Daliman on the edge....

[Daliman]

Well, as a few of you may have seen by playing at the tables with me recently, things have been going horrendously bad for me.

I got back from vacation on monday, after having dropped 2250 in 4 hours of 15-30 on PP, and decided to take a crack at a 1k step.

I got 3rd place, played another, ened up cashing all 5 of my first 5.

I had ~$7700 in my account, and 5k coming from my affiliate pay. Life was good.

Since then , I have played 23 more steps tournaments, and 22 $200 SNG's.

and I'm now broke.

I've lost allin preflop with an overpair 9 of the 17 times i have had it, 4 times in steps at the bubble, 1 more time 3 handed in a step, therefore costing me a minimum $700 and likely $2700 as I would have had ~7300 chips if i won.

Races seem pretty bad too, but I'm not going back to count them all.

I've twice flopped full houses; I lost both.

The last 2 1k's I played, I won a total of one hand and one blind steal at level 3.

Worst hand of all of them was a hand where I had KK in The SB and ~3k in chips, 5 handed, and UTG has under 300 chips left at 150-300 blinds. The BB is the only other stack near my total, about 80 less than me. All fold to me, I raise it allin, just because I don't want to play it kinda slow and see an ace flop the way things had been going, and even though I should encourage bad calls, I really just wanted the blind steal at the moment. The BB called me allin with 33, and turned a 3, of course. I had another chance tho, since I had 80 chips left and 3 hands more til my blinds, but, of course, the other short stack won his allin and I lost my next hand i had chips in in the BB.


Of course, the other short stack won the next hand, and I was screwed.

Once again, I am at the point where I'm not sure if I can take the swings anymore. I yelled at my wife yesterday while playing(baby was crying for like 20 minutes and she wouldn't pick him up), and I'm not sleeping well. My play may or may not have suffered. I think I'm probably playing TOO aggressively now, and am not being rewarded for it thus far. Anyways, baby crying again now, and since I;m broke now, I guess I;ll go take care of him and quit wallowing.

$200+15'ers, enjoy the clearer waters.

[Jman28]

Sorry to hear that Daliman. Probably more bad luck than bad play I'm sure.

If you can't take the swings, just don't play the Steps man. You didn't have the BR for it, and you know it. Keep grinding it out, and forget about the big scores. Maybe even drop to the 100s or 50s [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img].

Hope you're able to get back in the game soon, and I hope you feel better emotionally. In the meantime, enjoy your family more and maybe some other hobby or interest you have. Your baby is only this age once. Soak it in. Good luck man.


-Jman28

[Myst]

Dali, you gotta start playing on an appropriate bankroll man. You are a winning player. You know these swings CAN happen. Bankroll is of utmost importance.

[Mr_J]

"Maybe even drop to the 100s or 50s"

Yeh, I'm no poker pro but if you put in the hours, someone with your skill should be able to get the BR back up there reasonably quickly.

[UMTerp]

Dali, my condolences for the bad run. We've all played over our bankroll and gone broke before. Live and learn. Good luck when you get back in the game.

[The Yugoslavian]

You only have ~13,000 and expect it to be enough to play the 1Ks without going broke? Hell, I'm sure you could play perfectly and still have a pretty high ROR. If you're going to get fed up with losing all your $$ you *have* to play to protect your bankroll. I know you must know this.

If you must play some 1ks, then play them sparadically with 215 winnings. If you fall below a certain level, go back to strictly 215 SNGs.

Hearing about all the times you go broke due to poor bankroll management when we all know the caliber of skills you possess is gonna make *me* tilt one of these days.

Take a break and try to devise a gamplan for NOT squandering your bankroll. If not for yourself, for dalibaby! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img].

I can only imagine what losing so much at the high buyins feels like. It would seem even more important to protect your bankroll and psychological well being at those stakes.

[Gramps]

Sometimes, even as a winning player, taking time off (short or long) from poker has got to be highly +EV life-wise. Sounds like it's time for a break. In the scheme of things, it's only a game, there's plenty of other ways out there to make a living/be entertained. One's sanity and well-being is much more important. There's many people out there living fully enriched lives who have never played a card game in their life.

Whether the break is short or long, best of luck.

[wiggs73]

Take some time off. Trust me, this is the best thing you could possibly do. As much fun as poker is, you sound like you have a lot more going for you than being a good poker player right now. A wife and a kid is something a lot of people would give anything for... take some time away from the tables and enjoy them.

We all know you're quite a good poker player, so we know you'll be back at the tables. All you can do now is enjoy a short break and come back to the tables with renewed focus and determination. No shame in dropping a few levels to the 50s or 100s to build back up your bankroll. Like someone else said, we've all played above our bankrolls, no big deal there. You know this.

Bottom line is you're a great player who suffered an untimely downswing. Take a bit of time off, concentrate on the more important things in life, and then come back and play good poker. Hope you feel better bro, if it's any consolation you've got lots of 2+2ers here who feel where you're coming from on this and wish the best for you.

[Daliman]

I greatly appreciate the words of encouragement. Yes, I know I was playing above my BR(always have, really..) and i HAD said I will play steps only to a certain level, then I will go back to 215's, which I did do, but then I figured I'll just play one step tonight, maybe win it, and be right back on track. I AM a gambler...

Gonna take a day or so off. I got A couple G's out on loan that I can call in, so hopefully i can get back on track with it.

Next DaliFlameout is scheduled for April 2005; mark your calendars.

P.S. Dalibaby hopes you all had a great holiday season!

[Danielih]

Daliman- Please take a step back and evaluate your situation. All these people are telling you that you are a great player but are you? I do not want this to come out the wrong way but you need to evaluate your play and you need thousands of SNGs to have an accurate winrate. From what it sounds like I dont see how you could be beating the 1k or the 215s. Also 2-3k loan is surely not enough for even a good player to play the 215. Maybe you should drop back to 100+9 or 50+5. Being over confident can be a seriously bad thing.

Also the long term is really really long and people are susceptible to get lucky for extended periods of time. And when I say that you should consider that. I am talking about you getting lucky, not your opponents. Maybe it is not just that you are playing above your bankroll but that you are clearly playing out of your league

Best of Luck
Danny