After my sporadic on and off relation with poker the last few weeks, errm months, I made my way back to the tables yesterday…finally.

It was a real weird session to start with…couldn’t get much going…and when I finally got it going, it was going downhill again faster than I could hit the break. Pretty sick actually…had all sorts of beats again, the usual three outers and stuff. But oh well….here’s what my session looked like:

Lose 8 in a row to start with (= down around 100)
Win 6 in a row or something (= only down 20) – note to self: quit here next time 😛
Lose 1, win 1, lose 2, win 1, etc (= down around 100 again)…the end.

Tonight I’ll make my comeback in the homegame, too….let’s see if I can lay some coolers on other ppl for a change… 😆

Good luck at the tables….

…and I hate it back. God damn it. I should have kept my promise not to touch PokerStars until the new year…guess what, I didn’t and I regret it.

No doubt, it comes with the territory…but how the hell can I lose match after match after match and it doesn’t even matter if I play the 11$ or the 22$ ones? So sick…I’ve been coolered, one outered, two outered three times in a single match, two outered, three outered, runner runnered, etc etc and all those hands are headsup…I didn’t even bother to take a snapshot of all the sick fucking ridiculous cocksucker donkbox lucksack hands…so just a random selection of my good run…

All I can say is that PokerStars has bend me over like a cheap whore and put a whole poker table up my rear end, then twisted it, then pulled it out and slapped me silly with it…just before laughing at me and taking my $$$….so sick, I’m going to puke now and I’m seriously thinking about pulling all my money out of there…I know I know…it probably won’t come to that…but I’m really close to really do it…I just can’t take this bs anymore…every god damn time I clawed and grinded my way up to the next big step (e.g. double my roll) by doing the old letterass grind thing, I get hit in the junk for just long enough that I’m back to square one.

Now, I’m not about to get out the tinfoil hat yet, but this pattern really makes you (me for sure) wonder what the hell is going on. I play hundreds of matches, so it’s normal to see a cooler here, a cooler there, some sick shit, but the sheer amount of compressed sick shit happening to me every single time I’m getting close to permanently moving up…hmmm….weird….to quote Yoda “Meditate on this, I will!”…
Anyway…I’ll log off now before I smash the god damn screen. Best of luck at the tables (my share of it is clearly unused these days)…and have a very happy and successfull 2008. See you on the other side…(this time for real)…

It’s been a while since I last posted and tbh, I didn’t play that much recently…over the last few days I tried to play a little though and it was horrible. “Bad beat” after bad beat, cooler after cooler…and I’m not making this shit up either…

Summary of a few of those lovely hands:

headsup NL HE: KK vs A7…A, next hand KK vs AA…nada; QQ vs 77….7, JJ vs 66…6; AK vs A5…A5xxx, etc etc

PL O8b: AAK2 vs A2xx…flush for him after going all-in preflop (deep stack); A2KK vs A2xx…no low he rivers a flush; etc etc

Razz: three to the wheel vs 8 low draw…capped all the way…I lose; rinse repeat; rinse repeat…

Coinflip and related bs statistics: update, pokerstars featuring a new eighteen aces deck…but not when I’m holding an ace…they’re switching it for the 0 Aces and 0 Kicker deck in that case…JJ vs Ax…A; QQ vs AK…A; JJ vs AQ…A; 66 vs A9…A; 77 vs A8…A; AK vs 77…nada, AQ vs A7…7….AK vs AJ…QTK; etc etc

60/40 bs: AJ vs KQ..K; AT vs QJ…Q; K9 vs QT…T; K8 vs Q7…7; etc etc

Other bs: AA vs KK…K; KK vs AA…nada; KK vs QQ…Q; JJ vs QQ…nada…; AA vs J9…he flops a straight; QQ vs K6…he rivers a 7 high straight; etc etc

I’m so fucking steamed up now…I guess I won’t be playing another hand this year…ridonkulous shit going on there, this isn’t about variance, this is about bs…and I won’t take it and throw away my money anymore…this is the biggest downswing I’ve ever seen and there’s shit I could have done about it (except logging off after the first cooler of a session…but what good is that?)…so fuck you PokerStars! Thanks for crapping on my christmas present. Once again: FUCK YOU! You won’t be seeing me online for the next few weeks…thanks again…for nothing.
On a brighter note: Happy holidays…and if I really stick to my promise: A happy new year! Cya on the other side…and better luck at the tables!

…since I last played online. Almost a month since I last played on Stars. Crazy how time flies. Today I did a little “chill out day” as the whole thesis thing is wearin me down. So, apart from catching up on some of my favourite tv shows (Heroes, Las Vegas, etc), I got some poker in.

