Bad downswing, am I playing badly?

muddydog · #1 05-22-2007, 10:27 AM

I'm starting to feel like I have no idea if I'm playing badly, every hand I get all in with seems like I have the worst hand lately.

The following hand is from a player that pokertracker lists as being overly loose aggressive, so I figure I'm ahead of their range. My stats are SLA, A so I figure that would open his range further. At these stakes is that a reality or do people even notice? Do I need to stop compensating so much for their laggy play? Do you play this hand differently? I've been trying to concentrate more lately on value betting, especially against a guy like this who is likely to have a worse ace than I do in this spot. I used to check behind the turn a lot in this spot, but a lot of the successful midstakes guys have consistently been writing about value betting on the turn and not being such a wuss, so I've been doing that a lot more. Seems like when I do that though I seem to end up in a lot more situations like this. The player in the following hand has a vpip of over 30, raises 18 and aggression factors of 2-3.

Also note the flush draw wiff on the river, so I figure there is a small chance of a bluff on the miss there.

Please help me figure out if I'm just in a bad run or if I'm overplaying my good but not monster hands.

Also I would have given up on the river if not for the jack, I figure an ace with a baby for the two pair is definitely in his range, is my range too large?

Full Tilt Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (6 handed) Hand History converter Courtesy of PokerZion.com

UTG ($91.20)
MP ($55.15)
Hero ($63.80)
Button ($46.45)
SB ($57.40)
BB ($63.15)

Preflop: Hero is CO with A[[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]], J[[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]].
[color=Gray]2 folds, [color=Red]Hero raises to $1.5, [color=Gray]1 fold, SB calls $1.25, BB calls $1.

Flop: ($4.50) 6[[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]], A[[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]], 8[[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]] [color=Blue](3 players)
SB checks, BB checks, [color=Red]Hero bets $3, SB calls $3, BB folds.

Turn: ($10.50) 2[[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]] [color=Blue](2 players)
SB checks, [color=Red]Hero bets $6.5, [color=Red]SB raises to $13, Hero calls $6.50.

River: ($36.50) J[[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]] [color=Blue](2 players)
[color=Red]SB bets $39.9 (All-In), Hero calls $39.90.

Final Pot: $116.30