Poker Blog – icemonkey9 on PokerStars

Well, my family always says that November is the worst month of the year, and that everyone always has bad Novembers. Chalk me up to the list of believers. My month’s profits are all but wiped out at this point. Moving back to 50nl has not stopped the hemorrhaging of my bankroll to villains that are getting the best of me, either by miracle flops or miracle turn/rivers, or the occasional out-play icemonkey.

My confidence is shot. I’m really at a low in terms of poker-happiness for the year. I don’t feel mad, I guess I am past that. I feel sad, dejected, and cursed. I don’t even WANT to go back and play at the cash tables. It has me thinking that playing any more this month could only lead to further disaster. That’s why I am fairly confident I am just going to shut it down for the month since I just retained gold-star. I don’t even know where I am at with my hands-played goal and I don’t give a damn either. I’m just tired of losing and a few days off might be the best remedy for me.

Until then, enjoy this bloodbath …

AA Overplayed or Just Unlucky? (Both??)

KK, I tanked for a while making this Preflop Call. Cracked by QQ.

Versus a 39/3 shortstacker (38 hands) … Bad Preflop Min-Call?

Well the last 2 days I haven’t had much of a chance to play a lot of poker, and when I am it’s been very frustrating. You know, it’s the usual story of when I have these breakeven stretches, which can last 2k, 5k, or even 8k hands (at least historically). Flopped sets lose to flushes, KK gets outflopped by an 89 playing donk, my K high flush loses to his A high flush, and of course KK loses to AA, and to add 1 more my personal “favorite” my KK losing to QQ hitting a flush (didnt lose a stack though). Anyways nothing to do but put in the hands I suppose. I’ve been dealing with the possible tilt-inducing situations pretty well in my personal assessment, and have just tried to play optimum poker as best as I can.

At 100nl I’ve had some trouble dealing with the new volume of 3bets and what to do with them, especially OOP. Is it just tighten up OOP even more (supernit)? Start to 4bet? Flat these 3bet bastards? I need to do some study and trial & error to answer those questions.

100nl has proved to be a much more action oriented game. Tonight I got my ass 3bet more times than I could possibly remember, and like DOUBLE any other time I can ever remember in a session. I was also getting outflopped, and outsmarted on two hands, one of which I sucked out a 2-outer for a stack. All in all somehow I ended up +29 today but it was -200 at one pot, +110 at another … so the swings definitely have me going crazy so I’m going to call it a night and maybe take a few days off. No need to sustain that “one more hand” that actually gets me UBER-tilting. Tilt is the enemy … and during this last session I made some moves (specifically with QQ) that were tilt-induced, so I recognize it’s time to stop.

Anyways , I guess it’s “been a positive day” which is good news, however small it might be. Here’s some of the hands I had today, and comments are appreciated …

This time some good…

KK Wins Big

Pretty standard and straightforward I think.

Not Sure if this Turn Call is Smart?

I know how it ended up … but?

Okay now for the bad…

I Remember When Flopped Sets Were Good

Silly me, sets are for losers.

Is this a bad play with QQ, or did I just get incredibly unlucky at the turn?

The title says it all. I just pick a horrible time to stack as he spiked it on the turn. I really had put him on AK the whole way.

Now for the QQ Suckout

I am surprised OOP he would just flat with AA there. Real surprised, which is why I stacked off. I guess his super secret plan worked, but fate foiled him. I can say this was near the end of the last session, and I was feeling upset in retrospect.

I have over 1,000 hands logged in at 100nl and the game is going well and I am happy that I’ve started in the positive. I have some pretty interesting hands and a sick heater (today) and a gross cooler (last night), but all in all I feel like I’m playing well and avoiding bad situations. The VPPs are definitely rolling in which is making retaining GoldStar status a very good possibility. I think I am officially sick of grinding the 210fpps and will just save up and play a 5400fpp, and if I lose it all in one shot, then so be it.

Enjoy some hands from today’s poker.

KK busted by … wow, really?

How did I know his bad rag hand hit that hard? I just did. I guess I minimized the loss here, but I probably should have just folded that river value-town bet.

KK is a Major Heater

Wow talk about a heater. That poor bastard was definitely doomed. I’m not folding at any point.

Just like the last 2 months before, this month had the first 8k hands enjoy “variance” where I basically couldn’t put on a winning session or if I did I immediately lost and just kept this weird break-even long stretch. At the 8k mark this month I went on a great heater – and it felt wonderful! We’re talking $580 in about 3k hands at 50nl!

So then looking at my bankroll I saw something I didn’t expect – I was rolled for 100nl. Wow!!! So I didn’t immediately put in a session, instead on Saturday night I hung out on the internet and posted way too much stuff at CardsChat (then got tired and went to bed). Sunday was football day with the wife, I tried putting in a 50nl session and got coolered left and right by sets, flushes over straights, and overpair against overpair. That cost a 50nl buy-in.

