The Time Between Christmas & New Years
...a holiday for many, but not for me :-(
I've been working since yesterday, after having Monday off. Got to play a little this morning, before I had to work tonight (where I'm blogging from now). I finally cleared that Interpoker bonus I had been working on, so I quick upped and withdrew my funds with the intent of re-depositing into PokerStars.
I figure I'll be playing solely on Stars and Full Tilt from now on, since I really like the sites, and I'd prefer not to have money spread so thinly. It's kinda hard to play the limits you want to play when your roll is spread over 5 sites.
Anyhoo, I'm kinda wandering around the poker landscape now, not doing a whole hell of a lot of anything. I was playing 5/10 and 10/20 on Stars before the great cold deck of fall '05, and now I haven't played on Stars in a month, and I've only got about $1200 online after some cashouts and Christmas.
It's a strange feeling. I won > $6000 as a part time player through October, cashed out more than $2000 for a gift for the wife, another $1200 to save, and during the aforementioned cold deck time, lost about $1600 over a month or so.
I felt in control when I was winning on Stars. I don't know what happened. The cards stopped coming, I started dropping $500 a day sometimes. It's not a lot of money in the grand scheme, but when you're used to winning far more than you lose, it's a bitch. I sought out the bonus trail, and realized that while bonuses were nice, they also brought out the fish, and unlike most successful players, all it brought to me was an endless streak of being drawn out on.
If I think about it, I'll do a year-in-review post later this week, and you all will get to see my ten biggest losses of the year and my ten biggest winners, too.
This is my question, a full year into my online poker quest--Am I actually a good player?
Three months ago, I would've answered that with a resounding "yes." In fact, I really thought that I was legitimately one of the best players in the Stars 5/10 game ANYWHERE. Pounding a game for ~ 4BB/100 over 5k hands will do that to you. Especially after you pound the 3/6 for the same, and the 2/4, and the 1/2, and even the micro-limit stuff.
Right now, however, my confidence is severely shaken. Why? I'm not making different plays. The same plays just aren't winning for me. I feel that I'm making solid plays continuously, and getting my money in with the best of it consistently. BUT I LOST MONEY AT INTERPOKER PLAYING 2/4 and 1/2!!!!
A typical hand there (and everywhere I've played limit lately) would go like this:
Me (tight/aggressive): AA
Fish (loose/passive): does it matter?
Flop: A-3-7 rainbow.
Bet-call.
Turn J.
Bet-call.
River 5
Bet-FISH RAISES-crying call to see him turn over 64o.
I really feel like I haven't been a winning poker player since early October. I'm playing WAITING to be drawn out on. EXPECTING it. That isn't a great way to be, folks. I also don't know how to correct it.
Good hands hold up occassionally, but even in my foray into NL, I've run into just the shittiest luck you can imagine:
Me: 88
Opponent: ??
Flop: 8-J-2
I lead out for 2x the pot. He calls.
Turn: A
I lead out for the pot, he calls.
River: K
I lead out again, he raises all-in, shows QT.
Or a hand that got all-in pre-flop with my AA vs. his 66.
Flop came A-K-T
Turn Q
River J.
This was a $30 pot at $25NL that was all-in pre-flop!
On in PLO when I flop the muscle end of an open-ended straight flush draw:
KhQhKsAs
flop: JhTh5s
Of course, I'm going to push the bejezzus out of it. Pot!
How many outs is this?
To second nut flush: 8 outs (any heart other than the Ace)
To nut flush: 1 out (Royal) (Ah)
To nut straight: 8 outs (any Ace except Ah-3, any Q-2, any 9-3)
To set: 2 outs (any K)
So what happens? I brick up turn and river. 19 outs--that's 26-19 odds or 1.37-to-1 odds against making a hand. In poker, though, that's just about the best odds you can possibly have without a made hand--never mind the fact that I already had top pair...
I know, I'm whining here, but I just need affirmation that I am in fact as good a player as I thought I was. I feel like I'm making the best plays, but they're just not being rewarded in the results.
