You all heard me complaining, whining and moaning for the last few weeks….well, ever since I came back…it’s a mix of “bad luck”, emotionality and selective memory I guess…and I’m trying hard to change my attitude atm. Thinking positive is my new (and old) mantra…and while it’s tough to stay positive when you’re running into coolers left and right and can’t have a hand hold up (when it counts), I’m trying…hard.

Today I made a switch that I didn’t plan on doing…it was some sort of spur-of-the-moment thing…although the (little) reasoning behind it is quite straight forward:

Fact 1: I’ve been running bad the last few weeks – at least in my own biased opinion.
Fact 2: Ever since I upgraded to a 24″ screen I never play less than four tables/SnGs at once.
Fact 3: I love to play shorthanded…more action…you don’t need a monster every hand…
Fact 4: I like to play turbos…not because they give me a decisive edge…nope…because they got the perfect time-frame for me to stay really focussed (max. 45min)…

Combine those facts and you’ve got: pressure. Pressure because it’s six handed. Pressure bcause only the top two pay. Pressure because of the turbo format. Pressure because of the multi-tabling. Pressure because of the rake*…Pressure…

So I thought…are all those facts benefiting your game, which is a rather patient/passive game with select aggression. The answer is a big fat no…and while I’m not willing and able to switch to an optimal game right away (which would probably be a game which is not a turbo, involves more skilled players who can actually fold second pair no kicker, etc), I did make a switch to a “better game” for the moment. To make a long story short, I switched to full table SnGs…still playing four at once…still playing the turbo format…but still I’ve seen an improvement in my results. Now I won’t be fooled into believing that one session (10SnGs) is anywhere near a representative sample, as we all know that’s not the case and short-term luck can bias those results in a huge way…but I’ve seen a change in attitude right away. Now don’t get me wrong…I’ve run into the same cooler and bs hands on and off the bubble in those SnGs – the big difference was the effect those hands had on me.

It would be a lie to tell you that they didn’t have any effect on me. They sure did and I made some nice screengrabs (which I will omit here)…the point is that I didn’t feel the urge to break something…or chase or do something stupid in the other SnGs or the following SnGs, which is huge for me. What adds to that positive feeling is that the payout structure of those 9-handed SnGs fits me well. If I win just one out of 4, I turn a (small) profit – which isn’t a big break in a monetary sense, but it’s huge mentally at least for me. That’s the first difference to the 6-handed SnGs where winning one isn’t enough to turn a profit. Now it’s a given that winning a 9-handed SnG should be harder than winning a 6-handed SnG (1/9 to 1/6)…but in reality it isn’t as the three added wildcards are likely to bust themselves and/or others in the process.

So…to make a long story short, I’ll try to play those from now on and we’ll see what happens…just watch this space, hopefully with more of the “hey look here what I did today/this week, happy”-posts and less of the “oooh, whine, bad beat, unhappy”-posts…oh…and btw…today was my first winning session in quite a while…wheee….played 10 in total…3W, 1x 2nd…which is enough for me to be up 4.9 buyins…not bad 😉

* it’s hard to believe how much rake you’re really paying…all those 50 cent here, 1 dollar here really adds up over time…I know that the higher limit players will probably laugh at those numbers, but for a (really) small time grinder like me they’re mind-boggling…especially if you didn’t even keep track…ever since I got Tourneymanager those are directly on my screen though…and they tell me that I payed 640$ in SnG-fees in the last 12months…now that’s quite a number to overcome if your bankroll is around xxx$ to low xxxx$ 😯

Started the session of with a little headsup action to get me going. My opponent was really weak, he caught a good rush early on though…still wasn’t enough to win for him…I overcame a 2.2k/800 deficit to bust him. Then I turned my attention to some 6 handed SnGs and I still can’t catch a break on the bubble. I’m not saying that I was totally unlucky, after all you’re supposed to lose a few there, it was just that every time we were on the bubble it’s a huge stack (who caught good early or right before the bubble) and some other guy scraping around with me. Maybe it’s time to turn down the aggression factor on the bubble…I honestly don’t know…but really I don’t see myself folding AT, AJ, etc in that spot on the bubble…too bad that this week is AJ (vs my AT), AQ (vs my AJ) week…oh well…they can’t wake up with a hand all the time no can they…so I’ll be back trying to grind it out tomorrow…maybe I can finally turn things around and score a winning session again… 😐

