Playing online for a living week 9

[davidross]

If you’ve been with me for all 8 weeks of this adventure you’ll know I’m playing online poker full time while waiting for another consulting contract to become available, or suitable full time employment. Timing is everything in life. Had I experienced weeks 7 and 8 at the start for this adventure, there is no way I’d still be trying this. Only time will tell if that’s a good thing or not, but I’ve had a blast during these two months. It would be great if I could get it to last through the summer too, but I can’t afford many more weeks like last week.

Sunday.

More struggles. I posted my 6th losing day out of the last 8, and one of the 2 non losing days was a break even. After being down well over $500 for most fo the session, I rallied and ended up down $250 for the day. Thank god my big pairs held up because they were the only hands I won. I just can’t make a draw. And if I do…I had a flopped straight beaten by a rivered full house, and the only flush I made was a 2nd nut, and guess what?? The free plays are killing me. At least 4 times I got free plays from the BB with hands I had no intention of playing, then flopped 2 pair, only ot be counterfeited on the river. This one here really hurt. I get 93o in the BB and there are 3 limpers only. Flop is Ad 8c 5c. I check ready to fold and everyone checks. Turn is a 9. I check again and there is one bet and a call behind me. I decide to call. River is my 3, no flush. I check, the guy bets again, 2nd guy folds and I raise. He raises me back. I call and he shows 33. This keeps happening to me.

Monday

Afternoon. Finally some relief. 3 hours at Party and I won $680. Hit lots of flops, and on one table in particular played against 2 guys who always called to the river, and called the river with any piece. If this is normal for the afternoon games I will spend more time here than at paradise. Just don’t bother bluffing except against the better players. I got called down with A high a lot. I even cracked AA today after I 3 bet his LP raise with 99 from the button. Flopped a 9 and milked a big pot out of him. At paradise I have taken to limp-raising with AA and KK because of the frequency I win the blinds with open raises, but here I open raised with both and got 2 or 3 callers every time.

Here’s a questionable play. I open limped in MP with Ac 8c. Called on the button and both blinds. Flop Ah 7h 2c. Checked to me and I checked also. I know I give the heart draw a free card, but I thought I might get someone to chase for a turn and river bet with 2nd pair. Button checked behind me. Turn was 3c. I bet and got 2 calls. River was 2d. I bet and got called by 88. 88 probably calls the whole way anyhow, but the other guy might not have given me the extra bet on the turn.

When I raise the turn with a very strong hand, and my opponent folds, I always think I should have just called and got an extra bet later. In this hand I have JJ in the SB. Open raise in EP and an MP cold call. I call and so does the BB. Flop 5s 4s 2d. I bet and the BB raises. EP calls, MP folds and I 3 bet. BB caps it and the EP folds. I call. Turn is the Jc. I bet, he raises and I 3 bet. He folds. I was surprised. Should I have just called? Lets hope it continues tonight.

Evening

Got a late start tonight. Harry Potter delayed me. I am reading it to my younger 3 kids (I’ve read all 4 previous books twice, re-reading them with my younger daughter just this winter). The chapters are much longer than they were before and it took me much longer than expected to get them into bed. I had to decide which site to play at and I decided to give Party another go. The games were not as loose as the afternoon games had been, and seemed to tighten up as the evening wore on. I was up on one table and down on the other. Just before midnight I decided to switch to Paradise and give the 8/16 game a try. Ended up -$40 at Party. The Games at Paradise were terrible. The 8/16 game was missing the weak players that had been there the last 2 weeks and the 5/10 game I chose was seeing 14% of the flops. I lost 3 big pots right away and was down $100. The table was so tight it would have taken me days to get back to even. So I switched. Fortunately I won slowly and steadily in the 8/16 game and I ended up $153 up total at Paradise. That puts me up $555 for the week so far.

As far as I’m concerned, varying your play and adjusting to the table conditions are unbelievably important. Since the start of the losing streak I’ve feltlike my play has been very predictable and I think my better opponents are taking advantage of me. So I vowed to be more aggressive. This hand is from the 8/16 game. The game had become very tight and Iopen raised with 77, 4 off the button. The button cold called (He is an over-aggressive but unpredictable player) and the BB called too. Flop was K 8 3 two spades and the BB bet. I raised and they both folded. This isn’t a move I make very often without top pair and I guess I should take advantage of that tight image more often.

