A New Found Focus

Last month was my first losing month in a year. I won 1k in 2 days playing 6max sngs online and shot it all back in a few hours in a bad run at a 15 30 Omaha8 game online. I didn't play much live, but played terribly and lost about 1k in 2 awful sessions. I didn't play much poker last month and only ended down about 1k which is only a tiny portion of my bankroll. The good news is that I know why I played badly and I now have a new focus.

In the past 6 hours of online play I'm up $600 playing single table sngs. My ROI in 6max sngs over the last 100 games is an insane 50% and I just keep winning at them. I'm going to start putting in some 6-8 hour days playing exclusively 6max sngs on Stars and I'm going to start putting in the effort again to make it out for some 20 40 sessions at GBH. I'm also going to focus more on live NL play, playing some underground 5/5NL when I get a chance.

WPT Niagara is in town at the end of this month and I'm going to try and head down for some side games for a few days during the events.

Things I Love About 6max Sngs

This weekly sharkscope graph...
...woot.

Return to Online Poker

It had been around 2 months since I had played a minute of poker online. However, there is always this thought in the back of my head that I should be able to beat the online games as well as I do live games. I definitely know my strengths and weaknesses online in comparison to live play and, surprisingly, some of my greatest strengths of being a winning live player have never translated well for me to online play.

Live, I make most of my money playing limit cash games. Online, I cannot find the patience required to win at cash games. Maybe one day this will change, but for now I know this is a glaring weakness. Looking over my past results there has always been one huge success online, 6max sngs. In the past several days I have played 22 6max sngs and my ROI is an astounding 69% with a nice profit to match. I seem to have partially cracked to $100 SNGS on Stars, having 2 seconds and 1 first in 3 turbo 6maxs at that level and one second and one third for a break-even ROI in the non-turbos -- so, 5 $100 games and 4 ITM 1,2,2,2,3...not bad. I am debating depositing some money for an online bankroll sufficient for a run at the $100 games, but am still a bit hesitant given past runs of horridness. I think I'll build things a bit more at the $38s and go from there.

WCOOP is on, there is only one event of interest to me, the HORSE event...but, alas, I have to work on the date.

My recent 6max Sharkscope graph...I know I'm pretty impressed for now, although I need many more games to get a better feel, it seems the 6maxs are just perfect for my game.

Table Image and a CNE Casino Report

Ok, so second things first -- the CNE poker room has the softest 10 20 games I have ever seen, ever. Well...ever. Incredible. I love some of the undergrounds, but I pray to the heavens that downtown Toronto opens a permanent legal casino today. The 10 20, especially late at night, is likely a more profitable game than your average 20 40 game at GBH or Brantford. All I can say is capped 11 ways preflop...um...excuse me a second....

...sorry, had to wipe the drool of of my chin...

Some players simply cannot adjust to a wild, loose game. They only know how to play ABC poker, wait for aces, cuz hey it's capped, right? And lose a shitload of money with their big overpairs due to terrible post flop play. In all honesty, in these games I am praying for various suited connectors every hand and am looking for reasons to dump big pairs post flop against the right players.

I have to stop looking at the title of this entry, the Pavlovian drooling keeps getting triggered. Also, change of plans, no casino 20 40 until the CNE closes, so that will be early Sept until I play 20 40 again, this is just toooooooo soft.

Onto table image. Check this out. I go to the CNE today at around 2pm, wait 20-30 mins and a new 10 20 table opens. I sit with $800, BY FAR the largest stack at the table. Ok, listen, if you are sitting at 10 20 with $200-$300 I'm going to run you the fuck over, so please, please, please tell me you are going to rebuy. Anyhow, I sit and play a round and notice that these players are TIGHT. In addition, most of these tight players are sitting with stacks of $400 or less. What does stack size have to do with play in a limit game you ask? Well, it's a huge tell. If you have only played one hand in the first round, folded it on the flop and are sitting with $300 infront of you, you are begging to get run over. So...here comes the ride.

All the tables are now full, and I figure these guys are now stuck with me for 6 hours. People can tell you, that's not always a fun time. Time to loosen up the table a bit. 11 handed, limped to me and I raise with T3 suited. 5 callers. Ok, I've resigned to likely not winning the hand, but I'm going to see what kind of heat these guys can take, and I'm showing this hand down with any piece, period. Flop J73 rainbow. Blinds check, I bet and 4 callers. Turn J873, checked to me and I bet, 3 callers. River J8733...hehehe, get ready to pay me off for the next 3 hours you bastards. Checked to me, I bet and get 2 callers. Watch them turn over and then table my trip 3s. I'm in seat 5, asian guys in seats 7-10 berate me for...and I'm not kidding, 2-3 hours. One of them actually leaves the table when I win a few more pots. I hear him at his new table saying, "raised ten three", ahhhhhhh hahahaha...um...fuck you. While I'm stacking the chips on the T3 hand, I literally have to stifle a burst of laughter. The table was playing so tight for a while that I was raising anything even remotely playable with one or no callers infront of me from any position. JTo UTG? Raise. 87s in MP? Raise. After an hour or so and getting up a few hundred dollars, I settled back and played a tight game, getting paid off to the river whenever I hit anything as mediocre as top pair average kicker. Had a nice, profitable 5 hour session. Maybe it's just me, but a close second to a nice winning session is pissing off a tight ABC player who cannot shift gears or adjust his game worth a shit.

Good times. I'm evil. Blob out.

Month In Summary and August Plans

I didn't play much poker at all this past month. I played 20 40 once, played a few low-limit holdem sessions including the previous disaster and played the Wed night only once with a profit of zero. Overall, I made only a few hundred dollars. My focus will change in August. I will play 5 Wed night sessions of hi-lo and 6-8 20 40 sessions at GBH. In addition, I will check-out some 10 20 action and the CNE. No online play, no low limit holdem play. Hopefully, without a bad run I will be up $3k or more this time next month.

A Realization and Likely My Worst Session Ever

I have built a nice bankroll playing some low limit underground games in the GTA over the last 2 years, but something has happened in the last few weeks that I knew was coming and it cumulated in my (relatively) worst cash-game session ever last night. It's the same-old problem that has been there in my online game forever, but I have never experienced it live before. The problem is playing for too low stakes to be meaningful to me. Having the bankroll for, and having successfully played, 10 20 and a bit of 20 40 has made playing in the 4 8 and 5 10 range seem insignificant monitarily. I'm not playing anywhere near my best game at those limits anymore. I've seen it coming in a few small wins and break-even sessions in the past few weeks, but it was abundantly clear last night in what was likely my only 50-60bb loss ever at a poker table. If I'm going to take moving-up seriously then I need to focus on the bigger games. Even the Wednesday night game that has been such a steady income for me has somewhat lost its appeal at the moment -- winning $200-$400 a session just isn't that appealing after winning a small pot of $200-$300 at 20 40.

The drive has been the thing impeding my climb up in limits, but I simply have to make the effort to get out to GBH 6-8 times a month. I was going to head out tonight, but after last night's debacle I'm taking the night off and relaxing away from the tables. Maybe tomorrow...maybe Sunday...have to see how I feel.

