A Fresh Start

Last night's blog inspired me a little bit. I had been needing to vent and talk out my frustrations for quite some time, but just never did. I kept on thinking things would eventually turn around if I kept on playing with the same mentality that I had.

After I wrote the blog last night, I decided to go and make a new name on Ultimate Bet, something that would hopefully represent a new, fresh start on 2007 and me as a poker player. I made an account and made a $100 deposit, earning 100% my deposit in bonus dollars, which can be converted to cash, which was pretty sweet. I didn't play any last night, but played in one $10 SNG when I got done with classes. I played very solid, only making one major mistake, which was actually a good play, even in retrospect, but a guy made a good call on me.

With the blinds at 10/20, I called an UTG raise of 70 with 10-10 from middle position. The button called as did one or two of the blinds. The flop came Js 10s 3h. A perfect flop for me, but a dangerous one with the flush draw, straight draw out there. One of the blinds came out and bet about half the pot. The raiser called, and I raised 4x the bet to around 400. To my delight, the button re-raised essentially all-in. The other two mucked, and I called, and he rolls over AsJh, needing two runners. I was somewhat caught by surprised when my hand held as a 95% favorite, just the way things have been running for me lately.

I won a few races and was chip-leader for the entire way until a hand with 4 people left. In SNG's, only 3 people cash, so my strategy is to play extremely tight early and aggressive late, especially when I have a chip-lead. I was raising probably 50% of the hands, as the others did not want to get involved with the huge chip-leader until they got in the money. I knocked the 4th guy out when I was forced to call with KQ against his AQ, but I won on a board of QQ9K2. The person in 3rd place was down to about 5 big blinds, so I wanted to put pressure on the guy in 2nd until the 3rd place guy went out.

I raised with A2 spades in the SB, and the BB called. The flop came K-4-3 rainbow. I bet out half the pot (600), and he raised the min. to 1200, leaving 2200 behind. I considered folding, but felt as though he could have been on a stone cold bluff or had like a King-rag, which would be tough for him to call all-in with. I went ahead and stuck it in, and he paused before making the call with K2. So he doubled through me to 8k, and I was left with 5k. After that, I knocked out the shortstack with A9 against A7, and battled hard heads up, but sort of went card-dead. I got my money in good with AQ clubs vs A4 spades, but he made a flush, and I finished 2nd for $30.

Overall, I was pleased with my play. I got a little bit of confidence back and have the feeling that I will be making good on my $100 investment. I might be going to the Slo Pitch Pub and Casino tonight with Grant to play some 3/6 or 4/8. This SNG cash helped my confidence so much. It has been a long time since I had the feeling that I was going to win when I sat down at a poker table (whether it be a virtual one or a real one) :)

That's it for me, time to do some homework before working the front desk from 6-8.

JG

Crying for help

I have posted in quite some time, and thought that I would give it a try one more time. I'm going to try and make it a regular thing, but just haven't gotten around to it with so many other things going on.

Wow, how things have changed since the last time that I posted. I am no longer dominating the SNG's on Ultimate Bet, nor am I doing very well in the casinos either. I am currently at the lowest point in my short poker career. I am struggling with confidence, and, although I try not to let it affect my play, playing discouraged poker is not playing winning poker.

To give a recap on my last month of playing, I got out for winter break in the middle of December, and played almost every day over break. I started off pretty hot with a few winning sessions, but then just got ran over. The highest point of my break was chopping for first in a $20 MTT on Ultimate Bet for just shy of $600. Since then, everything has been downhill. My bankroll is slowly depleting, and I feel as though there is nothing that I can do right. My Ultimate Bet account has been cancelled, leaving me with the belief that I will never again see the $300+ that was in there. I have had about 7 or 8 losing sessions in a row, and am probably down about $400 in the new year.

I keep telling myself to stay patient and things will turn around, but it is tough. I feel like I should take a break from poker, but it is so hard with the convenience of online poker and the fact that my buddy Grant wants to go to the casino pretty much every night. All I need is one break, and I will be on the rebound, but that seems like such a far sight from where I'm at right now. I can't imagine the struggling poker professionals and the highs and lows endured by them. Let's just say I do not empathize with them.

The good news is, it's not the end of the world. It is only poker, and I may be making a bigger deal out of it than it is, but I am just trying to put my frustrations down on paper. I appreciate anyone that reads these blogs, and I hope that it gives you a glimpse into the life of a poker player living at college.

God Bless,
JG