A couple of posts ago I said I wasn’t losing too badly, just losing out to rake since I couldn’t get past 50% ITM. Well I checked my stats a bit closer and turns out I am losing so far this month;
Most of it is shitty win one, lose one zigzagginess. None of it seems to bear any relation to whether my opponents were any good or not, even the fools who check every button won their fair share. One of them today made an awesome laydown though;
No Limit Holdem Tournament
2 Players
Stacks:
SB (1,640)
Hero (1,360)
Blinds: 10/20
Pre-Flop: (30, 2 players) Hero is BB A
6
SB raises to 60, Hero calls 40
Flop: 5 10
J
(120, 2 players)
Hero bets 80, SB calls 80
Turn: K (280, 2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets 20, Hero calls 20
River: 9 (320, 2 players)
Hero goes all-in 1,200, SB folds
Final Pot: 1,520
SB shows
A
Q
Hero wins 1,520 (net +160)
SB lost 160
Admittedly shoving that river seems remarkably spewy since there aren’t many hands that would call, and he was also extremely passive – but that passivity was so extreme that I was convinced he really really liked his hand (I know turn bet was small, but *any* turn bet after he called was big strength from this guy). He tanked for quite a while before folding. I dunno if I would have had that strength…
That game was annoying in the end because I had him pinned down to < 500 chips for ages and he kept on clinging on, winning some flips back to equal stacks and then my 66 lost to his AK.
Here's another hand that shocked me. Different player, this time someone who raised their buttons and you'd expect more regular lines. Maybe flat calling a 3bet pre with aces is a much better move that 4betting or shoving?
No Limit Holdem Tournament
2 Players
$10.00+$0.50
Stacks:
SB (1,150)
Hero (1,850)
Blinds: 10/20
Pre-Flop: (30, 2 players) Hero is BB 10 10
SB raises to 60, Hero raises to 180, SB calls 120
Flop: 4 8 9 (360, 2 players)
Hero bets 180, SB calls 180
Turn: 9 (720, 2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets 340, Hero calls 340
River: 6 (1,400, 2 players)
Hero bets 200, SB raises to 440, Hero calls 240
Final Pot: 2,280
SB shows two pair, Aces and Nines
A A
Hero shows
10 10
SB wins 2,280 (net +1,140)
Hero lost 1,140
Anyway, to the point of the title of this post – essentially I had two heaters this year, one at $10 games and the other at $30. The money from the $30s is blown away now, and my wins show I’m back to the point after the 4man $10s heater. It’s a pretty solid decline for the last 3 months. Those heaters raised my expectations, and it’s painful facing the reality that I’m not really winning at heads up.
I wish I knew where the holes are in my game. It was a lot more fun when I was winning…
