season now so no spoilers!
Anyway, thanks for your input. I would love to post hands histoiries (especially lately) but as i've said before for some reason I cant access them. Its a pain when I would love to know what someone had but when I access the page I cant click onto the hand. I hover my cursor over the hand but nothing happens. I run Safari on my mac so not sure if its that or Sky poker. I would love to get more input and discussions. Soon I hope.
Day 17
Yippee! We finally have an upward curve! As normal on a Sunday I only really have time to play for little blocks of time so that only leaves cash to have a go at. It again didnt start well though, my morning session of just over 75 mins saw me drop another £10. I ran KK into AA very early, my flopped set lost to a straight (the guy called a big 3 bet pre with J9o and called down 3/4 pot bets on a Q102 A board. By the time of the K river I had committed myself to calling the river). A few other amazing catches hity me also. I am pleased though that I didnt get too annoyed and still played ok but still felt annoyed at yet another losing session.
But! The afternoon session went much better, I played for a couple of hours (with a little break in the middle to start tea) and managed to make a profit (wow, that word is good) of £17+. I finally got hands to hold and get paid on a couple of other hands too. There was still the usualy unreal beats but they are easily more acceptable when your getting more hands to hold than not!
BR £162.36 PP 50
Hopefully the downswing is over for now - or at last lessened. Hopefully when I can get my BR over 220 I will be able to play more MTT's and realy use my strengths to get this BR challange going.
No spoilers for BB - just finished last episode a week ago. Hard to believe that something that good isn't on mainstream TV, but channel 5 originally had series 1 & 2, I think, but stuck it on in the graveyard slot late at night, & dumped it for poor viewing figures. I hardly watch any TV as most of it is rubbish, but prefer to just catch up on whole programs, like The Wire, and The Sopranos which are right up there with BB.
Only time for a quick 25 minutes today. Managed to finish just over a buyin up. I could probably have played for another ten minutes but I started to feel like I didnt want to be in a big pot and end up down so I took the profit and confidence boost and left. Not optimal play I know but sometimes confidence is more important.
I managed to get an hour of play into today, was thinking of maybe missing out and 'resting' but the urge is always there and im determined to do this. Sometimes I worry too much about having losing sessions as it can leave me feeling down and any sort of winning session makes me feel confident.
Thankfully I did manage the latter, finishing £2.68 up. I kept my head on playing my way and reading hands as best I can and for the most part I think I made the right decisions more often than not. It was really just small pots that I was involved in, and any big pots (for this level) were at a premium. I think I was involved in 3 of which I won 2. The one I folded was with A7 on a 77895 board. After being check raised on the turn and then pot bet at I folded.
Well, I've managed to string together a few winning sessions and confidence has risen. If I can have a good day tomorrow I will feel like I'm back on track again. Its funny as on my other site (PokerStars) I am doing very well at the moment and it seems to fluctuate from there to Sky.
Confidence is returning. Apart from a few moments I felt i've played ok over the time when I've been suffering beats and knock backs so its nice to come off a nine long losing streak to record my forth winning session in a row.
I played one MTT, my usual £2.30BH. Got off to a decent start and chipped up to 3,000 early on but failing to really get paid off a couple of nice hands. From there though I ran card/situation dead. My best chance of a big stack came when I 3 bet a short stack with 88 only for someone to jam all-in quickly who had me covered. The short stack called allin leaving me with a decision. Its probably the right fold, if im racing I have to dodge 2/3 or more likely 4 overcards or I could be drawing thin already. As it was I was against J7 and AJ and the board ran out well culminating with an 8 on the river. Ah, well. I eventually 3 bet allin over a min raise with A7s only to be called by A9s. His kicker played and I was out.
I played 6 tables for an hour at 4nl and managed to aquire a £5.80 profit. I was amazed it was that high actually. For the first half hour I was mainly playing small pots and playing very well and was ahead on 5/6 tables. But then in about 10 minutes I lost 2 buyins and another £4+ pot when i was again hit by bad river cards. Thankfully though for the last 20 mins I managed to get a couple of hands to hold and win one big pot when my top 2 pair manged to fade a top pair who could improve and a straight draw.
BR £173.03 PP130
I've had a couple of requests to put some hands in and I would love to do that but unfortuanatly i still cant access my HH's. What I will try and do though is map out some interesting hads as best I can for next time.
