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#1
04-03-2006, 06:52 PM
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Why I suck as a professional poker player (extremely long)
I know I’m begging for some flaming with this post but I don’t care. This is the story of a trip to foxwoods, some high stakes poker, and the mindset that makes me wonder whether or not I’ll ever make it as a professional poker player. The trip report below is a fairly typical example of some of the poor choices that I’ve made throughout my poker career.
Friday, Day 1 I’ve been running badly online for a few days (grinding it out 5-tabling 2-4) and tilt is becoming an issue. It’s time for a break. It’s time for some live no-limit action. I haven’t been to Foxwoods in a while and it’s time to check out their new poker room. The plan is to play in their 5-5 or 5-10 no cap NL games but I bring 10k just in case the 10-25 game looks juicy and I want to take a shot. 10k is ~15% of my bankroll/life savings. ------------------------ I get to foxwoods and I’m impressed with their new poker room. But I’m disappointed to find out that the 5-10 no-limit game now has a $1500 buyin cap (this game used to play huge)…..Oh well, I find an empty seat and quickly donk off my first $1500 buyin by pushing the nut flush draw and getting called. At about this time they call a must move 10-25nl game. It looks like I’m going to take my shot a little earlier than anticipated (who was I kidding anyway?)….The game looks like it’s gonna go 4-handed. I recognize one guy as somebody I definitely want to be playing against and I sort of recognize a second guy (young) but wasn’t sure where I recognize him from. The other guys I hadn’t seen before but they looked like bad players. Okay, my plan was to take a 4k shot and if I lost that I’d go back to grinding it out at the 5-10 with my last $3500. I quickly realize that the guy I sort of recognized is Alex (2+2er AJ Go All In)…It seems my game selection is phenomenal. Actually though, the game is pretty good. I end up playing my A-game the entire night, I get my money in good spots, avoid big pots, and make 5k in the 10-25 for the night. So I’m up $3500 for the trip. I head to my room to get some sleep. Saturday, Day2 I don’t sleep for long (3hours) and I’m back downstairs and get back in the game. I get in the must move game for about 6hours before I’m called for the main game. I’m basically even for the day, I’m tired, and the main game looks bad so I decide to call it a quick day. (I’m up $3700 for the trip) Sunday, Day3 I get in the game at about 9am and I’m lucky to catch some of the guys who have been up all night. I play basically my B+ game all day before going to dinner with Nate (2+2er Neon)….I”m up ~$5000 for the trip and when I get back from dinner I put just my profits on the table. Sunday, 7pm (things take a turn for the worse) In the hour following dinner I see my stack dwindle to $4200 when the following hand comes up: 2 limpers, Nate limps on the button, and I make it $150 from the small blind. This is a fairly typical play for me but in this case I happen to hold AhAd. One of the original limpers calls, as does Nate on the button. Pot ($500) Flop: Js 9s 4d (3 handed) I lead for $400, fold, and Nate makes it $1800 to go. From his perspective, my hand range is huge so he’s likely to pulling this trick with a pretty wide range of hands himself. When he called my big preflop raise on the button I figured his hand range was any 2 cards worth limping with on the button to begin with. The only two hands I’m really scared of are J9 and a set of 4’s (although I think Nate is usually raising 4’s on the button preflop)….I call the raise and push for another $2200. Nate says “good read” and quickly calls with 5s2s (he’s done a nice job of pricing himself in)…..A spade on the turn seals my fate and my profits are gone. REBUY Midnight (tilt begins) Nate’s been playing for 30hours and the P u s s y is feeling tired. When he leaves the game is in danger of breaking. I’m stuck $1500 but at that point but I was still playing fairly well. I’m getting ready to go myself when all of a sudden the game takes a turn for the better. About 7 donkeys show up and all of a sudden I’m playing in one of the best games I’ve ever played in. There are basically a bunch of rich people at the table who have no clue what they’re doing. In my mind this is a great spot to take a serious gamble. I pull my final 5k out of my pocket and put it on the table for a total stack of $8500. I feel like this is the perfect table to LAG it up as the pots are huge and the implied odds are AWESOME on almost every hand. My plan is to play a ton of pots in position, wait for a big hand and let one of the donkey’s double me up. The problem is, it’s now 4am, I’ve been at the table for 19 hours and I’m no Marathon runner. The game is moving