[The after session]

After my regular session, I played 2 more games, and had a a net loss of $4. I managed to cash in the $5 Micro Rim Pacific, and made it to the final table of a $7.50 Satellite to the $85 Bounty builder, but I finished 2 plces short of the tickets! Live to fight another day....

[Session results]

This session I wagered $70.12 and played 27 games, ranging from $0.33 to $11. I had a net loss of $25.72.

Today I was not in the mood to play much. Nevertheless, I chose to play because I am currently on holiday so I have the time to do it (later I won't have as much time). I was very tilt and called bets with ridiculous hands, which cost me the tour a couple of times.

I played a bit of NL2 cash, and got my a$$ kicked. I quit immediately after.
I played some slots and lost, so I had to deposit.
I got completely drunk, but my game did not change at all. Yey!
I won a Powerpath step 3 ticket.

I am still to make a big win since I started playing Low stakes. Also, my bankroll is having bigger swings than it had before.

Today I noticed a mistake in my Preflop strategy: I open very few hands from MP-BTN. I need to correct it ASAP. I need to study my preflop ranges.

I played a $11 Bounty builder, which was full of calling stations and maniacs. Unfortunately, my cards didn't come right, so I busted out. In the Bounty builder $3.30 I put my money in right with KK on a T74 flop, to be called by an A7 which hit an A on the turn, ending my tour there.

[Session results: A good run in the $11 Mini Saturday KO]

When I logged in this session there were only about 13,000 players at the tables on Pokerstars. I thought those would be the best players, the regulars.

I played the $11 Mini Saturday KO. In that tour, the first table was full of 5 calling stations and maniacs, with VIPs > 34 (one's VPIP was 58). At one point somebody went all-in with J8s. I folded, but he ended up making a straight. I doubled up from one other of the calling stations, when I hit a flop flush, against his top pair J (he was holding KJo), and he went all-in. I ended up busting him when he bluffed with a busted flush draw, and I got huge stacked with 287xBB.

Unfortunately, I was later moved to a new table, where I had no info on the players. In the new table there were only 2 loose players. I got dealt no good hands for a long time, so I didn't make any chips. My stack started dwindling down. Finally I got lucky and flopped a straight flush, with which I kicked out one player.

I was doing well in the late stages ITM, when the SB went all-in. I thought that was my chance to double up, and I called with ATs. He had AA, and I lost a big pot, leaving me with 13xBB. It was that hand that shuttered my dreams. I lost about 10 hands later, going all in with a J2s...

Nevertheless, this is my best run in an $11 tour. Things are getting better!

[Session results: A deep run in the $11 Bounty builder]

I had one of the best sessions ever. I was very disciplined, and cashed in a few good tours, busting out many opponents and winning some good cash.

Firstly, I won a ticket to the $22 Mini Saturday Knockout. In the $22 Mini Saturday KO I made a marginal call with 99, which turned out to be against KK, and I lost a pot which ruined me, as it left me with 16xBB. Eventually I lost going all in on KJs vs a pair of 9s.

Also, I played the $11 Bounty builder. In my first try at the $11 Bounty builder, I hit a set on the flop, went all-in on the turn, with 4 players calling, who were chasing a flush draw, and they hit it. The winner got over 750xBB. I rebought.

The second time I had a very good run, busting out many opponents and gathering a good bounty. I was saved by a miracle in a critical spot, when I went all-in on the turn with K8o to be called by a JQs. I hit an 8 on the river and doubled up. I finally lost in a preflop all-in with AK vs AQ, when villain hit a flush on the river.

[News update: Moron gambles on roulette and loses his balance]

Today did something stupid. I think I got winner's tilt and felt invincible, or I was just bored, or both. I started gambling on slots and roulette. In roulette I used the Martingale system.

It was all going well, until I bet 100 euros in one go on black, but red had a streak. I lost it, and with that all of my winnings and last deposit. I feel stupid and addicted. I need to stop doing this to myself!

What I gained is, I stopped fearing of losing money. If I am going to bet it, I will bet it. This makes me feel more confident playing poker at my stakes.

