Still no manies...I have stopped trying to rationalize or even quantify this downswing but can say it's on par with some of the worst I have had, clearly I have spit in the eye of some minor poker deity and am subsequently being punished. I also feel that I have been playing better throughout it than some previous downtrends. So I have tightened up and gotten really basic; I am undoubtedly shorting myself on potentially profitable spots but am temporarily reducing variance until the run-good fairy visits me.

Playing very conservative TAG (though borderline nittish) I was able to at least slow the bleeding from the mass hemorrhaging of last week to a slower trickle.

Friday I got out too late to catch my tournament so went to Excal and spent most of a 5 hour session between +$100-$150 but then lost with KK pre for a large pot all in pre when I !4 gii and he snaps with AQ, 2 hands later ppKK again...lose all in pre in a 3 way pot vs the 2 small stacks, didnt even get the sidepot A10os takes it down. 2 hands later (!?) I pick up ppQsQc and make it $25 over a straddle get 2 callers. I cbet $50 on a 6-9-10 board all hearts but fold to a c/r all in...guy proudly slams over 9-10os ...Climbed back out of the hole and left down only -$34

Saturday played at GVR...ran pretty neutral for a few hours which means I was making some money but then a youngish guy with 'beats' on called my $22 pre (ppAA) with pp44 and then called a $45 cbet on flop of 2-9-3 to turn his 4...went check check put then I paid off his river bet when the deuce paired and he filled up...still managed a whopping +$25 profit.

Sunday was Ballys...played a short session b/c I lost a decent sized pot with AK on a K29 flop (2 spades) when I decided to rr flop with position then blast turn pretty big, guy had KsJs got there on river...recomposed myself but then got in an ugly one where its raised to $5 pre and I call from lp with KQos (yeah I should have raised)...flop comes 9-10-4 w/2 hearts and one diamond...original raiser goes $5 again and we all call, turn is the J diamonds giving me the nuts, checked to me I go $25 and folded to mp V from England who c/r me to $60, I make it $160 which puts him all in and he snaps with Q-3 diamonds and gets there on river. FML. lol...asked him why he would c/r with that hand and hes like I had str draw too so many outs I'm never folding (?) ...In a rare case of frustration I pretty much say #$%K IT! and leave after only playing maybe 2 hours. I just felt at that point that my game had been compromised and my frustration was not going to let me continue playing impartially. Left down -$140.

I took off Monday and today again and probably will go to the lake or something tomorrow. I guess Thursday I'll head back down to the strip and turn things around.

At GVR on Saturday they were having some Ultimate Poker mtt I was unaware of, saw this guy hanging around, presumably in a promotional capacity? Anyhow I talked to him for awhile about the old high stakes cash game shows I always liked watching him and others on. He said he misses playing on those as well and hopes something similar comes up in the future. Having met plenty of pretentious pros and self styled great players, I can say that he comes off as very humble and laid back and showed a general interest and pleasure in conversing with me and others, I feel like all live pro players should strive to me good ambassadors to the game like this.

Me and 'the Magician' ...the blur of the camera apparently made me both fat and Asian.


Unfortunately it has been a #@%#tty month so far and my run bad has impacted my plans in a number of ways. I tend to tighten up on spending and entertainment ect when I am running this poorly and my plans to play more 2-5 this month have been messed up as well since I feel hopping up stakes in the middle of negative momentum is counterproductive at best and potentially destructive.

On a positive note I may have some really cool news coming up but wont be certain until next week.

It sounds like you are remaining somewhat positive through this little episode of variance which is awesome! You have definitely has your share of coolers by the sounds of those hands however sounds like you might be spazzing a little post flop.

Enjoy the lake, I know nothing makes me feel better than chilling by a lake, gallon of ice cold water, some tunes, a good book and enjoy some scenery

Play is perfectly fine. No spazzing detected at all. It's not even coolers, more like all suck outs.

the AA vs 44 I didn't need to pay him on river...as bad as he played the hand I know him well enough to know he's not betting value there with worse, also the AK vs the spades I should have pot controlled it smaller, didn't know he had such a strong hand that I wasn't getting him off. Other than that most of the beats have come after the $ is in. Yes I am fortunate to be in a position where the downswings do not effect my day-to-day life or put me in uncomfortable situations financially so I can take them in stride. I am certainly ready to recapture some momentum though to continue progressing and implementing some more ambitious plans.

