Downswing at 50NL Party, please help

KKrAAAzy88s · #1 03-29-2005, 02:06 PM

So I've been in a major downswing at 50NL Party. I was doing well in January and February, but now I haven't won in March. I've lost probably about $400 in March (mostly the past two weeks) at Party. I'm playing tight and don't think I'm making any poor plays, but just getting beat. But of course I may be wrong and thus I'm posting here to try to fix whatever is broke. I've been very very frustrated as I haven't seen a winning session in a while. I normally play 4-5 times a week, but I took most of last week off to try to clear the frustration but when i played last night I lost about $200 yesterday. I can't seem to figure out whats wrong. Yesterday I had AA and someone went all in preflop which I called and he hit his set to take my stack. I know there's nothing I can do about that, but I'm obviously spewing money elsewhere.

Here are two back to back hands that I played this morning. No PT as I wasn't playing on my computer at home.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.5 BB (8 handed) converter

SB ($109.5)
BB ($30.55)
UTG ($33.5)
Hero ($24.6)
MP1 ($36.5)
MP2 ($124.8)
CO ($20)
Button ($47.75)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. CO posts a blind of $0.5.
1 fold, Hero calls $0.50, 1 fold, MP2 calls $0.50, CO (poster) checks, Button calls $0.50, 1 fold, BB checks.

Flop: ($2.75) J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (5 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $2, MP2 calls $2, CO folds, Button folds, BB folds.

Turn: ($6.75) 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets $4, MP2 calls $4.

River: ($14.75) 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets $7, MP2 calls $7.

Final Pot: $28.75

Results in white below: 
Hero has Qd Ks (one pair, kings).
MP2 has 9s 8h (straight, jack high).
Outcome: MP2 wins $28.75. 

********************

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.5 BB (8 handed) converter

BB ($110)
UTG ($30.55)
UTG+1 ($34)
Hero ($32.1)
MP2 ($33.5)
CO ($36.5)
Button ($124.8)
SB ($40.05)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. UTG+1 posts a blind of $0.5.
1 fold, UTG+1 (poster) checks, Hero calls $0.50, 3 folds, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: ($2) 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $1, SB calls $1, BB folds, UTG+1 folds.

Turn: ($4) 2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $2, SB calls $2.

River: ($8) J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4, SB calls $4.

Final Pot: $16

Results in white below: 
SB has Ks Kh (two pair, kings and twos).
Hero has Qh Kc (two pair, queens and twos).
Outcome: SB wins $16. 

Please give me feedback on these two hands. They were the two that I lost the most with this morning.

kurto · #2 03-29-2005, 02:18 PM

1) You might think about dropping QKos from UTG. Your flop bet is fine. But I think this hand shows why you hate it in position. There was a possible flopped straight on the flop. By the river, there's multiple straight possibilities and a flush possibility. You ended up putting 1/2 your stack in, out of position, with TP-2nd best kicker, on a draw heavy board. My question... why are your playing this so strongly? Or at all?

2) Frankly, your opponent was a big idiot. I think you did a good job of keeping the pot small. You just happened to be up against a weak idiot slowplaying kings. The question you have to ask yourself is, how would you have played this hand had he reraised you on the flop/turn/river?

jdaddy · #3 03-29-2005, 02:40 PM

lol . . ..
I wanted to punch SB in the head on the second hand. You did a great job keeping the pot small here.
First hand I may limp in, however your play does seem strong, particularly given the beatings you have been encountering. Tightening up is in order (though it will do nothing to save aces being cracked).

KKrAAAzy88s · #4 03-29-2005, 02:58 PM

So on hand 1:
Bet flop - half pot or 2/3?
check/fold the turn?
i should probably be folding that KQo preflop in EP?

Hand 2:
If I got reraised on the turn or river I'd think about it and probably call (not happily) depending on the size of the raise, but I'd be leery of AQ, QJ or a 2 (A2?) and maybe pocket 7s.

To keep pot size small use half pot sized bets if I'm going to bet or smaller?
Should I be folding this here in MP1 as well?

kurto · #5 03-29-2005, 03:23 PM

"i should probably be folding that KQo preflop in EP?" Yes. If you are going to limp with it, you really want to hit it strong... 2 pair. Its nice that you had a TP and a straight draw... but you have to keep in mind that others could already have the straight. Once you have callers... you have to go slow because you basically have only a pair on a draw heavy board. If you were on the button, you could have checked through the river and saved half your losses.

"To keep pot size small use half pot sized bets if I'm going to bet or smaller?" Yes. Sometimes, if I'm leary, I bet the same bet on the turn that I did on the flop.

"Should I be folding this here in MP1 as well?" that's debateable. If a table is passive, I'll limp with it. If there's a lot of raising going on PF... fold it. It plays better in LP. QK is ok... but you're always in danger of being outkicked. You really want a straight and/or 2 pair.

DasLeben · #6 03-29-2005, 04:17 PM

Hand 1: I'm with the above posters. I muck KQo in EP without a second thought. It might look playable, but think about how difficult that hand can be to play out of position if you don't hit the flop very hard.

I think the hand is very read dependant after your opponent's flop call. If you had put him on a straight draw, I really like the turn bet. But even after he called that, I think your blocking bet on the river was a good way to go. Much better than checking it to him.

Hand 2: I think you can be reasonably sure that your top pair is the best hand on the flop, since AQ would have most likely raised. I do think the postflop play was weak, in that you really should get out there and pot it on this board against that many opponents. The deuce on the turn is probably not a big deal (unless your opponents are known to call bets with bottom pair), so I'd definitely fire another one off there. Just like hand 1, the blocking bet on the river is fine, IMO.

Now that I look at the results, SB is a moron for not raising kings preflop. Not much you could have done.

Los Feliz Slim · #7 03-29-2005, 04:24 PM

Not only do I fold Hand #1 preflop, I probably muck Hand #2 as well, especially when you're running bad (although I understand that shouldn't have anything to do with anything). Results aside, KQo can hit flops that look great but that you're waaay behind on. I will usually only play KQo from the button and try to steal with it.