Anyways, last night I decided to finally take the leap and put in a 4 table session of 100nl. I thought it went really well to be honest … I went really card dead, didn’t hit a flop, and also didn’t hit sets (was not even half the expected rate) but came away with a profit due to some nice cbetting moves and one huge bluff that I read perfectly.

The villain in this hand is a LAG who I imagine is a regular. His stats were 39/27/2, with 10% 3bet number, so I figured he was just squeezing light and expecting us to fold or have us float and he’ll be the flop and take it.

The stats from 100nl’s session:

375 Hands , +$18.90 , 2.52ptbb/100

Not sure when I’ll be able to play again, I have a lot of things going on today.

Here’s the obligatory half-month graph …

Yesterday came the very troubling news that President Bush is pulling a “Fast Willie” and as Clinton did before him, try to put through a glutton of illegal/unethical last minute bills as he leaves office (ranging from deregulating environmental standards to the topic here in my blog). This was something that infuriated me about Clinton, and now Bush is doing the same thing. Count me as an independent voter for life – I hate both parties equally I suppose.

There are those in legislation that do “get it” – people like Republican Ron Paul, and Democrat Barney Frank. These guys are for freedom – and I’m for freedom. One of legislation issues getting it’s stamp of approval from Bush is the UIGEA, an act that would make it illegal for people to deposit on a poker website (effectively) but would hold banks accountable without any regulation, oversight, or responsibility. It’s a horrible law that has people in congress upset and has been condemned by many of the top lawmakers, federal reserve agents, and international policy makers.

I’d like for you to read a thread on a poker forum website I often frequent. A friend of mine made a very compelling and informative post (with thanks to the PPA) about a “midnight drop” of laws that Bush is trying to put through before leaving office …

Please read it, and then look for my response down below in the thread:
http://www.cardschat.com/f13/new-uigea-regulations-what-you-can-133523/

Then read this, it gives an overall perspective of how dumb Bush is legally and how he didn’t even meet his own deadline:
http://www.ickypeople.com/2008/11/huge-bush-gaffe-allows-obama-to.html

Basically the Bush Administration is trying to get the UIGEA passed (which prevents people to deposit on poker or other online sites) but offers no regulations or opportunities for those with gambling problems. Loopholes will continue to exist and the market will be restricted without regulation at the same time. A ridiculous scenario. The good news is that with the help of some members and a democratic congress, some of this “midnight drop” bullcrap that Clinton attempted also (one of the reasons I came to really dislike him) will get party-line dropped as they gather a list of “stuff they are going to kill” when they re-convene in January.

Anyways, my two cents. Maybe you can help the cause of freedom. I highly suggest you take the measures outlined by the PPA and take a stand. Do something – it’ll take 10 minutes of your time TOPS and do volumes in terms of securing your rights of liberty in the United States.

So I put in a record amount of poker yesterday, and came away a -$30 loser. And I couldn’t be happier! Why? Well the usual “variance” aka bullshit kept happening. I just couldn’t shake it. Huge hands running into bigger hands. Getting sucked out on 6 outers, 4 outers, etc. I was really down and literally wrote at one point “If he has this hand I quit poker forever” and fortunately enough he didn’t have 25 for the boat (again).

What has me happy is that I turned a -120 day into -30 with a banner final session. I felt good and finally hit some hands and took down some stacks instead of shipping them off. It has me back at breakeven at 50nl for the month and I feel like it’s a new start and I can get back to playing “A Game” poker. I plan to play a lot tonight, tomorrow, and definitely a ton on Thursday and Friday. After that I’ll assess my situation day by day but I am definitely aiming for that 18.5k hand goal for the month.

I was looking at the stats when I was -120 before my last super session, and I saw that I was hitting approximately 19% of flops (it should have been 33%) and 4.8% of sets (it should be 11.8%). So I was seeing some cold cards yesterday but bounced back with the hopes that I have some good positive momentum for the rest of the month.

For those of you that love wild and crazy hands …

The Bad & Ugly…

How Many Times Will AA Get Cracked This Month?

Yes I know I made a horrible play with the min-raise at the flop. But a raise there … he’s still calling, I was doomed.

Apparently KK is no Better

Raise your hand if you saw that coming … come on, for real. I thought so.

Another Set of Queens Lose

Boy I just had to hit that Q on the river didn’t I … wow.

AK suited

Good grief.

NOW FOR THE GOOD

KK AIPF vs JJ, We Both Hit Sets

If I had lost this one I might have melted down and become nuclear.

99 Set Paid Off

KK Holds Up

I got in a mammoth amount of hands in today. I picked up a 24″ monitor and I am able to 9 table very nicely using this beast. After playing poker and video games on it, I am convinced it’s a great monitor but I do not feel like I am getting $300 in value over my old 22″ monitor that ran at a lower resolution. It might end up getting returned, I will see how I feel about it on Friday.

