Time to get real....
I suck at online poker.
Example...last night, I'm playing in a 5.50 90 man SnG on Full Tilt. I am getting hit in the face with pre-flop cards. I've increased my stack to three times the average early on; there's about 65 people left, and I am 3rd in chips.
At one point, I get AA, and I reraise a min-raiser (i.e. a moron), and someone who called him. It was 30/60, and I'm in the BB. The button min raises to 120, the SB calls, I make it 360. They both call.
The flop has two spades, nothing over a T. SB checks, and I make a pot sized bet. The button raises over the top of me an amount that even the dumbest player would expect a call. I think it was like an additional 960 chips in a huge pot. SB folds, I obviously call, and he has a flush draw.
Now, you know the result, and I should be happy to get my money in pretty far ahead. However, at the time, I couldn't believe the stupidity of my opponent. First off, he had absolutely no fold equity, and he HAD to know it even if he doesn't know what fold equity is. It's just intuitive that I wasn't going to fold right there. But, let's attempt to give him the benefit of the doubt...
Let's say that my reraise seemed like a scared reraise pre-flop. In other words, maybe it seemed I wanted to just take the pot right there to him. He had AK suited, so he feels that I'm probably reraising like this at best with JJ or AK, and he already has AK, so that's unlikely (remember, I'm just trying to think like him). So, he puts me on something like QQ, or JJ, and maybe just overcards like AQ, and AJ, but those are less likely (bad players usually put you on a very specific range).
I raise the pot when it gets to me on the flop, and he thinks..."This guy is just trying to take the pot, and even if he has JJ, I still have like 15 outs on the flop, so that pretty much puts me in the lead right here. I'm all in."
He goes all in, and obviously I call. Now, obviously he didn't have the outs he thought...he only had 9. So, I'm winning this hand more often than I'm losing it. He made a mistake...and, isn't that what I want? Obviously it is. Had I won that hand, I would have been the CL, and easily final tabled, IMO.
Instead, I lost chips (but was still average). And, this had me on tilt. I shouldn't have been on tilt, but...this is why I'm an online loser. I tilt. I can't help it. I hate players that get lucky when they make mistakes. I know that we almost need players to get lucky a few times in order to keep them in the game, it's just, it stings when you know you played your best, and someone still gets lucky against you. I can't think of another "sport" where bad players have such an opportunity to win. Bad players won't win in the long run, but a bad player will get lucky in a tournament and go far.
I tilted, and at one point, I was UTG w/KQc. I limped in like a dumb ass, and had one raiser on the button. He was raising with a LOT of hands, so I auto called. He was also the chip leader by far.
The flop gave me nothing, he bets the pot, I auto call. I'm so pissed at this point that he raised me and bet the pot...how irrational does that sound? Very. So, I call the flop bet with nothing but overcards. He bets the pot again on the turn, I auto call. It's like I'm calling out of spite. The river comes, gives me nothing, and I go all in, and he would be a moron NOT to call me. He does, he has TPTK with AT, and a T on the board, and I'm gone. I was so upset at that point that I just stopped playing (at least I did that).
But, I remember sitting there thinking...this is why you are not winning. Plays like this.
So, instead of thinking I'm the shit in this blog (not sure if I have came across like that) I'm just going to make this my blog of truth. If I suck, it's going to show.
The funny thing is, my 2nd year was SO much better than my first! I'm starting my 3rd year (next month I'll have been playing like 2 years and 1 month). I had numerous final tables, I had some wins, and I hardly had to deposit. I certainly lost so much less than normal.
Here are some current stats from various stats:
Tournaments:
Stars:
Est Profit:
$-914
Total Played:
365
Full Tilt:
Est Profit:
$-16
Total Played:
19
SnGs:
Stars:
Profit:
$-706.00
Total Played:
1,049
Full Tilt:
Profit:
$38.00
Total Played:
15
I should say that most of my SnGs on Stars were played in my first year when I was still learning, however, come on. That's still horrible.
Here's what typically happens.
I will read, and post, and discuss, and nail down how I want to play. I'll sit down, and just totally play extremely well, not go on tilt, and start profiting. I'll grind like fucking heck from about 50.00 to about 150.00 or so.
Then, I'll get careless. I'll stop caring about playing 5.50 SnGs. I won't care if I lose them, I'll take more chances. I'll get bad beats, and tilt my way out of some. I'll slow down, and come back the next day. I'll get more beats, and get even worse. I'll get in a cash game, and lose a buy in. I'll get in more tournaments, and try to double up very early. I'll bust out of more tournaments. I won't lose the 150 all at once, but it will steadily dwindle on a daily basis.
Then, I'll make a small little come back, and be happy that I stopped the bleeding when all that really happened was that my silly plays got lucky. I'll go back up a little, then start getting beats, and that will be it for me. Even when I am getting great cards and flops, I'll find a way to lose the game, and be SO fucking pissed that I am ready to quit poker.
Then, I'll come here and start talking about it, trying to set myself strait.
One thing I know...the best player may tilt. They may make mistakes...but they are mostly consistent. Othewise, they may have their bad days, but they don't let their bankroll suffer as a result.
