Last night started like any other poker playing night. Hopeful expectations of another winning session. I was in the midst of a 11 session (day) winning streak and 36 of 39 winning sessions so things were going good as I did also reach goal #4 this week. Not unlike many days, I happened to get stuck $100 pretty much from the get go. No problems, I've battled back many times before; but tonight would be different.
Without going into too many details, that $100 turned into $200 which turned into $300 which turned into nearly $400. Was I doing anything differently? Let's look at the daily numbers.
822 hands... 30.17 VPIP.. 14.23 PFR.. 2.25 TAF.. won when seeing flop 34%.. went to showdown 32%.. and won at showdown 52%.
Those numbers are pretty consistent with what I have been doing since December when I changed and went to short handed play. The moral of the story is that some nights, it's just not going to work. Your top pair is going to get beat by 2 pair.. your draws aren't going to hit... nobody is going to play with you when you get the monsters.. I understand this, you understand this.. heck, we all understand this; but it doesn't change the fact that I hate losing sessions.
So, what do I do.. I play, and play, and play. Why is it that we will continue to play and play when getting behind; but will cut sessions short when we are winning. I know, I know, we have talked about this 100 times; but it doesn't change the fact that it happens all too often. The truth be told, I am OK with this theme.... as long as the playing conditions are still favorable. The fact that I quit after a short winning session is OK also as it allows me time to spend with family... or should I say Mrs Wonka as Baby Wonka is normally in bed by the time I start playing.
So, I kept playing. I played for 3.37 hours and finally just called it quits down $170 as I wanted to watch some of the Olympics that I had recorded. Definitely not the end of the world. I was able to make a bit of a comeback. Truthfully, I felt as if I was playing well and was making more of a comeback but I just wasn't erasing the deficit. It is obviously hard to always calculate this when you are playing 3 tables; which is why I keep the ring statistics going on Poker Tracker to tell me exactly where I am at during the evening.
And also as I am prone to do, I stepped up to 5/10 to help make up the difference. As usual with sites that don't have a whole lot of traffic, I saw some of the same guys that I played at 3/6. Upon further review, I remembered my declaration to stay at this level until the end of the month and stopped the 5/10 session short at 23 hands for a $69 profit.... after of course getting stuck $75 from the get go... I was able to play the same game with the same results which is re-assuring to me for if and when I do make the move up.
So, given the fact that you are going to have losing nights, it is so important to make sure that you keep you eye on the long term and come into the next session with a fresh outlook with no memory of the past session. Of course, this is easier said than done; especially after a few bad nights in a row.
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Well, the results of the poll about what type of game that you play. After 26 votes, the majority 46%) are still playing full ring games... with about 4 people (17%) playing both short and full ring. I urge people that are playing full ring to give short handed a try; but perhaps a little study of the differences might be in order... as it really is a different game.
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After reading many people talk about the VIP program at Party, I decided to send them an email to set what was what. Afterall, I did play over 5,400 hands last month on Party. I know that is not a lot; but I thought it might get me in the door. Nope... A pretty immediate reply saying that I don't play enough to be a Party VIP. I need to play 5,000 raked hands... so clearly, I was probably a good ways from that as 3/6 SH hands typically has about a 50-55% shot of being raked off the top of my head. Oh well, I will continue on with Battlefield (with my 40% rakeback) with an occasional dip into Party if and when the Battlefield tables are barren. No big whoop.
That should do it for today.
Peace!!!
Final level 4
4 months ago
5 comments:
Will, send email to me at csquard@yahoo.com and I'll send your cheesecake. Congrats.
I was just thinking the same thing this morning. Everyone and their mom spiked a set on me last night when I held top pair-big kicker. I should have cut the session shorter, but I really wanted to get back the loss. I got some of it back (not much).
Of course, I've no problem walking away a winner. Great post as usual.
Excellent post. Viewing it all in the long-term and just making the right decisions is all that matters. It keeps your sanity through the worst of stretches (and I would know, LOL).
Bummer about the Party VIP thing, but it's their loss. I think that depending on who you talk to at Party about being a VIP, the requirement varies. They just make it up as they go, IMHO.
I don't cut-n-run when up and doing well, but lately I will shut down once I'm down 30BB. Especially if I find myself continually holding quality 2nd best hands ie., TPTK w/AJs and find someone with QQ.
Some nights I'm learning, are simply not meant for you.
Will, Barry Greenstein delves into this in his book "Ace on the River." He said the best players always quit when they are losing, not when they are winning, and gives some tips as to how to do this. I'm always able to quit when I'm down a buy-in because I know I don't play well after that. I think following his advice is crucial to me keeping my bankroll healthy. His tips help. Check out the book.
I'm going to write a blog about full tables versus short-handed, as I just moved to full tables for SnGs and ring play and I'm having great success at it.
Check it out.
Thanks for the posts.
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