Saturday, February 26, 2005

Party-go-bust

(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.

2 Comments:

  1. Human Head said...
    Here's my two cents....

    Try to buy in bigger if you can. Of course, stories abound about people buying in for $50 and making thousands, but you don't here about the myriad of people that get their short buy-in "schooled".

    If you choose to wait and buy in for a larger than minimum amount, go ahead and make a min deposit at Stars or some other site whare you can play the ultra-micros. This way you can still play, plus get some more practice dealing with that fish schooling without it costing so much.

    Good Luck on your Vegas Trip! Are you coming out to the WPBT event?
    Shelly said...
    I am hope-hope-hoping I can come up with the $$ to head to Vegas in June. I already have 2 Vegas trips this year - one in 2 weeks, and another in October. If I can make it out there, I most definitely will. I'd love to meet everybody :)

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