[Session results]

This session I wagered $60 and played 15 games, ranging from $0.33 to $11. Unfortunately, I didn't make any deep runs. It was a bad day, and I had a net loss of $35.

At first, nothing seemed to be working. Over time, this didn't change much.

My best results were that I min cashed in a $7.50 Bounty builder, in two $4.40s, in two $3.30s, and in the $0.55. I finished 8th and 9th in 2 $0.33 Sats to the Sunday Storm, which left me annoyed for not winning a ticket. I played the $11 Bounty builder, as well as another $3.30 Bounty builder, but I ran card dead in both, so I quickly run out of chips and busted out. I also busted out another $7.50 Bounty builder without cashing.

The good news is I won 2 SCOOP tickets, an $11 and a $55 one!! I am planning to play the respective PKO tournaments in the next few days.

[Session results]

This session I wagered $41.80 and played 9 games, ranging from $1.10 to $55. I had a net loss of $3.

I needed to get some tours in to be warm for the $55 SCOOP PKO, for which I had a free ticket.

I played the Bounty builder $16.50 for the first time. That's a bit of a stratch for my bankroll, but I would rather play that than many of the small satellites which were available at the time. Unfortunately, the first table was tight, and so was the second table, so not many chances to make some easy chips. I was praying for a nice payday with a set. Eventually it came, but my opponent made trip Ks versus my trip 10s, which got me crippled early on, so I lost a couple of hands later in an all-in with AKs vs 99, while the blinds were still 100.

I entered the SCOOP $5.50 Deep stack, but finished 3207 of 8311, outside of the money.

In the $55 PKO I accidentally folded 2 pair when opponent went all in on the river, losing half my stack, and that started my downfall. I managed to make a comeback, and busted 2 players. Eventually I ran out of chips, and lost in an all-in with a petty A8o.

Nothing wrong with busting 2 players in the 55 won a ticket to a 215 the other day and just wanted 1 ko to make me happy, didnt happen although did get it in ahead after the flop. Do you often trash your br on the casino or was that an isolated case? I'd not maybe you need to ban yourself from the casino part.

Hey amatola! How have you been? I am also happy with busting a couple of players in a PKO to get a payday! Yes, I have been trashing my a bit lately. Good idea to ban myself from the Casino! I don't know how to do that, but I will find out.

[Session results]

This session I wagered $55.24, and played 18 games, ranging from $0.33 to $11. I had a net loss of $36.53. All in all, it was not a good session.

I won a ticket to the $11 Bounty builder, which is my new favourite tour. I also won a ticket to the $7.50 Bounty builder.

I just about made it to the $3.30 SCOOP in Late registration. I don't usually register late, I actually did it by accident. I started with only 20xBB, but lost in one hand, when my KQo with top pair Ks went all-in on the flop, and lost to a straight on the turn by a QTo.

(Note: I made a new spreadsheet to keep track of my sessions, and I will soon be posting screenshots from that instead.)

[Session results]

This session I wagered $88.59, and played 25 games, ranging from $0.33 to $16.50. I had a net profit of $16.09.

At first, things didn't go so well. I made it ITM in a $1.10 BB and a $2.20 BB with a mincash. I also mincashed in the $11 BB. I faced some incredible suckouts in a few tours eg all in on turn with top pair K with KQ vs K7o, which hit a 7 on the river.

However, later on things went great! I made it deep in the $16.50 Bounty builder. I got to be 1st late ITM, and I was in the top players for quite a while. Suddenly, I lost a key hand with KQs vs A8s, which brought me down to 20xBB, and dropped to 23rd. Eventually, I lost with an all in with AJs vs AKo, and my dream ended, although I cashed a nice $95.01.

That's a nice deep run in the 16.50. Big score incoming....

[Session results]

In yesterday's session I wagered $76.91, and played 16 games, ranging from $0.33 to $16.50. I had a net loss of $35.69.

Not many things seemed to work. I made it ITM in very few tours, and there with a min cash. I also made it to phase 2 of the SCOOP tournament, which is on May 27 21:15 on Pokerstars. Other than that, it was not a fun session.