Man what a brutal session it was today…I can’t put my finger on it…but something is awefully wrong these days. I’m spewing chips like an ATM…it’s not even funny anymore. I can’t put on a winning session anymore and I’ve finally managed to evaporate 2/3 of my bankroll. Downswing? Bad play? Bad luck?

I honestly don’t know…but I’m trying to get some insight on this by going back to some analyzing and more extensive record keeping…on that note: I played 18 SnGs…won 2, finished second in 1, bubbled 5 times and busted out earlier in 10…now those are no pretty numbers.

All I know is that of the 5 times I bubbled I had the best hand going in 5 out of 5 times. Aces…cracked…Kings…cracked….Kings…cracked…etc…I got sucked out on in 4 of the other early finishes…sucked back in both wins…won 0 coinflips (yes I counted 😉 )…ran overpairs to the board into yet another higher overpair thrice…lost with dominated hands four times…all in all I would say: hmm…pretty unlucky with some bad decisions in between…(I guess I could have survived at least one of the overpair vs overpair situations…if your opponent puts in the third raise preflop and you hold jacks…seeing a flop of T63…you should be able to get away from it when he open pushes…then again…I’m soooo curious these days…why? Because ppl don’t play like they’re supposed to (surprise, surprise)….

Here’s a pic to send you off…it’s entitled “My Night”

I’m off…and if the decline is continuing at this pace I’m going to be off for an extended period…no doubt…

…because I didn’t like how it went down in those first four. Won one, got coolered in two on the bubble (2nd nutflush vs nutflush, flopped straight against two pair…money goes in…he boats up on the river) and went busto on a dumb move in the fourthed one.

So slightly down for the night…and not in the mood to continue…sometimes it just doesn’t feel right (not the decisions, but the results)…lesson learned: if you feel you’re on top of your game, but the cards are out to get you…log off! And that’s what I’m going to do now…gl at the tables…

…or the return of the home-game king

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the home game was scheduled for tonight. I started off at the slower and IMHO weaker table, not so good and good for me. I played two major pots (in the first one I raise UTG with AA get called in two spots…flop comes down king high and I fire right out…the LP player folds (he later told me he had nines)…button calls…turn is a blank and I push…the by then small-stacked button calls with AK…nice…dead to two outs…and now…surprise…it didn’t hit…wheeeeeeeeee what a happy, good feeling to have a hand stand up; in the second one I limp on the button with 3d4d…the blinds and me see the flop come down A25 rainbow (one diamond)…wheeeeeee…flopping the joint…SB leads right out….wheeeeeee #2….BB folds…I raise big…SB calls…turn is another 2…the 2d no less…SB checks…I put her all-in…she ponders and ponders…but she’s commited at that point…she calls with AQo…drawing to two outs again…and surprise surprise…it doesn’t hit either…..wheeeeeeeeeee #3). So we’re down to the final three, which move on to the final table.

After a loooooong wait the final table final starts. We see a quick all-in by two short-stacks in the first hand and they both go busto. So we’re down to four with three ITM…bubble time. We finally lose the bubble boy and we’re ITM after a few hands. Then the crapshoot begins…the blinds are ridonkulous…and the big stack is trigger happy…I fold fold fold until I can’t take it anymore. Once the big stack button finally folds a hand preflop I shove from the small blind….bb folds. Then I double up against the big stack when he shoves with Td2d…I look down at AdKd on the button, King on the flop and no backdoor miracle…a few hands later, the former big stack is the shortstack and I double him up losing a 40/60 shot (KJ vs Ax)…I finally bust him when he moves all-in from the SB…I insta-call with KJo and got him crushered, he holds 6s2s and no miracle hits….

