The road to my first bracelet

Yes we do. I think my little rocket is running out of gas. The road to the first bracelet will be a bit rougher then expected. Well, I never expected it to be easy. But I am sitting a those 25NL tables watching my bankroll melt. I lose 4 more buyins and I go back to 10NL. I keep putting the blame on those suck outs I had during the last two weeks but now, I better start finding a solution within myself. Maybe I let something go. Maybe with loosening up to isolate bad players, I became too loose, maybe I exagerate those implied odds to give me a reason to call. One thing for sure, there are a lot more 3betters at 25NL. I better start learning to deal with this and 3 bet myself. And if I don’t find much, I’ll just sit thighter and play my cards as best as I can. One thing for sure, I let most of everything poker related out of the picture, reading, DC videos, hand reading practice. I have to put something in my head: if I want to be a professional poker player, I better start think like one and do my weekly homework. That too maybe at fault.

One thing that amaze me at the tables is those players who obviously learn to play poker on TV. That guy limped from UTG with J-3 offsuit. What a great hand. What could go wrong with this? So I raise my pocket Queens and of course UTG calls. HU pot. Flop comes: 4-5-7 rainbow and he shoves. Of course, he’s on a draw and that’s what they do on TV, no? Here is a little something I use against bad players a this limit. It’s not a law nor it is 100% accurate. You have the same preflop scenario and the fish (OOP) check-raises you on the flop. You can let go of your beautiful overpair. Mr fish flopped a set, maybe 2 pairs. He knows he beats you and let you put some more money into that pot. If he shoves instead of check raising, he is not that strong but he has something and wants to take that pot away from you. In our little example, I thought he had a six, giving him a double ended straight draw, so I called. I could hardly believe he shoved with nothing more than a gutshot but he did ‘cause that’s what they do on TV. And of course, he caught a 6 on the turn. There went another buyin.

Healthy mind in a healthy body? I talk about that in my last entry. For all of you fatsoes who are reading this (I use to include myself into this category), that should be a goal too. A few months ago, I was sitting in a bar and there was a mirror to my left. I glanced at myself and one thing came to mind: Jabba The Hut. Not a pretty picture. You want to lose one pound a week? Easy. Stop eating like the pig you look like and start eating like the human beeing you are. Want to lose 2 more pounds a week? I enrolled in a boxing gym. $40 a month. 90 minutes a day, 3 days a week will do the job. Every time I jump rope, I am thinking of those little girls in the school yard jumping, singing and laughing at the same time. I have a hard time jumping and breathing at the same time and I do not laugh. But it works and it feels great. Hope this will show in my poker mindset. I think it does.

Damn. This is 24 hours later after posting the entry. I watched “Real life micro no limit grinder episode 4” The first part is about what to do and what not to do when nothing works. I followed some advices like: play at a lower stakes until you get your confidence back. Well, at least the 2 buyins I lost were smaller than at 25NL. As far as the confidence is concern, we’ll have to wait a bit more. After 30 minutes, I got hit 5 times by hands like these:

Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (SB): $10.00
BB: $9.85
UTG: $4.80
CO: $6.45
BTN: $19.80

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is SB with A A
UTG calls $0.10, 1 fold, BTN calls $0.10, Hero raises to $0.50, 1 fold, UTG calls $0.40, 1 fold

Flop: ($1.20) 6 4 5 (2 players)
Hero bets $0.90, UTG calls $0.90

Turn: ($3.00) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks

River: ($3.00) 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $1, Hero calls $1

Final Pot: $5.00
Hero mucks A A
UTG shows K 3 (a straight, Deuce to Six)
UTG wins $4.80
(Rake: $0.20)

I swear to God, when I saw the deuce on the turn, I knew villain had a broadway and a 3 suited. So why did I call his river bet? ‘Cause I could not beleive my thinking was right. After 5 hands like these, you just can’t think straight. So much for the confidence. And in that half hour, this was my best hand:

Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BB: $3.90
UTG: $3.70
CO: $20.40
Hero (BTN): $10.00
SB: $9.90

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BTN with K A
UTG raises to $0.40, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1.50, 3 folds

Final Pot: $0.95
Hero mucks K A
Hero wins $0.95
(Rake: $-0.00)

Well, I’ll do a session review to see if I made any mistakes. Then tomorrow, I’ll just go and try to play my cards as best as I can.