Anyways today’s sessions were up and down … in order: Up, Down, Up, Down, Up. All in all I ended up today +1 buyin for 50nl, which is no big deal but the good news is that this day signified the end of my all time biggest losing streak which is huge news around these parts! It felt good to win but man it felt horrible to lose. Obviously I am overly sensitive to volatility these days so once I got myself back above the win mark in my last session, I quit. I knew I just couldn’t take any more “up down up down” without throwing up.

So the good news is that I won today. The good news is that I’ve finally gotten over 5k hands this month and need to have a HUGE week to meet my goal and keep goldstar status. I feel like I am playing a decent game, and I just have to keep a level head and plow through it.

Here are some of today’s “Highlights and Lowlights!”

The Lowlights:

Yes, another set of Queens cracked…

QQ Cooler

AA Cracked

KK No Good

QQ Continues to Lose

****** The Highlights ******

KK Heater

Set Holds True

Aces Hold

I’d like to thank Custo and ChuckTs for their comments yesterday, it cheered me up and I decided to put in a quick session today (6 tables, not 9) with the hopes that I could play solid poker and come away with a winning session and stop the streak of 4 straight days of losing poker.

Well, make that 5 straight days of losing poker.

I am really hitting a low in terms of confidence and ability to think straight because these beats and the villains showing up with the absolute top of their range has been thinking all sorts of funny things like “did he flop the nuts” on every hand. I don’t think I’m able to play my best so I’m going to take today and tomorrow off I think. I just can’t think 100% straight and any continued losing like this will just damage me when I am unable to sustain more damage. It’s very disappointing and I am not sure what to do other than “keep the chin up and plug in a lot of hands” but for now I’m not capable of doing that with a level head, so it’s time for a break. Enjoy some hands …

Hand 1 – Man I keep getting outflopped, maybe overplayed my hand too

Our villain here is a 24/12/1 guy who simply outflopped me. I overplayed my hand badly at the turn. Considering his stack size however, I don’t think it was a horrible turn move.

Hand 2 – Rivered 2nd nuts, lose to … you guessed it!

I figured we were actually going to chop this but something in the back of my mind said that I was going to get fucked over like usual, and sure enough my 2nd nuts runs into the absolute nuts.

Hand 3 – Rivered Flush Loses to …

Our villain here is a dumbass shortstaker with stats of 23/7/1 who basically was in the hand for the same reasons I was, and basically I get fairly unlucky with the river flush since he, naturally, has a flush better than mine.

Hand 4 – Man I Hate Shortstakers

What would you do here? Fold? Doubtful. Again, shows up with a better hand, not even a lost coin flip.

Well this month is starting out just like last month. I could just copy & paste my entries from the first 7 days of October and it’d be the same story for November. I did experiment with 9 tables and actually enjoyed it and never fell behind. However, my 22″ 1600×1050 monitor doesn’t quite cut it as the numbers on the tables are super small and hard to read.

Anyways the action at the tables has been horrific. My sets are getting busted. Big pairs are getting me slaughtered. I can’t remember the last time I hit a draw, and I keep getting outflopped. There’s not much else to say other than that. I think overall I am handling the tilt pretty well although today I did start to shake and fortunately Zachvac was online to calm me down from poker-suicide watch. I stopped playing and am done for the day. I just hope I can regroup and get into a good mindset for next week when I plan to play a ton of hands.

So here’s some of the horrific beats, I guess part of my poker therapy is to wine and bitch about it and then post the hands. I don’t feel horrible or pissed off and my blood isn’t boiling but I’d be lying if I didn’t say my confidence and outlook wasn’t hurting because it really is, but that’s part of playing a lot of poker. These are all hands from the last 1k hands in my HH roughly over the last 3 days…

Hand 1 – Big pocket pair gets cracked

Ouchville. Not much else to say after that hand.

Hand 2 – Can JJ be considered a cooler?

Now our villain here is a 82/10/2 ridiculous idiot and has just been calling and min-raising with draws … obviously I drove myself straight into a brick wall.

Hand 3 – AA cracked by J2

Our villain is a 70/30/3 freak of nature. I actually figured he hit his flush at the turn, so me calling there was pretty dumb, but I figured I still had outs. Just blew up in my face.

Hand 4 – Set of Flopped Queens Cracked

Our villain here is a 44/12/2 player (see the pattern? man the fish are getting their cards!) here call down my 1/2 pot bets with a double gutshot and hit his card on the river.

Hand 5 – Trip Aces … and I got outflopped (controversial play by me?)

Okay I have a ton of history against this villain and he’s a nitty/solid 11/10 player and usually shows up in big pots with big hands. I limped here with AQ as basically a move to disguise my hand, and at the flop figured I would just let him outplay himself since I was really most likely to be very far ahead since only AT, AK, or TT had me beat. Things got real dicey at the river but I figured a shove there might scare off a better hand if he didn’t have a boat and only an AJ would could really call that bet. (In hindsight he had the odds to call no matter what, although he did tank for about 20 seconds to make that call) Anyways he made a great river read, and to my unfortunate surprise I was beat the whole way. Trip aces with Q kicker, and I was outflopped.