Getting lucky. This didn’t happen for me at all the last 10 days at Paradise. There was 1 bad player in the 8/16 game around 2:00 AM. He was in the BB when I was in the cut-off seat. Everyone folded to me and I decided to just call with T9o. I liked playing hands against him because he is really easy to read. I also think limping late is very suspicious looking and might allow me to do it with a big hand later. Anyway the plan backfired when the SB called, and the BB raised. Now I bluff re-raised. I do this a lot with AA and KK and the SB knows this. I don’t know if the BB would ever notice. SB called and the BB capped it. Ruh Roh. We both called. Flop is Q 9 9. I played it fast and raised the flop thinking he would re-raise his presumed big pair at least once, but he went into check-call mode right away. In hindsight it was the wrong play against an ABC player like him. I should have called the flop hoping to keep the SB in, and raised the turn or river. In my last orbit of the evening I got lucky again when I called a raise in the BB with 93s (3 players, I know it’s marginal at best, but I did it). Flop had two 3’s and the turn was a 9 and I got paid off all the way. I didn’t hit any flops like this for the entire losing streak. It felt very good.

Tuesday

Afternoon

One step forward and two steps back. That’s the way it seems to be going. Sat down for the afternoon session at Party and there was a long wait for 5/10. I started on some 3/6 tables and before I had gone once around the tables I was down $130. AA, KK and QQ all got cracked right off the bat. I don’t think this qualifies as a “Homer” tilt, but by the end of it I was. It didn’t get any better either as I gave back everything I won the night before and ended up down $550 for the session. I’m at a loss to explain the huge losses I’m having.

Evening.

Frustrating would be a good way to describe this evening. I played well for several hours at Party and pecked away at the deficit I created in the afternoon. At one point I was up $450 on one table and only down $100 on the other, but in one hour I gave all my gains back and ended up exactly even. When I was running well for all those weeks it was the exact opposite. I would play even or gain slightly for long periods, then go on a big rush for my gains. Now it seems I’m losing every big pot I compete for. I even misread the board twice on big pots and made a river raise with the nut straight, not noticing there was a flush there, and another with another straight, missing the fact there was a bigger straight possible. These things don’t happen when you’re concentrating. It’s just so frustrating to play so well for so long, and then lose it all in a short period of time. I switched to Paradise and got killed in the 8/16 game right away. I rebought within 30 minutes of starting and was down $500 at my normal quitting time. However the game had gotten a little easier at that time so I stayed and finally got some cards. I made a nice run before the table broke and ended up down only $170. For the week I’m down $330 at paradise and up $160 at Party. I’m playing golf on Wednesday so there will be no afternoon session.

The right move at the wrong time. What do you think of this play. From the Party 5/10 table where I was running well. These games feature lots of chasers. I have KQo UTG and open raise. 2 cold callers plus the BB. Flop is K K 8, two spades. I bet and get called by all 3. Turn is a 2d, and this time I check. Guy on my left bets, two more calls and now I raise. Everyone calls. River is a 7, no spade. I bet and get raised. Two folds to me and I think. K7 seems to be the only hand I should fear. K8 or K2 or 88 would have re-raised the turn I think. So I raise him back and he caps it. He had 77. I hadn’t considered that. Just the way it’s going for me these days.

Wednesday

We picked the hottest day in 3 years to play golf. And we walked a course right on the Niagara escarpment. It was pretty hot. I played ok but my putting was brutal. 7 3 putts, all of them with the 2nd putt being in the 2-4 foot range. I don’t know why I put myself through that. I still shot 87. Poker was a roller coaster. Started out at Party. Wednesday night I think is the poker on TV night when they run all their ads. The site was overcrowded. 40 people on each waiting list and the system was real slow. I only stayed for 30 minutes. I couldn’t stand the delays. I started at a 3/6 table waiting for a seat at 5/10 and had the following hands back to back. I raised 5 limpers from the button with QQ. Flop T 8 4. One MP bet out. I raised he called. I bet the turn and river he called each and showed 84o. Very next hand I get AA in the co and raise 3 limpers. Flop K 7 2 and same guy bets out. I raise him and bet turn and river and he calls both. He has 72o. How’s that for a start? I managed to be up $17 before the speed of play drove me to paradise. The games were very good at paradise for some reason. No 8/16 going when I got there but 6 or 7 5/10 games all with flop % in the high 20’s and 30’s. Unfortunately I wasn’t getting any hands to play. I was down a little after an hour winning only 7% of my hands. This has been quite usual lately. Seeing 22% of the flops and winning 20% of the flops I see. Fortunately, the pots I won were big ones as I made 4 flushes to keep me not too far down. Finally the 8/16 game started and it was excellent, but not for me. I was down a bit then almost even etc. Never up. A couple of guys were way ahead including my buddy Looba. Around 3:00 AM the winners all seemed to leave at once and new players arrived and my luck changed. I went on a mini tear and found myself up $600 within the hour. Unfortunately I kept playing and gave a lot of it back as my fortune turned again. Ended up +$250 for the night. That leaves me up $100 for the week.

