I love this game
Bad day. Appalling day. Black Thursday.
While Jamie Gold was eating blueberries in a Las Vegas hotel suite readying himself to go suck out on the other poor folks at the WSOP final table, I was pissing my bankroll away in a marathon 9 hour session of limit grinding. I had 9 out of 25 sets busted, half my Aces and Kings shot down and She-only knows what else. If it was bad, then it happened to me yesterday.
But was I playing good poker? Was I fuck. This morning I sat down to do my penance, working through the hand histories trying to find the mistakes. I didn’t have to look very hard.
1. Missed a turn bet with unimproved AQ on a 3-flush, K-high board.
2. Limped with J9o behind two limpers. Got raised and paid for it.
3. Failed to call river heads-up in 11BB pot with low pair when an obvious flush draw missed.
4. Limped T9s behind two. Folded instead of raising A9x flop.
5. Peeled flop with gutshot getting only 4-1.
6. Open-limped 33, then check-folded flop.
7. 3-bet a TAG’s early position raise with AJs.
8. Open-limped A8s.
9. Failed to bet-fold river.
10. Open-limped 33.
11. Open-limped QJ.
12. Called down with bottom pair after getting check-raised on AJT flop.
13. Paid off river raise.
14. Missed river bet-fold opportunity.
15. Missed turn bet.
16. Failed to bet turn with unimproved AK - and split pot.
17. Missed river raise.
18. Bet-fold opportunity with KQ on Ttxx turn. (Not sure about this one).
19. Failed to bet turn with 72o on 5352 board with no aggressors.
20. Failed to value bet river when I turned a pair of K’s.
This was all in the first 300 hands of just one session - I was probably still feeling pretty good about my play at the time, while cursing my fate. I decided I could look at my arse no longer. I play better than this, and I’m going to play better than this. So I did. Today I earned back what I lost. Did I tell you how much I love this game?