A Mixed Bag of Nuts

So I finish last night up $17.34 after playing for 3:03 hours. That netted me about 5.69/hour. This puts me slightly above my required earning range of 5.15/hour (US federal minimum wage) but I’m still left with a sinking feeling. I’ll expand more on my requirements in a moment, but first things first.

I was pretty happy with my ability to write a somewhat amateurish self-analysis of my play in the previous post. Problem is that it took forever. I spent just about as much time preparing and writing my first real blog entry that I did actually playing the tables. This might be a good thing, but with work and family time needed I must search for a different way to convey my playing.

So this is what I’ve come up with. I figure I will have a bit of a formula that I’ll use for all my posts from here on out. I’ll start each post with my financial stats for the night. I’ll then move onto a brief commentary of my overall feeling of the play or perhaps poker thoughts in general. Next I will still post individual table wins/losses and any specific items that I feel were important to the specific table. After that comes the Bad Beat Of The Night, and the Big Pot Of The Night. These two entries will have a blow by blow of what happened. And without further ado…

I mentioned requirements earlier and that I was not really all that happy with my play even though I met those requirements. Here is the deal. In my beginnings post I mentioned that I am in the midst of buying a home and that money is tight because of said home. I also cashed out all profits except for 300BB to help pay some of the associated costs. That was still not enough to offset everything so I convinced my wife, (somewhat foolishly), that I could supplement our income for a few months with my poker winnings. In an ego induced boast, (since I had averaged 6.85BB per hour since Jan. 1), I assured her that I could easily bring in the equivalent of a minimum wage part time job. Now I do not know if it’s the change in mind set at the tables, the fact that I’ve decided to now play two tables at once, or just a bad run, but things aren’t working out the way I had envisioned them. In the four days since starting this “project”, I have only averaged $2.91 an hour. In the back of my mind I know there is a learning curve to go through. I will need to make changes in my play to accommodate multiple tables. Besides, I’m still turning a profit. I just went into it thinking that “Hey, if I can make 6.85 at one table, I should be able to make 10.25 or about 1.5 times that at two tables.” This should still be the case and I believe I can in fact do it.

So how did last night work out…Well I’ve noticed two more leaks in my game. When playing one table I get to know my adversaries pretty well and I know who will fold to a bluff in the right circumstances. Doesn’t work every time, but often enough not to stop doing it. I found that I’m still trying it when playing two tables even though I do not know the other players. This is costing me. The other is I seem to be bleeding of ½ bets in the SB when I hold any A. I’ve always played by the rule that if I’ll play it from the button then I’ll play it from the small blind. Thing is, I don’t play just any A from the button and I don’t know why all of a sudden I’ve started doing it from the SB. Perhaps it comes from seeing to many other players beat me with it when I have a good hand. I don’t know for sure but I’ve got to stop that as well.

Table One (-6.25BB) : 50 minutes of play – This table really showed me the leaks mentioned above.

Table Two (+9.25BB) : 96 minutes of play – I just played this table perfectly, laid down when needed and pushed the issue when I had the best of it. I was playing this table the same time as table one so I don’t know why my play was so different.

Table Three (-17BB) : 29 minutes of play – So little time so many losses. My bat beat of the night came from this table. Two hands before the bat beat I lose holding 88 when an 8QT flopped. Winner held QQ which he slowplayed to the end. 29 hand not one winner so I leave.

Table Four (-6.66BB) Yes the table from hell: 82 minutes of play – Just not a good table, The hands I won I couldn’t get any one to play, and the hands I lost either never developed or I was beat by someone fishing for a river card.

Table Five (+38BB) And proof there is a God: 70 minutes of play – Obviously my big pot of the night came from this table. I fired up this one after the disaster that was table three and everything clicked. Several good-sized pots won of $11.25, $11.75, $26.50, and $10.75. It was just like everyone was an open book, it felt really good. The most I gave up in one hand at the table was $3.00.

Bad Beat of the Night.
After reviewing this I guess it may not be your prototypical bad beat but this was a hand that led to a turning point in my thought process for the night. I was so pissed when the showdown came that I shoved my keyboard drawer in hard and let out a few expletives. This of course peaked my wife’s interest and she suggested that I call it a night. I thankfully didn’t but it did have and instant calming effect on me. I believe my play got better because of this hand. When trying to understand why I was mad remember I was beat just a few hands earlier by a bigger three of a kind.

I hold AsJs in middle position, one early position limper, I limp, cutoff limps, Button raises, SB and BB call as do the rest of us.
6 of us see the flop which comes 8JJ rainbow. I have flopped a set with top kicker. Poker Tracker shows me a 92.63% favorite. Check to me, I lead out, cutoff calls, button folds, SB calls, BB folds, EP calls.
4 to the turn and a 2 comes showing all four suits on the board. Check to me, I lead out, cutoff folds, SB raises (what the hell), I reraise, SB reraises and were four bet to the river.
River brings a ten and what should be no help to anyone. SB bets and I have my moment of clarity. I have the sinking feeling that I screwed up but how could a 2 on the river when a pair of Jacks flopped actually help anyone. I’ve got to see it so I call. As I’m sure you’ve figured out, before I did obviously, that mister SB held 22. I go down in flames and thus begins my tirade.

Big Pot of the Night

I hold 22 and again I’m in middle position. Ok it just dawned on me that the hand I chose for the bad beat also involved pocket 2’s, scary.
EP calls, fold, I call, fold, cutoff calls, button calls, SB raises, BB folds, the rest of us call and 5 see the flop.
Flop comes 932 with the 32 of spades and again I have trips. SB leads out, EP calls, I raise, cutoff calls, button folds, SB calls, EP calls. 4 see the turn.
9 comes on the turn. Holy Cow I have the full house. SB again leads out, EP folds, I raise, cutoff raises (guess who has a 9), SB call, I make a four bet and all three of us see the river.
J comes on the river. No flush possibilities, not that I care. SB now checks, I lead out, cutoff raises, SB calls, I call (I know I should have raised here but I had the cutoff on a 9 already it seemed that him holding a J could be a distinct possibility). Hindsight being what it is and all, perhaps I’ve just seen the river destroy me so much over the last two days I was gun shy. Any way the showdown comes and I have the best of it. SB held AQo ( what the hell was he thinking), cutoff had Qs9s, I was right on the 9 but he also had a flush draw so I can understand the betting.
Anyway I take a $26.50 pot and put myself back in the black for the night.

Will the winning ways continue, stay tuned……..

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