As for the my worst session ever, I broke almost every one of my rules for being a winning player. The session started off with a few bad beats, including a few horrible beats. There was no way it was going to be a winning session, but playing against the rules of a winning player turned what should have been a bad session results-wise into a disaster results-wise.

Played beyond the 30-40bb rule,
Played when I didn't care anymore,
Played tired in a game that held little interest to me,
Played too many hands trying to get even,

In summary, played undisciplined poker just like 90% of the players out there and deservedly lost more than I should have.

It was one of those nights that helps to push you forward forcefully, like a 28 year old receiving a firm boot to the ass out of his parents' basement.

Hopefully, good things will follow from the experience as I'm more determined to focus on middle-limit poker.

Time to recoup with some omega eggs, huh Cookie?

A Few Key 20 40 Session Hands

Right now, a good part of playing at GBH is that noone there knows how I play. One of my strengths playing live is assessing and reading a player within one or two rounds, whereas most players probably do not get that good a read on me as quickly.

First pot won of the night. 11 handed and I have 98o in my BB UTG calls, LP calls, button raises and I call a bit worried that UTG might reraise -- this is always a fear when not ending the action, but the other 2 just come along. Flop A76 rainbow, couldn't ask for a much better flop, if I hit the turn I likely get paid by either UTG or the button. Sometimes I bet out here to bet more money in the pot if I hit, but I am playing a bit conservative at 20 40 for now, so I check to the raiser as does everyone else. He bets, I call and UTG calls. Turn is the magical offsuit ten giving me the stone-cold nuts. I check praying for the button to bet and he does, I call and UTG folds. River is a low blank and I bet out, which is generally screaming that I have a big hand. But, like I said noone knows me there and the button decides to value raise his ace-ten (top 2 pair), I reraise and he calls. Nice little pot, and most importantly I hit a draw...it's been a while, but I guess I'll save them all up for 20 40.

Another big blind pot of note (I can't recall the order of all these pots), a new female player from the other 20 40 moves to our table and it is folded to her and she raises my BB from the cutoff. I haven't seen her play much, I have noted that she is very comfortable with her chips and her motions mucking the cards. She also knows a few people at the table that I have established as regulars by their play against each other and their comments to each other. So, I have taken her out of the category of my default female weak-tight player and placed her into the category of a player who can steal my blinds. I look down at T9 hearts, a definite call. Miracle flop of QJx all hearts. I flop a flush with a redraw to an open-ended straight flush. I figure that I'll let her do all the work. I check, she bets and I call. Turn blank...I'm praying..no heart, no heart. I check raise her and she calls. River is the partly nice and partly ugly ace of hearts. I figure that she has now hit some of the AQJxx board, but am hoping that she doesn't have KK with the K of hearts. I have the second nuts, but with a one card flush out I'm not ecstatic. I can bet or check. I figure that the pot is large enough that she can fire again to a check, hoping to win it if I don't have a heart. I check-call and win a nice heads-up pot.

Another nice heads-up pot. I have one of the two donatorsin the game 2 seats to my right, and I'm waiting to isolate hime with any decent paint. I see him turning over K7o in EP, etc, etc. I'm in the cutoff and he open-limps and I raise with KQo. Unfortunately a decent, TAG player reraises on the button and the donator folds, I sheepishly call as my raises are getting respect at this point from the 4 players on my left, I'm thinking that I may be drawing fairly slim and remind myself of the troubles with KQo out of position before we see the flop of Qxx rainbow. I check call both the flop and the turn and check down the river to his second pair of TT.

My big cards did fairly well for me all night, winning some small to medium pots. I didn't hit a set in the few hours that I played. At a table like this that is a spot where you are going to win some decent pots.

A few small mistakes and questionable plays in the session, but no major mistakes. Here they are.

Questionable situation one. I'm in LP with black 44 and it is limped to me as a family, I call and we see the flop 11handed! Flop J65 with 2 spades, giving me 2 outs that don't bring a flush but bring a straight. SB bets and I think everyone calls to me, so there are roughly 9-10bb in the pot. I have proper odds to draw to the two remaining red fours and with only 2 players to act behind me and everyone coming along, the odds of a raise behind me is slim. I think for 10 seconds or so and muck telling myself that a larger set or 65 could already be out there and hitting my set could obviously make a made straight, killling some action to my redraw. At the least, with everyone coming along for the ride some of my ten redraw outs must be dead, so I fold a $400 pot for $20, of which I had only invested $20. The button ends-up raising, and I lost track of the rest of the flop action. The turn is a 9 and the river an 8. So, the board is J5698 rainbow. Player on my right had check-raised the turn after it was checked to the flp raiser who bet the turn with the sb coming along. I put him on 78, as did the other 2 I guess. He bets the river and the other 2 fold to a single bet into a $700+ pot. He flips A8 suited, missing his flush draw and hitting a pair of 8s on the river. Button says he folded KK. What a horrid, horrid fold for a single bet on the river. You do the math. I should have probably come along for one more bet on the flop.

Questionable situation two. Same scenario as the next hand in the series (sorry, I wrote these out of order), but I'm in my small blind with K7o. I usually call just about anything here, but I don't want to hit a king and not be able to play it for value against the donators, so I fold and see a K9x flop which is checked around. Final board of K9xJx rainbow. BB bets A9 on the turn and checks the river and wins a small pot against one of the donators.

Small mistake one. One donator is 5 to my left or 5 to my right, so I don't get to manipulate him all too often, the other two to my right. I'm on the button and both donators are the only ones in the pot. I see Q8 suited and decide that I have so much pot-flop equity against these calling-stations that I limp along as do the blinds. KTx rainbow and I check-fold. Now the purpose of having these donators in the game is to have them pay-off your top pair decent kicker, not to be drawing against them. Only cost me $20, but the fact that I was dying to play against these 2 let me make a bad call.

Small mistake two. UTG calls, I call with ATs diamonds in UTG+2 (table is playing fairly passive preflop), guy three to my left who loves raising his middle pairs preflop raises and I the donator on my right comes along. Beautiful flop of A74 with a 4 flush for me. I'm not crazy about my kicker, but I love my draw. Check to me and I bet the the flop to see if there's any strength out there. (I'm also not giving the guy (preflop raiser) who spiked an 8 on my queens on a previous turn a free card to his set). Preflop raiser just calls as does donator. UTG folds. Turn is a blank and I check and so do the other 2 -- against Mr. pocket-pair and the donator who would call any ace, I should have bet for value. I think the pocket-pair would have folded, but I lost $40 from the donator. River makes the board A74x4 and the BB (donator) bets out. I I literally think for 20 seconds -- call/raise? call/raise? call/raise? -- I decide to call to try and get an overcall from the pocket pair and I have a smidgen of fear that the BB has the 4. Pocket pair folds saying he had a pocket pair. I win against the donator's A6o. A raise on the river was the right move. I likely lost $80 easy profit in that hand.

