[Closed] HMCS Dackbinder Versus The Table

... this...

I lost $18 today and my winrate plummeted to 5.5BB / 100.

A few hands I played badly and forgot what I had learned earlier...

- think through each hand (especially opponents range), however, do not overthink it

I overthought hands wayyyy to much. (Maybe the reason he is still betting is because he actually does have the ace, and not the crazy draw I have concocted in my mind!)

I also did not think some hands through enough. (Maybe the reason he is overshoving despite my obvious flush is because there are TWO fives on the board!)

- if the story the villian is telling does seem reasonable, believe it and fold your hand unless you can beat trips or AK

Not doing that, coupled with not doing this...

- try to decide if you will proceed after the flop, do not wait until the turn, in other words KEEP YOUR DECISIONS EASY

... Led to me putting myself into difficult situations with more money at stake than I would have liked.

That, and the usual bad beats, suckouts and unlucky breaks led to a horrid day. Let's see if I let this get the better of me. It does seem to be my pattern. I managed to play my A game for 9500 hands. I can't let it fall apart again over the last 2500!

BR - $100
Medals - 115

Hey hacks,

Good to see ur bankroll is starting to grow little

concerntrate on ur game and you will be fine

try to not to worry about suck out (i know its hard) and see if you made right play

Keep goin mate

... BR still intact!

So I qualified for Silver Ironman again, so if I do a point a day until December I should be getting 105 more medals... nice!

Here is a wacky hand...

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)

Known players:
[tg]BU$7.27:///////;SB$4.15:///////;BB$2.90:///////;UTG1$1.91:///////;UTG2 (Hero)$3.90:///////;MP1$6.98:///////;MP2$1.96:///////;MP3$4.50:///////;CO$1.93:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is UTG2 with Q:s, Q:h.
UTG1 folds, Hero raises to $0.17, 6 folds, BB calls $0.12.

Flop: ($0.36) 4:d, 4:c, 5:c (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.36, BB calls $0.36.

Turn: ($1.08) 6:h (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.08, BB raises to $2.37(All-In), Hero calls $1.29.

River: ($5.82) 4:h (2 players)

Final Pot: $5.82.
Results follow:

Hero shows a full-house, fours full of queens(Q:s Q:h).
BB shows a straight, seven high(7:s 3:s).

Hero wins with a full-house, fours full of queens(Q:s Q:h).

*********************************************

I don't know who is stupider... Me for betting the turn or him for calling preflop!

Rush week is also coming up. I think I could do 100 points for 4 out of 7 days. 7 out of 7 will take too much time at the stakes I play. That, coupled with the year end Ironman bonus, means that some extra money may come my way and pad my roll.

BR - $96
Medals - 115 (105 more are coming)

Again, it isn't the bad beats... It's how quickly they can come.

These two hands happened within less than a minute. I was doing real well before them and I was actually about to take a break!

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.05/$0.1 No-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)

Known players:
[tg]BB$10.00:///////;UTG1$9.63:///////;UTG2$10.08:///////;MP1$10.22:///////;MP2$4.69:///////;MP3 (Hero)$7.38:///////;CO$10.65:///////;BU$20.42:///////;SB$11.05:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with K:h, K:d.
2 folds, MP1 raises to $0.35, MP2 raises to $1.20, Hero raises to $7.38(All-In), 5 folds, MP2 calls $3.49(All-In).

Flop: ($12.57) 8:s, 9:d, Q:d (2 players)

Turn: ($12.57) 3:d (2 players)

River: ($12.57) 8:h (2 players)

Final Pot: $12.57.
Results follow:

Hero shows two pairs, kings and eights(K:h K:d).
MP2 shows a full-house, nines full of eights(9:s 9:h).

MP2 wins with a full-house, nines full of eights(9:s 9:h).

And then this less than a minute later...

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.05/$0.1 No-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)

Known players:
[tg]UTG1$14.24:///////;UTG2$3.91:///////;MP1$10.29:///////;MP2$10.00:///////;MP3$3.50:///////;CO$17.16:///////;BU (Hero)$5.39:///////;SB$4.00:///////;BB$4.42:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is BU with K:s, K:c.
2 folds, MP1 raises to $0.35, 3 folds, Hero raises to $1.20, 2 folds, MP1 raises to $3.75, Hero raises to $5.39, MP1 calls $1.64.

