I love poker OR How to lose $25 in 7 hands

[SplitPersonality1]

I love poker. Really.

I have to keep telling myself that after the craziness that occured last night at Party Poker. I was playing a $30SNG, and 2 .50/1 tables at the same time. One of the cheap tables broke up, and I pocketed about $7 in winnings. I decided to go to another table...the table from hell.

Hand #1
I have A-K
Flop is 8-6-A - cool
Turn is K - I am very happy
River is J - I lose to a schmoe holding Q-10
No big deal. It happens.

Hand #2
I have A-A
Flop is a rainbow of all low cards, 7-3-9 - excellent
Turn is K - no problem
River is a 4 - I lose to a another schmoe holding 4-4
That was annoying, but again, that's poker.

Hand #4
I have 5-5 and limp in
Flop is 7-5-K - excellent. I bet accordingly.
Turn is a 2 - again. no problem
River is a 9 - I lose once again. This time to a person holding a suited 6-8. Unbelievable.

For some strange reason, I stay at this crazy table with my remaining $3.

Hand #7
I have K-K - will I lose on the river once again?
Flop is J-5-Kd - trips again. this has to hold up. Right?
Turn is a 4d - does anyone see where this going?
River is a 9d - and I lose the rest of my chips to a suited 10-8.

Oh well. I know things like that are going to happen, but I have never had it concentrated in a span of seven hands before.

I love poker. Really.

[Subby]

If you want to lose all of your money quickly, do one of two things:

1) set it ablaze in your firepalce.
2) Play the .50/$1 tables at PartyPoker

[sabotai]

SP, you just described every poker session of mine for the past month or so...

[tucker342]

wow that sucks:D

Those were some damn good hands to...

[albionmoonlight]

If you want to lose all of your money quickly, do one of two things:

1) set it ablaze in your firepalce.
2) Play the .50/$1 tables at PartyPoker
I was under the impression that the low limit tables were a pretty easy place to make money, playing tight-aggressive without bothering trying to read other players' hands.

[rkmsuf]

I swear I've vowed to quit the game after similar sessions but they keep sucking me in...

[QuikSand]

I had a session that worked out like that too, not long ago. Good hands, played appropiately, with all four of them getting cracked in a fairly short period of time (about an hour - not quite as compact as yours).

Regrettably, I was at a $10/$20 table. *sigh*

I love poker, too.

[robbgmaier]

i'm on a self imposed week long hiatus for just this sort of thing....it's hard for the first couple days, but it feels much better the longer you wait...kind of like abstaining from sex.....um.....wait a minute.....

[sabotai]

I think you mean kind of like abstaining from abstaining from sex...right?

[Radii]

I had the same thing happen to me a couple of days ago at a $1/$2 6 man table(my new thing) at pokerstars, not as compact, but lost $60 in about 30 minutes.

[SplitPersonality1]

Before you feel to sorry for me, it seemed to be just that one particular table last night. I made the usual $5-$10 on all the others that I played plus took 3rd in the $30SNG and a 3rd in a $50SNG a few hours later. I'm just glad I wasn't at a NL25 table. That could have gotten nasty.

Fortunately, I never went on tilt, and managed to laugh the entire time I was losing my shirt.

As QS noted, hands get cracked all the time, but to go through the whole bankroll (if $25 can even be considered a bankroll) in 7 hands in quite amazing.

albion: The low limit table at Party are fairly easy to make money by playing very, very patiently. That is one of the reasons I play multiple tables. I still get a decent amount of action while playing premium hands. Vegas Vic mentioned this a few days ago, I think.

I usually play the 1/2 or 2/4 tables, but I will drop down while I am in the middle of a tourney. I figure, if my concentration is a bit off, I won't lose too much.

QS: 10/20?. Yikes. Hopefully at that level, the competition was also playing appropriately and you just ran up against superior hands.

[QuikSand]

QS: 10/20?. Yikes. Hopefully at that level, the competition was also playing appropriately and you just ran up against superior hands.

This was B&M play, in Atlantic City. There are still loose/reckless players at that level, but for the most part they are people who understand that they can win pots when the bulk of their opponents are capable of laying down a decent hand against a formidable bet. So, they bet and raise a lot, seeking to gain those advantages... and to also get paid off well when they do stumble into a big hand.

. . .