Bad mistake one (and only). The far-off donator limps in EP and 2 to 3 more limp to my sb where I have KJs, I call. Flop KTx rainbow. I bet, donator calls, all else fold. I know he can call with a ten here. Turn ten, copleting nothing put a draw to a ten. I check and he bets...sirens screaming in my head -- the calling station just bet out for the first time almost ever, he has the ten, he has the ten, hello, hello TENTENTEN -- pot is small and I have only invested $30. I call? River blank, I check he bets -- arooooooohah, aroooooooohah, he has the ten! I call. He turns over QTo. Nice play Dave. At 20 40 that's $80 being stubborn. Almost a stack of red shifted to the donkey, nice move. I hate paying-off horrid players.

So, overall I lost or didn't gain roughly $160 making a few mistakes. A good session none the less.

A Very Frustrating Wednesday and My Second Ever 20 40 Session

Wednesday night came again and I played the world's most beatable game again. I had a terrible session. The table was softer than it has been in a month or so and if the chips weren't flowing to me they were going to the second best spots -- to the worst players on the table. Unfortunately all I could muster was a break-even night after 11 hours of play. I couldn't hit a hand to save my life.

The most frustrating part of the session is that I fell back into an old pattern of staying too long to try and post a win -- instead of leaving at 3-4am as I had planned, I stayed until 9am. I was exhausted, got caught in the AM rush-hour traffic and was too tired once home to walk my dog. I hate when I do things like that, I need to be more regimented in my session times. I did get to +$100 after hours of struggling down $100-$200, but ended just about exactly even.

The most rewarding part of this session is the realisation that an awful card-dead session can be a break-even session for me whereas it would be a -$500+ session for almost every other player in that game. This is what makes me a long-term winner. Anyone can win a huge pot with a huge hand, but most give it back fairly quickly.

Just home from my second 20 40 session at the GBH. I was planning on going at 7pm or so, but my sleep cycle is all fucked-up due to working nights and not adjusting back to days well due to idotic things like playing an 11 hour session Wednesday night. Last night I drank a bottle of wine in an attempt at getting to bed at 3am having just woken up at 5pm. Well, it worked, but I awoke at 730am no longer able to sleep and felt tired all day. When 7pm came I knew that I had that tired anxious feel that makes me lose at poker, so I had an hour and a half nap. Then at 1025pm I finally left my house for GBH feeling in the right mindset to play but not really up for a long session.

50 minutes to GBH and I see on the screen that there is an interest list for 20 40 Omaha8??!! Ok, I say sign me up for 10 20, 20 40 and 20 40 O8. Then I ask the floor guy if the Omaha ever goes and he says no, they don't have omaha dealers...uh, ok. Scrap that plan. I get a 10 20 seat right away. I'm hungry, so I decide to wait and post at my BB which is 6-7 hands away and try to get some food.. Fortunate for me as I am called to the 20 40 after 2 hands...still foodless.

Physically, I get a great seat (I hate the end seats with a passion) right in seat 6 and we are 11 handed. Position-wise the seat proves to be good as well...1 of the 2 main donators is 2 seats to my right. Good table, not a great table, 2-3 live ones max and the rest TAG to TWeak players. Certainly a workable table and I had reads on everyone after 1 or 2 passes of the button. At my peak I'm up $650. I only play 3.5 hours and leave at 3am up $600. I'm happy booking a win, only 15bb but $600 is still nice. I'm not at all nervous or apprehensive at the table and after showing down some big hands I'm getting respect all over the place. It's the kind of poker game you read about but never experience at most lower levels. 3-4 players per most flops, a few 7 handed flops, one 11 handed flops, UTG raises being folded to the blinds at times. The ability to make isolation plays, to make a few moves out of the blinds against the overly tight players, to raise for the button preflop from the cutoff, etc. A fun game for sure. I'm still getting used to winning a small pot and making $100-$200 and a decent pot making $400-$500. Pretty neat feeling though.

I'll post a few 20 40 hands tomorrow, now time for bed.

So far, 2 fairly short 20 40 sessions and +$1300-$1400, a good start.

Monthly Summary Including My First Ever 20 40 Session

So, monthly summary.

I've quit online poker. It became too many hours for too little money. I've come to realize that I will never be comfortable playing online for the same stakes that I strive to play for regularly live, so I'm putting all my focus on live limit cash games.

To that end, I played my first ever 20 40 holdem session. I forced myself to make the hour drive to GBH casino. I was sitting at a weak/passive 10 20 game and then got called for 20 40. Three of the weak 10 20 players were heading over and I figured what the fuck, its time to make the jump.

I hovered around even for a quite a while until the following hand occurred:

9 handed. UTG calls (I've seen him play 54o in EP), folded to me in MP with KK, I raise. New player in SB calls, solid player in BB calls, UTG calls.

Flop KQ2, 2 hearts. SB bet, BB raise, UTG fold, I call, SB reraises, BB caps (I immediately put him on a set of queens), I stall a bit and call, sb calls (I put him on nut flush draw).

Turn KQ28, 2 hearts/2 spades. SB bet, BB raise, I reraise, SB calls, BB calls.

River, KQ285, 3 spades. Check/check...I bet and both call. SB AA, BB QQ, me KK set. Me happy...me finally win a hand.

So, lets see that's a 22bb pot, and at 20 40 that makes it a $880 pot...likely the largest pot of my life...I can get used to this.

Up to that point I was pretty happy sitting at about even, fairly card dead, and realizing that I could beat this 20 40 game. Sure, there were 4-5 decent players at the table, but there were also players routinely turning over Q7s, K6s, 83s UTG...wow was I happy.

I ended the session up $800 or so after 4-5 hours of play.

I was blessed with June having 5 Wed nights, I won 4/5 sessions. +$1200 or so in my wins and one -$100 loss.

Probably up a few $100 playing 4 8 holdem with a 1/2 kill at The Office. I don't really enjoy that game too much anymore, the stakes are too small for my liking. Whatever profit I made I shot back playing like an idiot at 1 2 holdem for a night -- I just can't take that game seriously, once again...the ultimate boredom...Dave, c'mon, do not play 1 2 NL!

For July...Wednesday nights hi/lo, 10 20 and 20 40 LHE.

Brief Update...

Another hi/lo Wed night, another $300.

I couldn't get much of anything going and was down $200 after 4 hours or so. The table got short and we switched to straight omaha8. I opened the game up quite a bit with straddles, blind raises, etc. There were a few hands that were re-straddled all the way to the small blind 7 handed. Anyhow, by 9am I was up $300. I love the Wed night game.

Haven't played at all online since my terrible run to even, just not in the mood.

So, +$1135 live and even online for the month...have to work this coming Wed, but hoping to get in some holdem sessions.

Missed the monthly 10 20 at The Office, heard it was a great game.

