Going pro

[sweetjazz]

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all the aggrevation of the new 1000k bet downswings

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Man, a 1 million bet downswing would be aggrevating! [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

I know what you mean, just thought this was kind of funny. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[thepizzlefosho]

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A winrate of 3 is impossible multitabling Stars 5/10. 2 is phenomenal. 1 is good and probably the top 10-15 percentile of winners in this game.

I really envy people who just win win win. I don't think I've ever had an extended super hot run. It just hasn't ever happened. I go up, down, up, up, down, down, up, down, and overall I end slightly up. It has always been like this for me. I was telling jba at the tables today that I feel like my A game is definitely near the best at the stupid Stars 5/10 game, but it doesn't matter. I can't win.

I played my A game for 1700 hands today. I folded a couple winners because some guy 2 barreled with air OTB after the PFR checked to him on the turn. I had A3 on AK942 and he bet the turn and river 3-way with QT. The other guy check called the river with JT.

I lost with AQs, AQo, AJs, AJo, ATo, KK, KJs, KJo, KTs, KTo, QJs, and JJ, among other hands. I just stopped at -100 BB for the night. Showdown stats of 30/50. Just an insane, ridiculous run where everyone hit everything, I flopped nothing and when I did flop a draw, it just never came through. This happens all the time to me. Basically it gets to the point where I never expect draws to hit.

Here's a hand from late in my session today against a 2+2er, I guess to prove to myself that I was playing well all the way through.

PokerStars 5/10 Hold'em (6 handed) internettexasholdem.com

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP raises</font>, <font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero 3-bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">MP caps</font>, Hero calls.

Flop: (8.40 SB) 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">MP bets</font>, Hero calls.

Turn: (5.20 BB) 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">MP bets</font>, Hero calls.

River: (7.20 BB) 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">MP bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>

2p2er said, "lol"
2p2er said, "waited too long"
ysscky said, "i dont think u have a K"
2p2er said, "ok"
2p2er said, "here's 10"

MP calls.

Final Pot: 11.20 BB

Results:
Hero has Qc Qh (one pair, queens).
MP has Jc Js (one pair, jacks).
Outcome: Hero wins 11.20 BB.

2p2er says, "sick"

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this is exactly word for word how I feel about my game since I started keeping close track of it about 80,000 hands ago.

but nobody cares [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ed miller wrote in an article that included the quote below and I feel like it pretty much sums up how I've thought about my game for the last two months:

As social a game as poker is, it’s also an extremely lonely one. You enjoy your wins and suffer your losses alone. No one knows how much you’ve won or lost today, this week, or this month. Even worse, no one cares. And I mean no one. Even your mom doesn’t care. When I play poker, my wife doesn’t care how I did. My friends don’t care. No one cares.

Furthermore, it’s very hard to get decent feedback. “Am I doing it right?” Can’t look to your results… there’s too much variance to figure much out. Can’t ask your friends… chances are your friends are idiots. You can post hands on the internet, but even then you often don’t get a satisfying outcome.

So you’ve played for weeks or months or even years. You win sometimes and you lose sometimes. No one you know cares much either way. And you can’t even figure out if you’re on the right track.

“Is anyone out there?” (Echos.) “Am I doing this right?” (Echos.) “Can anybody hear me?” (Echos.) The loneliness is enough to drive poker players totally batty. And its enough to drive their games squarely into the crapper too.


I keep waiting for the donks to stop hitting the second pair with their K3 to crack my AA and to stop losing full house over full house in capped pots. It will happen eventually and then I'll think I'm unbeatable and I'll forget that I ever had doubts about it all.

Until then here's hoping the new stoxtrader book gives me some helpful insight.