Just Wait Long Enough it Will Change

Another day and I am sitting in the number four seat.  I have never been superstitious but when it is going good you just have to try again.  Really, I do have some superstitions but not worth going into at this point.

 

I told the dealer I was not here to play the tournament just the cash game.  I put my $30 on the table for the $2-$6 limit game and was hoping for another good day like the last ones.  I just did not get the cards today and even if I did there was one better.  I was gone from the cash game in about 30 minutes and I headed out the door.

 

The next day I showed up again for the cash game and this time I put myself into the tournament which is the $5 tournament and you get 1,000 in chips with add-ons and you have re-buys for the first four rounds.  Rounds are 10 minutes each.

 

I was out of the cash game in about 30 minutes again and waited for the tournament to start.

 

I must say the tournament did not go well and I was out 20/30 players.  My Qx ran into a flush right off the flop.  Qxx on the flop and I didn't have a chance to even wish on the cards.  I did get a Q on the river but needed to pair another card.  Again out the door and home.

 

The last two days of playing poker, especially the $2-$6 game where everyone wants to see the flop and never gives up is hard.  When I got out to the pick-up I sat there for a bit and finally asked myself if I was having fun.  Did I really enjoy myself doing this?  At that point I had to tell myself that I was not having fun anymore.  It is frustrating to be in an area that the games that I want to play are not here.  It is a question that I just have to answer if I want to continue playing or not. 

 

I am a very competitive person and ever since High School have played some type of sport and have always pushed myself to be the best at whatever I was doing.  It gets frustrating when you know what to do but are unable to pull it off.  Maybe I am trying to hard and need to just have fun with the game and not be so serious. 

 

Will need to think about this.....

Monte Carlo Board

Back to do another session on the $2-$6 Live Cash game at Jokers Casino.  I was going to change up the seating but decided to go ahead and sit in the number four seat like I did the other day. 

 

It was so nice to get the $90 win and get that BR to start growing again.  I decided to take little steps and if I won double what I start with I will be very happy walking away and playing another day.  Have to start from somewhere.

 

I was in the blinds and it was called all the way around back to me so I just went ahead and checked with my 46 of hearts.  Not something I would normally play but if they are going to play post flop I will do the same thing and see what comes on the flop.  On the flop was 3x5 with the 3 and the 5 being hearts.  Now I have something to call with to see if the flush might come.  The hand was checked all the down on the turn and it was a blank.  Checked again and the card came a 7 of hearts.  I see the flush and turn over my cards and then the dealer said straight flush.  Wow, I was not looking at that as much as just the flush possibility. 

 

At that point I looked up at the Monte Carlo board and see that this was worth $75 for me.  I add this to my chip count on the table.  I waited for a few hands or the blinds to get through me again and then took the win off of the table and went home.  Another good increase to the BR and enough to play another day.

 

Have a fun day.....

Let's try this Again

After the win, the last time I played, I decided I would put the money back to work at the Jokers Casino $2-$6 game at Noon.  This live cash game will only go for an hour at the most and if I happen to double up then I can go home, and I have no plans to play the tournament.  For me they are money suckers and right now I need some more cash to keep going.

 

I took my seat in the number four seat and right off the bat I made a hand that brought in about $20 in chips.  Nice to have that happen right off the bat, but then the decision, do I get up and walk away with the cash or keep going.   It has only been about 5 to 10 minutes. 

 

It wasn't too far off of that win that I played another hand that won another pot and this one was bigger yet and put my stack up over the $90 chip mark.  The time had been around 30 minutes of play and already a good growth to the BR. 

 

I always have the feeling I need to sit at the table, because I won chips off of the fellow players, but then sometimes they do the same thing and leave to let someone else sit down so they can get their name on the list to play the tournament early.  See, if you play the live cash game then you are allowed to sign up before anyone else for the tournament.  Me, I just racked them up and told the table someone else could sit down and walked away with my $90.

 

This is a good start to get some of the BR back and so far it is working.  Bankroll now up to $90 if you take out what I put on the table to start the game.  Hopefully I can continue.

 

Have a nice day.......

Home Games

I haven't played in a home game in some time.  I was asked if I wanted to play and I had to think about it for a bit.  When I play in a home game I tend to just play and not try to win.  It is more about the social aspect of getting together.  In this particular game it usually ends up being sixteen guys sitting around two tables drinking the whole time and playing very aggressive.  Since I don't drink then watching this aggressive play just isn't any fun.

 

I decided to go ahead and play.  My bankroll for poker has just about hit the bottom and I figured I might as well play and then try and decide what to do next.  I arrived at the home and found out there were only five guys that would be playing tonight.  My mind went into this mode of why do I want to do this.  The person putting on the game wanted to play two games at $10 per person.  I then thought that wasn't too bad, with five guys playing, since it would get done early and I would head home. 

 

The players started drinking and I had my water for the evening.  With five players, it meant I could open up my game a little bit and try to catch some cards and be loose aggressive.  I started winning some pots and when we made it to the third level I had a nice size chip count.  We were down to the final two and I started losing my chips playing heads up.  Since the other three players were watching, and not playing, I then suggested a chop of the pot.  It was agreed upon by the chip leader and I was able to get $20 and we moved to the next game.