Started off with a 5 for 5 run in headsup NL HE. Dropped the next 4 in a row. Then won 4 in a row. Then lost one and called it a night 9-5 in total. Not too bad considering my recent abscence from poker in general…I guess you won’t be seeing too much poker reports over the next few weeks (as I gotta finish my thesis until christmas)…but who knows…maybe a game here or there…we’ll see how it goes…take it easy and good luck at the tables…

…*lol*…

Haven’t played online in a while, too little time and too tired and mentally distracted to risk any serious dough. That didn’t keep me from playing some live poker last night though. In our little home game we play for peanuts and while playing poker is the central part of the evening, it’s not the only factor to consider. It’s basically about slinging chips and cards with new and old friends while chatting it up, drinking and eating the assorted random junk food. An evening in our home game is the total package so to speak.

Last night was no different. Eight donks sat down and started to play. I played my usual game, well, that’s not totally true, I mixed it up quite a little despite the fact that I was pretty card dead (my best hand was 44). I managed to win some pots by pure aggression, showing the occasional bluff (67o raise from UTG, etc), hoping to setup a big pot later on when it was my time to hold “a monster” (*wink* *wink* I’m starting to talk like Hellmuth *lol*…I guess watching all the poker shows isn’t that good for you after all). The time came once I finally picked up a real hand. Once again I was UTG and I look down at AKo…wheeeeeeee….10BB left…so what am I going to do? Open-push. UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 thinks, thinks, thinks and finally calls…fold, fold and another call by a player who didn’t even have 2BB left so no worries there.

The cards are flipped over and I show my AKo…UTG+2 groans as he shows the AQ s00ted…LP caller shows K4o…oh well…I like my chances here. Flop JQx…I don’t like my chances that much anymore…turn x….river Q…wheeeee…..I’m outta here….always nice to see 2 of your opponent’s 3 outs hit against you…*lol*…I congratulated him on his “nice call” preflop and left the table to get some steam out of my system (translation: I berated him for his donk call and moaned about my consistent bad luck in recent live events). Sure enough my opponent in that hand managed to push into a made hand drawing dead a few hands later…so sick.

As I waited for the game to finish, I cooled down again. So once the next game started I was fresh and ready to go and go I did. You gotta know that the second game (we only play tournaments and the second one after the main tourney) is only half the buyin for the same amount of chips and play. So I came out of the blocks raising almost every pot. Sure enough it didn’t take long for one of my esteemed calling station opponents to chase me down. It was the sixth or seventh hand of the tourney and I had raised 4 out 5 in the hands before this one. I look down at A4o on the button….two limpers…what am I going to do? Raise it up…one caller…and I know he’s got two face cards, fa-shizzle! Flop comes down Jx4…hmm…he leads out….I call…turn is another x…he fires again, this time BIG. I know that he’s got the jack and I’m frustrated. I put him on KJ and asked him if he would show me the hand if I layed it down. He was all too happy to show, so I was sure my read was correct. I layed it down, he shows the JTo…nice play…I’m the dealer and can’t resist to rabbit-hunt the last card…guess what…Ah….yuck.

Oh well…I guess hands like that come with the territory – it’s been a tradition that people just like to chase me down in our game. The old saying before the flop, on the flop or after the turn goes “oh well, I don’t have anything/much…but it’s against Ingo(al) after all…I call” and boom the headshot usually follows on the river. Pretty sick, but that’s what you get if you’ve got a reputation of being unlucky…(Side note: It’s obvious why I’ve got the reputation of being extremely unlucky in our home game…when a big pot goes down it’s usually me pushing or calling being a 60-98% favourite…so obv I’m going to take more beats than someone pushing in with a significant edge in 2 out of 10 big pots 😉 )….

But back to the game. I was down half my stack with that last hand, so I just waited for the next chance to push it in. That chance came once there were a few folds before me and I look down at TT…tempting…best hand all night…I got 8.xBB left…so what am I going to do with four people after me…push. Fold, fold, fold, call…KK….cya….*lol*…that one didn’t hurt at all…I was a 4:1 dog and I didn’t catch, surprise surprise…still sucks, but oh well…better luck next time.

