What's This Hook In My Mouth???

It was a cold cold weekend.

It started on Saturday when I talked my wife into going ahead and trying out the 10/20 tables. "C'mon now, it's just like playing 2/4 but just with red chips!" I figure after my masturbatory Blackjack rush, it was her turn to play with the big bucks. She went down to the Muckleshoot first as I had to finish up some work for the office.

When I got there 2 hours later, she had already bought in with a rack ($500) and was now down to just one stack (~$100). The first hand I saw of hers was Q3 - it was a lowball flop and she caught a 3, but it got raised twiced before her so she dumped out. A Q came on the River, and the players who raised just had medium pocket pairs, so she would have taken that huge pot. Had this been 2/4, she probably would have stayed in. My thought is, a hundred chips is a hundred chips, whether they be white or red. But I guess realizing the red ones cash out for a bit more makes the transition a bit harder. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see if I could hold true to my theory, as I was only allocated $200 and had to sit at the 4/8 table.

I think I did pretty well. Didn't play half as many hands as I normally would. Folded if my outs were too few after the flop. Played according to my position to bluff a few pots. I was up about $50 when the weather suddenly turned on me. I got absolutely nothing I felt comfortable playing, even on the button. When I did get a decent hand, someone else had a decenter hand. It began when I was holding AT and flopping KQJ for the nut straight. I didn't try to slowplay and bet right out and got a raise from an older woman who was playing very tight. We capped it on the flop and the Turn. She had 9Td for a lower straight, and then caught a 3rd diamond to flush me out of a huge chunk of my chips. I raise pocket Aces UTG; and when two 7s flop, another chunk of my stacks get split by 67 and 78. I finally bust out completely when my Pocket Tens sees a 9-high flop, and I get beat by Pocket Jacks.

Shawni had left the 10/20 and traded down to the same game in white. She wasn't faring that well either. We'd been there for about 6 hours at this point, so I had to go home and check on the dogs (the kids were spending the weekend with Grandma). I hung out at home and watched TV for a bit, when I got a call from the wife. She said she had to leave the Muckleshoot cause all the luck was just whizzing by her... the table next to hers hit the Bad Beat Jackpot and split $24,000. She had to leave and told me to meet her "at home" aka Midway.

I head down there at about 10pm and see her seated happily with a large stack of chips. Yup, home sweet home! I bought in for $100 and just started bleeding away chips. Could not get a damn hand or a flop to match. Or if I did catch something, I wouldn't get any action. Luck may have whizzed by Shawni at the Muckleshoot and caught up with her at the Midway, but it was ignoring me completely!

I was pretty much ready to give up for the night, when I get AJs and FINALLY flop the flush. There were two other maniacs in capping each round, and I ended up going all in and taking the $100 main pot. Three hours and I've only broken even. I racked up and went home and right to sleep.

When I woke up in the morning, Shawni was sound asleep; and there was over $500 in our Poker Money Box! I found out over breakfast that she stayed still closing and managed to clean out some of those maniacs. And she was getting good cards too! Full house after Full house, flushes and straights getting called all the way down to the River.

Then she broke the bad news to me. She talked to one of the dealers before leaving, and he questioned my play, thought I was a weak player.

Man, I thought it was just the cards that were cold.

Apparently, he felt I tried to bluff way too much, and gave away a lot of chips chasing cards. Hmm... I'm totally open to criticism and advice, and I thought back about the last couple weekends of play. Unfortunately there's no B&M Poker Tracker, and I'm not one to sit at the table with a notebook, so I just had to go off memory. In thinking back, I came to the realization that I do play too aggressively. I remember hearing that one should play opposite of the table; and the only times I do well are when it is a passive, easy to scare table. But once another aggressor comes in, I have trouble holding back. I get caught up in the moment. I seem to always end up heads-up with them and try to push them off the pot without the best hand. Not good.

I will defend myself against the chasing bit though. How can you not hold out to the river when you flop a open-end straight draw AND the 4 card flush? If there's nothing on the flop, I'll see the Turn if it's cheap, and then I'm out. I don't hold low connectors or s00ted rag, cause I know those get expensive to chase, and then they're still easy to beat. I know how to count my outs and bet accordingly.

These thoughts ran through my head all Sunday. Am I really the fish? I try to spot the sucker at the table when I sit down, but do I need a mirror to be able to see him? Aw dammit. Enlightenment sucks!

Well, we went back down for the last qualifying Freeroll and I told myself I will play better, play my best. No excessive aggression. No gut-shot chasing. Excellent hand selection only.

I played exactly 4 hands, no limping, 2-4x BB raises: ATs, flopped missed completely. AKo, flop came with 2 Jacks. QQ, an Ace and a K flops. As a short stack, I finally have to push all-in with pocket 8s, get called by an AK. King on the flop, and another King on the turn just for my amusement.

*sigh*

Kind of hard to analyze my play when the cards are running that badly. And it wasn't just in Hold'em. I clawed my way through the first round of the Pai-gow tournament; and I couldn't hang on to make it through the 2nd round. I was just on the bubble of making it to the final table, where, of course, everyone split it for an easy $150.

Went back into the Poker room and bought another rack, and stuck to my guns. I was going to play well and play consistent, but my luck decided to remain consistent as well. Pocket Js gets a board of 256,7,9 and of course two others are holding an 8. KQ flops two-pair, but I'm drawing dead to someone holding KK. Twice I got KK but lost to a rivered Flush and a rivered Straight. The night went on like that, and the table finally broke when I was down to $20.

A negative weekend for me. Down $300... found out I'm a fish... kept drowning in the river... no wonder it's so damn cold.