Half Day of Work

Mohegan is doing 1k per 20 min HH jackpot.. So I swapped my days at work, and asked for a half day.. So noon-9PM I will have a shot at a grand every 20 minutes.. that would get the bankroll moving in the right directions! Wish me luck!

Variance Hammer - WHAP!

I played good the other night but alas playing good is not enough. Twice in the night I flopped sets and got it all in on the flop only to have my nemesis turn the K to match up with his two other Kangs.. Seriously rough.

I held in there but was never able to bring it back. I donked off about 1/2 a buyin by three-barreling an AJh vs a guy with KQ TPTK.. after I raised pre-flop.. flopped the two hearts.. I am not really sad about this play.. although firing off the $25 on the river I think I could have just saved my money. Pro Tip: Old Guys Never Fold.

I ended up losing two buyins but I am too upset. I mean I kept it together. Left with my loss. Just mostly being a pro which is important. I was due for some variance as I have been running pretty true -- in other words -- my hands that I have made have mostly held up outside a few flush chasers. The sad part is I am now a losing poker player.. down a half a buyin over around 12 sessions.. Ah well.. It's good for me to get out of the hotel and have a little social time.

One adjustment I may do is leaving a little earlier.. I like leaving at 11:00.. but then I get back around midnight and it takes a bit to snuggle in.. so the next day is kind of tiring.. I think I will cut it back to 10PM.. So basically play 5ish-10PM each night... One hour is not going to make a difference.

One nice thing -- the next time I go is actually going to be Monday. They are running 9AM-9PM every 20 minutes --- $1,000 high hand jackpot! If I hit that then I will be doing pretty good... and all these losses can offset the taxes. Mwahahaha! Wish me luck bitches.

Sven

Went for a little session at Mohegan today. Ended up down seven bucks. I am pretty happy with how I played. I was into my third buyin pretty quickly. Not sure how it happened. I did not really play badly.. I did a jam with 77 vs A9 and got called.. slightly unlucky with runner-runner hearts giving me the 7 flush and him the 9.. I just missed every flop and every hand went south... but not majorly.. it just kept adding up I guess...

It finally turned around when I got Queens and raised 10... Flop comes Qxx... I bet, guy raises, I jam, he calls.. and my third buyin becomes a double up. I got pretty luck against his Aces, but no way am I folding Queens to a straight call... I probably go broke there if I do not flop a Q because it was that kinda day..

The next big hand against the same guy I flop a set of 4's vs his AK .. he bets flop and I jam... and stack him.. I do not think he even had a pair at that point in time...

That got me up by around 40-60... I donked off like 10-20, and then got into a hand I should not have been in which cost me my profits.. I am not unhappy about how I played it but I think folding at any point except the turn is good. I look down and see QT hearts. I call a small raise with it (which is slightly loose) and the flop comes KT with one of my suit... The initial raiser bets like $15.. and I call.. (Again I could have folded here)... then the turn gives me the 8h... which gives me OESD and Flush Draw.. AGGGGHHH! Guy bets out $35... and I blank the turn... Guy checks and he shows AK TPTK to take it down... I am not mad about how I played that hand.. maybe I could have played differently.. but I think I am just second guessing because I lost... If I did hit my draw I stack the guy for $100 more...

At that point I was down like $45... I played one more hand where I hit a set of Queens AGAIN and made it back to -7... at which time I decided to take a break for dinner... and since it was seven and I had a drive back, I decided to call it a night.

Overall happy that I came back from down a ton. Happy I was like fuck it, a small loss is fine. All in all a decent game... I really would like to know where that first $200 went... but I think I was just missing everything...

Willie and the Incredible Shrinking Violet

Title means nothing. Do not ask.

Had a session this week where I COULD and SHOULD have put it all together and walked away with $600 profit. It gives me hope and kind of bums me out .. at least till I play again.

Basically I think I made two major mistakes in the game. I will give you the minor one first. This cost me $100 but I adjusted...

I have AK s00ted.. So my normal raise. I have $100 stack. Guy next to me cold calls. Flop comes 1 diamond.. with my Ace.. He bets out and I cold call. This was a big mistake. Turn comes second diamond and he bets and I call again.. Another mistake.. and then river comes third diamond.. and he bets $35 on the river.. I will let you guess what he had and smack me for paying him off.

