Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Done all I can do...

Time to face facts. I do not play winning poker. I cannot fool myself for any longer.

Oh sure, I can have winning sessions but overall I do not play winning poker. I do not know if it's lack of skill or lack of luck. I have no friends to advise me. I have no one to even discuss it with.

I will probably play casually from time to time hoping to hit a rare lucky winning session. Other than that I'll just find another hobby. One that can be done alone.

I'm certainly done embarrasing myself by writing about poker and making people think i'm actually competent which I am not. For anybody that did read this, thank you. If you happen to be a fan of poker hang in there, don't let me discourage you. There are plenty of bad players to take advantage of. Who knows you might find me at the tables, you could make a bundle that way.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Night and Day

Strange game poker. This afternoon I played a bit less than an hour and could do no wrong. The table broke up with me up me up $31. I was hitting everything. At one point with AJo under the gun the flop came JAJ naturally I got no action even after I checked. I didn't think anybody had an Ace but was hoping maybe for a pocket pair or somebody who thought a King might be good. The turn came a 3 which didn't help anybody unfortunately and then an A on the river sealed it. I bet out hoping somebody would think it was a bluff but they all folded. Still was a neat hand even if it was a small pot.

The best hand of the night was flopping the nut straight on a rainbow flop and having somebody cap the flop and turn with me. He wised up by the river but it was too late and I pulled in $31 on that hand alone.

This evening other than the hand I just mentioned I was either not hitting at all or hitting the second best hand most of the night. I felt totally beat up after around 2 hours of play. I also was down most of the $30 that I was up this afternoon.

Like I said, strange game poker, it can really be night and day in how it goes.

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Out kinda early in another tournament

Just got bounced out of the 2:00 tournament on UB in 172nd place. 340 started. I was off to a quick start then slid back. I had a respectable if not fantastic chip count when this last hand came up. I felt the gamble was worth it...obviously I wish I had it to do over but then i'm not so sure it was such a bad thing. The main thing I think I did wrong was not raise pre-flop. I'd love to hear different if anybody would care to critique it :) (like anybody reads this...except you Robin..thanks for hanging in there through something that must be like Greek to you).

Here is the hand, you decide, how badly did I screw up?

Hand #5870958-60 at Tue2pmA-014 (No Limit tournament Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 10/May/05 14:56:23
 
     guru4yall is at seat 0 with 2145.
     murt is at seat 1 with 2230.
     packman25 is at seat 2 with 3190.
     N8dogg2231 is at seat 3 with 2635.
     BigBlueNation is at seat 4 with 2530.
     Showpony is at seat 5 with 4810.
     Tooley is at seat 6 with 5690.
     Trout Bum is at seat 7 with 1395.
     jantan is at seat 8 with 660.
     dedave is at seat 9 with 1840.
     The button is at seat 1.
    
     packman25 posts the small blind of 30.
     N8dogg2231 posts the big blind of 60.

     guru4yall:  9d 9h
     murt:  -- --
     packman25:  -- --
     N8dogg2231:  -- --
     BigBlueNation:  -- --
     Showpony:  -- --
     Tooley:  -- --
     Trout Bum:  -- --
     jantan:  -- --
     dedave:  -- --

Pre-flop:
 
          BigBlueNation folds.   Showpony calls.   Tooley folds.
           Trout Bum calls.   jantan calls.   dedave folds. 
          guru4yall calls.   murt calls.   packman25 calls. 
          N8dogg2231 checks.  

Flop (board: 3c Ts 8d):
 
          packman25 checks.   N8dogg2231 checks.   Showpony
          checks.   Trout Bum checks.   jantan checks. 
          guru4yall bets 400.   murt calls.   packman25 folds. 
          N8dogg2231 folds.   Showpony folds.   Trout Bum folds.
           jantan folds.  

Turn (board: 3c Ts 8d Qh):
 
          guru4yall goes all-in for 1685.   murt calls.  

          Tournament all-in showdown -- players show:
 
               guru4yall shows 9d 9h.
               murt shows 7c Tc.
         

River (board: 3c Ts 8d Qh Kc):
 
        (no action in this round)
         

         

Showdown:
 
     guru4yall has 9d 9h Ts Qh Kc: a pair of nines.
     murt has Tc Ts 8d Qh Kc: a pair of tens.
         

Hand #5870958-60 Summary:
 
     No rake is taken for this hand.
     murt wins 4590 with a pair of tens.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, May 8, 2005

Satisfied

Nothing spectacular to report really. I played two tournaments this weekend. Both were low buy in's. I feel I did pretty well, no major mistakes, just didn't get what I needed to get in the money in either.