Dealing with Losses...The Next Step in My Development

I don't deal well with losing. I have great difficulty taking a losing session in stride and not being frustrated by it. Rather that type in more detail about this, I'll just paste a recent thread of mine from Canada's Poker Forum, www.pokerforum.ca

So, I took a shot at some $100 sngs with my online winnings for the month, suffered some horrible beats and lost it all back in a day. I think I monied once all day in the 6max sngs. I really felt like crap after the loss. Then I posted a $300 win playing live 4 8 1/2 kill holdem at The Office last night and felt much better. So, back to even online for the month, up $835 live. The monthly 10 20 game is tonight at The Office, but I'm not sure if I'll make it as I want to watch the hockey game and work-out tonight.

Me in orange, below.

So, I'm up $700 or so in a couple days of my usual limit sngs -- I decide to take a shot at some bigger games and suffer bad beat after bad beat. Now, I'm back to even for my online play for the month. I find this the toughest part of my game. When I win, I'm not especially happy as I excpect to be/know that I'm a long-term winning player. I had this same outlook when I was an athlete -- wins, even championships, weren't that high for me, but losses were always quite low. I know this is due to high expecatations, but I feel that it's tougher to deal with in poker due to that higher luck factor. Any large losing session leaves me feeling like crap, even if it leaves me even for the short-term. The money only seems to mean much to me when I lose, not when I win. Even live, I can have 6 winning sessions and be up 2-3k over that time, but one brutal session of losing $500-$600 upsets me for a day or so, and I usually skip a day or 2 af the clubs when this happens. It is rare that I have a losing month, but these sessions still aren't easy for me to let go. This also impedes me at times from moving up limits. Anyone else have this problem with their game? For me, this is the toughest part of poker. The fact that there is know way that you can win every time no matter your skill. I know in my head that it's all part of the game, I know that luck is what keeps driving the bad players back to the game and keeps the games juicy, but it is something that I still struggle with emotionally. I have a fairly balanced life outside of poker, which helps...but losing sessions do creep slightly into my attitude afterwards. Does anyone else have this issue with their game. Or did you have this issue and overcome it? I would think that most winning players are pretty competitive players with high expectations from their games and that this is a large hurdle for some to overcome, I'd appreciate any comments. Thanks.

i think you're better off than you could be, seeing that after a losing session, you take a day or two off, as opposed to immediately jumping back in to break even.. Nothing anybody can tell you that you don't already know and have said, you just have to remember it at the moment. Think of it as the cost of investing, you know the return will come, you just have to put a little capital in.

I posted a similar thread a few months ago (you may remember it got Harthgosh banned). It seems that you suffered the same feelings that I did, you just hate to lose. It wasn't about the money but the actual loss. Whether or not you played bad or had a bad beat it just sucks to lose. Now what have I done to overcome that feeling? I have just seperated the losing from the game that I enjoy. I look back on the actual time that I had. For the most part, even when I lose, I had a fun time playing. If you continue to get depressed or dwell on losses you are going to begin to hate the game. And it will affect how you play during the game. You may become so fearful of feeling like shit that you'll make poor choices that will magnify the the feeling which you are trying to avoid.

Quote from: Flint Bones on June 11, 2006, 06:23:10 PM I posted a similar thread a few months ago (you may remember it got Harthgosh banned). It seems that you suffered the same feelings that I did, you just hate to lose. It wasn't about the money but the actual loss. Whether or not you played bad or had a bad beat it just sucks to lose. Now what have I done to overcome that feeling? I have just seperated the losing from the game that I enjoy. I look back on the actual time that I had. For the most part, even when I lose, I had a fun time playing. If you continue to get depressed or dwell on losses you are going to begin to hate the game. And it will affect how you play during the game. You may become so fearful of feeling like shit that you'll make poor choices that will magnify the the feeling which you are trying to avoid. Well, it's not as extreme as you make it sound. Certainly not to the extreme of any form of depression. I would liken it to losing a big game when I played junior hockey and thinking about it to some extent for the next 24h or so. It's just the frustration of losing at a game that I can beat. Rationally, I know that every session cannot be a winning one, but I still get affected to some degree emotionally by losing. I'm certainly working on getting this out of my game. My goal is to be playing semi-professionaly in the next couple of years, but I can see this as a serious hurdle to achieving that goal. One that, if I can't overcome will seriously hold me back from this goal. I have a completely seperate poker bankroll from my real life money, but I am still not completely immune to the thought of losing actual money when a bad run hits. I have never come remotely close to decimating my poker bankroll and I see my bankroll steadily growing, but still focus more on the losses than any wins. I think that there exists some dicotomy in easily accepting losses and variance and being a competitive, winning player. To me, this would seem to be one of the hardest parts of playing professionaly. Possibly, playing more frequently and thus being more accustom to the swings would be the answer to the problem...only time will tell I suppose.

The swings when going professionally will be far more drastic and longer. You're right, this is a huge hurdle that you must overcome. Clearly you're not ready to go semi-pro (as you have acknowledged), perhaps consulting an actual pro to understand their mentality would be the best course of action. I'm sure you wouldn't want this to affect you. I am not sure if playing more frquently would be the answer. Playing more frequently may enhance the problem rather than allow you to deal with it better. I am not a physcologist but I would think being able to handle the smaller losses would be prudent before making the choice that would affect you financially. That is of course if your "semi-pro" idea is going to be a primary source of income. Losing and realising that making the next mortgage payment or what-have-you will be hard won't make it easier.

I think you hit the nail on the head by saying winning players are competitive. We hate to lose. Whether its $5 or $5000, its still a loss. And it sucks. Even if I finish 2nd in a tourney and take home a wad of cash, I still think of losing to that one other person. My advice... just be happy you can still afford to play.

just wanted to add a comment to this thread. This is exactly how my addiction started! You would win so much some nights then lose it all back the next. You then have the idea in your head, "ah, was just a bad night, let me rebuild again" ..then after awhile you start sounding like the GM for the toronto maple leafs...."Rebuilding Phase" (I mean no offence when I say that about the leafs, I still bleed blue to this day" ...and sooner then later your in the red trying to catch up your inital losses. Word of advice here is slow down, if your doing well at the smaller stakes....why fix something that isn't broke? ...Just remain at that level and sooner or later you will be a bigger winner, then a bigger loser. (like me) -ALI

Quote from: djalikool on Today at 01:07:20 AM just wanted to add a comment to this thread. This is exactly how my addiction started! You would win so much some nights then lose it all back the next. You then have the idea in your head, "ah, was just a bad night, let me rebuild again" ..then after awhile you start sounding like the GM for the toronto maple leafs...."Rebuilding Phase" (I mean no offence when I say that about the leafs, I still bleed blue to this day" ...and sooner then later your in the red trying to catch up your inital losses. Word of advice here is slow down, if your doing well at the smaller stakes....why fix something that isn't broke? ...Just remain at that level and sooner or later you will be a bigger winner, then a bigger loser. (like me) -ALI Thanks for the guidance. However, my issue is not with being a losing player, just with handing the inevitable losses better within the big picture. I felt a bit crappy yesterday about a large-ish loss, had a winning session live tonight and all is forgotten. If I could just get rid of the 12-24h of bother after a losing session things would be perfect...guess I just have to learn to take losing in stride more readily.