This was my minor mistake. It did cost me a buyin though. I realize I am playing my tptk too weak when I am short so I will adjust eventually... also pre-flop and flop is too weak. I did adjust to this flush chaser though and he gave me it all back with interest.

My massive mistake that cost me a $900 pot. I had been in a few tough hands where I won but they were a little stressful so I was a bit tired. I had 88, and someone early bet $10, and 3 others called... So 99.99% of the time I call here. I am sitting on $300, so I am deep. Long story short is flop comes 88, turn comes 2, and 2 other guys with $300 end up all in.. JJ TPTK ends up winning it. So I cost myself $900 by not playing consistently.

I am sort of happy though. I fought back from my $100 down... Ended the night with a profit of $99. I also enjoy these nights out of poker. I also think that it is probable that as I adjust I end up seeing a lot more $200-$600 pots and I end up winning a bunch. I am reasonably pleased. I have made many mistakes and I am still up. I think I will eventually get into the swing of things and make a lot more.

Good Fail

I had a pretty stupid session this week but I think it is good. I lost $200 but it was kind of a good loss.

I really played great. I also played dumb early on. I paid off an old guy, lost a buyin when I knew I was beat... However I played hard and got back up +100. Here is the dumb part though. I was like "Meh, I should leave now.. I will stay till I win another 20..".. and then as I spewed some off.. "Oh I just need to win a little more then I will leave".. and finally at 1AM in the morning.. spewed off the nice profits and booked my -200 loss.

I am treating this experience as a learning thing. So I am alright with this. Plus I am still up! Yay! I think the lessons here are --

1. Take a Watch. Never stay after 11.
I like to ALWAYS win, but I need to just book whatever loss or win I have like a pro. I also think if I am up why not leave. I mean normally my expected win for a session is like +100.. So after I hit that if I am not feeling it just leave.

2. Stop Hating Losing
I HATE to lose ever. Even $1. Even 1 hand. I am obsessed. I need to drop that shit. I need to embrace the losses and wins and just treat it all like one long session. Not my strong point. All these like "just 5 bucks more" crap things are stupid. It is a big reason I lose and screw up when I really *can* play this game sometimes.

The other lesson I learned is I SUCK right now against pre-flop/flop aggressive people. I am not sure how I should adjust.. but call $15 pre-flop.. miss the flop.. fold.. is not the way.. I really struggle sometimes about what the right play is and when I should be ok to go broke... Here is one example..

Guy raises pre- $15.. I have Jacks. I call. Flop comes low not really coordinated.. I really feel like I am ahead here. Guy bets $25.. Turn does not change anything. I decide to fold to his all in on the turn... Folding the flop is kind of weak.. but is stacking off there bad or good? I hate stacking off with an overpair or even a pair... but what do you do? These are the marginal hands that cost you a lot and win you a lot... so what is the right play? It turns out the guy had pocket 5s and outplayed me. I am okay with that. He did have a big draw on the turn... but if I saw his cards it is a definite calling situation... So I really need to figure out those types of hands.

I do not think it would be bad for me to fold all the "ok" hands to pre-flop aggressive raisers.. especially if the rest of the table is not really raising.. My strength lays in playing flops, and making money there... Perhaps I should study a bit more and see what hand sets are ok to call pre-flop... I usually like calling with big pairs, sometimes with AK... and smaller pairs that can make sets... the rest I dump except suited face cards when the high hand is active.. lol.. Ok ok.. But yeah, you do kinda have to play for the HH.

Also Mohegan Sun is no longer doing HH, so I am forced to play at Foxwoods if I want the extra EV from HH every 30-mins. I think it is worth doing. I do not really like Foxwoods.. When the HH stuff is all done with then the closest casino will be Twin Rivers which sucks... So what do you think? Travel further because I like the casino.. stay close so it does not seem like a trek... keep chasing HH deals... Ignore all that shit.. Dunno.. for now I am going to do Foxwoods and maybe Mohegan will kick in a HH again.. If there is no HH next month then probably Twin Rivers but leaning more towards Mohegan..

Any advice would be good.. I am pretty happy with my play. I think I need to play better but I am not too mad. It is more the stupid things that I do that are part of the meta-game that frustrate me.