Decent day of poker. Played well in some pots, but made some mistakes in others. Some were just horrendous. I'll post one, in which the blinkers come on and I just miss the obvious hand. No excuse for that. In terms of my emotions, they were well under control; no tilt or even getting close to tilt.

More on that: lots of posts recently digging up Starlite Coast's threads. Also came across a reference to Tuff Fish and some video on youtube. The video had him tilting his ass off. I don't ever get that bad, but good ole monkey tilt can really just tear through a bankroll. Watching that video was a bit like watching a car wreck; just terrible, but you keep looking. I've heard SC described that way as well. I hope this journal never comes to that, but I wonder given my inability to win anymore. I just plan to play at UB this week and concentrate on the lower buy in. Provided I regain some confidence, I'll double the buy in at Cake again next week.

Here's a hand I kicked myself over when it was done:
CO ($9.20)
Hero ($9.88)
SB ($3.28)
BB ($9.71)
UTG ($9.70)
MP ($10.31)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.35, 1 fold, BB calls $0.25.

Flop: ($0.75) , , (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $0.5, BB calls $0.50.

Turn: ($1.75) (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1, BB calls $1.

River: ($3.75) (3 players)
BB checks. Hero bets $3...

Bleh, just totally missed the flush and was thinking he had a mid pp, so only betting what I thought a 99 could call. Horrendous lapse of concentration on my part.

In honor of Tuff Fish, I'll post one of my tilt hands from Sunday. I winced when I watched it on PT:
Hero ($12.34)
UTG ($7.49)
MP ($3.12)
Button ($4.49)
SB ($4.76)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
1 fold, Button calls $0.10, 1 fold, Hero checks.

Flop: ($0.25) , , (3 players)
Hero bets $0.35, UTG folds, Button calls $0.35.

Turn: ($0.95) (2 players)
Hero bets $1.05, Button calls $1.05.

River: ($3.05) (2 players)
Hero bets $1, Button bets $2.99, Hero calls.

Had a decent session going until I ran KK into AA m'allin preflop for a stack and a half. That hand pretty much destroyed my winnings. I didn't play last night as it was the wife's birthday, so will have to wait until this afternoon before I get a shot at redemption.

I've been posting hands were I screw up, so I'm going to switch over to someone else screwing up and me being the beneficiary of it. Enjoy, I certainly did:

MP ($10)
CO ($23.55)
Button ($6.29)
SB ($14.48)
Hero ($11.78)
UTG ($9.25)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , . MP posts a blind of $0.10.
1 fold, MP (poster) checks, CO calls $0.10, 1 fold, SB raises to $0.5, Hero calls $0.40, MP folds, CO calls $0.40.

Flop: ($1.60) , , (3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks.

Turn: ($1.60) (3 players)
SB bets $0.9, Hero raises to $2.5, CO folds, SB raises to $5.65, Hero raises all-in to $11.28, SB calls.

River: ($22.96) (2 players)


Results in white below:
SB has Kd Jd (one pair, jacks).
Hero has 4d 4h (three of a kind, fours).
Outcome: Hero wins $14.50.

Today started off quite horribly. Round about hand 3 or 4 I run KK into AA again for a full stack. Played decent after that, but all just to catch up from that initial hand. Second session starts off with AKs vs. AA. I have it in the BB and sLAG, who I've had some history with limp raises UTG. Minus the sLAG status and history, I probably muck this, but I raise it back to $4 and he pushes in, so lost a stack there. Played decent after that, but about the same results as the earlier session. So, today was looking pretty meh. Tonight, however, I caught some hands on a table full of LAG's, 3 of them and me. Picked up two and a half stacks. Caught some sets at other tables and got paid off. So, ended up a pretty damn good day. I was considering playing longer this evening, but decided I'd rather just stop when I feel good about my game again, even if I ran hot.

Here's a hand, where I try to steal, flop a piece, sort of improve and then end up with the ass-end of the straight. Not too sure if I should have pushed in the river, or if the v-bet is already too thin. I was thinking he most likely had a flush draw, but thought a pair or two pair also likely, so I wanted to get some value from those hands. Of course, I'm also worried about a J here, so the plan was bet/fold if he made a play at the pot.

UTG ($3.94)
MP ($12.66)
Hero ($10.12)
Button ($12.18)
SB ($5.20)
BB ($10.87)

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
1 fold, Hero raises to $0.35, Button calls $0.35, 2 folds.

Flop: ($0.85) , , (3 players)
Hero bets $0.75, Button calls $0.75.

Turn: ($2.35) (3 players)
Hero bets $1.75, Button calls $1.75.

River: ($5.85) (3 players)
Hero bets $2.5, Button calls $2.50.

Final Pot: $10.85

Results in white below:
Button has Ah Ad (one pair, aces).
UTG doesn't show.
Hero has 6s 7c (straight, ten high).
Outcome: Hero wins $10.85.

Yesterday was fairly good. I made a couple mistakes, but overall decent play on my part. Only managed one session yesterday as the wife and I had a party. Good time had by all it appeared. Anyway, back to poker. I have two hands to post. One of which is a really sweet BB special and the other of which demonstrates my uncertainty in 6-max play. I'm still not sure how strong tp/gk is in short-handed play. FR I just dump this hand, but 6-max...I dunno.

BB special:
MP ($1.66)
CO ($13.05)
Button ($9.64)
SB ($16.51)
Hero ($10)
UTG ($17.20)

Preflop: Hero is BB with , .
1 fold, MP calls $0.10, CO calls $0.10, Button calls $0.10, SB completes, Hero checks.