Hands of interest. I seem to have acquired a real weak tight table image so I’m trying to take advantage of it. I limped in EP with Ks Qs and played the button and both blinds. Flop was 6 6 3 rainbow and it got checked to the button who bet. Only I called. Turn was an A, and I bet. He folded. Yeah!!

This one will haunt me for a long time. 8/16. A limp a raise and 2 cold calls to me in the BB. I have the lovely T7o and I decide to play with all these players. I do that sometimes. Usually when I’m running well but not lately. I’ve decided to do more of it in multi-way pots. 5 of us see the flop of 8 7 5 two spades. Checked to the raiser, who times out and is put all-in. This adds a new twist to the hand. Red hot Guy bets. He is up 600-700 already and is making everything. We all call the bet. (Mistake 1 I think. I should have raised here). Turn is another 5. Again we check to him and he bets again. One fold and two of us call. River is another 8. Checked to him he bets, and faced with him and the other player I fold my 2nd pair. Other guy calls. Bettor has 66. It’s good. I puke. He wins the $112 side pot, and then the rest of it when the PFR shows AK. I puke again. I believe David and Mason call this a catastrophe. That was my profit for the session.

One more day at home then we go to Montreal for the Canada Day long weekend. I hope to play a little but my hours will be way down. Not sure how I’ll do the report just yet.

Thursday

Afternoon at Party. Just a short session as the kids finish school today and we went to pick them up. Games were very good again. Although I lost 2 big pots on my last orbit I managed a $90 win for the session. I had been up $200 though.

Evening at Paradise. I played as well as I possibly could tonight. I didn’t play any hands out of position and I didn’t chase. And I still lost $175. The 8/16 game was very tight and broke after about 90 minutes. I managed to take $150 out of it though. I played 600 hands tonight and got AA once and KK once. I only saw 21% of the flops which is really low for me. And what turned my night from a win to a loss were 4 hands that I got semi-bluff raised on the turn on while I was ahead, only to have the guy hit on the river to come from behind. All of them were poor strategic raises because there was no way I was folding, but they hit their cards on the river. I know if I keep playing like that the wins will come.

It may be Tuesday before I can make another entry. I will try to catch up then.

Friday

It is actually Tuesday now and I’m trying to catch up. On the personal front it was a great weekend. This was our National holiday weekend and I went to Montreal (where I grew up and my family and my wife’s family still live) for a visit. We also sprinkled my Dad’s ashes up at the cottage which was his favorite spot in the world. It was very nice and his wish. He passed away in January and we were waiting for a time when we could all be together. My kids did some fishing and we had a great time. On the Poker front the news was not so good. I just can’t seem to win at all. I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing this. I can’t believe I’ve gone from being a winning player to a losing player just like that. I do believe that at the end of another frustrating session I am not playing my best, but overall I am just getting bad cards. Real bad. If I have AQ, AK is behind me. If I have AK behind A4, the 4 rivers. I lost another $400 on Friday night, and I just took Saturday off. Sunday I dropped another 200, and another 200 on Monday. So I will call week 9 an extended week since I don’t have exact dollar figures for each day. I do know that from last Sunday to today I lost $1,200 at paradise and won $300 at Party. Another awful week.

I am now faced with a really bleak future. If I didn’t need to withdraw funds to live on, my bankroll would be healthy, but I do, so it’s not. I can’t afford another $1,000 loss this week so it’s time for this to turn around. As a competitive person this is very frustrating. In any other sport you just practice more, work harder, etc. and feel like you are doing something. Here, I’m just waiting for better cards. I wish I could blame the games, but the games have been very good, even at paradise. 8/16 games with 30-35% seeing the flop. Same with the 5/10 games. It’s hard to complain when someone chases your AK to the rive with his A4, and an A on the flop. But when the 4 rivers, again and again it starts to wear on you. Last night I finally hit some flops and got some big pairs, and I still lost. 4 big hands that I led going into the river all lost on the river. I’m estimating $800 that would have been mine disappeared on 5 outers or less. That turns my $200 loss into a $600 win. Soon I hope.