A quick overview of how I lost in some of the tours I played:
- In the $5.50 Mini marathon I played like a donk, and donated my chips to a villain who had JJ when I had 88 on a KK6K turn.
- In the $2.20 HR Bounty builder sat I only got 16% of playable hands, and had to go all-in with an A2s, only to lose from a pair of 8s who hit a full house.
- I had a similar low number of hands in the $11 BB, and busted out with an AJo in an all-in pre which ended going 4-way.
- In the $1.10 I busted out in a 3-way all-in preflop with a QQ vs 44 vs KK (the 44 made a set)
- The $16.50 was very unlucky at first. I only played 6% of hands, and hardly got anything playable. I was almost blinded to death, left with 8xBB. However, I managed to make a big comeback to 85xBB, after a few wins in a row. Eventually, I got crippled when I went all-in pre with AQ vs AK, and was left with 5xBB. However, I was lucky enough to make it just about ITM, so I got my buy-in back, finishing in 189th place.
- I used one $11 ticket to play in the main event qualifier. Howevr, everyone there started with 62.5xBB, which, for me, wasn't worth it. I lost in a preflop all-in, with A6o vs Q9o.
- The SCOOP 01-L $2.20 Phase 1 was even worse, starting with only 50xBB. However, I made it to the next phase, albeit with few chips (around 12,000)
- In the $0.55 BB I lost when I hit a full house with 77, and opponent hit quad 8s.
- In the SCOOP $5.50 I busted in an all-in pre with QcTc on a Jc8cAh vs an AKo.
- In the $3.30 BB I busted when I went all in on turn with 44 vs a pair of Ts.

[Session results: Biggest loss ever??]

Today I had the biggest losing session of the last month, if not ever!! In this session, I wagered $86.39, and played 27 games, ranging from $0.22 to $11. I had a net loss of $70.84!

Things went really bad!! It just wasn't my day at all. I got my ass kicked constantly. I feel completely stupid, powerless and desperate, like I'm empty-headed, and just wasting my money. I realized that about halfway, but still stayed to watch my stacks disappearing, as I lost hand after hand, and busted out in tour after tour!

My best 2 results were deep runs in the $4.40 and $5.50 Bounty builders, although I cashed little in both.

I am really hoping for a positive sessions next time!!

[News update: Am I a problem gambler?]

Today I woke up earlier than I was planning. I had set my alarm for 14:00, to get a full 8 hours' sleep, but I woke up at around 11:00. This morning I watched a chess video about the tactical genius of player Mikhail Tal. I was very inspired, and positively affected but in a weird way. I wanted to become like him!

I made myself some Frappe coffee, and logged in onto Pokerstars at 12:30pm. There were only just over 12,000 players. That is one of the lowest number of players daily on the site (the max is around 45,000).

I started playing very loose, and I soon realised I was confused and not in the zone - too tilt, wanting to just win every hand, and coming up with stupid ideas to overplay. For this reason, I played only $1 and lower stake tours, and let some steam off there.

I listened to some Judas Priest (I have the whole discography). My first choice was "Saints in hell", and I let it play onto the rest of the "Stained Class" album.

For the first time I felt like a problem gambler. Interestingly, Pokerstars sent me an email yesterday titled "Tilted9042, we have tools to help you stay in control". Spooky! It is as if they knew about my sudden losses and were warning me!

[Session results: A short tilt session]

In this session, I wagered $7.04, and played 5 games, ranging from $0.11 to $4.40. I had a net loss of $7.58.

I played the $4.40 BB and fell into a set, losing almost all my stack. In the $1.10 PKO I lost in the first hand with Aces, and there was no reentry. I decided to call it quits, as I was tilt, tired and confused (plus there were no good games coming up), and went on to do something else.

Maybe knowing that you are in the mood to tilt and actively play smaller buy ins shows you are maturing as a player?

Have you thought of playing 4 card poker once in a while?

Hey amatola! Thank you. I am normally very mature as a player in that way. That is, when I lose a bit I take some time off to recollect myself, and revise from my notes or watch some coaching videos to get back in shape.

I have never heard of 4 card poker!! What is it, and where can I play it?

[Session results: The losses continue]

In this session, I wagered $82.13, and played 27 games, ranging from $0.33 to $11. I had a net loss of $75.90.