Edit: Was watching Sky Poker channel and realised I was 7 points away from the 50point target for the latest Sky Poker promotion so I jumped on a few cash tables for 25 minutes and was happy to get another little win of £2.33 and more importanly make up my 50 point quota.
What a difference a week can make! I have that winning feeling again that is just so so good. And its also the reason why we all come back time and time again after having bad sessions.
So, I started out the day by having a session over my lunch break of an hour to have my first losing session in a few days of -£3.56. It was one of those sessions where nothing much happened, any pot I won was small and I lost a couple of biggish ones. I have no complaints, I made to bad plays. Both through frustration and added together they pretty much amount to the amount I finished down. They both came after a succession of having to lay down decent hands to the same player when the board ran out bad for my hands. Im fairly sure I made the right lay downs but I let that get to me and ergo lost those two pots.
I returned in the evening to play my staple starting tournament, the £2.30BH at 6pm. For the moment its one of the few tournaments I can enter early doors, I cant really play any around 8pm at the moment as I work long hours and if I did run well I would be up a long time. Not to say I wont start trying when my BR increases but its all about playing in your comfort zone and to the best of my abailities.
As you can guess this one went very, very well for me because I won it. Finishing 1st from 161 runners (up above the usual 140ish being a w/e so all the better) was very satisfying and also has the honour of being my first win in this challange.
In the first 20 mins or so I managed to claim 3 heads and become 2nd in chips by getting paid for my hands. From there though I went quiet, not being able to get into good situations or have any hands. At the start of the next hour tho I took a beat, losing half my stack to fall from amongst the chip leaders to average. I had 8K and called off half my stack blind v blind when I called a player who was going all in 3/4 times an orbit. My A7 no good against his A9. Feeling a bit gutted I quickly calmed down by realising I was still average and wasnt in danger. From there I managed to steal a few pots and then 20 mins later a rush of 2 hands and 2 bounties propelled me back into the top 3. Add onto that a nice bluff catch and I as chip leader. After that I dont think I dropped from 1st all the way to 3 handed play.
When we got down to about 30 players left (18 paid) no bust outs came for a good 15-20 mins and blinds to pot ratio dwindled. Knowing this couldn't last I just concentrated on my table and players and sure enough bust outs came thick and fast and I manged to add a couple more heads and have a vey big chip advantage.
The final table was a wierd affair. After kncocking out the first player to go to five handed a big four way allin about five minutes later brought about 2 exits and the three of us left had about the same stacks with me a few BB ahead. Ten minutes of small pots later and the other two got involved a couple of times for one to be kncocked out and at heads up I was playing a 2-1 deficit.
Heads-up didnt start well, my opponent catching some cards when calling dominated a few times. I admit I got a bit frustrated but didnt let it affect my decisions and I managed to win a big pot when his rivered top pair gave me the straight. I managed to chip away before we wnt to the races and my KQ flopped well to beat his 99.
I felt I played very well, and it was also very nice for most of my hands to hold at the right times. No matter how good you are, that is always the critical aspect of winning MTT's. Getting your chips in in good spots and letting the maths work out over the long run. The tournament gave me a £61.13 profit.
I did play a tiny cash session while at the final table. It was a way of keeping me in line and not getting impatient just playing one table. It only lasted 15 mins as 6-3 handed play went very quickly. I finished £1.86 up.
All in all, a very good day!
BR £246.87 PP 174 (BR total includes PP payment of £12.20)
My best day so far in this challange!! Feeling very good at the moment. I cant believe how much it has swung in the space of just one week! Just last saturday I felt so bad but since then I have manged to add over £120 to my BR. Almost doubling what I was on then. Admittedley it is all from MTT's, but I did state that this was my best poker form and that cash is a work in progress.
Where to start? Well, fresh from my MTT win last night I hit the two morning £3.30BH's. In the first nothing really happened, lasting until the very last hand untill the break (an hour 10 mins in). MY button jam with 99 losing a race with Ajs which hit his flush.
