A Weird and Frustrating Month
December 2009 is definitely going to go down as a unique month when everything is said and done and I look back at my last 2 years now playing cash game poker. It's been filled with emotional lows, frustrating hands and somehow, breakeven results. In terms of "EV" I'm actually running hot. In terms of W$SD (Won Money at Showdown) I'm running incredible cold.
A couple of the major problems I've been facing is getting action whenever I have a hand. It's just been uncanny but I have yet to get AA or KK all in preflop yet all month long (note: 5 walks in the BB with AA). My W$SD number is below 47% and the worst month I ever had it was 51% historically. I feel like I have been playing better and the coaching is getting me in good places in terms of my Poker-IQ. Unfortunately I'll have a horrible session and get very discouraged and just wonder what to do with myself.
It's sad to think that just looking at 10k hands played is getting me depressed and frustrated, but it's been a real tough year that hasn't even come close to being half of what I had hoped it would be. That is speaking in terms of climbing the cash game ladder, profits or just a general sense of stability and future in the industry as a whole.
I put a question to myself, naturally after my disastrous session this morning - Where will I be in 1 year's time with poker?
Since I am a betting man I have to say the odds of me sticking with it and playing through and climbing the ladder and showing profits and having poker even be clear and legal a year from now are definitely less than 50-50. Those are a lot of factors at work stated in that guess and some of them are things I have absolutely no control over.
I guess this is the premature "2009 sucked all the way around" in terms of playing poker. Many people have said the emotional lows of the game will never equal out with the emotional highs. I can attest all to well that this is true. There's a lot of "hey we all run bad / we all face ridiculous downswings / we're all facing the same legal environment" that I hear when I tell people how I feel about the game and my place in 2009. It's not to say it's all been bad luck, my game has regressed in places and I've definitely made my share of bonehead mistakes. I'm not standing on some mountain claiming I'm the world's most shit-lucked player ... far from it my friends. But more than anything I wish I could fight through the terror and soul-gashing disappointment of sessions where playing right comes out sooooo wrong.
Well ... that's it for today's vent. Sorry I have yet to write about the day where I win 7 buy-ins and just crush the world, but that's never happened to me. I'll leave you with some hands and my comments after looking at them.
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Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 441527
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
CO: $33.00
BTN: $205.60
SB: $24.95
Hero (BB): $100.00
UTG: $22.50
Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with J
J
2 folds, BTN calls $1, SB calls $0.50, Hero raises to $5, BTN calls $4, 1 fold
Flop: ($11.00) 4
3 4 (2 players)
Hero bets $7, BTN calls $7
Turn: ($25.00) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $18, BTN calls $18
River: ($61.00) 7 (2 players)
Hero bets $35, BTN raises to $166, Hero calls $35 all in
Final Pot: $201.00
BTN shows 5 6 (a straight, Seven high)
Hero mucks J J
BTN wins $198.00
Thoughts: The button is a 21/6 player who looked pretty fishy. I absolutely hate my best sizing on the flop and turn. Should have potted both streets and looked to get it in at the turn. Does this guy ever muck his draw? No. Is he bad enough to where he just flats and doesn't raise at the turn hoping to hit? Yes. Did I make a severe mistake at the river by both betting and calling his river value raise? OMG yes. This hand was by far the worst one I've played all month long.
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Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 441529
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
SB: $154.60
Hero (BB): $119.20
UTG: $136.05
CO: $100.00
BTN: $106.20
Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is BB with A A
1 fold, CO raises to $3.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $11, CO calls $7.50
Flop: ($22.50) 6 T 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $14, CO raises to $33, Hero raises to $108.20 all in, CO calls $56 all in
Turn: ($200.50) 9 (2 players - 2 are all in)
River: ($200.50) J (2 players - 2 are all in)
Final Pot: $200.50
Hero shows A A (a pair of Aces)
CO shows T T (three of a kind, Tens)
CO wins $197.50
(Rake: $3.00)
Thoughts: The villain here calls a 3bet in position with TT basically hoping that all unders flop OR he hits a set. He's getting near perfect odds to simply set-mine hoping that I have AA or KK and would be willing to get it in. He raises Cbets 20% of the time but I didn't have a stat on him for this situation in 3bet pots. Well, the one time all month I've gotten action on Aces, they're busted.
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Full Tilt Poker $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 6 players - View hand 441534
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
UTG: $40.50
MP: $154.30
Hero (CO): $118.00
BTN: $100.00
SB: $179.50
BB: $105.95
Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is CO with A Q
UTG calls $1, 1 fold, Hero raises to $4.50, 3 folds, UTG calls $3.50
Flop: ($10.50) 5 Q K (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks
Turn: ($10.50) 5 (2 players)
UTG checks, Hero checks
River: ($10.50) 3 (2 players)
UTG bets $5, Hero calls $5
Final Pot: $20.50
UTG shows Q Q (a full house, Queens full of Fives)
Hero mucks A Q
UTG wins $19.50
(Rake: $1.00)
Thoughts: Playing bad here saved me money. I have no clue why I didn't bet the turn. None. The cbet at the flop ... well there are a few cases for checking or cbetting against a 35/4 player. Anyways, I think this was kept to a minimum but it's a good example of the type of hands people show me when we flip the cards for a pot.
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About Me
My name is Sean Gibson and I am a poker journalist and part time poker player. I work full time at PokerNewsDaily.com where I host a daily news show called "The Daily Deal" and also handle the bulk of the live player interviews. In terms of poker you will find me playing $1/$3 No Limit Hold'em in Vegas or in Los Angeles (or San Diego) and online playing small stakes games.
well, it’s good you recognize how poorly that river play was on the first hand. 21/6 players DO NOT BLUFF with their stack. EVER.
2nd hand. Standard. Don’t worry about it. A habit I’ve gotten into is after the chips go in the middle, I make a quick check to see if I got it in ahead. And then I look away. This allows me to distance myself from the results. While my bankroll cares about the results, I want to make sure that I STOP caring. Looking away and not watching the cards peel allow me to start creating that separation. Practice this over and over again and it starts hurting less.
3rd hand – two ways to go about this. 1st is checking it back like you do with a showdownable hand. 2nd option is to bet-fold the flop. Hard to say without knowing how this particular 35/4 player plays postflop. Being results oriented, you should be thankful that this villian is a moron and saved you $$.
keep staying positive. you know you can win, you have the skills to win. just don’t try to force yourself to “win.”
Yeah first hand river play is pretty bad. We are kind of committed after betting that amount, but even with those odds we’re rarely good.
Another option I like is CRAI turn if he likes to float at all. Lets him bluff his air, valuecut himself and he rarely folds his draws if he bets them.