One of Those Months

Do you ever have one of those sessions where you play you’re “A” game and still get it up the ass? The whole month of December has been that way for me. Today I played at St. Elias church since Nautica is closed for the holidays. It basically attracts the same players but the dealers are much better and you are encouraged to tip on your winning hands. The rake is a little worse at 10% up to $7.00 max per pot versus $5.00 or $6.00 max. However, I am alright with that because the average hands per hour is a lot better than downtown. They also have better control of the table, are able to calculate side pots and keep the action moving if a player isn’t paying attention.

Anyways, let me tell you a few hands I got involved in. I raise $6.00 bet to $30.00 with AA, and get called to see a flop of Ac10d3d. I check/raise to bet of $40.00 and all the money is in. Duchebag rivers a flush with 8d9d. -$100.00

I open for $12.00 with 77 and get one caller. This broad is first to act and bets $15.00 on Qd9d7c flop. I call and get bet $20.00 into on Ks turn. I push and get called for another $85.00. River is blank and I lose to 10J straight. WTF -$132.00. I played it slow because I put the lucky son of a bitch on a flush draw with a possible pair. I like how I played my hand because I want to maximize very strong starting hands. I just ran into a sneaky draw that caught up. My bad for trying to get some chips in the middle.

I open for $10.00 with AK. I get min/raised and call to flop of K84. I check/raise all in and watch son of a bitch turn over AA. BRICK…BRICK. Really? - $140.00

To top it off, my draws never improved. I Flop open/ended straight/draw, miss. I Flop a high flush/draw with top pair...brick, brick. Am I being punk’d right now? Is Ashton Kutcher behind that door? This poker shit gets old after a while.

I can get over a bad session much easier if I play bad because then it is easy to fix. When I play my best and still get screwed, I steam for quite a while because I can’t stand when retard play gets rewarded and I am not able to fix anything. I sometimes leave these sessions in shock at how bad the play is and wonder why I am not going to the cage cashing out $3000.00+ in chips! I wet my pants over these fricking idiots when they sit at my table. What did I do to piss off the poker gods? I am not referring to everybody. However, out of a table of 10, four of them don’t even have the capacity to add numbers. It’s just sick and wrong to see red chips in front of them. Wrong I tell you, Wrong!

Merry frickin’ Christmas you donkeys. Just wait until 2011 because I am coming after you all with a vengeance!

New Years Resolution

Here’s the deal. I have been keeping stats the whole year on every poker session played. I made money this year but have a lot of leaks I need to fix. For example, when I play sessions five hours or shorter, I make money. When I play downtown, I make money. When I play at Dave’s in Lorain, I make money. All other sessions are losers. Two known reasons are because I like to drink and because I play longer than I should. For the new year, I am going to commit myself to minimizing these leaks. Also, I seem to make money against people that know me because they always pay me off if I play my best game. I have a loose, aggressive image and that means I get a lot of action. As long as I play the nuts, I will get paid off.

I can’t wait for a casino to be built here. I am so tempted to move to a town that has multiple card rooms. Why can’t I just say screw it, grow some balls and move? Maybe if I get fired, I will get a temporary place in Detroit while keeping my original apartment to try and make a go at it. That city has three card rooms so it would be a good trial run. What am I waiting for?

I think one of the reasons I am hesitant to make a move is because of the horrible sessions I run into from time to time. Let me give you a couple of examples. Two days ago, I entered my first hand with AA and made it $15.00 to go. I got one caller and saw a flop of Jh10h5c. I bet $50.00 and get called. I went all in when a 2 comes on the turn and get called by J10. Guess what came on the river? J! The second hand I got involved in, I made it $15.00 to go with AK. I get one caller and pushed for $150.00 on a flop of 8h3h2c. I get called and lose to 7h6h when river gives duchebag his flush. Third hand, I made it $15.00 with AJ. I get one caller and saw flop of J102. He pushes for $90.00 and hits with a 10 on the river. REALLY?

Winning poker is all about fine tuning your game and minimizing your mistakes. Too many players are experienced at live and online play that the competition is that much stiffer. You really have to be at your best if you want to make money in the long run. Stats don’t lie and I promise you that this time next year I will show an improvement in my game. I don’t have a choice.