Flop: ($0.50) , , (5 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.5, MP calls $0.50, CO folds, Button folds, SB calls $0.50.

Turn: ($2) (3 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.1, MP calls $1.06 (All-In), SB calls $1.10.

River: ($5.26) (3 players, 1 all-in)
SB bets $5.26, Hero bets $8.30 and is all-in, SB calls.

Final Pot: $21.86

Results in white below:
SB has Jd Qd (flush, queen high).
Hero has 9h 3s (full house, nines full of threes).
MP has Kd Ad (flush, ace high).
Outcome: Hero wins $15.78.



TP/GK:
Hero ($10.05)
SB ($5.57)
BB ($6.20)
UTG ($12.35)
MP ($8.84)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
1 fold, MP calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.45, SB calls $0.40, 1 fold, MP folds.

Flop: ($1.10) , , (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $1.1, SB bets $5.25 and is all-in, Hero calls.

Turn: ($3.30) (2 players)

River: ($3.30) (2 players)

Final Pot: $3.30

Only had twenty something hands on the villain, but he appeared semi-loose passive. Perhaps that's enough to tip the balance over to fold?

hand 2 is a call at those stakes for 100BB or less vs anyone, and for the 60bb stack he had it's probably a call at any stakes from NL $0.01/$0.02 to $300/$600.

Thx Roy, that makes me feel better about it and I'll play accordingly in the future.

Sunday's are beginning to be THE SHITTIEST MUTHA FUCKIN DAY OF THE GD WEEK. Two weeks in a row of utter bullshit. Fortunately, I ran not horrible in the middle of the week, so I feel good enough to play tomorrow rather than screaming, "fuck poker" repeatedly.

So anyway, here are two hands right at the end of the session. I've just sat at this table, so no reads.

Hero ($9.90)
BB ($5.13)
UTG ($3.88)
MP ($1.96)
Button ($5.31)

Preflop: Hero is SB with , .
UTG calls $0.10, MP bets $1.96 all-in, 1 fold, Hero calls, BB calls $0, UTG folds.

Flop: ($0.40) , , (3 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $0.75, Hero calls $0.75.

Turn: ($1.90) (3 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $2.42 (All-In), Hero folds.

River: ($4.32) (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $4.32

Results in white below:
BB has 9h Ah (two pair, aces and nines).
MP has 9d 9c (three of a kind, nines).
Outcome: BB wins $4.32.

I'll take some blame on this one, I should have raised rather than just calling, but I really didn't expect anyone else to call 20bbs. Meh.

Next (as in the very next hand, so same two idiots):
Hero ($7.19)
SB ($3.85)
BB ($3.78)
UTG ($5.69)
MP ($5.31)

Preflop: Hero is Button with , .
UTG calls $0.10, MP calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.55, SB raises to $1, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.90, MP folds, Hero calls $0.45.

Flop: ($3.20) , , (3 players)
SB bets $2.85 (All-In), UTG calls $2.85, Hero raises to $5.7, UTG calls $4.69 and is all-in.

Turn: ($20.30) (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($20.30) (3 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $20.30

Results in white below:
Hero has 8c 8h (three of a kind, eights).
SB has 9s Ac (one pair, nines).
UTG has 7h 6h (straight, ten high).
Outcome: UTG wins $20.30.

I was just gonna walk from the table, as I was somewhat pissed, but I stayed one more orbit and lost another dime. I dropped two buy-ins today total, but that's with bonus. Fuckin Sunday!

Anywho, marginal week with today's bullshit. I've been four tabling most of the time, so got in quite a few hands: 4438. I won only $25.67 (24.98 according to PT, not sure where the discrepancy is...maybe when I'm HU or 3-handed as I'm not importing those hands), so winrate pretty tiny, but bullshit has been plentiful this week. Guess it's good to just have a positive week again, even if tiny.

I'm up around 9700 hands of 10NL, so barring massive bullshit tomorrow, I'll pass the 10K mark and it'll be time to move up to 25NL at UB or 20NL over at Cake. Probably Cake, given the better bonus, as I apparently really need that shit. I'll post the PT stats summary tomorrow when I hit 10K.

Played quite a bit today as it was rainy and I didn't want to get out. Played for around two hours at Cake. Got off to a good start then my standard Cake bs set in. I think I actually managed to cut the losses to a short amount. Thanks in large part to this hand:
I limp in MP behind utg limper (see, already loosening up a bit), tightish player raises to 75c (maybe only 55c) on the btn; utg and I call. Flop: AT8r
Checks to PFR who bets half pot and I call HU
Turn: 6
PFR bets $3 and I raise to $9. He thinks for a bit and pushes it in drawing dead with big slick.

Played two more shortish sessions that went well. Not huge wins, but wins are wins, and at this point I'll take anything I can get. Looked over my stats at Cake and it appears I need a pretty hefty win rate (by my apparent standards) to dig out of the $134 hold I dug for myself. My goal is a 7.5 ptbb/100 rate over the next 5K hands. If I can't manage that, then looks like I'll need to put in another 5K hands thereafter. I've just been data mining at UB prior to jumping up to 25NL.

Couple thoughts on the nit comments. Playing loose aggressive at the micro stakes strikes me as foolish, given the vast propensity to call with anything by most players. I get plenty of action even with the nit play. Nevertheless, a comment by Rdale (in another thread, I think) rang pretty true. Inflating pots with calling stations is a bad idea. Stealing small pots is good. Now, in order to steal those pots, I need to play more hands so that I have more opportunities to do that. Thus, I opened up a bit today VPIP-wise but not so much PFR-wise. It did create more opportunities, but I'm not sure if this is going to be profitable long term or not. Only time will tell.