…no time and not in the mood to play these days, let’s just say that I have other stuff on my mind…I still got the time to pimp the hell out of tonight’s bodonkery though…can’t pimp it enough with the juicy T$600 overlay…enjoy and may the donk-force be with you…

Madly busy with my diploma thesis, so not much time for poker…well, basically no time at all for anything else. Still managed to squeeze in some live action last wednesday. This time it was my regular homegame hosted by a mate of mine. Not much luck in the main tourney as two calling stations at my table kept calling…and hitting in the end. The worst and final hand was my AT vs QT…I raise preflop to 4x…call…flop comes down KTx….I fire…call….now I’m worried but not really going to stop here…turn J…hmm…all-in…call…oh well…I guess I’m f*ed…cards get shown…oh I’m no f*cked after all…river 9…okay…I’m f*cked…*lol*….

After that I wanted to leave and catch some sleep, but as the main tourney was still running a few minutes later (and I needed to wait for some mates to finish because I was the driver), I decided to join the side tourney. Two hours later and I’m totally knackered but victorious…how sweet it is. I played like a maniac, basically raising every pot in MP to LP…fold fold fold of my opponents. I continue to play that way and naturally they play back when they got a monster…fold me….also natural: once I pickup a few hand KT flop QJ9, I hold KK vs QJ, etc…and I got their money…in the headsup match I was up more than 2:1 to start with, but pushing three times with a worse hand and hitting gave my opponent the lead (I won some smaller pots in between)…in the end I finally took it down with the best of it…fourthed try is the charm I guess….

Now to the BIG SHOUTOUT…it goes to Waffles! Props to him for helping me with getting my iPhone. I don’t have it in my hands yet, but the order is already place and it’s only a matter of time until it get’s here…wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee! The joy. Thanks again Waffles for your help with it, you’re the bomb and you’ll get something for your effort and help, trust me 🙂

…what’s better than a live poker game when you need to get outside to clear your head? Exactly, nothing! Got a call from a friend about a poker game tonight, so instead of loungin on the couch I made my way to the bar where the tourney was held. Had little luck early on, but once the main tourney started I made my run. I was one of the shortstacks right from the beginning – I started with 1.5k…others started with up to 7.5k (they got extra chips for winning pre main-tourney shootout tables). Nothing much going on at the first table…one nut-flush for me…double-up. Then I get moved to the next table and I sit down UTG. I look down at the first card…A…at the second card…A…I like! I raise it up 5BB and someone UTG+2 decides to push…I love it and insta-call…he shows the tourist (A7o), my rockets hold up and I’m good to go. A flush and some small pots later and I’m sitting pretty…then a tough one comes up. The blinds just gone up and it’s more or less a crapshoot now (0.8k/1.6k blinds), I’m in the BB and take a free look. The flop comes 9-5-4 rainbow…the SB checks…I check…turn comes the Jh…SB pushes…I hold 96o. I try to remember what the SB did on earlier hands with straight draws on board…I decide to go with my gut-feeling as I think he’s on a straight-draw again (he played them overly aggressive earlier)…I put him on 78 and call…he isn’t too pleased with my call and show 67o for the gutterball…river is blank and I cripple him. Tough call, but sticking with my initial feeling was the right move. Even tougher luck for him as he’s auto-all-in a few hands later in the BB…I look down at QQ UTG and that’s all she wrote for him…
After that some small pots won and lost and we’re finally down to the final table. I try to sit back and relax as I don’t get any hands and the other players are more than willing to gamble – no surprise with blinds approaching 1.5/3k…I can’t catch anything and once I’m in the BB the button decides to pop it….I’ve got 3k invested…only 5k behind so I can’t fold…69o against his A3o…alright…at least I’m live…an ace on the turn seals my exit in 6th…the meaningless 6 on the river comes to rub it in…*lol*…so…in the end no prize for me (top 3 get payed), but still a good one…I had fun, didn’t think about my diploma thesis for once and got some time at the felt…good stuff…off to catch some sleep now…
I’m UTG again and the BB is auto-allin with less than the blind…I look down at QQ and push…no callers except the BB…my queens hold up.

…still little time for poker these days. Managed to squeeze in a little playing time today though. Started out good, winning a six-handed SnG, but it all went south pretty fast after that. Oh well…what can you do. Stats for the night: 1W 3L in six-handed, 3 of 3 L in headsup…I’m outta here…

Random pic dump:

Finished in 670th place. After starting at a nice starting table including RoccoBoxer, Tripjax and G-Rob I was moved before the first break, but not before dropping the first hammer against Rocco…gotta love it when you fire and fire and finally your opponent folds to your 3k bet on the turn…lol. I managed to pull out a monster-suckout JT vs KK to really get myself into a good position. Stole some pots and flopped some sets to be above average…then two things happened….I overplayed Ax while my opponent thought it was a good idea to call a preflop raise with QJo…when all was said and done he rivered three queens and I was busto…oh well…at least I had fun…ty Stars for hosting…