11:52pm: Off to a decent start today, as my 3-1 record on Stars and 2-2 record on Cake brings me to 5-3 overall, which is pretty much a spot on average day. If you can win 5 out of every 8, you’re definitely in good shape. Two of my losses felt like they should have been wins, as they caught miracle river cards both times on Cake to take the match.

You might have to worry about getting outdrawn on Cake, but you’ll rarely have to worry about getting outplayed. They are just awful. God awful, to be exact. LOL

I’ve had to make some pretty sick laydowns today. I don’t know why, but two pair keeps not being “enough” to win the hand. For some reason, I can value bet 1 pair with a decent kicker all the way to the river, and just get called on every street, only to have my opponent muck when it’s showdown time. However, whenever I have two pair, I always get check raised on NASTY, NASTY boards that I can’t possibly call with. Either that, or if I flop top and bottom pair, the middle card pairs on the river, and I know the guy who originally had me outkicked now has the winning hand as my kicker no longer plays on the board.

Situations like that cannot be avoided and are one of the most annoying things that I can think of in poker. In fact, I think I’ll write an article this week about the sick, sick feeling/experience of getting counterfeited with a lot of money in the middle. In my opinion, that’s one of the worst ways to lose a hand.

Good to luck everyone playing right now. I need to continue my session. More later.

Start a Clean Slate at a New Room, a New Sharkscope, and Keep HFL Free in the Process

by trujm

Patience and discipline are not one in the same in the poker world. However, it will take both attributes to form a successful player. Let’s take a second to discuss why patience is so important in playing this game.

You can’t necessarily say, “be patient and play tight and you will win.” However, you can positively say that if you aren’t patient you will not win. Patience doesn’t mean just “playing tight,” however it does mean picking good spots to get your money in. Drawing when you do not have odds to do so, playing hands out of position that you know in your heart that you are not comfortable with, and making “crying calls” out of curiosity are all things that impatient players do. These are also plays that players who lose money in the long run do.

I will not speak of playing too many hands as a terrible thing to do in poker, because it really does depend on the game and the situation and the strength of the players at your table as well as your image. However, I will say that it is a lot harder for an inexperienced player to play inferior hands than it is for someone who has a good idea of where they stand to do so. So therefore, my advice to you is this: if you consider yourself fully capable of laying down draws when you have unfavorable odds, as well as being able to handle the swings that come along with playing these type of hands, then by all means play any hand you like. However, if you are capable of keeping yourself occupied in between hands long enough to wait for stronger cards, then this may be a better avenue for you. Typically, when you draw a line graph for the profits of a professional loose player, you see large, extreme waves up and down but generally leading in an up direction. On the other hand, the line graph of a tight, solid player probably is a little more consistent and straight, and without the peaks and valleys of a loose player. The profitability of each is debatable, and once again it really depends on how well you play each role. However, tight players are generally more profitable than loose players because of the difficulty of playing undesirable cards.

Also, not to be overlooked is the fact that impatience and tilt usually go hand in hand. Think about it like this: have you ever seen someone on tilt who is also playing very patiently? Being in an impatient mood is sort of a pre-requisite for being on tilt. You can be impatient without being on tilt, however you cannot be on tilt without being impatient. Impatient players also find themselves on tilt more than patient players do. However, this is not to imply that patient players do not go on tilt. Everyone has their own little form of “tilt”, even if most others would not consider their play “tiltish.” We all can agree that going on tilt is not profitable, so take a deep breath and be patient. I always say, “there is another hand to be played shortly.”

Start a Clean Slate at a New Room, a New Sharkscope, and Keep HFL Free in the Process

3:12am: Well, I wasn’t able to get the whole 16 games in within 3 hours, so for that I’m a little disappointed. I suppose I will just carry on into the morning hours. I’m definitely not finished yet, so I will be sure and update you guys on the final results of tonights session but very shortly summed up: tonight has sucked. Namely, for the following reasons:

1. No hands are holding up
2. Every time I have two pair, four of one suit
or four straight cards are on the board
3. Had 27 pocket pairs, and did not flop one set.
4. Lost 6 out of 7 coinflips tonight.
5. Running bad when the blinds are high
6. Totally airballing 85% of the flops I see.

All of these things have led me to a 6-7 record at this point in the night. Needless to say, none of those things are a recipe for success when it comes to poker. However, I can’t complain about the amount of action I’m getting tonight. No matter how tight I play, people STILL refuse to give me credit for a hand, which is normally a good thing. However, their stubbornness has rewarded them tonight, as it has led to them catching two pair/trips on me a number of times when I had a strong top pair. But, that’s just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. Personally, I’m just glad people are still “Gambling” with poker. It makes me happy to see that the game is alive and well, and that it’s really not just a bunch of nits exchanging money and losing out to the rake.

Believe me when I tell you, and I can’t stress this enough: there is STILL money to be made out there. And LOTS of it.

Now go get you some!

*EDIT*, 5:53am: I got sidetracked by trying to troubleshoot a problem with my new phone. It took all of about 2 hours to solve the problem. I took a shower thinking I would feel refreshed and ready to play on into the morning hours, only to find out that I can’t keep my eyes open anymore. So good night everyone, and I should be on here bright and early tomorrow. More later…