Hella Hold'em

(again)

It's not the hardest thing to do, busting out in Party Poker, when you only start with fifty bucks. There's like zero tolerance for variance with a bankroll that meager.

I had $43 going into tonight. Caught up with SirFWALGman with April on the rail, and sat down with the whole nut at a limit $1/$2 game. Figured, it's boom or bust. Played for a few hours - went from up, down to the felt, up, down to the felt, to up again. The seesaw really wasn't bothering me though. I felt good. I'd started out a bit loosy goosy but settled in nicely. Then, what I love so much about poker. In the span of 3 hands (two of which involved river suckouts by the calling station of the table (VP$IP 59%, went to showdown 40%)), I was down to three bucks.

Busted out, and time for bed.

That's what I get for planning what I was going to write in this post in my head before I finished playing. Shame on me for thinking I was playing well. Hell, I wasn't even hoping to walk away with a profit. I was ready to brag that I endured some turbulant waters without losing my cool, and without losing any money.

And maybe I was playing well, and maybe these were just a few suckouts. I once said in a previous post that I should "suck up the suckouts and move on." LOL! (laughter dripping with sarcasm there)

Tell me though: when you sit and watch "poker players" repeatedly make plays like cold-calling a pre-flop raise out of position with 8-3 suited, and call bets on every single street, only to catch a runner-runner flush on the river - when you see those plays, and get sucked out on by them regularly, how can a decent player possibly keep his/her cool? I really need to find my happy place, or learn the zen of poker, or something, because the atrocious level of play on Party just frustrates me to no end.

I know, I know - statistically, we WANT the fish, because by the numbers, over time, the good players win and the fishies lose. Problem is, I either need to buy in with a bigger bankroll so I can comfortably play at higher levels, or go muck around in the $.50/1.00 games, which drive me even more crazy with the suckouts. Seven people seeing a flop - practically ANY hand can call it down for sheer pot odds alone! And they wouldn't even be incorrect in doing so half the time!

Maybe I just need to play on another site. Because it's not the sharks that are killing me. It's the damned FISH!!!

Am I inherently unlucky? Well, I've never considered myself a "lucky" person, but I've not thought of myself as "unlucky" either. Get this: After running my 2,909 ring hands through EV Tester, my "luck" rating is a disgusting 8.32%. Zero is as unlucky as you can get, 50% is average, and 100% is as lucky as possible.

8.32%. A big red "unlucky." Cold-decked over almost 3,000 hands. Cold-decked half the time, and sucked out on by two-outers with big hands the rest of the time.

But it's not "luck" - it's horrible players calling down to the river with crap they shouldn't be calling with, and catching. So maybe that is "unlucky" on my part - but the jackasses shouldn't be playing or calling that crap to begin with.

How is it that I can play live games and not experience this problem, yet online it destroys me? I've cashed or walked away with a profit from every single live game I've sat down to so far in 2005. Coincidence? Sure, they're home games, but I'd hardly call it a soft crowd. So why do I put myself through these mental beatings online?

Should I just quit playing online? Seems to be a common theme lately.

Frustrated.

Two weeks from now, I'll be sitting at a poker table in Vegas. I've got my money all saved, and will have a bankroll appropriate for the limits I plan to play. I suppose we'll see if I'm just fooling myself that I can play decent cards. I know I've got a ton to learn still, and I am completely willing to put in the time and effort.

But damn, does it sting to get beat by players who think that just because Gus Hansen calls all-in bets with ten high that that's the proper way to play poker. It stings because I know I'm a better player than most of these fish artists. I put in my time, study books, practice my game, analyze my play and my statistics, observe my opponents, and consciously work towards becoming a better poker player.

For what? To get sucked out on by fish.

/end whining.