Well WSOP is in full swing. Ridiculous numbers of 2/5 games everywhere and last couple days there have been about 15-20 5/10's between the V, B, Aria, Wynn, and Rio.
Unfortunately I'm starting back right where I left off before vacation. Nothings working, running into it, having to bet fold a disproportionate number of my value hands, etc. Its making me start to doubt myself and I start thinking I'm doing something wrong. I've discussed a few hands with Rob and another V reg where I second guess a good decision because I'm running bad. Its nice to be able to talk about these types of hands with them because even though they aren't all that interesting it helps kick me back to reality.
Honestly results haven't been too bad, my sessions have just been really grindy. Thursday I played at Bellagio and was pretty happy with the session despite having to make some gross folds, resulting in a small loss. Talking through one such hand with Rob and another guy inspired what has been called "Taylor Theorem", which states that "if its close, Taylor Theorem dictates its a fold". Its funny, I'm definitely pretty far on the aggressive end of the spectrum, but I'm the nit of our circle. I used to take offense to that title because the word "nit" is somewhat derogatory in the poker world, but now I just embrace it and wear that nit badge with pride.
Anyways last two days have been spent at the V, which is so much nicer than playing at Bellagio. Yesterday I played in a great game that unfortunately broke sooner than I would have liked. I made one clear mistake where I made a much too thin value bet on the river. When I was making the bet I knew it was too thin but for whatever reason did it anyway. This pattern has manifested multiple times at 5/10. I end up doing something opposite of what my brain tells me to do and then sit there like "why the hell did I just do that?". This is likely another byproduct of running bad where I'm not trusting my instincts. I suppose its better to recognize it rather than thinking my instincts are wrong. Now I just need to work on listening to them. Despite that, I think it was one of my best sessions because I identified a few other spots that were interesting and think I learned a lot. Most were in very small pots but stuff like that is really important, especially as you move up in stakes.
Today was another session at the V and I don't feel nearly as good about it as yesterday's. For one thing the games weren't as good. Not bad, but nothing to get too excited about. I couldn't really focus and was really fidgety the whole session. Couldn't seem to get comfortable in my chair. Sounds weird but when I have to adjust how I'm sitting every 5 minutes its hard to focus. So I was really distracted and not doing a good job of paying attention. I was pretty card dead and hovered within $200 of even for over 4 hours when this hand came up.
2k effective stacks, I raise 6
6
utg to 40, get 3 calls behind. Flop 9
8
6
. I lead for 150, fold, Asian chick makes it 480. Folds to me and I ship for about 1500 more. She snaps and I'm pretty sure I ran into set over set or best case scenario I'm against a straight. Board runs out 7
A
and I lose to 4
5
.
I had been debating leaving the game to play 2/5 for a bit since it wasn't great but after that hand I ended up just taking off. I was thrilled to get 2k in as a 2:1 favorite but with how distracted I was the whole session and then losing a 4k pot I figured it was best to leave.
I really think I'm turning a corner here as I'm starting to recognize some things at 5/10 that I wasn't before. Recognizing and executing are not the same thing but I feel like I'm working my way there.
Obviously this isn't the best time to run bad but the main thing is I need to get hours in, which I haven't done a great job of in the 3 days I've been back. I'm always a little slow after coming back from an extended break and the WSOP is a marathon in which the gun just went off, so I'm not worried about getting my desired time in.
Last edited by cushlash; 06-02-2013 at 12:18 AM.