Quote from: GTA Poker on Today at 08:55:58 AM If I could just get rid of the 12-24h of bother after a losing session things would be perfect...guess I just have to learn to take losing in stride more readily. No suggestion, but a quick question/comment. If you did eliminate the "12-24h of bother after a losing session" would you still be as good a player? Isn't the pressure of avoiding that feeling as well as the (sometimes painful) time reflecting on our losses and focusing on our mistakes something that makes better player's? When an athlete has a scoring drought, they don't shrug it off as a return from "excellent" to "above average", they get frustrated with themselves, study more video, and spend more time in practice till they get there game back. Personally, I think it would be more "fun" if I didn't feel bad losing, but I think my overall game would suffer. Losing makes me a better player, and forces me to continually improve.

Quote from: beanie42 on Today at 09:54:06 AM Quote from: GTA Poker on Today at 08:55:58 AM If I could just get rid of the 12-24h of bother after a losing session things would be perfect...guess I just have to learn to take losing in stride more readily. No suggestion, but a quick question/comment. If you did eliminate the "12-24h of bother after a losing session" would you still be as good a player? Isn't the pressure of avoiding that feeling as well as the (sometimes painful) time reflecting on our losses and focusing on our mistakes something that makes better player's? When an athlete has a scoring drought, they don't shrug it off as a return from "excellent" to "above average", they get frustrated with themselves, study more video, and spend more time in practice till they get there game back. Personally, I think it would be more "fun" if I didn't feel bad losing, but I think my overall game would suffer. Losing makes me a better player, and forces me to continually improve. Great reply Trevor, couldn't have said it better myself (I was gonna try, but now that would just be embarrassing). /g2

Quote from: GTA Poker on Today at 08:55:58 AM If I could just get rid of the 12-24h of bother after a losing session things would be perfect...guess I just have to learn to take losing in stride more readily. I'm not entirely sure you can, I think this attribute is ingrained in some people. I'm very much the same in all aspects of my life. I hate to lose, I accept that I will but I still hate it...and I'll 'hang on' to it for a while afterwards. Wether it's a hockey game, ball game, poker game, or whatever I also usually have a period of a day or two after a lose where I'm kinda grumpy about it. I also really don't see it as a problem. I handle it much the same as you...which I think is fine. I think it would be more of an issue if you played while still bummed about a recent lose as this could lead you to stray from your game. I personally would try not to worry about it, take your day or so to get over it then get back at it. I'm sure there are many pros that react to a lose in a similar matter and I think it's completely natural.

I'd be a liar if I said I didn't get affected by losing. Poker gets by heart thumping, and that's one of the reasons I love it....but the adrenaline goes both ways...I get pumped by winning, and I get bummed by losing. And it's never about the money for me - I have a seperate bankroll, track all my wins/losses, and never play above my loss threshold....it's about the challenge, and being better than my opponent. Some losses are easier to shake off than others...luckily I have a poker playing husband, and when I lose he gives me perspective (and I do the same for him). The thing I try to do is learn something from every loss....that way it's an investment in improving my game.

Quote The money only seems to mean much to me when I lose, not when I win. I sort of know what you mean. In general I find I play LESS when I'm winning. I find I probably play more often, but I tend to play more managed, shorter sessions. I don't know why. Maybe I have the compulsive urge of playing on when I'm running bad but at what I know is a good table. When I'm winning, I just tend to find the game gets boring and leave with my winnings (I think I'm "probably" better at recognizing when table conditions have detiorated when I'm running well too). If you find a way of getting rid of the pain of losing, let me know. I'm mired in probably my biggest short-term downswing that I can remember. Probably somewhere around 200-250BB at various limits on various sites. It's been annoying to say the least. And while I'm not happy with my results of late, my overall attitude (shockingly) is that of mild indifference. I don't know if my blatant disregard of money is a good or bad thing. Now of course this is very short term (say last 2 weeks), so if I'm in the same boat 2-3 weeks from now, the grind of a longterm downswing may be enough to start weighing on me. I guess I keep telling myself that variance will eventually turn the other way, and going through the fire of a tough losing streak can only make me stronger in the long-run (unless I go broke). Fortunately, playing massively overrolled makes a bad downturn like this bearable at least.

Thanks for the great responses. I guess that in some sense I was venting, but this thread has really helped me. It is very rare that I have more than 1-2 consecutive losing sessions as I'm primarily a cash-game player. As I stated previously, I do have the ambition of being able to play poker part-time-professionally at some point in my life -- whether that will ever come to fruition remains to be seen. I have no illusions about the downsides of being an any-level pro player. Obviously doing something part-time for a living in which you cannot always succeed can be frustrating at times. I feel that minimizing the sting of losses is one of the most important aspects of my game that I need to work on before ever even considering any transition to being a part-time pro at any level. I appreciate the feedback as it definitely helps to know that others that take the game seriously have similar feelings towards losing. I realize that this sort of response is part of what makes me a winning player. Perhaps there is no best of both worlds with respect to being a winner and not having losses sting more than wins elate. My hope is that with even more experience that a loss will just be a loss -- of course something to reflect upon and learn from, but something that can more easily be let go. Poker is such an interesting game and, to me, dealing with the psychology of losing seems to be my next challenge in my crawl toward the possibility of taking my game to another level.

Feeling Certain

I've always had a lingering doubt in my mind as to whether or not I could be a consistent winning player. Over the last few days that doubt has gone away. I have found the games that work for me -- live cash games, online sngs, the occasional online MTT -- and focused on them for the past few months. My stats don't lie, I am a winning player. Now, it is just a matter of gradually moving up in limits. I haven't had a losing month this year and by focusing on the games that I like playing, by playing both live and online for variety and by playing only when I'm in the mood and cutting sessions short when I feel my wins going into lock-down mode, I have churned out a steady profit.

Just back from the Wed night hi/lo game -- up $335 in 4-5 hours.

So, for the month so far, 9-10 hours of live play +$535, a couple of days of online sngs +$750. Another good start to the month. Having played some $100 and $200 sngs last month, I realize that more profit is possible, but I need to slowly become more comfortable with risking more money online. For now, I feel a reasonable goal for the month is $2.5-$3k, we'll see how it goes.

Everything Seems to be in Place and Running Smoothly

I didn't play all that much in May, won around $2.5k so it was a good month profit-wise. I seem to be beating every game that I play these days. I can pretty much guarantee booking a $2k-$3k win every month these days combining live and online play.

So far this month:

I'm up $750 or so online having played 18 sngs -- I was getting tired of the Party 6 max sngs, needed some variety so I tried out the Stars 9max Turbos...just started playing low limit $27 ones to see how they are and after 10 games my ROI is a whopping 116%, likely not sustainable but certainly a profitable game none the less. Played one $110 6 max turbo on there and placed first as well. Played a $6 turbo 99max on Party for a fun diversion and finished first. I'll move up to the $55 turbos on Stars after a larger sample size at $27. The beauty of these turbos is the ease of multitabling, the play is pretty straightforward in these -- so far I've just been 2-tabling as I've been playing exclusively on my laptop and can't play 3 tables well due to overlap.

