Something is Amiss

3 losing days in the last 4 played. That is not like me. Ok scratch that. I just looked at my spreadsheet and back in April I actually had 4 losses out of six days. I bounced back from that with 2 big days so maybe I do have a bright horizon before me. Overall though this doesn’t happen to me very often. Looking over the results so far in 2004 I have to go back to January 28-Feb 02 to find another multi day down spin. I lost four days in a row back then and I was playing .25/.50 at the time. Since January 1st I have 57 black days and 28 red days. That’s a ratio of 2.04:1. The red days include a bad run in January-February where I lost 6 out of 8 days. As long as my wins are consistently bigger than my losses I should be in good shape. I do need to work on widening this ratio. That will become my next goal. I would like to see this ratio move to around 3:1 at this level. I don’t think that’s impossible but will be difficult. This will force me to become a more disciplined player.

Reviewing the levels I’ve played this year starting with .25/.50, the win to loss ratio was 1:1. Not good at all, I’ve stated it before but I really struggled at that level for some reason and my losses were bigger than my wins. The next level (and the one I’ve played the most) the ratio is 2.8:1. At .50/1 I felt like I had a lot of success. I was able to build my bankroll up pretty fast considering the amounts played. With the feeling of success and a ratio of 2.8:1, 3:1 should leave me ecstatic. My new level, 1/2 is still in its infancy. I’ve only played 12 days and my ratio is 1.4:1. Still much to early to tell anything and the recent bad run is included in that. I’ve been able to have my wins far out pace my losses though so I’m still up 80BB even with the tight ratio.

If you’ve read everything so far you have surely figured out that last night was a loss. I started on one table, realized the players were not to my liking, and moved to another. The second table started out better but quickly deteriorated and I suffered because of it. I was very surprised to log on last night and find that not one 10 seat table at 1/2 had an empty seat. I joined a waiting list for the next available table and was seated at a table full of tight players. I was the loosest player at the table so the “chips” were stacked against me. I bled of a few BB and realized I was not going to be staking a claim. I went back to the lobby and discovered a listing of 10 or 12 tables available.

I found one that met my criteria and as I sat down two players left. The table chat eluded to a fish being ran off and I should have taken that as a bad sign and left myself. I didn’t follow the fish though and quickly found myself up against 8 weak/tight players and 1 loose player. This was alright because the weak players were laying down hands and the loose player was paying off. I settled in to what I thought was going to be a good night but then the inevitable happened. The loose player sucked out on the table “expert”. He quickly began to berate the offending player. Two hands later the “expert” won a pot in which both myself and the loose player stayed to the river. The “expert” let loose with “TAKE THAT!”. I did not want Mr. Loose to leave so I responded with “OOOOO AAAAHHH”. It was too late though and Mr. Loose took leave of the table. The “expert” then began to bitch about how the “fish” left with “his” money. DUUH!! If the stupid bastard had kept his virtual mouth shut he would have eventually gotten his money back and we all may have profited.

The “expert” left shortly thereafter but I couldn’t mount anything against the remaining opponents. I started bleeding off bets. It seemed that all the pots I won were small and all the pots I lost were big. I should have expected that against a table full of weak/tight players. The reasoning’s for table selection have eluded me during my poker “career”, but now that info is starting to sink in. Next month I will be reaching my one year poker anniversary. It seems as though a lot of the bloggers are now reaching that mile marker and I will soon join the ranks.

Table One – 29 minutes, -9.25BB, -19.14BB/Hr, 25 hands
Table Two – 88 minutes, -10.63BB, -7.24BB/Hr, 102 hands
Total – 117 minutes, -19.88BB, -10.19BB/Hr, 127 hands