Sorry to hear about your runbad. Hope things turn around for you soon. Thanks for keeping us updated, I enjoy reading your posts.

Good luck, good thread.
Hope you turn it around.

You really don't want to turn into the guy who's questioning people everytime they play bad against him and get there. It's not good for your mental health and it's certainly not good for keeping the fish in the game (unless they get off on tilting others, then carry on)

I totally agree...as I said I realized I was letting it get to me which is why I had to bail out early. That said, sometimes I will ask out of genuine curiosity because I just want to know what their thinking process was so I can rationalize it to my advantage with future fish lol.

I don't understand how this helps your game to leave immediately upon losing a buyin. You have to go to a new table with new players with unknown styles, rather than using the expensive info you just gathered on your opponents to adjust and get your buyin back.

I can completely understand the need to sometimes take a break and cool off if tilted. But for me, I play my best when I know villains tendencies, rather than just guessing.

^I only like playing deep(ish) so I would top off anytime I get below about $225 on a 1-2 table rather than decay a buyin further. I want to be able to maximize potential situations. As for leaving I have mixed feelings, as Nax said the value of having observed the table can be very high...I guess I am more inclined to leave if I feel the table is not particularly profitable because there isn't much worse than being stuck at a table that is just highly unlikely to even provide the opportunity to get unstuck.

Thanks for updating, this is one of my favorites on 2p2. Good luck getting over the run bad.

thx much and to the others who enjoy reading ...hopefully I will have some really good stuff to come soon to break up this monotony of run-bad rants lol

Cheese, do you ever play early morning against hungover all night players? I don't know what your schedule is, but I love these games around 8 or 9 am where a few guys have been up all night, are seriously wasted and just throwing money away. I come in fresh and sharp and it's a huge edge over these degens.

This week, in just a few hours, I'm up about 1k just from playing these early morning games. Just playing ABC poker and letting them value own themselves works great and is a huge confidence boost. I suggest you give it a try, even if it means adjusting your schedule for a couple days.

Why are you doing this? Is it a bankroll consideration? Psychological? A mix?


Enjoying the thread, keep it going.

Been following this thread since the start but never actually commented! Just to say really enjoying this report too man, hope the downswing turns around soon!

Essentially this...when I gain back even a neutral level of momentum I have no doubt I'll open things back up and push the limits on my lines/pace.

Hope this thread is at least somewhat cathartic for you during the downswing. Continues to be a good read for whatever that's worth. GL moving forward.

I enjoy the thread; keep at it.

Yeah that is a good one. I like the Luxor at around 7 am (assuming i slept all night and woke up early). They have the ticket promotion from 2 am to 8 am and people just hanging around waiting for the ticket lottery. People playing all night dead tired, is a great spot to pick people off.

great thread. read every page

Yes the hours of around 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. are some of the most lucrative though maintaining a schedule of that can be a little tedious considering you end up missing the majority of the day if you wanted to catch any 'normal' people stuff.

Re: changing casinos (or tables) after a loss. Obviously there are pros and cons. One of my reasons to do that sometimes is image. Not a TAG image vs LAG image but rather a winning image vs a losing image.

Bart Hanson talks about this from time to time. The fishiest players who have no idea of TAG vs LAG and can't even hand read on the showdown to recognize who was way ahead until the river. But they (and many others) notice who won and lost big pots recently. And they often react to this by believing the winner always has it and the loser never has it. As a result, a losing player really has to catch cards to win since his bets get called. And winning players have trouble getting value.

Obviously there are adjustments you can make to maximize EV in both situations (value bet mercilessly when you have the losing image and bluff a lot when you have the winning image.)

But if you have a hard time making those adjustments, or are concerned about the reality that you have to actually make hands when you have a losing image then moving can be easier.

This definitely. Find the players who are drunk, stuck and tired, your best opportunities right there.

more pics of gf will appease the poker gods imo

any advice for someone moving to las vegas?