I'm up $200 having played only one live session of the Wed night hi/lo, the most beatable game on earth -- there is no way that I can't beat (and I have been beating) this game for a conservative average of $200/session, so that would be $800 a month or so. I've had 2 losing sessions there in 3 months. I wish this were a higher limit game, but it's my favourtie live game, so I doubt I'll stop playing it anytime soon.

So, $2k-$3k a month seems a reasonable average playing at my current limits, depending on my playing time. This, of course, barring a losing session or two whilst taking a shot at higher limits.

My goal is to maintain this for a couple of months and to eventually get this figure up to $4k-$5k a month .

My Goal for the Week Attained...I'm Playing Great

My goal of winning $1000 playing live this week was attained after a 4 hour session tonight at The Office, the weekly stud8/omaha8 game. As I've said before, this is the most consistantly beatable game that I've ever player and it just doesn't change. Hovered around even for a couple of hours then scooped a couple of pots, up around $350 at my peak and quit at +$300.

So, for the week 3 hours 2 5 NLH, 2 hours 10 20 LHE, 4 hours 4 8 1/2 kill hi/lo for a profit of just under $1000 in 3 sessions totalling 9 hours of play.

Will be taking tonight off, maybe playing a bit online...now it's bedtime.

On Pace For a Pretty Good Month

I've played relatively little poker this month, but am on pace for $3k or so of profit which would be one of my best months to date. So far, I have played only 12 hours or so of live cash games and am up roughly $700, 10 hours of 6max sngs on Titan +$700, 2 hours of online ring on Party +$200, 7 hours or so of Party sngs +$200 and a few hours of live tourney play -$60. So, overall on pace for a $3k or so month with out much play at all.

Over the last few months a losing session of sngs online has been breaking even or just making a small profit, whereas a good session like this AM involved playing for 2 hours/4sngs and finishing 1st 3 times and 2nd once. Not bad at all. Playing just 4 $22 sngs on Party today I am up $200 on the day.

This profit doesn't seem like much work as I have mixed up my game pretty evenly. Live profits from O8/Stud8/LHE and NLH, online from 6max sngs and PLO8 HU matches and a Jackpot. Haven't played much on Titan lately, but will try at that Jackpot again soon.

I Have a Big Hole in My Tournament Game

I decided to play the small $60 tournament at The Unit tonight. More to start working a bit on my live tournament game than anything else. 45 players or so, first $1.1K, second $700, third $400, fourth $200. Usually when I play these, it is just to blow off some steam from playing solid cash-game poker. My cash game has virtually no holes...however. my tournament game has one big one akin to the Matusow Blow-up.

I decide to play solid, positional poker, make no moves, play my cards and see how it goes. I literally pick-up JJ once and that's about it. I manage to get down to 6 handed where if I'm not the short stack, then I'm 5th. Only first would mean much in terms of the payout, second would be ok as well, not at all interested in 3rd-5th. So, blinds are 600 1200 and I have 8-9k infront of me. Folded to me on the button, very weak player in the SB about my stack size, chip leader in the BB. I decide to limp with KTo and try and take it on the flop. SB folds, BB makes it 3k ontop, I think and push. I have never played with the BB before as this was a new table. I think that getting all those chips earlier makes him very capable of making a move on a short limping stack. He turns over AQo, so I don't mind, but I lose to a full house on the turn.

Now, I played solidly all game but then I get down to 6 handed and decide that I need to double-up to try and make a run to first. Do I mind my push, I'm not sure. I guess that I do a bit given that I'm doing it against a player that I have zero read on and that I could have waited 4-5 more hands for a pushable hand. I was card-dead for most the game, so overall 6th is not very bad. However, this was not a great spot. I don't mind the limp if I know the BB can make a play, as KT is a better than average hand. However, odds are he's just another low-limit player playing only his cards, so I should have either raised or folded in that spot, and certainly should have folded rather than pushing all in. Perhaps if the tournament was for more money then I would have played it differently.

A Few B&M 10 20 Hands

Most sessions seem to come down to a few big pots as to whether you have a winning or losing session. Especially when you only play for a couple of hours. So, it's 11:30pm and my sleep pattern is still all fucked-up (the rain really does not help with this), so I head to the monthly 10 20 game at The Office in Mississauga. It has been a couple of months since I have played live 10 20 LHE and after winning $250 the night before in a brief NL session I felt like I could win another $300 or so in this game. I'm not out for a big win, I just want to win $1000 or so in this week off of work.

So, I get there at midnight and sit with 6 or 7 other players, of which I am only familiar with 3 or so. I end up playing for only 2 hours. I'm up $450 at that point and I get "that feeling" of not wanting to lose back my profit and decide that that's enough for the night.

Three key hands to the session, in chronological order.

First hand:

We are 8 handed or so and this is how the hand plays out -- I like my play but am curious as to what others think.

UTG calls (Johnny T no less), I call with KQo, folded to the SB who completes and BB checks.

Players SB -- extremely loose, horrid limit player.
BB -- extremely tight, horrid limit player.
UTG -- Johnny T who I have not played with in a year and a half and he just sat, so no real read.
Me -- UTG + 1

Preflop pot 2bb

Flop K hi all hearts SB bets, BB folds Johnny T calls, I debate a raise knowing I am likely ahead of SB and thinking JohnnyT likely has a big heart -- I call and wait for the turn to pop it if no heart falls (I have no heart). Pot 3.5bb.

Turn offsuit Q giving me top 2 -- SB bets, JT calls, I raise with top 2, SB calls, JT reraises (pot now 10,5bb) -- so he most likely flopped the flush, but again I do not have a good read on JT and he could have top pair with a big heart, I call given that I have roughly 10.5:1 on my money to make a fh with 10.5bb in the pot and will be paid by a bet on the river, and SB folds. Pot 11.5bb.

River blank and I call (12.5bb pot) and am shown T9 suited of hearts -- I always call on the river HU in this spot as I feel it is a winning play in the long run, win 1 in 11 and I'm ahead.

As an aside, Johnny T played some solid poker in the couple hours I sat with him, much different than my previous experiences with him. For those of you who don't know JT, check out www.pokernightlive.ca

Second hand:

77 UTG. Table is 8 handed or so, I look down and think of mucking, then think of raising. I noticed last month that my positional play had been poor wrt preflop hand selection and after tightening-up slightly I have yet to have a losing session. So, I call. Why do I call? I think the table was playing fairly tight preflop at that point and I figured the flop would be cheap. Soooooo, it comes back to me 3-bet or capped (I don't recall) 3 ways as 2 loose-aggressive players decided to remember that they were loose aggressive. I call 2 or 3 more bets cold, feeling I can win 16bb on my 8:1 shot of flopping a set if I hit given who is in the hand.