Flop: ($10.93) 8:d, 2:c, 9:s (2 players)

Turn: ($10.93) J:c (2 players)

River: ($10.93) Q:d (2 players)

Final Pot: $10.93.
Results follow:

Hero shows a pair of kings(K:s K:c).
MP1 shows three of a kind, queens(Q:h Q:s).

MP1 wins with three of a kind, queens(Q:h Q:s).

***********************************************

Overall, things are going okay. My SNG stats are climbing nicely, although someone told me that I should be losing and I'm just on a major heater over the last few hundred games because my EV line is below $0 and my winnings line is above by a wide margin. My cash game... Uh, I prefer not to even think about it!

Doing Ironman silver this month should not be too much of a problem, with the holidays and all. After this month, I should be a little less than halfway to my goal. Also, the Rush week money is a nice little boost and I'm looking forward to a $200 Ironman bonus, although I don't think I will be able to clear the whole $200 in the allotted time.

I don't know if too many people play Fantasy Football, but the FF playoffs are coming soon and 3 out of my 4 teams are in either first or second place.

Music + Lyrics + Charisma = Dolly

BR - $153
Medals - 205 (15 more are coming)

So I failed miserably at the $100 to $1000 goal. That is why I started my "buy a table" goal. All I need to do, over the course of a few months, is put in enough volume to qualify for Ironman and not bust my roll (This is important because if I ever bust this roll I am finished with online poker for a long time... My last deposit was when I started the previously mentioned $100-$1000 goal).

The reason why this goal is much better than a monetary goal is for three big reasons, I think...

1) If I lose money I do not take it as badly as when my goal was $$ because making money is not really my goal, therefore, losing money does not affect my mind as much as long as I do not come close to busting my roll. I am noticing that bad beats and my own mistakes are not tilting me off as much as even a few weeks ago. I am a very emotional person, both in poker and in life and this whole experience has been a valuable exercise in mastering how my emotions affect my actions. I see a lot of parallels.

2) This particular non monetary goal is 6+ months of work almost everyday. Therefore, consistency is what I am truly working on. And I have to say, like in life, I have great runs of excellence but I have a hard time being consistent. I think I can be a winning player, at micro anyway, if the A game is brought every time. If my goal was monetary, the swings would affect my ability to stay consistent because every losing session would make me feel like I was stepping backwards. Now, the level of $$ in my BR almost doesn't matter because that is not really the point, therefore, I find it easier to stay somewhat consistent.

3) When I read back some of my angry posts, especially the ones where I busted my roll and relied on rakeback and FTPs and medals to re-establish a roll, I see that my mindset placed too much importance on my roll and making money back up. The longer I work at this goal, the more I see the value in not caring too much about my $$ and losing it due to some bad play or bad beats. Back then, if I had not cared so much about $$, I could have easily dropped down in limits or pushed away entirely for a bit. The pressure to make the money back up is greater when $$ is your goal. Without the pressure of a $$ goal, poker remains fun even after a bad session.

*Fantasy football playoffs start next weekend!

BR - $179
Medals - 205 (15 more are coming)

The low point of this month was playing shitty and losing money until I stopped the bleeding at around $40.

The highpoint was using Academy points to buy a Step 1 ticket, then beating two guys heads up for a Step 2, then beating two more guys heads up for a Step 3, and then using the Step 3 ticket to buy into a $26 Super Turbo Matrix 6 man and coming in second for $40.

I am not playing 9 man 2/5 Rush anymore nor am I playing tons of SNG. I am going to be concentrating on 6 man 2/5 Rush and regular ring games and only playing a SNG here and there for fun. I feel more comfortable playing 6 man Rush.

My HEM is down because of some weird computer problem I'm having. Some programs like FT, Mozilla and my Antimalware can connect to the net, but HEM, iTunes and Microsoft IE cannot. Even after I removed the Antimalware and its firewall I am still having this weird problem. It is a puzzle. I am particularly anxious to get this solved because I want to play more regular 2/5 ring games but I would feel more comfortable if I had my HEM for that.

One more day and I hit Silver Ironman for 100 medals. Then I get a point a day until January for 15 more one-a-day medals for a total of 115 medals this month. That would put me at 335, a little under halfway to my goal. I will also be getting a $200 Ironman bonus but I will be happy if I can clear half of it at the limits I play.

