....sigh...why can't I play cash games?

Is it me or just incredibly bad luck?

First $10+1 9seat SNG:

Playing great, doubled up off the first hand then this:

Full Tilt Poker Game #4471140143: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (33889590), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 18:47:32 ET - 2007/12/11
PUMPGUN81: you had a fat chiplead he must have sucked out on you
Seat 1: REDEEMED 3 (2,825)
Seat 3: DubsPoke (2,510)
Seat 4: PUMPGUN81 (2,400)
Seat 5: saxton101 (3,165)
Seat 6: wake196 (1,355)
Seat 7: amurophil (1,245)
REDEEMED 3 posts the small blind of 40
DubsPoke posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DubsPoke [Kd Kc]
PUMPGUN81 folds
saxton101 folds
wake196 raises to 160
amurophil folds
REDEEMED 3 folds
DubsPoke has 15 seconds left to act
DubsPoke raises to 400
wake196 raises to 1,355, and is all in
DubsPoke calls 955
wake196 shows [Qh As]
DubsPoke shows [Kd Kc]
*** FLOP *** [Td 3d 2s]
*** TURN *** [Td 3d 2s] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [Td 3d 2s 5h] [4s]
wake196 shows a straight, Five high
DubsPoke shows a pair of Kings
wake196 wins the pot (2,750) with a straight, Five high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2,750 | Rake 0
Board: [Td 3d 2s 5h 4s]
Seat 1: REDEEMED 3 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 3: DubsPoke (big blind) showed [Kd Kc] and lost with a pair of Kings
Seat 4: PUMPGUN81 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: saxton101 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: wake196 showed [Qh As] and won (2,750) with a straight, Five high
Seat 7: amurophil (button) didn't bet (folded)

Alrightie...that happens. Let's reload and get back at. Fourth hand of next $10+1 9 seat SNG:

Full Tilt Poker Game #4471339877: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (33893151), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:07:04 ET - 2007/12/11
Seat 1: Jezzibel (1,470)
Seat 2: zinc20 (1,925)
Seat 3: retrofx (1,500)
Seat 4: UsedToThis (1,165)
Seat 5: Ledosr (1,470)
Seat 6: hildomaniac (1,500)
Seat 7: DubsPoke (1,500)
Seat 8: HAZE VENTURA (1,500)
Seat 9: biggs813 (1,470)
UsedToThis posts the small blind of 15
Ledosr posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DubsPoke [As Ah]
hildomaniac folds
DubsPoke raises to 90
HAZE VENTURA calls 90
biggs813 folds
Jezzibel folds
zinc20 folds
retrofx folds
UsedToThis folds
Ledosr folds
*** FLOP *** [3d 7d Jc]
DubsPoke bets 60
HAZE VENTURA raises to 120
DubsPoke has 15 seconds left to act
DubsPoke raises to 240
HAZE VENTURA has 15 seconds left to act
HAZE VENTURA raises to 720
DubsPoke has 15 seconds left to act
DubsPoke raises to 1,410, and is all in
HAZE VENTURA calls 690, and is all in
DubsPoke shows [As Ah]
HAZE VENTURA shows [3s 3c]
*** TURN *** [3d 7d Jc] [5h]
*** RIVER *** [3d 7d Jc 5h] [4h]
DubsPoke: damn
DubsPoke shows a pair of Aces
HAZE VENTURA shows three of a kind, Threes
DubsPoke: nh
HAZE VENTURA wins the pot (3,045) with three of a kind, Threes
DubsPoke stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,045 | Rake 0
Board: [3d 7d Jc 5h 4h]
Seat 1: Jezzibel didn't bet (folded)
Seat 2: zinc20 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: retrofx (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: UsedToThis (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Ledosr (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: hildomaniac didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: DubsPoke showed [As Ah] and lost with a pair of Aces
Seat 8: HAZE VENTURA showed [3s 3c] and won (3,045) with three of a kind, Threes
Seat 9: biggs813 didn't bet (folded)

So then I went on to play some MTTs. Got 16 in a $2 400+ person tourney for a whopping $4 profit. Played a $5 Knockout Tourney, got 416 out of 800+. and then proceeded to donk it up in the $24 - 24k guarantee. Add in my losses from the cash game and I'm down $100 tonight. Time to go back to my $10+1 SNGs....sigh....

Before I go, here's a typical big loss hand from one of my cash sessions tonight...:

I had sat down with $20 at this table so was up slightly and playing very well. Good reads on my opponents, pushing when I needed to etc.