The players:

ME -- UTG
UTG + 2 -- bad player who reraises and 2 paint preflop regardless of action to him.
MP -- DQ, laggy preflop player, decent postflop player
BB -- JT again

So, we see the flop with 6-8bb in the pot.

Flop -- doorcard is the 7, sweet. 762 with 2 hearts. Pot is big. I'm going to win a big pot or lose a big pot to a straight or a flush. Pot is big, no way am I slowplaying, I want to take this down ASAP. I bet, bad player raises, DQ reraises, JT folds, I cap and bad player thinks and folds, DQ calls right away -- likely flush draw/straight draw or overpair. Pot 11-13bb.

Turn -- completes the flush but not the straight, I can't recall the card. I bet out as I can't allow a free draw to a 4th heart. DQ raises, ok he has the flush. I call. Pot 15-17bb.

River pairs the 6, I bet and he makes a crying call and I rake in a nice-sized pot.

Third Hand:

Very soon after, I pick-up AA UTG. I raise, bad player reraises, DQ reraises, JT calls, I hesitate and make a what-the-fuck-the-game-is-loose cap. Everyone calls. 4 handed capped pot. Pot 8bb.

The players are the same as the last big hand.

The Flop -- T9x with 2 diamonds. I bet, bad player raises, DQ reraises, JT folds (I think), I cap, bad player folds, DQ calls. Pot 13bb.

The turn -- pairs the ten, never a great sign when you have an overpair. I bet, DQ just calls. Hmmm, still drawing? Pot 15bb.

The River -- ACE! Are you kidding me, I hit 2 sets in 10 mins? Nice. Bet, called. And he shows a ten and mucks. Pot 17bb, nice.

I play a few more rounds, the game is still very good although it has gotten short, which is my specialty. However, I have obtained my monitary goal for the night and don't feel like playing aggressive, short-handed poker with it's inherently increased variance after winning $450 at an almost-full table. I get up and I go home.

Conquering a Demon and the Importance of Game Selection

There is one NL underground club in Toronto where I have almost never, if ever, had a winning session. I haven't played there much, but there it is staring me in the face. Probably the only poker room anywhere where I am in the red overall. I know the primary reason for this -- I hate full-table 1 2 NL and this is what I have always played there. Inevitably, I play almost every hand for $2, call with almost anything for $6 trying to crack someone for their stack, etc., etc. I play horrid poker. Also, I abhor full table NL ring...just exhaustingly boring to me. Well, it was 130am and I was wide awake AND I felt like playing live NL ring. So, over to The Unit I go to play 2 5 NL. Now, I have only played 2 5 NL live once before, and that time after a horrid hand of 2nd nut full-house over nut full-house costing me my initial $400, I managed to break even after 4-5 hours. Tonight (or this morning, depending on the life you live), I was determined to play a solid and fairly tight game of 2 5 NL. I told myself on the way there -- do not make moves in multiway pots, do not play suited connectors for a 5bb raise out of position -- basically, play solid, position poker. Just take home a small win, $200 or so, and get this demon off your back and prove that you can play 2 5 NL half way decently as there MUST be alot of money floating around in all the underground NL games in the GTA. NL is the game of choice these days, so why not try playing a limit that is interesting and see how I do.

The game is min/max $200/$500. Usually I like to buy for the max if any stacks at the table are at or over that amount as I can can with huge implied odds to crack big hands. however, I only know 1 player at the table so I decide to be cautious and buy in for $300. After no cards for some time and maybe winning 1 small pot I'm at $250. I have pigeonholed most of the table, so after I win a pot to get to around $330 or so I add on another $100. Basically only 1 big hand all night, but that's all it takes to win a few hundred at 2 5. 7 handed, a player with a fairly wide range of raising hands raises UTG to $20, I have black aces. I decide to conceal the strength of my hand and smooth call. I'm going to get away from this hand with heavy action on a scary board. The small blind, horrid player, comes along. 3 handed to a K74 flop suited in spades -- brilliant. UTG bets $20 into a $65 pot, I know the SB has $70 or $80 left and that I'm not moving off this hand, aces with the nut flush draw. I know SB calls with a king, so I make it $80 and SB folds. UTG calls fairly fast. I put him on AK or KQ. Turn appears to be a blank, making the board K748 with 3 spades. Now, I'm slightly afraid that he's slowplaying a flush or a set, but I'm almost convinced he has KQ with the Q spades. Pot roughly $$220, I bet $130 and have $200 behind. He thinks for 2-3 minutes and then calls -- ok he does not have a made hand and he muttered that he still has outs. KQ, he has to have KQ with Qspades. River offsuit Q for K748Q...um eeeeek! He thinks a minute then checks. I'm hoping if he has KQ I can represent the flush and win -- I bet $209 all in and he folds. He had QT with the Q spades -- drawing completely dead on the turn. That was the only large pot I had played since I sat, noone there really knew my play and he calls all the way with a naked single card 2nd nut flush draw.

Nice.

Only stayed an hour or so after. Roughly 3 hours total, +$250. Mission accomplished.

My First Hit at TITAN

$23 6max sngs played =33
Top 2 finishes 19/33 = 58%
Just finished a streak of 1st, 1st, and 4 seconds = JACKPOT!

Total profit in 33 sngs = $360, jackpot profit = $300.

More importantly, it feels good hitting this small bonus as I knew I could do it. I'll try again at this level as this is a fun diversion, if I hit again I'll move up to the $57s (my normal Party level). I think the best shot at the large jackpot is at the $23 level as the players are terrible.

Best first string is 3 in a row.

Fun.

Titan Jackpot Update

The best streak I've managed so far is 3 straight top 2 finishes and 2 straight firsts. Currently sitting at exactly that situation now for the third time. The good news is that I'm up a couple hundred dollars while playing these $23 sngs. I think I'll stick to these for online play while this promo is on.

What I figure is that is any 6max sng if the field were completely even then, obviously, the change of obtaining top 2 would be 2/6 or 33%. Now, I have a large edge on the field in 6max sngs as they are a specialty of mine. I make top 2 in these over 60%, so far on Titan the percentage being 11/18, or roughly 61%. So, the odds placing top 2 for 6 games in a row would be 0.61 to the 6th power, or roughly a 5% chance. If I can place in top 2 in 70%, which I feel is very realistic on this site at the $23 level, then I have an almost 12% chance or top 2 for 6 games in a row.

Taking the 5% number which translates to 1 in 20, I would on average have to play a series of 6 straight sngs 20 times to win the $300 bonus for placing top 2 for 6 games in a row.

Taking the 12% number, or roughly 1 in 9, I would have to play the series of 6 9 times to win.

Apparently, this would be between 9 and 20 series of 6 sngs, or between 54 and 120 sngs per $300 bonus. In reality, it is likely less sngs as an entire series of 6 is not required for each assessment as one loss will result in a new string of 6 games.

Lets see how it goes. So far 19sngs and no jackpots.

Check This Out, I'm GIDDY...6max sng jackpots on Titan Poker

I was fortunate to be advised about this jackpot.