I got badly wrecked in many tours, and often got sucked out in ridiculous ways. I played some backgammon (with JellyFish Light 3.5) and some chess (Winboard, Fairy-Max 4.8) - without money - where I got wrecked too, and I felt very bad! An absolute loser...

I watched some chess games from Grandmasters, and I felt better about chess. Eventually, I lowered the difficulty in my backgammon game, and I started winning again in backgammon, and felt some relief and gained some self-confidence! I thought perhaps I need to do the same with poker ie lower the difficulty level by going back to the Micros...

I played the $11 SCOOP 84-L PKO with a free ticket I won from a Pokerstars Challenge, but I lasted until the 4000th place.

Enough for today!

[News update: How *badly* my Low stakes journey is going so far]

I can't lie: I haven't won any tourneys since I started playing Low stakes. Actually, I hardly finished in the money in most. I feel unhappy with my situation. I am fed up of not having won any tours for almost 2 weeks now, while my loss is growing. What is annoying is, I didn't win in the Micro stakes either. Also, I realized that I get very defensive when a session ends with a loss, so I feel the need to write how I lost to apologize!

Ok, let me review my financials: I started with a bankroll of €667.58. I lost my bankroll of $100 twice, by gambling it on slots & roulette, and partly from poker (€100 slots, €150 roulette, €150 poker). Total: €400. Remaining: €267.58. I have now deposited €450 ($489) within 10 days. That is the most I have deposited ever in my life for poker. My actual losses are only €250 ($271.60) of those.

I guess the reasons I am losing do badly are some of the below:
a) I am not ready for the Low stakes yet ie I need to improve first
b) The variance is big ie I just have to play more and the wins will come
c) I am simply on a losing streak ie things will change when I get off of it

After a series of losses, I feel the blame is on me ie I have not been playing as good. One explanation could be that I have been drinking too many energy drinks. I have been drinking a lot of "Hell" (it is like Redbull), and I suspect they are making me too hyper, impatient, aggressive and carefree. Another (the obvious) explanation is simply that I am out of shape, and I need to revise my poker knowledge. However, I don't know what it is I am doing wrong, as I don't feel like I am playing much different than before when I was winning.

I hate this situation very much. I am thinking I will step down a level in stakes, and play only tours up to $5.50 to cut my losses. (that is, up to the $5.50 Bounty builder, and the $4.40 Bounty builder).

By 4 card I mean plo and plo8, sometimes it's just nice to get away from nlhe for a session.

Not sure if this is the case with you, but I struggle if my session is very mixed. So playing satties and standard mtts, you could be playing turbos, hypers and standard length as well a 6 max and 8 max all at the same time.

Absolutely nothing wrong with stepping down to micros for a bit.

[Session results: Back to winning]

In this session, I wagered $29.50, and played 10 games, ranging from $0.55 to $7.50. I had a net profit of $21.61.

I found out what I was doing wrong before. I was on "auto-pilot", playing basically ABC and fit-or-fold. Also, I made a lot of bad calls with all-ins, as that is how I lost many games.

This time I played more hands from the blinds, button and cut-off than I usually do, which is more closer to the right way to play those positions.

I managed to make a deep run in both the #3.30 and the $4.40 Bounty builders, although unfortunately no wins or final tables.

Live to fight another day!

Oh ok, so PLO. I don't know how to play it (I think I tried it many years ago, and I have forgotten it).

I struggle if my session is mixed too. I don't like Turbos cos they get me confused. Unfortunately most satellites are Turbos, so if I want to play them I have to bite the bullet, but I generally try to avoid it.

[News update: Some thoughts]

Before today's session I reflected on my last ones and thought of this advice for myself:
a) Play enough hands from CO, BTN and the blinds.
b) Don't hero call big river bets. People in Micro stakes underbluff.
c) Early in a tour, play looser to bust somebody (ideally, crack Aces) - play suited hands, both suited and offsuit connectors and rag Aces from CO, BTN and blinds
d) Don't always check-fold when you don't have it ie don't play fit-or-fold. Bluff when opponent shows weakness, to try and take down pots.
e) Occasionally bluff 3-bet with suited connectors