♠ Thursday, April 15, 2004
Bloodbath
Maybe it's overconfidence.
I've been running so good the last two weeks, which correspond to a tweak of my play (a general tightening up), that I begin to assume that I'll do well.
But the Trump Casino in Gary, Indiana seems to be my nemesis. I don't recall a good session there in months. (Humm, I have this log ... let's see ...) Well, okay, it looks like that's not true. I haven't been there since March 19, and I was +$16 then when Gil ran out of money and decided it was time to go home. And the time before that, on March 13, I was up $59 despite poor cards. The time before that I was –$11750, on February 27, and on February 24 I was –$750. Before that I'd had ups and downs, but I think in the unlogged era of my pro career (the first three weeks) I blew off over $1000 playing $10/$20 and $5/$10 there. Those two days are, in fact, the reason I started logging my play, because I really have no idea how much I lost over those first three weeks.
Despite being up, barely, the last two trips, I still tend to consider the Trump as my nemesis. It doesn't seem like the cards go my way, when I'm there. That trend continued yesterday, as I went down $344 at the $3/$6 and $5/$10 games, due mostly to poor starting hands. By far the bulk of that loss was at the $5/$10 game, where I took baths in two kills pots (meaning $10/$20 for those hands). I had JJ in one, and after betting up a ragged board got shown KK. In the other, I had AK♠, and got no help from the board. I think I ended up laying it down on the turn, but I might have three-bet preflop, so it was a hefty loss as well.
I don't think I played badly, overall. I think I could have saved a single bet in the hand I had JJ, and there are a few hands otherwise where I could have saved a bet or two. Let's say 5BB total in mistakes. But there is another problem I noticed: I think my tight play is causing too many players not to pay me off. Online this isn't as much of a problem because of the sheer volume of hands I play (more than 1000 a day, generally), but in the casino I might play 150 hands the entire session, and the three or four big ones I get, I need to get paid off.
I probably need to reread Ciaffone, because I think people are taking advantage of the consistency of my play, and, even more, I am not. What types of hands does a tight table image make it appropriate to raise or three-bet with, and how should one then play postflop?
Tournaments
We got to the Trump yesterday just as they were about to deal their first no-limit Texas Hold'em tournament. We didn't buy in, because we didn't know a lot about the tourney's structure, but apparently they'll seat up to 100 people for an $80+$10 tournament, with $40 rebuys and a $40 or $60 addon. They ended up with a $12,000-ish prize pool yesterday from 75 people, and first prize got a bit over $5000. Of course, the fellow who finished first was rumoured to have rebought four times.
I'm curious if some of the other Midwestern bloggers (BG etc., particularly, and maybe even Halverson) are interested in playing hooky next Wednesday and matching wits with Chicago's best down there. The tournament starts at 1:00 CST, so from Grand Rapids one ought to leave bright and early to get there. If you're a better NL player than 90% of the field, you should make the final table and cash.
And maybe it could be the Midwest Poker Blogger Crossover Tourney I.
