Battling Tilt - The Story of July

So this month so far has been marked some insane battles with tilt.

After starting off with $90ish dollars on Pokerstars, I immediately went on a 7 buy-in downswing of run bad + tilt. Hit a low of $13 before I decided that I better play some 5NL or risk going busto for my first time ever.

And I grinded back up before another set of tilt + run bad set in. Fortunately, I was still playing 5NL so a 6 buy-in downer didn't hurt nearly as bad.

Grinded that back up to about $120ish. Sat at two 10NL tables, one horrendous beat later plus one tilt-induced terrible call led to some more losses at 5NL due to tilt.

And now, back on the upswing. Really need to focus at just saying "NH" no matter what. Sort of resets the brain, allowing me to move on to the next hand and the next villain.



That and TABLE SELECTION. If you're running bad at a table, just MOVE. Pride doesn't pay. Choosing good tables and identifying targets does.


And oh yeah, if a 40/2/1.2 fool is RAISING preflop. He probably has an Ace. Don't try to bluff him off it.

That is all.

Good luck at the felt!

DubsPoke

This was a fun one.

LOL - against a 71/3/0.9 moron:

$0.02/$0.05 No Limit Holdem
5 players
Converted at weaktight.com


Stacks:

UTG		($4.22)
CO		($5.00)
Hero (BTN)		($6.08)
SB		($4.53)
BB		($8.67)

Pre-flop: ($0.07, 5 players) Hero is BTN

UTG calls $0.05, 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.20, 2 folds, UTG calls $0.15

Flop: ($0.47, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.25, UTG calls $0.25

Turn: ($0.97, 2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.45, UTG goes all-in $3.77, Hero calls $3.32

River: ($8.51, 2 players)

Final Pot: $8.51
Hero shows:
UTG shows:

UTG wins $8.11 ( won +$3.89 )
Hero lost -$4.22

Back to crushing.....

Dropped down to 5NL once my BR dropped down to a whopping $15 on PokerStars. Dropped my # of tables down to 2.



And back to crushing the game. Going to work it back up to $100 and then start implementing one table of 10NL until $150 and then go with two tables of 10NL. I'm extremely confident I can crush this 5NL - 25NL so I'm not worried about playing on a short bankroll. I'll just drop down faster if I get a short span of run bad/play bad

Crushed.....

Well....after talking it over with the wife, I withdrew my bankroll from AP. We're going to be relatively debt free by the end of next month as a result.

So I left myself $100 at Pokerstars.


And promptly get absolutely crushed. I've been dealt KK 11 times, I've lost with them 7 times. All-in EV of +60. Real results of -40. AA dealt 12 times for a loss of $5 as well. Not playing great but running terrible as well.

7 buy-ins gone and I'm on the verge of going busto for the first time ever. Hopefully I can scratch my way back out of this.

June Results and a Dilemna

Well...not much to say but that I absolutely crushed the month of June. My best cash results over a full month since I've started tracking. I doubt I'll be able to play at all tomorrow due to work commitments so results below a day early.

My bankroll is at its largest point that I can ever remember. I actually have over 30 buy-ins for 50NL but have not ventured into that area. I'm kinda in a place of lingo.

Here's the problem. AP has a Bad Beat Jackpot (BBJ) which results in extra rake being taken out of every pot on 50NL tables+. While there are some tables that don't have the BBJ rake, most (and the softest) tables do. From what I can tell, BBJs are severely negative EV.

2nd part of the problem. I don't like playing on AP/UB as I feel like I'm sort of endorsing their poor customer relations and very shady past history. I'd much rather play on an accredited site like FullTilt or PokerStars.

3rd part of the problem. I can't get rakeback on FullTilt because of their stupid f'in policy (sorry for the rude language but it really does piss me off) of not allowing old accounts to be credited to new rakeback providers. Seeing as how I created this account at a time when I didn't even know what RAKE was, much less rakeback, I'm pretty perturbed. Additionally, they won't even tell me who I signed up THROUGH so I can't negotiate with anyone either.

So that leaves me with Pokerstars or Cake poker. Not a fan of the games available on the Cake network and definitely don't like their lobby/software. So that leaves Pokerstars. I like Pokerstars, a lot. However, the lack of rakeback is a concern. And, from what I understand, the games are tougher as well.

All this boils down to a tough decision. For now, I see myself continuing on at AP to see if my winrate can withstand the cost of the BBJ rake. Please let me know your thoughts as well as I'm very torn with this decision.

And speaking of winrates....here's my winnings summary for the month of June:



While I have ran well (i.e. breakeven on the All-in EV), I believe there are quite a few other factors resulting in this mini-breakthrough. I'm not exactly playing tight (especially at FR games). More on that later. But for now, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the fact that I've somehow managed to win over $800 playing 10NL and 25NL in a one month period.

Hopefully next month I can double that while playing 50NL for a full month. I'm nervous and excited and can't wait for the challenge.

Only now to decide where I will be playing at....