Hey there! I'm just another low limit NL grinder in Las Vegas looking to step up my game and start crushing. I figured it would be a great idea to start a blog so I can chronicle my ups and downs and get feedback from you on my play. Maybe even make some friends out here in Vegas to play with. Please comment on my blog, subscribe, follow me on Twitter (@TheBestEverPokr), or check me out on the 2+2 forums! I'll be posting in LLSNL for now, and my 2+2 name is "TheBestEver".
Played last night at Venetian, sat down at about 6:30 PM. I have been playing really good lately in my opinion. Super tight, but overall making decent decisions and staying out of trouble. Last night I sit down and it's shorthanded, which I'm not really comfortable with. It was 6 handed, and it eventually got down to 4 handed for a really short period of time. I played some hands TERRIBLE and was down $140 almost immediately. Couple just stupid hands where I got myself into trouble and had no plan for the hand, and it showed.
First hand, I had A-10. Raised on the button to 10. Got called. Flop was 4-4-2. Guy bets out 10. In a full ring game I'd just fold here a lot of the time. Could be ahead, but whatever. Just save my money. This time I decided to call because it was so shorthanded and he might just be trying to pick up the pot. Turn was a 7. He checks. I should have bet, but didn't. Honestly I just had no plan for this hand whatsoever. If you call on the flop, why don't you bet the turn when he checks? It makes no sense. Anyway I checked behind, river was a queen. He bets 15, I call (why???) and he has Q-J. Stupid.
I think I started to tilt myself a bit by playing that stupid, and then I played another hand even worse. :P I had AJhh on the button and raised to 7. Same guy insta-reraises to 17. I call, and I honestly didn't even think about what he could have or anything. I just have no idea what I was thinking at all. So I call, and the flop is great : JTx with 1 heart. He checks. I check behind, WTF?!?!?!?! If I fired 30 there I might have picked up this pot. It just makes absolutely no sense to me what I was thinking. Turn is a king, he fires 20, I call. River is a blank, he bets 50, call. A-Q for the straight.
I've been playing such a super tight, low variance style lately that going down $140 with no real hands this early was just mind-blowing to me, and I really got upset with myself. I don't know what I was doing. This has happened to me in the past, and I'm sure it happens to a lot of people... you play really good for a long time, then something snaps and you just make a really dumb mistake, go on tilt and just ruin the entire session.
I knew I had to focus and get back in it. Even if I didn't get that money back, it would be good to just play out the session and play well, and hopefully break even from here. Just get some practice recovering from stupid mistakes. So that's what I did. I tried not to get too frustrated with myself and I just got back to it.
Had some big hands and got no action. Pocket aces a couple times, no preflop callers. I was making it $10 preflop which was more than some other people, but overall I think that's fine and I just happened to raise when nobody had any hands. On one of the AA hands I was in the blind and with a bunch of limpers I made it $17 and everyone folded, but I guess that's OK. I'd rather play that heads up or not at all when I'm out of position. Historically I've gotten myself in a lot of trouble with big pocket pairs so I'm willing to give up some value to escape the tough decisions I'm going to face later in the hand, at least for now. Maybe once I play a lot more and get more comfortable I'll change that attitude a bit.
Had a pretty sick hand with 6-7d. Guy in early position makes it 6. A couple people call and I call. Flop is pretty much the sickest possible : 4d5d8c. Straight with the straight flush redraw. Insane flop. Raiser bets 10, one guy calls.
At this point I didn't want to just call. Even though my hand is really strong, I'd rather raise here and try to get action from AA or a set or whatever, or even a straight (giving me a free shot at someone's stack). If a diamond came off and didn't give me the straight flush, it would be bad. Granted, I was in position so I could have risked it. But I did raise it to $35, and both folded. A bit of a bummer but overall I'm not too worried about it. If a diamond came off it would put me in a bad spot where I could lose a lot.
Another hand, not sure I played it well or not. The turn put me in a weird spot. I was in early position with 2-2, limped, and called a raise to $7. 3 players in. Flop was great, 2-3-5 with 2 spades. I check, the raiser bets 11. The other guy calls and I call. I'm hoping for a blank on the turn, maybe a king or queen, and I would either lead out or checkraise.
The turn is a 6. This is not the best card. :-) The other guy in the pot could have the straight, as anyone is calling with the 4.... A-4, 44, 45s, etc. I just checked. The raiser bet 20, the other guy folded, and I called the 20. I didn't want to check-raise here, although maybe it makes sense. Not sure. River was a queen. I check, the guy bets $25. I call, he has QJ and I win. As it turns out I probably made the most money I could have. I could have potentially check-raised the river, but what hands are calling me? I think probably not that many. And I didn't really know how to play the turn, or if I played the flop OK. I could have raised there as well. I need to post that one to 2+2 to get some feedback.
Valuetown express hand : this one was nice and easy. I'm in the SB with KQo. I check. About 6 people are in. Flop K-Q-4. I bet 10. Girl calls me. Turn 7. I bet 20, girl calls. River 4. I bet 50, girl calls. She mucks, I win. That was my biggest hand of the night profit-wise. I think I played it great, but then again it sort of plays itself. I think doing anything like check-raising would just be fancy play and not necessarily good. Being out of position and all.
After that hand, finally I was back in black. :-) Up about $40 then. Ah. Feels great to battle back and be up.
I left maybe an hour later. Played for about 4 hours and won $30. I'll take it. Not a huge win, and I feel like I actually had more good hands in this session than a lot of other sessions I've played lately, so it's kinda weak. I could have probably won an extra $100 at least if I just didn't play stupid. Either way though I'll take it. I could easily have continued to tilt and left down $400. I've done that in the past and it does not feel good compared to a $30 win. :-)
One thing I want to work on is controlling my breathing. :-) I think when I get in these pots, not even huge ones, I just start breathing out of control heavy and it's really hard to just look like nothing is happening. I don't remember being that bad about it back in the day. Then again, I was playing every day, and I also was probably drunk a lot of the time. Not sure if that would make this easier or harder to control. :-) I'm trying to run up the flight of stairs back to the parking garage when I play at Venetian, and then try to just walk out to the car controlling my breathing like it was a super easy run up the stairs. I feel like that does a pretty good job of simulating the same body conditions as I encounter when I get a big hand.
Well, that's it for my first blog post. Thanks for reading. :-) More to come. Please follow me and leave comments!
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