Its amazing the difference a day can make.
Yesterday was a special-effects filled blockbuster of car crash poker - my monster hands being beated repeatedly by even bigger monsters. Kind of Godzilla v King Kong.
Today was more like the Waltons. Nice predictable poker, without any particularly notable hands (good or bad). One of those days where most continuation bets get through, most bluffs are believed, and passive players bow to your big stack without putting up much of a fight. The end result - a profit of $108 from 6 games.
RESULTS
Games Played
5 x $22 SNG (6 Seater)
1 x $22 SNG (10 Seater)
Wins
4 Times in the money (2 Wins & 2 Runner-Up on 6 seaters)
2 times out of the money
Bankroll
Cost of play $132 , Winnings $240, Net gain of $108
Bankroll up from $156 to £264
You wouldnt believe it was the same game as I was playing yesterday. I am struggling to think of any significant bad beats in any of the games played today either for or against me. I had my fair share of starting hands, hit my fair share of flops, and my coin flips hit their fair share of times. If poker was always like this, then it wouldnt get me so stressed. But then again, it wouldnt get me as excited either.
The thing is, I am left a little confused about how easy it was to win today. I could have easily won all 6 games today with above average luck hitting cards. But average luck was enough to get me two firsts, and two second places.
I also had a strange, unfamiliar feeling for much of the time I was playing. At first, I struggled to recognise the feeling, but after a while, I recognised it. The feeling was "I am the best player on the table". A new feeling for me - my main aim is normally to not be the worst player on the table.
Now I know I havent drastically improved my game since yesterday (see my gut-clenchingly bad play in the $300K), and I wasnt having an outrageously lucky day either to explain the wins. My ego hasnt run away with me, dont worry. I'm not going to turn pro any time soon.
My suspicion is that I was facing weaker opponents than normal - and I am wondering if the time of day has anything to do with it. All the games were played in the afternoon (UK time). Is the quality of player is worse at some times of day than others?
My gut feeling is that in a typical evening game, any given table probably has a couple of good players, a couple of awful coin flippers, and the rest somewhere in between (I consider myself in the "somewhere inbetween" category at the moment, with occasional demon possession which takes me back to the "awful coin flipper" category).
The tables this afternoon were overloaded with passive players. Small post-flop raises would induce a fold time and time again. Continuation bets got through on most occasions. Blind stealing was seldom fought. They rarely raised a pot, but when they did, it was with such force that it was obvious they had a monster, and it was easy to get out of the way.
If this is typical of the clientele on an afternoon, I will reorder my life so that afternoon play is possible! Any thoughts ?
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2 comments:
Thanks for the comment. It's humbling to know that my blog has been helpful. A bit frightening too. :)
From skimming your blog, I can definitely recoginize times where I've felt the same way. If there was one piece of advice I could offer above anything else, it's this:
Become process oriented, not results oriented. If you're making the right move, the outcome will eventually move in your favor.
Now, making the right move...that's another story.
GL and thanks for reading!
Cheers - I think the small bankroll is a contributory factor to getting too 'results-driven'. Playing $22 buy ins, I am only an 8-10 game losing streak away from not being able to play for a while, so results are everything.
I am loathed to move down to cheaper rooms where I could sustain a longer losing streak, because I don't seem to be able to cope with the wild play in those rooms.
I know your advice is spot-on, but losing a 5 game streak like yesterday through not much fault of my own does get me stressed!
Keep up the good work though!
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