New Event Same Result

I got cripppled right before the 1st break of the 1500 PLO8 as a 60/40 favorite (and only a 23% of getting scooped). I made one mistake in this tourney costing me 1100, and I got somewhat unlucky on another hand I was bluffing (I knew the guy was on a draw) costing me a medium pot (and 2300 of my stack) when a guy hit a weak draw on the river against me. I was firing the river, but he hit his 12 outer.

I have yet to win an allin for my tourney life in any tourney out here unless I was at least a 60% favorite. I have four tourneys left including the Main Event.

Out

I couldn't have been much colder. I was at an aggressive two tables, so the few pots I did win were big, but they were few and far between. In 3 1/2 levels I managed to bringin 5 total pots. I don't have too much else to say.

So This Is What Day 2 Is.....

I just made it to the second day of the 8 Mixed Game (HORSE + 2 to 7, NLH, and PLO) at the WSOP. I finished the day at 39,400 with the average in the low 20s. Two big PLO hands kept me going early on before I finally hit a rush in the limit games. We are still a good ways away from the money (avg will be over 75k then). I have lots of work to still do.

Happy Fathers Day all dads!!!!!

Today's $1500

Loved my play, hated my luck. I chipped up early on with shit for hands. Cbets and easy to read bluffing opportunities got my chips up to 8500 or so. Then I lost a big pot where I turned my hand into a bluff on a 4 flush board where I knew the guy could only go with the A of the suit. Too bad he had it. Then I patiently grinded a 3500-4500 stack before an internet donk who had shoved big anytime there were limpers, did it again for the 3rd straight hand (for 4050 at the 100/200 level) after a guy limped. I wake up with QQ. He has 88 and dinks an 8 on the river for a 8700 pot. Next hand I'm allin blind for 75 plus my ante. I get AA (no joke!). 55 runs me down though lol. I'm surprisingly calm with the whole ordeal given the way everything has gone.

I play the 8 Game Mixed $2500 tomorrow. Things will turn eventually....right? :)

A Start, But Not Much Else

I played the $560 PLO at the Venetian the last 2 days. My low risk limping style was working beautifully, and for the most part I was playing perfectly. I had doubled up 2 or 3 times and busted 3 or 4 players, and the worst I had gotten it in the entire time was as a 60/40 favorite. Given that I had played 5-7 allin pots in PLO without being even in a coin flip situation is pretty amazing. Furthermore, I was sitting on 405k with 12 left (probably in 4th place or so) and had never really been a short stack. The bustout hand went down as follows. Six handed the UTG player raised to 45K at 8k/16k. He had never gotten out of line, and given the position of the raise I was fairly confident he had KK or AA. I called in the BB with (34d)25. The flop came (T4s)3. I led for 60K and he thought for a bit before potting it effectively putting me allin. I went with it virtually assured he had AxsAx, and knowing I was basically flipping depending on his other two cards. I knew his AA weren't immediate outs because of my straight draw. Sure enough he turned over AJsAJh. I was a 53% favorite, but the 8s hit the river. Moral of the story - avoid coin flips in PLO (just joking).

The cash was for a fairly meaningless $1586 due to the ridiculously top heavy structure employed by the Venetian. I really think if I won the hand I would have been about 3 to 1 to win it. As it was, I got my first cash for the trip. A few more to come hopefully.

Chicken or the Egg

Simple question: If you are a poker player, why did you start playing?

Simple answer: To have fun.

Now some of you may have said to make money, but I would argue initially it was to have fun either online or with some friends and to hopefully come out ahead at the end of the day. Then when you found out you could really make some good money, it became far more interesting. Nevertheless, in the beginning it was for fun.

Why do I bring this up? Because I have been miserable of late. Losing day after day for weeks or months on end is horrible on one's spirit. This isn't just in poker. If you do any competitive activity and you lose repeatedly, it isn't going to be fun. This doesn't mean you don't still love to play the game.

So here is my theory, hypothesis, or whatever: I will play poker to have fun so that I will win. I will not play poker to win money so that I have fun.

The Master and Toph

Original House of Pain members, Toph Moore and Jason Dewitt, have each had final table appearances the past two days. Jason finished 3rd in the $1500 Pot Limit Holdem while Toph just finished 4th in the $1500 NLH Shootout. Congrats to both of them on some phenomenal play. Interestingly, in the past 4 years, our house has had a final table appearance 3 times in the $1500 shootout (Jason 6th in 2006 and Tom 4th in 2007).

3K HORSE

I got everything I wanted almost - a soft table that wasn't breaking and I played well, but the deck was unkind as I was pretty card dead after the first level (where I picked up 20 big bets). I grinded as long as I could while I watched some pretty weak play. However, in the last level of the night I ran pretty poorly. I lost 99 to AJ and 55 to 62 in holdem before tripling up in O8. My last hand typified the day though as I lost a 6543A to 6532A in Razz with three hands remaining in the day. Winning that pot would have given me some chips (7K) to play with entering day 2.

As long as I keep playing well something has to turn around soon (at least that's what I keep telling myself). As it is, I am still 0 for the series. My next event is the Stud 8/Omaha 8 tourney on Thursday.

Emotionally Crushed

Pokerwise my confidence is possibly at all-time lows. It feels like everything I do turns out bad or unlucky. I have tried to remain as positive as I can, but it is a constant up hill battle. Desparation can only be useful if funneled into an intense focus. This is where I feel I am. I am focused at the tables as much as I can be. However, each and every bust out takes me just a little lower.

Not a Stud

In the $1500 Stud, you would expect an easy table in general. Nope, not right now for me. Eli Elezra (big game regular) in seat 8; a donk in seat 7 and 6; Paul Darden in 5 (former world champ in stud), some 50/100 regular from AC in seat 5, a donk in 3, and some guy Eli described as one of the few guys who played bigger Stud games than him in seat 1. So out of 7 seats at my table 4 were either world class or extremely good. Then you throw in the fact that the 3 donks were running hot as hell, and I won 3 hands total in 3 hours, you know the result. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dave Matthews Would Be Proud

So I am playing some of my best poker in recent times in today's NLH 6-max, when I decide to hike up my skirt and ruin a good day. I wasn't hitting anything all day long, but I had built up my starting stack of 4500 to 8500 through floats and various bluffs at risk of my whole stack by using my image and reads to perfection. Then in one hand, I don't go with my initial instinct (which would have been to make a huge correct call for my tournament life), and instead of having 17-18k, I was left with 4600. Soon after I ran 77 into KK.