Headsup it’s a shovefest…I finally have the best of it (I hold almost a 2:1 chiplead at that point) and when my opponent shoves on the button I instacall again with KJo…he has J9 s00ted…the King hits again and I’m the homegame king again….finally….how long I’ve waited for this one.

One things for sure: in the end, when the blinds were big, it could have gone the other way…the major difference between tonight’s game and the last x games was though that my hands stood up when they needed to…plain and simple…no miracles for my opponents today…ooooh the satisfaction…I’m off with a smile…cya at the tables soonish…

Today was really a session to forget…so I’m trying to do that and I’ll log off after this post. First of, I’d like to say that it wasn’t bad luck all the time today, but it was kind of weird. First I start with some Razz ($1/$2). I get kicked in the junk in 3 major pots. What’s even more interesting is that I was the bring-in in 1/4th of the hands at a full 8 handed table. Maybe that should have told me something to begin with. The bad part is that I tilted off some money in the end though (around 20$). This was totally unnecessary as the ppl had seen me lose big hand after big hand, I was raising like a madman…but don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t playing weak starting hands…yes I losened my starting hand requirements from three to a seven to three to an eight…but is that really enough to chase me down with a rough ten? I guess not…but oh well…I should have known better, but I didn’t…so I’ll have to live with that.

After that Razz disaster I fired up some 6max SnGs and it wasn’t pretty. Got coolered on the bubble with Kings again…monster QT was enough to bust me…QTxTQ board…rofl…so sick. Then I bubbled again when I pushed QJ into QK on a Qxx board…then an unspectacular fourthed and finally a sixth place finish…and I’m off…down and out for tonight….

I don’t know if I’ll play online tomorrow since the home game is set for 8pm…let’s see if my unlucky streak continues there too…I’ll try to go in relaxed and take my chances…

…well, well…took some days off…and came back fresh and relaxed. Everything felt right at the tables today, just the results didn’t match that…at least not totally.

Just played four 6max SnGs…and I finished 2nd, 3rd, 1st, 3rd…so ITM twice and bubbled twice…with the best hand no less…but that’s besides the point…I put my money in really good (they had 3 outs on me)…so I’m really happy with the way I played today…

…what a BRUTAL session today. Played a little more than usual…just felt like it and it was about the worst session I’ve played in weeks, if not months. It’s not so much the coolers (e.g. KK vs AA vs 22, obv the ducks win), or that I made mistakes in my decisions, it’s the overall unrealness on the bubble or slightly before it.

I can’t even believe how often I finished third today. So sick. The sickest part were the hands though. It was basically the same every friggin time. It is a tough bubble…ppl play tight tight tight…you look down at AQ/AK on the button…everybody is basically short at that point…you’re one of the two players with slightly more chips. You raise/push and you get called by the other “big stack” in the SB or BB every single time. Always the same…99, JJ, JJ, QQ, 88…number of flips won there: 0. Thank you very much…

On a bright note, I won’t continue to whine anymore…I’ll let you on your way with a quick thought: As tough as running bad in flips or how bad some beats are, it could always be worse… 😈

Played some SnGs last night, nothing spectacular. Some shorthanded ones, some WSOP steps. Not much joy in any of them. Busted out fairly quickly in the first four six-max and the WSOP step 2 and 1.

Then my “luck” turned around a bit and I was able to score two Ws in the last four six-max SnGs finishing the night 2 of 8 (2 of 10 total including the WSOP)…so slightly down, but not disappointed…good luck at the tables….

…no, no, not back to the marathon-headsup-sessions. Something else. What has been missing around here for a while? Yes, the random pic dumps highlighting some of the hands that came down while I played. Today I had my snapshot-finger ready again and took some pics. Nothing spectacular really. Played 8 6-max SnGs this afternoon, finished ITM 4 out of 8 with 2Ws and 2 second place finishes. Went out fourth thrice and fifth another time when my AA ran into the monster KK preflop….King…boom headshot. Oh well, not much to complain about today. I guess I’ll be back later to play in the four card bingo lottery by the name of Saturdays with Dr. Pauly.

Now to the random pic dump and I’m outta here…