[Jimbo]

"I'm at a loss to explain the huge losses I'm having."

Two words: Standard Deviation

I enjoy your posts David keep them up and win more in week ten. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Net Warrior]

I think you've slipped into playing some -EV openers and you're bleeding some of you chips away chasing pots with them.

In a recent post a player made a big laydown with AKs in the BB to a 4 bet. In response, his friend quoted him as once saying "You know the secret to winning poker?" These were his words of wisdom - DON'T RUN BAD" Not only does he practice what he preaches, he has a lot of disclipine.

I hope I'm not stepping on anyones toes by repeating this but I liked it a lot.

[rigoletto]

have the lovely T7o and I decide to play with all these players. I do that sometimes. Usually when I?m running well but not lately. I?ve decided to do more of it in multi-way pots.

I'm worried that you've reached the phase where you tell yourself: 'I'm a good player and I can beat these bozo's with inferior hands!' forgetting that part of your good play lies preflop. The worst thing about these hands is when you hit part of the flop and end up bleeding chips with 2nd and 3rd best hands.

[ML4L]

Hey David,

Sorry to hear about your tough week; I've been pulling for you. I happened to be sitting with you for one of your Paradise sessions last week, and from what I could tell, it looked like you might have been playing a little loose. I do the same thing when I'm running bad (as do most people). I think that Rigaletto hit the nail on the head; sometimes when I see others playing poorly, I think that I can get away with loosening up a little and compensate by "outplaying" my opponents. Of course, the irony is that doing so makes me no better then them.

Superior knowledge does NOTHING for you in poker; it's superior play that wins money...

In an attempt to reinforce that to myself while I play, I have a post-it note that I attach to my monitor during my sessions. I like to think that it helps to keep me in line. It says:

Tight aggressive play WILL get the money.
You have to earn your edge. Are you?
Let someone else keep them honest.

So, my advice is to stick with the basics. Fold the small suited connectors and small pocket pairs when you know you should. Don't chase and semibluff as much postflop. You WILL play your way out of this.

Best of luck,
ML4L

[spurs87]

I have to be honest and say I don't know if I have been pulling for you, or against you. Misery loves company kind of thing. But, I would also like to see some one that is honest tell the truth if this game can really be beat for a nice return on your time and investment. I think you got the honest part down. We all know the type that tells you about the big score but not the preceding nine big losing sessions. I was reading, I think at Cardplayer about a pro that traveled the country and wrote down every hand he played for a solid year. He played an average of 50 hours a week, played 10/20 mostly and he averaged about $17 an hour. I love poker but no thanks I'll go back to Blackjack or strictly do the tournament thing before taking that beating( and I know for a lot of people making $17 an hour and getting to sit and play cards is a really good gig I just couldn't do it for that price). Go David go, if you or anyone else can really make about 1.5 BB per hour at 15/30 then I'll practice and study my ass off. Good luck and I really do hope you comeback, screw being my company.

[fingal]

I with interest read the messages of davidross for last 4 weeks. If my memory doesn't betray me after 6 weeks his result was ~$1500/week, after 9 weeks - ~$700/week. I am sure after 20 weeks his result will be within $200-300/week if still will keep positive. Let me show you small calculations: It is from my experience that the average number of bets about 40/hour. Obviously the winner must have >= 15% winnings. It means at least 6. Imho rake from each pot in average = 0.5BB (may be for very tight players it is 0.25-0.35BB). It means to win 2-3BB/hour just not to be a loser. To be a winner a player must have a profit >= 4BB/hour. Is it possible? On my opinion - only if the player from top 10-20 in the world has a game to beginners.

[The Dude]

DavidRoss,

I don't have any advice to give you, nor any encouraging words that haven't already been spoken. Nonetheless, I know sometimes it's just nice to know people are rooting for you. You seem to be able to look at your play critically, and you always think of your family first. I respect you for that.

Blessings,

[Prufrock]

Hi David,
I have read your posts from the beginning. Your really
do seem to have loosened up quite a bit. Also your
first posts were the posts of a confident player...
now your posts are full of statements on how you
have changed your play because you think others
are on to you.

Go back to the fundementals. Play tight, aggresive
and with confidence. Chase only when you get odds
to do so. Fold the crap. Worry less about how
your running. Focus on correct play. Luck, as always
will take care of itself.

[NotReady]

Has anyone played at least 4000 hours at the Paradise 5-10 and done better than 7-10 per hour?