Here is a hand I played badly... This is why you do not minraise aces.

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
[tg]BU$1.95:///////;SB$6.99:///////;BB$8.81:///////;MP2 (Hero)$2.96:///////;MP3$0.34:///////;CO$13.38:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with A:c, A:d.
Hero raises to $0.10, MP3 folds, CO calls $0.10, BU folds, SB calls $0.08, BB folds.

Flop: ($0.35) T:s, 6:h, J:c (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.35, CO calls $0.35, SB folds.

Turn: ($1.05) 8:s (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks.

River: ($1.05) 4:h (2 players)
Hero bets $1.05, CO raises to $2.50, Hero calls $1.45.

Final Pot: $6.05.
Results follow:

Hero shows a pair of aces(A:c A:d).
CO shows a straight, queen high(Q:c 9:c).

CO wins with a straight, queen high(Q:c 9:c).

I minraised to induce a 3 bet because that session I got no action from when I got dealt aces previously. So I got cute and got what I deserved.

Also, on the river I told myself I would fold to a raise. Why didn't I do what my mind said? Probably spite. Probably anger because I played the hand bad from the beginning. If I had swallowed my pride and folded I would have saved a buck.

But I think on the following hand I learned my lesson...

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:

Play hand

$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (6 handed)

Known players:
[tg]SB$4.97:///////;BB$13.81:///////;MP2$6.64:///////;MP3$2.45:///////;CO (Hero)$3.52:///////;BU$9.44:///////;[/tg]

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q:d, A:c.
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.17, BU calls $0.17, SB calls $0.15, BB folds.

Flop: ($0.56) A:h, 7:c, 2:h (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.32, BU raises to $0.70, SB folds, Hero folds, BU gets uncalled bet back.

Final Pot: $0.88.

I told myself that I would fold to a raise after the flop. I think it was a good fold.

For the next bit I will be trying to put together a consistent run. Who am I trying to kid? That's what I've been trying to do for ages!

The "A" game consistently... My nemesis...

:f_eek:

BR - $117
Medals - 220 (115 coming soon)

Medals - 335
BR - More than zero

Brutal... Just Brutal...

... now wait just a minute...

Medals - 195
BR - $17.48
Bonus Cleared (Paid on Feb.14) - $70

You should stop posting pictures like that. I'm really scared of zombie flesh eaters. They remind me too much of students. 'Tell me what's going to be in the exam, or I will eat your eyeballs', etc......

I once marked exams for a prof that was more scared of admin seeing that the grades were below the curve than any zombies or vampires!

You can mark my exams if you like. After marking the same question 93 times, I usually feel like letting them eat my eyeballs anyway.

@jb

100% true exchange between me (exam marker) and a 1st year philosophy student after I marked his exam.

"Why did I get such a low grade on the essay question."

"Well, from what you wrote, it does not appear that you really understood the section about the Cave in Plato's Republic."

"I do understand it. I read the notes and everything."

"Did you read The Republic?"

"Not all of it. But I read the notes."

"So you didn't read the book?"

"But that doesn't matter because I wrote MY OPINION!"

"But you have to demonstrate that you understand the book in order to have a A or B level opinion."

"But it's MY OPINION!"

*sigh*

100% true.

Maths exams 1984: Understanding -> A
Maths exam 2011: Know how to do questions very similar to past exam papers -> A

Don't get me started.

no... it's over...

So I think I am the king of the failed poker goal. Making me the king of...

1) Bad poker?
2) Mental weakness in the face of the most ridonkulous string of bad beats, suckouts, coolers etc etc ever in the history of mankind?
3) Tilt?
4) All three?

So, in the face of this obvious fail, but still loving to play poker, here is the plan going forward...

- use up all FTPs, medals etc etc and try and turn them into cash
- clear everything out of my HEM so I can start fresh later
- clear as much of my bonus as I can with the little BR I have left
- when that is done (Feb.14), wait two weeks so I get all my rakeback (and give myself a break)
- cashout
- read Poker Mindset and Poker Blueprint again
- go to another PS tracked site, deposit my cashout and leave this FT Rush hell behind
- give myself another smaller, more manageable goal

Wouldn't it be funny if I ended up cashing out the same $100 I started with when I attempted my first goal of $100-$1000 way back when?

*sigh*

The table won.