Statu quo sucks

I guess it was too good to last. After a few nights of good, solid play, variance decided to kick me in the crotch and take my winnings away from me.

I was already down almost one buy-in after two hours of bad luck (continuation bets getting raised, people calling when I have nothing but not when I hit, missing draws. The usual stuff.) Then, I spotted one donkey at a table after he made a really stupid move: The nuts was on the table, and he bet like 10x the pot, forcing all of us to call, but losing most of the pot to the rake. I quickly insulted him for being so dumb, so I'd knew he'd try to bluff me. A few hands later, it effectively happened.

I flopped a flush draw with top pair and a decent kicker. He bet the pot at it, and got two callers before it got to me. I raised to about 3.5x his bet. He started thinking, and moved all-in, which was way out of line. I put him on a flush draw, which could be worse than mine, so I elected to call. I was almost right. He didn't have a flush draw, but a straight draw. With two of his outs giving me the flush, he needed me to miss while he hit one of his 6 outs. Unfortunately, he hit and stole 400$ away from me. That was pretty much like losing with Aces when you are all-in before the flop.

With that second buy-in gone, I was slightly off my game. At another table, I got Aces which got cracked by some guy turning his two outter. Right after that, I had AK and flopped top pair with top kicker in a raised pot. The guy bet the pot at it anyway, so I just called. Unfortunately, he turned a set again, but this time he also rivered quads, forcing me to call as I could now beat him if he flopped two pairs. And that was the third buy-in.

This is the bad news. The good news is that, this time, at least, the bad beats happened after I could get some money, so I don't have to move back in limits. I'll just take a break, look at my game to fix a few holes, and come back to get these bastards back.

Some more hands

Just a few more hands. Apparently the play is still just as weird at this level:
- 9 high flush, baby!
- Thanks for minimizing my losses.
- 1/5th? Way to work these implied odds, kid.
- Nice try, but no cookie.
- Middle pair, eh? I guess betting all the way is a sign of weakness...
- Top pair? TOP PAIR?!? I guess it was worth a raise...
- This one just amazed me.

The play in some of these hands is not too bad, but the execution is usually seriously flawed. Some of them are simply throwing their money away. Unfortunately, this is the exception rather than the norm. Too bad! :)

Lookin' good.

I've been playing some more NL200 today, and after a rather uneventful start, it ended up on an explosion of huge hands.

I tied for my 2nd biggest pot ever by taking down a 555$ pot against someone with pretty much nothing. Thanks for the money, kid! I had won a 555$ pot once previously, in a live cash game, in my trip to Atlantic City. It always feels nice to see these chips coming my way!

So, after a few hours at NL200 (roughly 1400 hands), I'm up 442$, for 8BB/100, which is an average I'd like to keep. I feel like a got a bit lucky in these hands though, so I have to stay focused and keep improving my game if I want to succeed at this level. It seems good so far, but 1400 hands is nothing, so this could all be random variance smiling at me before it kicks me violently in the groin.

Tough call.

Just a quick post about a tough call I made today. I had some reasons to believe that calling was the right play, but there was also some frustration in it, so I'm not gonna pat myself on the back too much.

This pot was worth 281$, with the exact same hand as last time: T7 of spades, with a straight.

I'll update this later. Feel free to comment until then.

On a rush.

It feels like I haven't written here in years. That isn't exactly the case though. I wrote some posts, but I kept them all as drafts only. Some were about chokage, some about poker, but I just didn't like them, and I'm not gonna waste your time with two pages of stuff even I consider garbage.

First, I'd just like to mention the death of one of my childhood hero: Steve Irwin. Better known as the Crocodile Hunter, he died doing what he loved. Apparently, a sting ray is more apt at killing than a few hundred crocodiles though. Hopefully, his good deeds will be remembered for generations to come, and my best wishes go to his family.

Second, before I talk about poker, I'll just mention a record number of chokages in the last weeks. None of them was as memorable and/or funny as the Niagara Episode, but if it keeps going like this, I'll be able to report a few more good stories to you, dear chokage-lusting readers. Who knows, I might even get one that doesn't end in a chokage!

Finally, I just finished my best week in gambling so far, with winnings around $2500. The Steelers winning by 11, giving me $1000 right away, sure didn't hurt, but I've also played some great poker.

Among other things, I made NL$200 my new home. I'd only be breaking even at that level so far if it wasn't that I also won my biggest pot to date this week. I really got lucky on that one, but I think I'm still playing a pretty good game overall. I'm far from the 16BB/100 hands I got in my last days of NL100$, but I feel like I still have an edge.

Overall, I'm doing very well, and I can only hope that it will last!