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FullTiltPoker Game #4474014768: Table Ernest (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 23:08:26 ET - 2007/12/11
Seat 1: supersaul20 ($16.75), is sitting out
Seat 2: Comin4You ($50)
Seat 3: armstrongk ($16.20)
Seat 4: rickyroboto ($20.45)
Seat 6: DubsPoke ($25.85)
DubsPoke posts the small blind of $0.25
Comin4You is sitting out
armstrongk posts the big blind of $0.50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DubsPoke [Js 9d]
Comin4You stands up
rickyroboto calls $0.50
DubsPoke has 15 seconds left to act
DubsPoke raises to $2 (i'm not a big fan of j-9 off, however, with a limper I want to know what kind of strength he has)
armstrongk calls $1.50
rickyroboto folds
*** FLOP *** [5c 9h Jh]
DubsPoke bets $1.50 (bullseye, hit two pair!)
armstrongk raises to $9 (a-j? k-j? 10-q?)
DubsPoke raises to $23.85, and is all in (I'm fairly confident I'm way ahead, this guy is a putz and will call down with top pair good kicker)
armstrongk calls $5.20, and is all in (as expected)
DubsPoke shows [Js 9d]
armstrongk shows [4h 8h] (wtf!?)
Uncalled bet of $9.65 returned to DubsPoke
*** TURN *** [5c 9h Jh] [As]
*** RIVER *** [5c 9h Jh As] [Qh]
DubsPoke shows two pair, Jacks and Nines
armstrongk shows a flush, Queen high
armstrongk wins the pot ($31.90) with a flush, Queen high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $32.90 | Rake $1
Board: [5c 9h Jh As Qh] (....sigh....of course, donk play gets rewarded)
Seat 1: supersaul20 is sitting out
Seat 2: Comin4You is sitting out
Seat 3: armstrongk (big blind) showed [4h 8h] and won ($31.90) with a flush, Queen high
Seat 4: rickyroboto (button) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: DubsPoke (small blind) showed [Js 9d] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Nines

It seems like I'm playing the cash games well but then I'll have one bad hand and an hour of profit is gone instantly.

I just purchased PokerTracker so I'll post some stats tomorrow or on Thursday. Perhaps we can identify some areas to work on.

See you at the virtual felt,

DubsPoke
Bankroll: $585

How would you have played it differently?

How would you have played this hand differently? EDIT: Edits from analysis are in Bold and Italics

Full Tilt Poker Game #4451886630: ThePokerGrind.net Bounty (33205444), Table 2 - 50/100 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:52:32 ET - 2007/12/09
Seat 1: DubsPoke (5,170)
Seat 2: roochie m (5,495)
Seat 3: WallStreetFish (1,990)
Seat 4: Beenzy (2,445)
Seat 5: zhdk (1,715)
Seat 6: BUSTEDFLUSH123 (5,525)
Seat 7: NEESE1 (1,610)
Seat 9: 16lucky16 (6,050)
DubsPoke posts the small blind of 50
roochie m posts the big blind of 100
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DubsPoke [Ac Qd]
WallStreetFish folds
Beenzy folds
zhdk folds
BUSTEDFLUSH123 folds
NEESE1 folds
16lucky16 calls 100
DubsPoke raises to 400
WallStreetFish is feeling angry
roochie m calls 300
16lucky16 calls 300
*** FLOP *** [6s Qh Ts]
DubsPoke bets 400 (My first mistake, making a value bet with only TPTK-top pair top kicker)
roochie m calls 400
16lucky16 folds
*** TURN *** [6s Qh Ts] [6h]
DubsPoke bets 1,000
roochie m raises to 2,000
DubsPoke calls 1,000 (Second mistake - roochie m's range of starting hands is very broad and he has played very aggressively in the tourney at this point, a 6 is definitely in his range, as well as q-10.....I should have just folded at this point)

*** RIVER *** [6s Qh Ts 6h] [4d]
DubsPoke has 15 seconds left to act
DubsPoke bets 1,200
roochie m raises to 2,695, and is all in
DubsPoke has 15 seconds left to act
DubsPoke: you call 4x preflop with a 6?
DubsPoke: ahh well, was fun, gl all
DubsPoke calls 1,170, and is all in
Uncalled bet of 325 returned to roochie m