In the second I fared much better. It was really just small ball poker that got me through the first hour and then a little rush propelled my below average stack up into the top 10. From there it was just stealing blinds where I could and looking for spots to get allin. I was surpised to make it to the final table as nothing really happened, just enough to keep me afloat. I took a head on the final table to get is to 4 handed where we stayed for quite some time. Over 25 mins in fact. We then got down to three and again this lasted a long time. I went from 3rd to first by winning a race and then with a chance of going to heads up with a chip lead my JJ failed to hold against A7. The definitive hand it proved to be as with stacks close that knocked me down. I stole a few chips to get back up but then ran K9s on the button into limped AA. Out in 3rd. Dissapointing as I felt I could definatley win this but two final tables in three is good.
I played a little cash session while on the FT, but had no luck again. It seems like I cant get any run in cash and I dont know why. I played 3 big pots and lost them all. Firstly my QQ lost against AK and A10 aipf for a £11 pot, my nut straight lost to anothe nut straight allin on the turn as the guy had a freeroll to a flush and hit it on the river. Then another river beat sent my flopped set down the pan to a runner, runner flush.I lost £6.20
In the evening things just got better. I played the £2.30BH and the two FR into the £33BH main event for next saturday.
With a big weekend field of 289 runners I just concentrated on playing my situations as best I could and not worry about what other stacks people had. This proved very succesful as I was below average stack for most of the first hour and a half but still healthy BB wise. I took an early head for a small pot and from there just kept patient.
In the meantime my first FR went badly, I as out very early losing a 3 way allin race. The second one started and I was concentrating more on the BH so was just playing myu cards. I managed somehow to gather a decent stack early and use it to last until the blinds began to gather pace.
I got into the money in the BH and from there I finally managed to pick up a couple of hands that got piad off propelling me up into the top 10. At the same time in the FR people kept busting and I just played simple aggressive poker, making sure I was first in and not calling off light. I started believing when we got to the last 40 and with 9 places awarded seats I made sure every decision had my full attention.
This got me to the final two tables in the FR where action slowed down and to my THIRD final table out of four MTT's in a row. With a 2nd placed stack I basically shut up shop, only putting pressure on the short stacks and picking up hefty blinds 3 times in about 7/8 orbits. I was a bit confused why the two big stacks on the other table continued to play pots against each other and in one instace the chip leader bet into a dry side pot when the shortstack was allin only the see the shortie hit the river to threble up. Eventually the bubble burst when the short stack was allin in the BB. I just called with 107s (hoping to get more calls and increase the chances of the BB busting. Yes, he could quadruple up but with 2 other storties it was the right all in my estimation). I flopped the flush and checked it down, a river club making four on the board was a bit concerning but it was ok and that was that! My first satilite win and made even more the better it being a £33 main event AND double garentee week next week!
On the final table of the BH five handed play went on a while. Mostly being 4th or 5th but only one double up away from the chip lead I was content to pick my spots. After 10 mins I got one and doubled up when my AK beat A5s to claim 2nd. A couple of hands later the guy I doubled off and who was the shortie went allin over a min raise and call (by me - i flatted with KQ knowing that the shortie would push a wide range here and then I get to see how strong the original raiser was. If he calls/reshoves I can fold and when he folds I call like I intend). The original raiser folds, I call and lose a race against JJ. I win then Im chip leader with four left, but I lost and I'm back where I started. My demise came when after two limps I shove the button with K10s and get called by 77. The flop is two of my suit against a set and a blank run out.
So, the lesson here is to believe in yourself and things will change. Its nice to have a diary to look back on and even better to see the good things when things arent going well and vice versa. So, to sleep I go feeling very happy and knowing I am 1/4 of the way to my initial target and the chances to play bigger stakes poker again.
Thanks Gary, I am certainly looking forward to the main event next Saturday. I will play the mini too and who knows, two wins and that £5000 can be mine. Will have to change my challange to a £10,000 target then.
Hey! We can all dream!
Day 24
Anyway, a little step back today. I played one £3.30BH this morning but nothing really happened. After 40 mins I did double up with AA but I was still below average. A few hands later I lost a bit of that when the player who doubled me up jammed his remaining stack, I called in the BB with KQ and he tabled AJ. I didnt improve and was back down again. A few orbits later I found an OK spot. An UTG shortie jammed for about 5BB (50/100) and then a very loose player just called in the SB. Holding A8o I went allin over the flat knowing I was probably ahead and would get called. He did, showing J9s and the UTG player had KK! Still in a good position to get chips the flop was all low but a 9 on the turn got me and out I went.