As or my specific circumstances... the toughest of the hands was my pair of tens. Flop comes 2s-Td-Kd. Great, I flopped a solid set, and I am clearly strong. I decide to bet it out (I'm in fairly early position) rather than slowplaying it -- there are several players in the hand, and I (correctly) believe most will call the bet on the flop. There is a raise from Seat #10, which everyone calls. Good. The turn brings 6c, to me a blank (good). I bet again, and just get called here by the #10 seat. I consider my options, worried a bit about a big flush draw. The river comes 2d. I had been hoping for "no diamond" but this is the perfect diamond for me - PLEASE give seat #10 his ace flush, because now I have tens full and will crush him. I open the betting, two callers stay, and then seat #10 raises. I reraise, making it sixty. Two players fold, it's back to seat #10 and I am mentally adding this very nice pot to my stack, I've practically already spent the money.

He reraises.

Ummmm... no, fella. You're supposed to be beat here. You're supposed to be sighing, knowing that your flush is no good.

I call. He shows his pocket deuces, making quads on the river. His one out to pass me.

No criticism of his play - he was right on. I'd definitely reraise him again, too, if I had the hand to play over. Just a bad spot to river my full house there. Pocket kings would have done the job as well, but without a pre-flop raise (especially with him in late position) I thought that was pretty much out of the question. But he had the absolute nuts and a great customer in me.

Since then, I have seen the same guy around a lot, always in the high rollers room. Guess he was just "fishing" down in $10/$20 that day for giggles. I'll wait my turn...

[sabotai]

The opening scene of Rounders flashes in my mind reading QS's story...

And now Vic's comment about Rounders flashes in my mind... :)

[SplitPersonality1]

Since then, I have seen the same guy around a lot, always in the high rollers room. Guess he was just "fishing" down in $10/$20 that day for giggles. I'll wait my turn...

Excellent story QS.

Unfortunately for me, there are no B&Ms near me. (being here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin). I did travel to Phoenix last year, when I was still very green at this hold'em thing. I sat a 3/6 table and lasted all of 20 minutes. It was very intimidating.

Needless to say, I know/play the game a bit better now and would love to give it another try.

In Atlantic City, what are the lower table limits and what is the quality of play? Just curious, I may be heading out that way in the fall.

[QuikSand]

In AC like everywhere, the quality of play is mixed but tends to slope up as the limits do.

At the Borgata (the first top-grade casino in AC) the lowest level is $2/$4, and it works up from there... 3,6,10,15,20,30 and up. At the 2 and 3 tables, it's very loose/passive, standard for whatever the lowest offerings might be. The $6/12 game is pretty fair and the $10 game tends to get a fair number of actually good players. It's a lot tougher to stay positive as you work upwards... you start to realize how much of your winnings really do come from the calling stations and clueless wonders at the lower levels.

[robbgmaier]

The opening scene of Rounders flashes in my mind reading QS's story...

And now Vic's comment about Rounders flashes in my mind... :)

I watched that movie about a week ago. Even though I knew it was coming, I was feeling physical pain watching Matt Damon lose his whole (at that point) $50,000 bankroll in one hand. NL ring games are evil :)

[cthomer5000]

I played in a limit tourney last night on ultimate bet (20+2) , 133 entrants and I finished 6th at the final table. About 80 dollars profit... although I was obviously gunning for 1st and the 800 dollar prize. I was chip leader at various times, then had a couple bad beats right before the money cutoff, but rallied with a few big all-ins to get to the final table.

I was way short-stacked at the final table.The blinds were getting pretty brutal, so I needed to make a move to increase my stack. Also, I wasn't really even close to the 5th place chip stack, so playing conservatively to move up the payouts wasn't a real option.

I raised and capped the raising pre-flop with a pair of 4s. Only one opponent saw the flop with me (8-2-8), I kept betting into him, he kept calling, and caught a 7 on the river (he had 7-9o) to send me home. I've only entered a few multi-table tourneys, and this is the first time I placed in the money. I think i'll give another limit tourney a shot tonight. I felt great about my play. My only real mishaps were much earlier in the tourney where I was a bit too agressive with borderline hands that I probably shouldn't have gotten involved with. In fact, I would say I've never been happier with my play in any single session.

[SplitPersonality1]

I finished 6th at the final table.

Congrats!