extremely slow as each pot is huge and people are taking their time to think. In addition, foxwoods dealers suck and are making mistake after mistake which is getting quite frustrating. Their level of incompetence/indifference is truly inexcusable. All in all, I guess you can say I was in a fairly [censored] state of mind when the following hand came up: ---------------------------------- Monday morning (the blowup) I’m down to my final $7600 and it’s all on the table. I open UTG for 9bb’s with AKo fully expecting 4-callers. I’m pleasantly surprised when only the bad but not completely horrible asian kid on my immediate left and a total donkey rich guy on the button call my raise. Pot ($710) Flop: Jd6d6c (3-handed) I lead out for $450 and Asian kid on my left makes it $1450 to go. The total donkey folds. What happens next is extremely quick and I certainly don’t take my time. I think to myself “he’s got a hand but surely he’d slow play a real big hand. He doesn’t have an overpair or a 6. Maybe he’s got a medium pair but most likely he’s got a J. Either way, there is no way possible he can call if I push” At that point I hear myself involuntarily utter the phrase “allin.” It’s 6k more to Asian kid who barely has me covered. He goes into the tank forever and my thought process starts becoming clear. “Wow, I made a giant and suspicious overbet. What hand am I representing here? Am I really going to convince this guy I have an overpair?”…. He asks me “Queens huh?” I say nothing. He shows his AJo and apologizes for taking so long. I tell him to take all the time he needs. DOH, I can’t believe I just opened my mouth. He thinks for a while longer and finally makes a terrific call. Can anyone say, BUSTO!!!! Epilogue: Technically I’m not BUSTO. I do have a $400 daily maximum withdrawal limit on my ATM card. I take the 4hundo straight to the blackjack table and 4 hands later……….BUSTO, but not yet. How bout a 1k credit card cash advance (+$43.99 transaction fee)? ~15 hands later, the final busto. No more torture. I’m leaving this shithole 2days early. Tomorrow it will be back to grinding it out at the 2-4 tables at pokerstars. Thanks for reading and letting me vent. Flame away! 
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#3
04-03-2006, 07:04 PM
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Re: Why I suck as a professional poker player (extremely long)
If the table was as bad as you say why leave your nose open by raising to 9BB from UTG with AKo? You're unlikely to catch the nuts and almost any non-AK board is scary because it could help any of the donkeys who happen to call behind you.
I like the push given the read; but like you said, talking was a mistake. Anyway, sorry to hear about the trip. Sounds like you played pretty well with a few exceptions. Unfortunately in NL that's all it takes sometimes to go from +200BB to busto.
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#4
04-03-2006, 07:14 PM
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Re: Why I suck as a professional poker player (extremely long)
[ QUOTE ]
2 limpers, Nate limps on the button, and I make it $150 from the small blind. This is a fairly typical play for me but in this case I happen to hold AhAd. One of the original limpers calls, as does Nate on the button. Pot ($500) Flop: Js 9s 4d (3 handed) I lead for $400, fold, and Nate makes it $1800 to go. From his perspective, my hand range is huge so he’s likely to pulling this trick with a pretty wide range of hands himself. When he called my big preflop raise on the button I figured his hand range was any 2 cards worth limping with on the button to begin with. The only two hands I’m really scared of are J9 and a set of 4’s (although I think Nate is usually raising 4’s on the button preflop)….I call the raise and push for another $2200. Nate says “good read” and quickly calls with 5s2s (he’s done a nice job of pricing himself in)…..A spade on the turn seals my fate [/ QUOTE ] hey clint, did you consider asking neon if he'd run it more than once with you? given that you were taking a shot in the 10-25, reducing variance wouldn't be a bad thing.
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#5
04-03-2006, 07:15 PM
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Re: Why I suck as a professional poker player (extremely long)
[ QUOTE ]
hey clint, did you consider asking neon if he'd run it more than once with you? given that you were taking a shot in the 10-25, reducing variance wouldn't be a bad thing. [/ QUOTE ] Hey Mike, Unfortunately they don't allow that at foxwoods.
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#7
04-03-2006, 07:36 PM
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Re: Why I suck as a professional poker player (extremely long)
Yes u suck
Is that the answer your looking for?
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