While I was playing though, I entered the 20 point £20FR turbo for a laugh. I quickly gathered a big stack and was also using all my run good to hit hands or outdraw opponents! I want this run in buyin tournies not freerolls! I made yet another final table 2nd in chips. When down to four handed and huge blinds I jammed Kd7h on the button and got called by the only player that could knock me out! He had AJo. Happy days on a K7x flop with two diamonds. A diamond J on the turn gave me the FD and him a pair. AN A on the river kicked me out! So, I took £1.50 from a tourny entered on the spare of the moment which at least payed for half my BH buyin.
I returned for an hour in the afternoon to play cash. Only lasted an hour as after a couple of early beats (lost a QQ v AQ allin and then a flopped set to a runner, runner flush against QQ allin on the turn) and from there I didnt play well. I quickly lost with AA allin on a 9 high board with no draws. He had top set and that just made it worse. I played every hand almost just playing badly. I then knocked it on the head when on a table I had already lost 2 buyins on I ran KK into AA and that just did it.
I finished £11 down and my cash confidence is shot. Im losing all the big pots at the moment or sharing them! A few times lately Ive hit nut hands only to be chopping which just adds to the frustration.
I think for now I will cut back and maybe look to play 2 tables at 5/10 when I'm a bit more stacked BR wise. I would like to play SNG's but they just dont fill up fast enough unless you play DYMs. I may play a few £2/3 version of these and see how things go.
For now, i'll just enjoy my good weekend results and although its disapointing not to end on a high I still have to focus and realise I've done well. I know we all want to win every single time but thats not what happens in poker or life. Hopefully as this challange progresses I can keep a steady upward curve and that will help me settle and feel comfortable.
Squeezed a couple of one hour cash sessions in today. I did want to stay away but its the only form which lets you start and finish when you want AND bump up your PP's.
Pleased to finish up on the day. I lost 93p at lucnh time but returned in the evening to record a profit of £6.06.
BR £270.24 PP 278
As I've said before I would love to post some hands and get some feed back coming but I'm still suffering from the same HH problem. Tried in the Pokerchat section and Feedback section but had no response so far. Kind of feel ignored. Poor me! Anyone who does read this I would appreciate a quick hi just so I know someone is reading. Any criticisms welcome, I have thick skin. Living with my partner I have too!
Hi Ikelly, thanks for saying hi and your other reply. Sorted it now, thanks!
Day 26
Just one quick 45 min session today, but a succesful one. Sadly I did have a few hands I could have discussed but I only found out at the end of my session how to fix my HH's. So, good news, some hands will be forth coming. The only thing I have to do is remember to copy them but i'll soon get into the swing of things.
The session did go well, finally getting paid on a couple of big hands and hitting two draws for allin pots. One was with AQhh against two very wide calling players on a J 7 4 two heard flop. After c-betting and getting a raise and a call I decided to 3 bet allin when my equity was best and still having fold equity with over cards, backdoor straight draw and of course nut flush draw. I got one caller with a set of 7's and managed to hit a heart and fade a pairing river to take it. Another good flop saw me call in the BB with A5dd a min bet that saw 2 other callers so four way to a Kh2d3d flop. Having the nut flush draw, over card and a gutshot to a straight AND straight FD I min small bet out hoping to either inflate the pot or get a raise. There was 2 callers and then the button raised big. Again with my equity at its highest I decided to shove over allin and got called by K3 which reduced my outs but after a blank turn a nice 2 gave me the straight and the pot.
I managed to get my big pairs to hold most of the time too, and I took a more pot cotrolling line allowing to keep my opponents bluffs in which I have not been doing lately. I've been betting big each street which is just folding out the hands I beat and only keeping in the hands that already beat me or have good equity. Its a fine line to ballance with the very loose nature of 4nl but you do tend to pick up on betting paterns and learn when your probably beat.
So, hopefully tomorrow I can put up a few hands if anything crops up and invite more interaction. Be well.
A strange day today. Feeling a little dissapointed at the moment but its an experiance that I will learn from.
First up I played the £2.30BH but got nothing at all. Had three chances to gain bounties, lost a race for the first one and lost from infront the other two times. I did get a stack going but kept missing and eventually busted out. I did play the two FR for entry into tonights main event and ended up binking a seat!
