Slip-sliding Away

These last 4 days of playing sucked also. After work every night I would play for a few hrs to get my 200 points. I actually got at least 300 every night. I started the week with $850 and as of the end of last night’s schedule I now sit at $715. I hovered around even all week, winning and losing pots at and even rate living just above the rake.

Last night was different. I started with $865. I lost $100 on a hand where I knew I was beat, but for some dumb reason I just had to push and hope for the best. These are exactly the plays that I have been working on and were costing me so much hardship. These are the hands that I was folding and thus my roll was building. I can see that I need to revisit my strategy and buckle down again. I have been loosening up on big pots again, along with chasing.

Anyways here it is. I hold pocket Q’s. I raise to $4 PF and a guy in LP reraises it to $10. At this point I usually would have all the information I needed to get away from the hand. I normally would fold this right here the majority of the time or occasionally call and hope to spike a Q. But no not this time. I call and flop comes 9-high. I check and he bet $20. It comes to me and I push for close to $90. He insta-calls and shows his cowboys. $100 down the drain.

I started the session by opening 8 tables and registering for an $8 18-man SNG. I wanted to see if I could get a $24 token. These are turbos. I hate turbos, but decided to give it a shot anyways. First hand I have cowboys. Guy to my right raises. I quadruple his raise. Folds around and he calls. Flop is and uncoordinated T-high board. He pushes. I call and he shows AQo. No A and I double through on first hand. I blind down for a few blind increases. I win a few blind stills. I then see cowboys again. I win the blinds. The very next hand I get dealt QQ and raise it up again. The guy must have thought I was switching gears and bullying because he pushes with junk with 2500 in chips. I have him covered and call. I have him crushed because he had low QTo. The board saves him with a 76543. I would have been able to go get something to eat and still still have gotten my token if I would have scooped that pot. Later the blinds over 200 and I’m in the Big when a guy pushes with 700. I folds to me and I call the over 500 with AQ. He has 99 and doubles through me. It hurt and I blinded to the final table. Next thing I know we are down to 7 and I find myself with the shorty just over 1000. I push with AJs and double plus the blinds putting me back to around 3000. We get to 6 left and I have a high pocket pair. A guy with a bigger stack than mine pushes with 93 of clubs. I call and he hits runner-runner clubs to knock me out on the token bubble. I make about $5 for my efforts. Boo I say. It is so unfulfilling to bubble like that. At least it was a slightly profitable bubble.

I will get home tonight with just enough time to get my 200 points, eat, and shower before a local cash game starts. Looks like we will have a good turnout. It is at a different dude’s house so I won’t know a lot of the players that show-up. I will start slow and get a feel for them. Hopefully it is a very lucrative evening. I here that the CO’s are pretty fast and loose. Just the way I like them.