putting a brave face on it

The results so far aren't looking good. Over 1000 hands, I'm running at -8bb/100 and this is equating to around losing 50p per hour.

My VPIP has come down. I generally run at about 20-25 VPIP which goes up a bit heads up or less than 6 max. Perhaps it shouldn't for 5/6 players but to be honest, I don't think it will make much difference at the moment. The big leak is just the same as it was a few days ago. Even though I know what it is (going to far with weak hands), I'm struggling to correct it.

steaming! the truth begins to sink in...

Wow! WHAT A FRUSTRATING SESSION!

I keep playing hands I shouldn't play. I keep going to the river with top pair or worse. What the hell is wrong with me!?!

I'm sooo mad. I spent half the day deciding which site to put some more money on (in the end PokerStars was the only one with a small enough min deposit and facilities to take the paysafe cash that I had) and then spent ages deciding on a new site to try (answer : Virgin Poker).

Virgin's payment system seems to have taken my money then told me the transaction had failed - so the money is gone from my account but not registered on theirs. eh?!?!

Still, my play on CDPoker is the most annoying part of today. 2 hours. lost just over $2.00. clawed my way back once to within $.50 of my starting stack but donked it all again.

wow. even the $0.05/$0.10 tables are tough for me. This is not good.

Starting to think I'll have to set myself a stoploss figure at which point I should quit poker. Maybe I make a decision after 10,000 hands.

and then there was a party at my expense

Oh well, just when I thought it was safe to consider moving up a level, I went on a donking spree.

So frustrating, there were some much bigger fish at the table but I ended up losing all my money. Should have got up after maybe 70  hands. Played far too long and really didn't care in the end.

So, that's wiped out all the wins of the last two days leaving me with a bigger mountain to climb over all.

In the dark at Pacific

I went to Pacific this evening to practise what I'd read in Small Stakes Hold'em.

Played 2c/4c and started out with lots of "junk hands" (didn't play them). Also, I didn't hit any flops with the better hands - taking me from $2.30 to $2.00 in my first stint. 

took a break to visit the girlfriend. When I got back, I put $1.50 in play. money started to go up gradually but every now and again I'd play a few hands I shouldn't. so, I decided to open another table to reduce the urge to play more hands.

It seemed to work. I put $.50 on the second table and doubled it (thanks in no small part to AA with a helpful x99 flop and some very loose aggressive villains). Also, I loosed my game more on the second table because it was very short handed (4 max). 

Meanwhile the $1.50 went up above $2.00.  I ended the session with $3.75 (combined total).

As I didn't run any hand-capture software I'm in the dark about how I played.  I'm not particularly fussed in this case because Pacific isn't one of my favourites and I've no intention of putting any more money there. I use it as an "off the record" training ground where anything goes... until the deposit runs out.

Preparing for a return

What with the terrible play last month and being very busy at work, I've taken a break from poker apart from reading the occaisional magazine article and listening to the two-plus-two podcast.

Have gone right off tournament play.

Had been reading "Gambling Theory and Other Topics" by Mason Malmuth on and off and quite liked his style though it's a bit heavy going. Recently I switched to reading "Small Stakes Hold'em" (Ed Miller, David Sklandsky and Mason Malmuth)  instead. I love this book!

It's the first time I've seen a whole chapter on pre-flop play concepts - e.g. what kind of thought processes go into deciding how much you can raise pre-flop with any particular hand and still be profitable. It goes into a lot more subjects than just plain old "Pot Odds".

This book is definitely opening my eyes wider. More of the stats in Holdem Manager make sense now - even after just reading the pre-flop play section. I was able to review my performance with particular hands against the advice in the book. For instance, I didn't know what "Cold Calling" meant until today!

I'm eager to try out what I've read so far so will be hopping back into cash games soon - probably tomorrow.

Holdem Manager is excellent. I think I'll start a new database for this attempt and really make an effort to analyze my play.