Only having the one bullet I didnt expect to last but I played well and managed to slowly build a stack but always keeping just below average and unable to get into any big pots. I flopped one great hand (see below) but apart from that it was small ball. I played for over two and half hours and busted 60 places from the money when I 3 bet allin with K10s (my best hand for some time) with 15BB only to run into A10o. I know I could of folded but at the time I felt I needed to get back up into contention again but it wasnt to be. I was impressed with the structure though and definatley feel it lends itself to my game so hopefully the same will be said for the £33BH on saturday. It would have been a great boost to cash and maybe more and going out after all that time spent with nothing is a bit of a downer but overall I'm happy I played well and I know full well I can play these tournies eventually and do well.
I did play about 45 mins of cash as a bit of a diversion for a small profit of £1.40 and although I had a losing day I'm happy I played well and a nice little practice run for Saturday's main event. Remember, I intend to win both that and the mini to get the £5000 jackpot and prove how easy this game really is.
OK, I'm still dreaming and I would be perfectly happy with one bounty but we have to aim big!!
BR £276.87 PP 304
Two hands below - one beautiful flop and one from 4nl.
This is an example of playing the player. X had been raising and calling 95% of his hands and I know he has a hard time folding. Limping UTG with this hand isnt fantastic but it does flop ok and I know if I raise Im probably getting 3 bet and playing a more bloated pot OOP.
I check/call his slightly larger than usual raise so I am thinking already he may actually have a bigger hand than usual.
I flop a gutshot with overs and I am check calling most bets as he is always c-betting and I am still ok against hands like AK/AQ and have a draw to the nuts. He bets half pot where he normally bets full pot with bluffs so again I'm thinking he has a big hand but with the small bet I am calling one more street to see what happens.
Bingo! Gin! Whatever, great card. If my read is right I intend to check raise what seems a blank and if he has an over pair I do not expect him to fold. He does bet again and this time I raise after a slight thought expecting him to jam over me. He doesnt and just calls.
A blank 3 and I have a pot bet left. I jam allin expecting a quick call. He does think for a while making me think I had misread him but thankfully he called.
It doesnt always happen like this but i've found both for me and against me its hard to put someone on a gutshot when it gets there and when you have a big hand its hard to get away.
Well, as usual nothing is ever easy. I didn't double check my post when I put it up as everything seemed fine and it as late but when I checked on it the next day low and behold something has gone wrong and the hands didnt show. I will try and see what I can do in this one!
Anyway, bit of a strange night. I started off feeling very tired but tried to concentrate more to get me in the zone as having a day off I was keen to have my noght on poker. I started off as usual with the £2.30BH. I did ok, taking a head early but having to fold a few good hands along the way. I kept about average all the way to the break but after it it all went wrong. I lost a couple of quick pots very unluckily. My turned two pair when in the BB after everything had been checked through got rivered by a better 2 pr that called my turn bet. Then i ran AK into AA. My exit came a few hands later when with KK i got called by A8o and A10o. I was down to 2300 chips at the 75/150 level and just had to go with it even on a AQ8 all diamond board as both the callers where calling EVERYTHING!
I tried a couple of FR satilites but couldn't get past the first 15 mins as everyone basically gambles for a good stack. Im ok with that as thats my take as well, I'll gamble early and then use my stack in the mid stages to bully people off there chips.
I woke up a bit and thought I would try a bit of cash and played an 1h30 session finishing £3.81 up. Nothing really happened for a long time, winning and losing small pots. I must have had 35/40 PP in that session and only hit one set late on to which everyone folded to on the flop to my smallish bet with 4 people in the pot. Its the way it goes, I remember a session a couple weeks agao where I couldn't stop flopping them! Thankfully near the end I got paid on a couple of hands, winning a race with QQ v AK and snapping off a mainac with AQ and he had a stronger hand than normal with A9o but thankfully I held.
A small profit and a new BR high for this challange. My big night is tomorrow with the £33 £20,000GTD BH and the saet I won last week. I havent had a tourny where I have run like god for some years so hopefull this will be the one!
BR £279.13 PP334
Ill try this way to post hands. This was the very first hand of the £2.30BH and I'm starting to ponder how i'm going to play this hand when the UTG guy just ships allin.