I know it's bad luck, but it has to turn around some time, right?
I've been working since yesterday, after having Monday off. Got to play a little this morning, before I had to work tonight (where I'm blogging from now). I finally cleared that Interpoker bonus I had been working on, so I quick upped and withdrew my funds with the intent of re-depositing into PokerStars.
I figure I'll be playing solely on Stars and Full Tilt from now on, since I really like the sites, and I'd prefer not to have money spread so thinly. It's kinda hard to play the limits you want to play when your roll is spread over 5 sites.
Anyhoo, I'm kinda wandering around the poker landscape now, not doing a whole hell of a lot of anything. I was playing 5/10 and 10/20 on Stars before the great cold deck of fall '05, and now I haven't played on Stars in a month, and I've only got about $1200 online after some cashouts and Christmas.
It's a strange feeling. I won > $6000 as a part time player through October, cashed out more than $2000 for a gift for the wife, another $1200 to save, and during the aforementioned cold deck time, lost about $1600 over a month or so.
I felt in control when I was winning on Stars. I don't know what happened. The cards stopped coming, I started dropping $500 a day sometimes. It's not a lot of money in the grand scheme, but when you're used to winning far more than you lose, it's a bitch. I sought out the bonus trail, and realized that while bonuses were nice, they also brought out the fish, and unlike most successful players, all it brought to me was an endless streak of being drawn out on.
If I think about it, I'll do a year-in-review post later this week, and you all will get to see my ten biggest losses of the year and my ten biggest winners, too.
This is my question, a full year into my online poker quest--Am I actually a good player?
Three months ago, I would've answered that with a resounding "yes." In fact, I really thought that I was legitimately one of the best players in the Stars 5/10 game ANYWHERE. Pounding a game for ~ 4BB/100 over 5k hands will do that to you. Especially after you pound the 3/6 for the same, and the 2/4, and the 1/2, and even the micro-limit stuff.
Right now, however, my confidence is severely shaken. Why? I'm not making different plays. The same plays just aren't winning for me. I feel that I'm making solid plays continuously, and getting my money in with the best of it consistently. BUT I LOST MONEY AT INTERPOKER PLAYING 2/4 and 1/2!!!!
A typical hand there (and everywhere I've played limit lately) would go like this:
Me (tight/aggressive): AA
Fish (loose/passive): does it matter?
Flop: A-3-7 rainbow.
Bet-call.
Turn J.
Bet-call.
River 5
Bet-FISH RAISES-crying call to see him turn over 64o.
I really feel like I haven't been a winning poker player since early October. I'm playing WAITING to be drawn out on. EXPECTING it. That isn't a great way to be, folks. I also don't know how to correct it.
Good hands hold up occassionally, but even in my foray into NL, I've run into just the shittiest luck you can imagine:
Me: 88
Opponent: ??
Flop: 8-J-2
I lead out for 2x the pot. He calls.
Turn: A
I lead out for the pot, he calls.
River: K
I lead out again, he raises all-in, shows QT.
Or a hand that got all-in pre-flop with my AA vs. his 66.
Flop came A-K-T
Turn Q
River J.
This was a $30 pot at $25NL that was all-in pre-flop!
On in PLO when I flop the muscle end of an open-ended straight flush draw:
KhQhKsAs
flop: JhTh5s
Of course, I'm going to push the bejezzus out of it. Pot!
How many outs is this?
To second nut flush: 8 outs (any heart other than the Ace)
To nut flush: 1 out (Royal) (Ah)
To nut straight: 8 outs (any Ace except Ah-3, any Q-2, any 9-3)
To set: 2 outs (any K)
So what happens? I brick up turn and river. 19 outs--that's 26-19 odds or 1.37-to-1 odds against making a hand. In poker, though, that's just about the best odds you can possibly have without a made hand--never mind the fact that I already had top pair...
I know, I'm whining here, but I just need affirmation that I am in fact as good a player as I thought I was. I feel like I'm making the best plays, but they're just not being rewarded in the results.
I know it's bad luck, but it has to turn around some time, right?
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