Mountaineer

I went to Mountaineer this weekend. I lost $200, but was generally satisfied with my play. My lost can be attributed to one hand. I pad pocket fours and called a limper immediately to my right. The flop came Kd4dTc. The limper bet out and I raised her. I had her on a King. She didn't raise pre-flop so AK or KK was out. Also, I didn't see her betting draws. Her Range here was KT KQ KJ. I popped here for a raise and she just called. She again bet the brick on the turn and I re-riased and she just called. The river brought another K and she went all-in. She either just filled up to beat me, or made trip Kings that would lose to my full house. Well, she filled up. I don't think I could have played it much better. I don't think I could have folded in that spot, with most of my money already in the pot.

Later I doubled up again when a LAG made a full house on the river against my higher full house. I lost some of that back when I had KK and couldn't shake a player that called my flop and turn bets. The river completed the flush and str8 draws. I checked the river and folded to a 1/4 pot sized bet. In retrospect, I probably should have made a $30 blocking bet or called the bet. The player was loose and was capable of making a play on my shown weakness. He acted like he wanted a call. I had it in my gut that I was beat, but I don't know if I win the pot 25% of the time. Looking back, there are many ways I could have played the hand differently, but I just don't know.

Reading Harrington has really helped. I made less mistakes that I normally make in NLHE. I exercised good pot control and I think I played better starting hands. I just to continue to study the text and work on the concepts. I also need to work on my hand reading skills. I think I can transition to NLHE. This might not be the best time to make the switch given that I am going to play limit in the WSOP, but I think each game will help the other.

My biggest challenge will be to practice my hand reading.

I put some Grubex on mom's lawn last night. I didn't see any evidence of grubs, but she has a mole problem. I think I will put some mole control on her lawn next. I also need to put weed n feed on her lawn. It is such a small lawn, it doesn't take long.

I played in one HORSE SNG last night and I came in 3rd place, at least I cashed. I have been reading PNLHE and Psychology of Poker. PNLHE is to improve my cash game performance as I have been playing NLHE recently the Psychology is to improve my overall game for the WSOP. One of the mistakes that I am making is playing distracted. I cannot apply rating of players if I don't pay attention. This has at added downside of hindering my hand-reading ability. If I don't know what type of player I am up against, I cannot properly put him/her on a hand. I will really have to concentrate on this. What is the point in preparing if I don't follow through on the things I learn.

Speaking of poker, I am going fishing this weekend which means that I am going to go to a casino. I will play Saturday night and Sunday morning. I think I will attempt NLHE. I think I am sufficiently through Harrington's book given that I read PNLHE to give it a go. The one adjustment I must make is playing small hands only in small pots. This means I cannot overplay top-pair hands. I will try to keep my cbets smaller on a dry board (1/2 pot) and I will also not cbet every hand (made hands or draws alike) . I may also play some limit, depending on how it goes.

Yesterday was election day. My predictions were came true. Hillary won big, and I really think she now has a real shot at getting the nomination. There are certain arguments that she can make, that will be palatable to the convention. Barrack is supposed to be a person that can unite people, but he cannot close the door on her. If he could do what the media portrays he can do, it would be over.

On the local level, my candidate for State Senate lost. While it sucked, and I feel bad for my friend, it was a result I expected. Our opponent was better known and better funded. Again is was Chris's first campaign so he was relatively unknown. Maybe he will do better next time. What really bothers me is that he was endorsed by his party. I do not know what good a party is if it cannot deliver the endorsed candidate.

I went for a long road ride yesterday. It was fantastic. My legs are a little sore today, but boy was it fun. I may take my bike with me this weekend to Racoon Creek.

On the poker front, I managed to get my mojo back and win a SNG. I am pushing draws too much when I play HORSE. I also am playing too loose in O8. I should only play where I am playing to scoop or for the nuts with at least 3 people.

I had 3 Arrongant Bastards last night, and today I feel like crap. The same thing happened last week. I must check the alcohol content. It is my bet that it it high. I mean a 3 beer hang-over c'mon.

In preparation for the WSOP I have really started to concentrate on my game. I have re-read Weighing the Odds and I am re-reading Physchology of Poker. Two things have struck me. I pay little attention to my opponents and I play when I have no, or little edge when I play cash games. I need to slow down and really pay attention to my opponents. Last night I played 2 HORSE SNG's and I can pinpoint at least two mistakes I made. I will dissect them below.

A late-position player raised PF. I called on the Button with KJo. This was not a terrible call as his range could have been wide. I really don't know though as I hadn't really watched him. The flop came 9K6. He bet and I raised. He flat called my raise. What could that mean? The turn bricked and he fired out a bet. What could he have here. It should be clear that he is not afraid of the King and my raise. How strong is my King? Not very. How much equity do I have now? Not much. Should I call here? Nope, I should either raise or fold. Is my hand strong enough to raise with? Nope. Easy fold then. What did I do instead? You guessed it. I called the turn and river and my opponent tabled AK. I was beat, and I knew it. At least I recognized it. I need to take this thinking further and fold quicker.

The other mistake came later. During Razz I had a hand that I knew crushed an opponent on the flop and I just kept checking to let him in the hand hoping he would catch a little something. I should have just bet out and took the antes. He wasn't likely to call me later unless he beat me. Instead I checked a high probability winner all the way until it was a loser.

I also found on youtube Caro's tells. So I don't have to buy the DVD.

We I told the ED today that I am leaving. He took it quite will. It was not at all what I expected. He did hint at a counter-offer, but I told him that I wasn't leaving for the money, so no counter-offer would keep me. We will see how he acts going forward there is speculation that he will take it out on others

Tax season is almost over. I have 3 returns and 2 extension to do. I was going to go fishing on Friday, but it does not look likely to happen. I had campaign finance reports to do that took way too much time because the underlying records were a mess, I guess that is to be expected from the candidate. Anyway, with the 3 returns, I think I need Friday night and Saturday morning to finish them. Even as I write this, I still fancy going fishing. I will see how much I can crank out tonight before making a final determination.

We played cards on Friday. I did bad. I took a couple of bad beats and went on tilt. Combined with too much Shiner, I just generally donked it up. I Should have folded when I knew I lost to a full house, even though Ken should not have called with his two pair. My Ace Queen TPTK should have won, but Mark decided to play Q5 and I should not have gone all-in on Q5 with Burke's raise. Those were my big mistakes. Reading Professional NLE is helping though as I am starting to understand poker a little bit now. I will play only occasionally this week as I have a ton of work to do.

I am still on a huge poker down-swing. This is mostly from playing poorly. I must stay away from SH limit games, especially those above my roll. I also must stop playing distracted. I know these weaknesses, but I make the same mistakes over and over. The real issue is the way I am looking at the game. I have to play more focused. The object is to win money. I must seek out the weak players and exploit them.