What would you do? I chose to fold as it WAS the first hand and I dont need to gamble this early. People often play AK, AQ and JJ like this so I'm not good against this range.
An up day but a gutting one. The tournament I've been looking forward to all week went horribly. I never normally get donked out within the first orbit but thats what happened tonight. I didnt let the fact it was bigger buy-in change my game and I dont think I did anything wrong actually. My first hand was 55 on the button, I raised and got the BB to call. Afte a c-bet we checked it down and I lost to 66 on an A108 7 J board. Next hand I get 77, I raise and get two callers. A nice 456 rainbow board means a comfy c-bet. I get one call from the button and on a 4 turn card I still feel good. I bet and get an instant min raise. The quick raise makes me feel like that has not improved his hand at all and I'm sure to have heard from any bigger PP by now so quickly call thinking i'm ahead here more often than not. The river is a K so I check with the intention to call. He bets half pot and I call only to find he had K9o and got there on the river. That left me with below 700 and I'm feeling gutted.
Two hands later i make up the SB with A5s. A nice flop gives me a gutshot and nut flush draw. I check shove and get called by A8 with not hit or draw and I fail to improve and thats that, I'm out. Gutted isnt the word, with a nice structure I expected to do well but it wasnt to be.
Earlier I tried the two morning £3.30BH but couldn't get anything going. I took one head early on in the 9:45am one and lasted over an hour and a half but everytime I got into a decent pot I chopped two, coolered in one with a worse trips and got rivered in another two to miss out on bouties also. I was comfortable until then, winning a lot of small pots until that run of hands slowly knocked me to half average. I went out when I jammed A8s over 3 limpers only to get called by a limped AQs. In the other I couldnt get going either, pretty card dead and busted 10 mins after the break with no heads.
In the 6pm £2.30BH I did very well. I coasted my way through the first hour and a half but in pots worth a head prize I lost 3 60/40's when ahead. I mamnaged to double to a top 6 stack when around the bubble and managed to take a head a few hands later but again I lost another 60/40 to dip. I went out in the next two hands, firstly my AK losing to A3 and then next hand when with 6 bigs I got AA, I min raised the button and got called by the BB, on a KJ10 board I moved allin and got a quick call by Q9o. And that by a guy who had twice double off me when limp calling with K10 and KJ. I took away a £1.12 profit but could have been so much better.
I had three cash sessions today, each time taking part in Larsons and Slipwaters challange. Great banter was had and the guys are doing very well as we speak. Please make sure to wish them luck on there 24h marathon charity challange.
I finished over £12 up over those sessions, playing for about 3h in total. Cash has been ok lately, still suffering a couple of coolers and bad beats but when its just a few its more managable to say its part and parcel of the game! And again, its even easier when your recording some winning sessions. I also think there are at least a couple of golden winning sessions due as I feel i'm playing good poker at the moment.
Why bother with 55 on the first hand of a big tournament? It turns out I'm cr4p at poker but surely a call, then see if you flop the set. If you miss the set then fold the 55?
You may see on telly/ youtube videos big names taking hands with a pair of 5's but thats never in the first hand, or very very early stages of a tournament.
Comments
Your game looks fine whenever we have met on the tables. Just have a look back at your hand history see if there are things you could have done better, and maybe play fewer tables for a little while to see if there are things that you might not pick up on, when multi-tabling.
Give it another go tomorrow (the weekends are usually a bit easier) and if you feel like a break after that, no harm in using your main strengths in MTTs to brebuild the roll and confidence before going back to cash.
Don't forget to post some hands up too, which might invite some interesting comments.
Good Luck
No spoilers for BB - just finished last episode a week ago. Hard to believe that something that good isn't on mainstream TV, but channel 5 originally had series 1 & 2, I think, but stuck it on in the graveyard slot late at night, & dumped it for poor viewing figures. I hardly watch any TV as most of it is rubbish, but prefer to just catch up on whole programs, like The Wire, and The Sopranos which are right up there with BB.
Good luck for the £33 game next week
Hand History #719563855 (21:47 11/12/2013)
Hand History #719578001 (22:14 11/12/2013)
Hand History #720149723 (18:01 13/12/2013)
You may see on telly/ youtube videos big names taking hands with a pair of 5's but thats never in the first hand, or very very early stages of a tournament.