I played a $1/$2 cash game this evening and it started horribly. What I'm satisfied with is that I stuck to it and came out ahead. It took two hours to get to where I was up $5 but I came back from nearly $30 down early on. I feel I stuck to my game, played it the best I could and it worked out. Luck was up and down the whole night but obviously was slightly more up than down which is always good. If I'd been playing a $50/$100 table I'd have even made enough money to be useful :) Oh well, that will come in time.

Lots of learning in my future yet before I'm ready for anything much later than the $1/$2 tables. The notable exception would be the $1/$4/$8/$8 tables in Biloxi and Gulfport where I've always done well. I thought seriously about going this coming week but hesitated to do so because Connie has been gone so much and I've barely seen her. I've been so cranky though this weekend she probably wishes I'd go I imagine. I'm still thinking I may go. I could leave Tuesday and stay over Friday night. Normally I don't but there's no reason I can't if I can get a room. If not I can just come back on Friday.

We've, maybe, got a game here at home Saturday so I have to be back for that. I'm not sure anyone is even coming though. We'd had such poor turnouts that this is going to be the last one we try to organize. Anybody want to play Saturday night? Let me know and I'll give you directions :) (I'm not holding my breath on that one!)

 

Thursday, May 5, 2005

Stubborn or Stupid, that is the question.

Do you ever keep trying the same thing over and over again and start to wonder if it's because you're stubborn and exhibiting sticktoitiveness (ok so that's not a word...but it is in our house) or if you're being stupid and should just give up?

I went to Daytona yesterday in a driving rainstorm to play poker. Partly it was because I was lonely and tired of looking at these four walls. Partly it was because, as badly as it's been going, I just seem to love this silly game called poker.

It went well on all counts though. I played my game for the most part, a tad looser than usual because that game is so loose. I was also a tad passive I guess but that seems to work better there, especialy as tight as I play. If I play tight aggressive there I tend to fold the table up. I'm learning when to do it because I have a marginal hand that would likely be out-drawn and when not to because I have a strong hand that is unlikely to be beat.

The people were fun too. It's funny how sometimes a table will not talk at all and sometimes they will be one big happy family. I recognized a few of them and I think they were almost all regulars, even the ones I did not recognize. Oddly that is the problem playing in Daytona, not enough tourists. You'd think a city like Daytona would be loaded with tourists playing poker but that's not the case. Of course the poker room there is hardly a tourist draw. I doubt many tourists even know it's there.

It's hidden in the shadow of the Daytona International Speedway, miles from the beach, and frankly is kind of a pit. For all that I'm very glad I went though. I needed that interaction and winning a bit didn't hurt.

The night before last, Tuesday night that would be, I was really down about things. In part because I was lonely and missing Connie but poker was also going horribly. I have had more bad suckouts against me in one week than I can remember. I started drinking a bottle of wine that was in the fridge and normally I just flat will not play when i've had anything to drink.

Tuesday night I just had nothing else to do but play so I went to one of UB's micro limit tables. I actually had FUN. Probably more fun than i've had playing poker in quite a while. As Jennifer told me when I chatted with her maybe I just needed to kick a little ass. That I did. It was kinda like shooting ducks in a barrel though and I felt a little guilty about it. The people that play the 1 cent/ 2 cent tables are usually just learning and are making their first foray into real money play. I felt bad, kinda, for what I did to them. On the other hand maybe I gave them a little better feel for what it will be like when they move into larger stakes games, not that the $1/$2 tables I haunt are big games but they are 100 times larger than those micro limit tables. I especially had fun with one player who was trying to bully the table. Go figure that there at THAT table i'd get good cards but he (or she) tried it once too often and ran into me when I had good cards like three times in a row and I cut him off at the knees every time. It's kinda sick maybe but it felt good to put him in his place. I did it nicely, never made disparaging comments, just enjoyed the action while chatting with others at the table about the relative merits of different live poker rooms we'd played. LOL that may have bothered the guy more than anythng else. I was beating him without seeming to be paying attention to doing it. I'll never get rich playing at micro limit tables where the buy in a a whole $1 but on the other hand i've discovered I can have a lot of fun there. I guess there's nothing wrong with finding a game you can crush easily if you're having a down time in your normal game. I was also relaxed enough to actually talk at the table, something I seldom do if I'm playing seriously. Maybe that was a lesson too. Hmmm

Anyway that is the report for this rainy Thursday. Weight watchers in a bit and then Survivor tonight. Oh...and i'm sure i'll squeeze some poker into the day somewhere as well...ya think?