Failing at Poker (5.23.2010)

As of Sunday 5.23.2010 I am failing at poker and life.  This weekend has been a real kick in the face so far.  Let’s start with poker, then cover life in a separate post!

Failing at Poker:

I started off putting in a 4 hour session Saturday afternoon, which went ok I guess.  I was up $23 at the end, so about break even.  Then the wheels started to completely come off.  I put in another session 3.5 hour session 9:00 p.m- 12:30 a.m and lost -$162.  I ran under $100 EV even with HEM stats without the ridiculous coolers.

Not satisfied I decided to put in another 3 hour session from 1:00a.m- 4:00 a.m.  Smacked for -$224.  This was the most disgusting session I have played in a while.

The hands below sum this session up.  If I hold on in these key spots it’s even.  And I’m just picking out the worst hands:

AK < 37s, -$46.  All in on the turn with top pair king, ace kicker.  He calls with bottom pair and a gut-shot and hits.  84% equity and I can’t hold on.

AA< J8s, -$50.  All in on the turn.  I have 80% equity, as he decides to jam his life with mid-pair 8.

AK < JQs -$45.  All in pre-flop.  61% equity, but he uh called $20 pre with JQs?  He happened to hit a queen on the river.

At this point I’m about to kill something, but it keeps going.

28o< QQ -$36.  All in on the flop.  BB special, I flop top two pair against a clown limping on the button with QQ.  I have 82% equity on the turn and again FAIL AT LIFE.

AK< QKo -$30.  All in pre-flop.  Seriously?

KK < AJs -$50.  All in on the flop of T, K, Q.  Of course the dude happened to flop the nut straight against my top set.  Go fuck yourself.

AK< KK -$40.  All in pre.  Tons I can do there.

QQ < AA -$40.  All in pre. 

AA < KTs.  All in on the flop.  Please teach me how to flop top two pair and hold playing that shit.

And I’ll stop going over the hands, I’m quite done.  Just imagine these hands occurring in the span of 2 hours, and that’s my every session.  With all of the complete bull-shit above, if I win just the 3 hands where I’m all in with 80%+ equity I’m down less than $100 for the nightmare session.  Win 4 out of the 8 above and it’s even.  Win 7 out of the 8 like any regular and it’s a WIN!

Some leaks:

1)  I’m still too tight.  I know the ranges I need to be in, and I’m just failing to get there.  I think part of the reason is I’m table selecting to a higher degree, so you have to be somewhat tighter.  A lot of your hand values go down when you have lots of action going on before you.

My 3-bet% still isn’t getting there.  I look back at my sessions and say for example “ok I really should have shoved AJ or AQ there”.  I run so bad I’m afraid someone is going to wake up with a big hand who hasn’t acted once I make the shove.

Really you can afford to risk your 20BB chip stack pre-flop with even a 40% equity playing a short-stack.  That is, if you are assigning someone a range, and you feel you would have 40% equity if he calls your shove.  40% doesn’t sound great, but the regulars do it all the time and never run bad over a billion hands (they are doing something right).  There are plenty of spots I am missing where I would be at least 45% equity if they called a theoretical shove based on their range and I’m just not hitting all of the spots. 

I don’t think I’m doing horrendous, but I have to constantly be pressuring myself to expand my range, and pick profitable spots to shove pre-flop.

2)  Failure to stack up to 20BB.  For whatever idiotic reason, I have been failing to stack up to 20BB during the past month or so when my stack dwindles.  I figured a smaller stack would just give me more leverage to make optimal plays.  Also, I assumed I would lose less money and still be earning rake-back.  I’ve been thinking about this, and I think I’ve been terribly incorrect.  When I do actually get dealt a big hand, I have to maximize what I earn from it.  And I’ve had a problem of being too tight. 

I think the combined problems of being too tight and letting my stacks dwindle has really helped make my poker sessions miserable.  So I put all this time into table selecting, and I let my stack dwindle below 15BB, WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?  I need the stack to pay off when I do hit a big hand, and I need a 20BB stack to pressure more players into folding pre-flop.

So going forward I will be instantly re-buying up to 20BBs when my stack falls below 19.  Here is one instant leak plug.

3)  Weekend and going forward.  I lost -$363 in the combined sessions this weekend in just 11 hours.  My explanations for the disgusting loss in no particular order would be:

A) Running like shit.

B) Failing to stack up to 20BB to maximize profit from my big hands.

C)  Playing too tight (including 3-bet shoving pre and Raising pre with above-average holdings against limpers).

A will never work out for me, I will never run good in my life; I’ve accepted that.  B has been instantly plugged.  And C is a work in progress.  I’m hoping that one day I can have not only B, but C fixed.  I need to get to a point where B and C are indefinitely cancelling out the two-headed dragon A; variance.

Stay tuned for my failing at life post!

Comments

[baglife]

Down another -$180 Sunday night. It was a 6 hour session. I actually felt really good, but I just couldn't hold to save my life. Notable hands where I lost full $40+ pots:

KK < AK all in pre

KK < AK all in pre (yes it happened twice)

AK < AQ all in pre

AK < AQ all in pre (yes it happened twice)

AA < TT, and 22 all in pre (flops the Ten)

This is just off the top of my head, I don't have the log in front of me. I have the loss fully justified and I'm moving on. I feel very focused right now despite failing at life and poker "on paper".