*** SHOW DOWN ***
roochie m shows [5d 6d] three of a kind, Sixes
DubsPoke shows [Ac Qd] two pair, Queens and Sixes
roochie m wins the pot (10,740) with three of a kind, Sixes
DubsPoke: putz
DubsPoke stands up

*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 10,740 Rake 0
Board: [6s Qh Ts 6h 4d]
Seat 1: DubsPoke (small blind) showed [Ac Qd] and lost with two pair, Queens and Sixes
Seat 2: roochie m (big blind) showed [5d 6d] and won (10,740) with three of a kind, Sixes
Seat 3: WallStreetFish didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Beenzy didn't bet (folded)
Seat 5: zhdk didn't bet (folded)
Seat 6: BUSTEDFLUSH123 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: NEESE1 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: 16lucky16 (button) folded on the Flop

Let's just say I didn't handle this beat well. Still learning to control the emotions and I apologize sincerely to roochie m and the rest at the table for the "Hellmuth antics" and verbal abuse.

EDIT: After some analysis it is obvious that I allowed roochie m to win this pot through my own poor post-flop play. I encourage everyone to read "the monster stack" comments to this post. Some excellent analysis.

On the brigher side, before this disaster in thepokergrind.net game, I won 4 out of 5 $10 9seat SNG.

Bankroll, after being down to $540 to start sunday is now up to $680.

See you at the virtual felt,

DubsPoke
BR: $680

Lunch Break Poker....

I seriously should just rename this blog to "Lunch Break Poker" as it seems my most common posts are related to my Turbo games I play over my lunch hour. Anyways, played a $6+.50 9seat SNG and a $6+.50 6seat SNG. Took them both down. I dominated the 9seater with good cards as well as good calls. My winning it was never in question.

However, the 6seater was a slightly different story. I dominated after taking down a huge pot after blinds raised to the 50/100 level. I was aggressive and stole many pots as well. Headed into heads up with a 3:1 lead. After two hands, I was down to 1700 chips! My A-j got beat by a-5. Very next hand, pushed with pocket 9s to get bested by pocket 10s. I pushed two faces my next hand and somehow won with overcards on a rag board. Somehow hung around with 3400 chips by poor play and a lack of aggression from my opponent. Found myself with a-k and beat his a-5 this time around and suddenly was back with a dominant stack. Flopped two pair on the final hand when it held up against his open-end straight draw.

2 games, 2 first places. Why can't it be like that all the time?

Unfortunately, I also decided to sit down at a .10/.25 NLHE with $25 and promptly donked it away. I really need to figure out how to play cash games.

Correction: I need to figure out how to take advantage of the loose donks instead of being one. My SNG and tourney play isn't horrendous; my cash game is.

See you at the virtual felt,

DubsPoke
Bankroll: $605

Back up once again...

During time cramps where I'm just trying to sneak in a game or two, I've been playing $6+.50 9seat SNGs on FullTilt. And I have been destroying this low-limit game. 3 games - 2 firsts, 1 second. Small sample I know but very interesting. What am I doing different in those games then in my normal limits (10+1 regular SNG).

Obviously, the blind structure is different in the 10+1. More people are willing to wait around and you see less pushing early. Additionally, the entry is higher so I would assume the level of play also increases slightly.

I definitely need to do more examining of my hand histories to see if I can spot any differences in how I play as well.

I downloaded TourneyManager yesterday as well. I like it but $40 seems a little steep for the full version. I'll have to make a decision on whether I want to purchase that. I also have the demo of PokerTracker. Unfortunately, I'm clueless on how to interpret the data. Anyone have any suggestions please leave a comment.

See you at the virtual felt,

DubsPoke
Bankroll: $573

Edit: Played two more $6.50 9 seat SNGs over my lunch break. Got 2nd and 3rd. Should have won the one I got second in. Went into HU with a 10:3 ratio of chips. he doubled up when he caught a Q on river to beat my pocket 7s. Then crippled me when my KdQd couldn't catch against his pocket Js. Two coinflips, two beats. That's poker!~ New Bankroll: ~$590.

Moving Up in Limits is Hard...

So 3x this weekend, I built my bankroll past $650 by playing $10+1 9seat SNGs. 3x I moved up to $20+2 9seat SNGs and immediately went completely card dead or had a horrible beat put on me. My forray into the $20 game was frustrating and costly. Each time knocking me back down to the low $500s.

But I'll just keep on plugging away as best as I can. That's all I can do.

See you at the virtual felt,

DubsPoke
BR: $510