Goes like this, play $23 6max sngs, place top 2 (3 pay on this site) 6 in a row and $300 bonus. Win 6 in a row and $25k bonus.

Play the $57s and ou get $750 or $100k respectively.

6max sngs are a specialty of mine, so I'm pretty psyched. Winning 6 in a row is not too likely, but placing 6 in a row, well, there's a decent chance.

Starting with the $23s and seeing how I do.

So far played 2, 2nd and 1st.

Obviously, without the jackpot I'm losing money compared to Party on my top 2 places as there is a 3rd place paid, but it'll be fun to try for a while.

Realization That I'm a Very Good Player

So, I was talking to a dealer/friend at an underground club that I frequent 5-10 times a month and we were discussing how much certain players owe on their respective sheets. I for one always play with cash -- I cash in, I cash out. I can't imagine playing with money that I don't have. Anyhow, the amounts that certain players owed in relation to the limits played at this club was, in a word, shocking. I'm still shocked. One player is on the sheet for mid 5 figures over 2 years. Other players appraoching 5 figures for the same period. Shocking.

Anyhow, I also learned that only 4 or 5 players out of the regular pool of 40-50 players are actually winning players. This fits with the 1 in 10 figure normally tossed about, and I know that almost all the players I sit with their are losers, but to hear only a handful of names picked out of the pool really reinforces things. I know I'm a winning player. I know I'm the best player at that club. I only respect the play or 3 other players I have ever played with there. But hearing the cold facts really made me think deeper about the situation.

I had another good month last month, both online and live. For live play, I love the Wed night hi/lo games. I averaged $300 or so a session over the month, but mostly it's a fun game with good people. As for holdem, I had 9/10 winning sessions this past month. The only losing session being a small loss. Online, I've been absolutely crushing the 6max sngs on Party. Last night alone I made $400 in a few hours 2 tabling the $55s. I've come to the point with my live play that for holdem I need to move up limits. Anything under 10 20 is just boring at this point, unless the game is 5 or 6 handed. Hopefully, I will be moving up to 20 40 at Brantford by mid summer. My bankroll is a bit short for an aggressive 20 40 game, so I'll likely wait until I build a bit more before jumping in.

I now solidly believe that I'm one of the few consistant winners out there. I have the confidence to move to 20 40. My weakness continues to be taking losing sessions in stride. My play is never affected while at the table, but I can be upset about a losing session for a day. Obviously, this is not a healthy way to handle something that is inevitable as a poker player, and I'm working on it.

Why I'm A Winning Cash Game Player

I've been playing alot of live cash games lately at underground clubs in the GTA. Playing with the same players night in and out really makes it easy to realize why I am a winning player and others are consistant losers. Lets see how we can categorize the losing players.

1. The Clueless Player. First you have the 50% of players that just don't understand the game -- the math, position, starting hand values, who is in the hand with them, etc. -- they just see K9o at a 10 handed limit holdem table and limp with it UTG, capped back to them and stay in with a non-nut gutshot to the river on a paired flush board.

2. The Tight Preflop Grouch. This player has rigid, inflexible, starting hand requirements. He cannot adjust to a loose table, cannot play 54s for 2 bets with 7 players in the pot, etc. Invariably he raises KK UTG and loses to a flush or a straight when 6 people see the flop on a 568 2 flush board and then bitches for a while about the game being bingo. He then actually tightens up his hand selection even more. He cannot understand why he is a losing player.

3. The Maniacal Gambler. This player always loves to create action, and may actually know how to play well, but cannot ever control himself for an entire session. He may play solid for a few hours here and there, but he always cracks and splashes chips onto everyone's stacks before the night is over.

4. The Player That Continues to Amaze Me (and thank god for him) -- The Tilter, The Steamer. This player actually understands how to play fairly well but cannot ever fathom how a bad player can win a pot against him. He plays AdKd in EP and gets 2 callers, one being a clueless player with 25o. Flop is KsQd5d with a final board of KQ5A5 rainbow and off he goes for a while, completely losing his focus and tilting off chips. I'll often try and nail another bad beat on this player to set him off further or casually mention to 25o how he called all the way within earshot of Mr. AK.

It amazes me. There are usually 2 players at the table who could be winning players if they took their emotions out of the game, but they can't. At some level they must understand that a losing player having a big session is a good thing. You don't win monster pots by rivering a 2 outer without giving it all back in the future. I am never upset seeing a crazy clueless player hitting a huge session, especially in an underground game where he will give it all back the very next session. Sure, it's frustrating at times being down 10-15bb in a given session and seeing a K8o UTG up 50bb, but you have to remember who gave you your bankroll in the first place and that noone wins every session. These players even see me winning a majority of my sessions, see me taking bad beats, see me not being affected by it whatsoever -- but they refuse to apply that same discipline to their game, just as K8o refuses to see the winning players around him and adjust his game at all.

Always thank the poker gods for the emotional tilter, without him you'd have much stiffer competition at the tables.

Finding an Online Niche

Finding the right hole...


Since I've started multitabling it's hard to justify playing much live poker in these parts. I have to drive an hour to play 10 20 LHE or higher with a decent rake. Otherwise I'm playing at some 10 20 club game where they are raking $10+ a pot and I just won't support people fleecing players. Combine that with drive time, wait lists, tipping, etc, etc...you know all the arguments for playing online these days.

So, I've started playing more online. I've played a bit of 10 20 full ring Omaha8 on Party and Pacific and these games are very soft. Mostly I've been playing 6max sngs since the Party upgrade and I am now averaging $40/h playing the $22s through to $55s depending on my mood. The $22s have to be the softest games I've ever seen, with my ITM hovering over 70%. That means every 7 out of 10 games I play at that level I'm finishing first or second. Now, I'm a good player, but the opposition is terrible at that limit to have that great an edge.

The last week or so I've also been playing some HU PLO/PLO8/Stud8 on Absolute Poker. The structure is just perfect for HU play, allowing alot of play but not dragging things on ridiculously long like the same games on Stars or forcing the issue like Paradise. For a fairly small site they really get some frequent Omaha and Stud HU games going at the $20 and $50 levels on there. I have been destroying these games, winning 80% in the past week. There are simply some terrible players playing these variations of poker heads-up on Absolute.

So, with the Party upgrade I am fortunate to have a wide selection of 6 handed sngs to play. I haven't played a single hand of holdem ring online in over a month, it really bores me...although there is obviously money sitting out there to be had.

Online MTTs just aren't something I can focus on. I play one once in a while, but only as a third or fourth table. I understand that these aren't something to gain a steady profit from. Same with the Party Steps tournies...I've yet to money in one, but I haven't invested very much due to the easy recycling structure.

The importance of finding games that interest me and that are profitable has been important in maintaining a focused online game. For now I play whatever I'm in the mood for..HU or 6max sngs. Both have been very profitable so far. I still mix in some live poker, although I've missed a couple of weeks of the Wednesday night hi/lo at The Office -- one of the softest games around. I've been more in the mood for NL tournaments, but have just been playing low limit $50-$75 games lately, mostly just for fun here and there.