 

We start the next game and I continued playing the same way.  The loose aggressive style was working and I just stayed with that.  I made it to the chip lead and kept my aggressive play going.  When it got down to three left in the tournament I suggested another chop where we would pay three players and it was agreed upon.  I made $30 on the second tournament and that felt good to finally cash a little bit since I was running low on the BR anyway.

 

It is amazing how one week can make a difference in your bankroll.  I had a good week two weeks ago and was up to $400 and then within the next week it was basically gone.  It does drive you nuts trying to play the BR up and then it goes nowhere.  I start thinking about the $2-$20 game I should not have sat in on, and then the $3-$6 Omaha game that was out of my reach as well.  I played those trying to increase the BR and instead I went the other way. 

 

Now it is all about the $50 and what will I do with it.  Can I go out and try this again to get it to grow so I can continue playing?  Tournament?  Live Cash?  Have to think about this.

 

Have a fun day.....

Down the Rabbit Hole

Sometimes you just feel like you can do nothing right.  The last week I tried to play and make the correct decisions and I was not doing well.

 

I decided to get into the afternoon tournament at Jokers Casino for $40 with 10,000 in chips to start and the rounds are at 20 minutes.  This allows for more play and I figured if there was a tournament that would help me get out of the slump this would be the one.  At least play better poker.  I am not sure whether going back and forth into the Live games and Tournaments is just messing with me more.

 

There were about thirty players that started and this would make a good prize pool as well.  I survived getting down to two tables and now I just needed to make the final table.  I was pretty tight throughout and was chipping up.  I tend to remain around average chipstack until I get to the final table and then will start looking at chipstacks and where I should start picking up the chips from.

 

We were getting down to the area of needing 1 or 2 more players to go out before we got to the final table and wouldn't you know it I was one of the ones eliminated.  I feel pretty good about my tournament play just not there today.

 

I then jumped over to the $3-$6 Omaha Hi/Lo Kill game.  Oh, that was not a good move.  I have been studying Omaha and would really like to play it more but it just seems I do not understand some of the starting hands or I am getting beat by one hand better.  Again, that probably has to do with my reading ability of the hands.  I did manage to last two hours playing this game which is the furthest I have ever lasted before being felted.  I guess it is back to the drawing board and will need to get more of a BR to continue with these self taught lessons at the table.

 

Have a fun day.....

Big Game

I have played at Crazy Moose for the big cash game of $2-$20 limit Spread.  I decided that since I had a good week last week I would go and try to play this game again and see if I could do well and increase my bankroll a little bit more.  The thinking I had going in to this was that I needed to just play tight and wait for the proper hands and then play aggressive enough to get the pot. I put $150 on the table to start the game. 

 

I was seated right away in the number 9 seat and this also put me to the right of the two most tight aggressive players as well.  I was so tight that nothing was getting through to me.  I was waiting for those best hands.  Any pairs I received I just called and would set mine to see if I could play further.  If I didn't hit I was out of the pot when the bet or raise was done.  I was not going to get into a betting war with these guys.

 

I was able to last two hours playing this way.  The first hand was an AK and I got beat by a straight.  I did get a pair on the board but it got worse for me when Q10x showed up and no J came on the turn or river but the other guy had the J for the straight.  I had almost half my chip stack in that hand.

 

The next time I had AK I played strong again and this time got beat with yet another straight.  As I said before I played about 2 hours and my chips were gone. 

 

I headed over to Jokers Casino since I knew they were starting a $2-$4 limit game and I jumped into that table with $40 worth of chips.  I proceeded to lose chips so when I got down to $25 left of my $40 I got off of the table and bought in to the Tournament. 

 

I made it to the final table in the tournament but didn't cash.  That was my story for the day and I am sticking to it.  I will stay away from the big game and just play this smaller game to get my confidence back.  Nothing was working out for me today.

 

Have a nice day......

Must do this again!!!!

I must win a tournament during the month of August and I will have the opportunity to do this again.  I get myself started by putting my $30 down on the cash table.  I am playing $2-$4 and it is so hard to win.  My chip stack is up about $80 and again I find it hard to walk away.  And by the time I do I am back down to my $30 and then I do the same as before and get up from my seat.

 

The tournament is ready to go and now we are back to the $5 + $5 with re-buys and add ons for the first three levels.  If I am patient and get the cards I need I can hold off and just add on when it is time and the tournament is a total of $15 to me. 

 

Today I couldn't be so lucky.  I ended up re-buying and then the add on and now my total for this tournament is $30 for a starting stack of $1,500.  Each $5 you add is worth 500 in chip.  Oh yes, can't forget the 10 minute rounds. 

 

At least I was able to make the final table again and then I didn't last very long.  Just nothing to work with.  My final hand was 66 and had four callers and didn't get any help at all from the flop, turn or river.

 

These types of days have to make you wonder why you are doing what your doing and is it worth it to keep pushing forward.  See what a short amount of days does when you were at the top and now your fighting with yourself again.

 

Have a wonderday day.....