Okies – bit of a midweek update for ya. Basically, things aren’t looking all that peachy. Sunday, as I mentioned was a bad session – however, I think of the $160 I lost, only about $75 was bad luck. I wasn’t catching cards, and it seemed people didn’t like to fold much; but that’s not the best excuse for loosing. I made some moves, as I described that anyone who had played poker for a day would fold to – but they kept on calling me down. What I failed to do was adapt…

Monday went ok, and so did Tuesday, I made $40 and $50 without too much trouble. However, I played a session at 1am on Wednesday that went south to the tune of two buy-ins.

The Wednesday session, I started playing and I was getting tilted slightly by the constantly breaking tables – on FT it is important to work out the opponents because they differ so much in style and quality. I wasn’t able to do this and so made moves against the wrong people, made a stupid drawing call etc etc and was battered down a stack and a half before I really tried to get my game together. I managed to settle down on five tables, and after 10 mins had some nice reads. I called a guy down in a $20 pot with my pocket 6s because he was playing 51% of hands with a massive aggression factor. I also check called some kid on two streets with my AK on a A,9,3 board – he called a small value bet on the river with 79o.

My break-even for the nigh hand, however, wasn’t to be. Another aggressive player raised my blind for the 10000th time, this time only to $1.50, I knew he would do it with any hand and decided that 98o would be a perfect hand to stack him with – flop 9h,8h,5x – well, that’s the flop I wanted to see, and he insta-bet pot at me made me happier, his range: nothing, top or second pair with practically any kicker, or any over pair – because of his fishy play I really did not put him on a set of two-pair because he’d be straight out, so I raise him 3 times his bet – he immediately comes over the top, I think and push and he insta-calls with AA. Turn was a 2h (that increases him from 29% to about 35% and the river was a 2. grrrrrrrrrr.

Gotta do a bit of evaluation of my play. That hand I was 70% to win when the cash went in and he lucked out as they often do. What I think was +ev was me getting straight off the tables as soon as that hand was done, if I get the majority of my money in behind I can play on well, but when I get it in ahead and loose I can’t play another hand (in this case I folded AJs on the button to avoid playing it). The thing was, as with my loosing nights prior to re-evaluating my game, I lost $50 through bad luck, and $50 through playing poor poker. I was tilted by the changing tables etc, so I think in future I’m going to get some tables up and sit out for a round to get a good idea of how the table is playing, and also whether it’s going to break up or not. Also, I’m going to start playing a bit of Party Poker, I don’t have much of a roll on PTY but I can afford two tables I think.

Anyways, bit of stats: I’ve made $220 since I changed my game, this is just under $15 an hour. I want to get my profits up to $20 an hour (just over double min wage). $20 an hour is $4 a table which is 8bbs an hour – I know this seems like a fair bit, but I’m playing 6-max and the standard is very much beatable; I just have to overcome myself.
This was a long update with very little said about hands – but I have to say the only hands that have really required any thought have all been fairly small. If I make a bluff and get called on the flop – the hand is over for me – unless the pot is still small in comparison to our effective stacks – so really, not too much skill is required in the big pots. People are still stacking off to me when they have an over-pair against my set and I’m not gonna fill my blog with stories of those pots. I really have never got a stack in behind when it’s not either a cooler or I’m priced in. But I’m gonna try and find a few interesting things to say in next Monday’s update.