Alas, not by me. By some guy in a 50+5 SnG who got lucky eleven straight times and wrote the above in chat. He didn't get a "gg" from me.

I took two people out simultaneously and was chip leader with T9966. The third guy was left with T34.

Blinds were 200/400.

I should be able to take him out pretty easily from here, eh?

From then to the end, he caught an unbelievable amount of cards (not even good ones) to win the title right from under me eleven hands later.

A chip and a chair.

Whatever skill level you are, it don't mean nothin' if you don't gots the luck.

I know I have a long way to go in learning this game, and I don't begrudge losing AA to other high pocket pairs or AQ or AK that happen to get lucky, but the ones who stay with bottom pair or Ace high and keep calling big bets and the ones who call preflop all-ins with incomprehensible cards and catch... grrr... that's enough to drive a grub to straight bourbon.

That was my week and weekend -- many 4th place finishes (I fight for 1st, not to cash) in SnGs and losing in the regular ring games. I was definitely outplayed in the 100NL ring games (lost $200 to QQ calling my AA -- thanks, Pauly), which I shouldn't be playing, but even there I was getting rivered despite making it terribly expensive for people to call with bottom pair or Ace high.

Time and again I would push preflop with AA, KK, QQ, JJ... and get called by a smaller pocket pair... that hits for their set. Party even likes to play with your emotions by placing that last card on the river. One hand I had AA vs. another AA vs. KK. All-in preflop, and we split the pot because the board makes a straight.

Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if my bad luck cloud even extended to iggy's blogger tourney, which inexplicably went kaput (yep, I was signed up but going incognito).

I try to justify this bad run from playing multiple tables and multiple hours. Of course I'll run into a significant amount of beats, just from playing many more hands than at a live casino. It's just mind boggling how frequent they seem. A friend watched me in a Party multi with this the final hand. I was doing well, up to T30,000 when two suckout hands cut me down to size. Note that everyone is playing tight because we're on the bubble:


Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1500 (10 handed) converter

MP1 (t11684)
MP2 (t6924)
MP3 (t17916)
CO (t8881)
Button (t1430)
grubby (t6459)
BB (t14109)
UTG (t18620)
UTG+1 (t9992)
UTG+2 (t7644)

Preflop: grubby is SB with A J
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t1500, 6 folds, grubby raises to t6459 (All-In), 1 fold, UTG+1 calls t4959.

Flop: (t14418) J 9 7 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t14418) 3 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t14418) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t14418
Main Pot: t14418 (t14418), between grubby and UTG+1.

Pot won by UTG+1 (t14418).

grubby shows A J (one pair, jacks).
UTG+1 shows K J (two pair, kings and jacks).
Outcome: UTG+1 wins t14418.


UTG+1 had no business calling, even if he suspected I was bluffing and playing the bubble. The tourney lobby said 131 people remained (top 130 place), but I ended up 129 and enough for a refund of my buy-in (but not my 3+ hours, ahem!). Some consolation.

Two hands later, the same guy (now BB) made this play with my chips (apologies, the converter gets a little screwy when you're not in the hand):

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t1500 (9 handed) converter

(t11684)
MP1 (t6924)
MP2 (t17916)
MP3 (t8881)
CO (t1430)
Button (t11859)
SB (t18995)
BB (t17951)
UTG (t8019)

Flop: (t2250) Q K 3 (9 players)
BB checks, MP2 bets t3300, BB calls t3300.

Turn: (t8850) 8 (9 players)
BB checks, MP2 bets t11616 (All-In), BB calls t11616.

River: (t32082) 2 (9 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t32082
Main Pot: t32082 (t32082), between MP2 and BB.
Pot won by MP2 (t32082).

BB shows Q J (one pair, queens).
UTG shows (one pair, queens).
MP2 shows A K (one pair, kings).
MP3 shows (one pair, kings).
CO shows (one pair, kings).
Button shows (one pair, kings).
SB shows (one pair, kings).
Outcome: MP2 wins t32082.


Yup, definite calling station. Or maybe his wife was calling him hither and he had to leave right quick. Just a shame he had to do it on my hand and suck out.

Beats hurt. In ring games they hurt, but you can get it back (volume volume volume, playing multiple tables).

In SnGs they hurt, but you make a note and move on to the next.

In multis, they hurt most of all, because you'll never get the tourney or the time spent back.

So I'm again discouraged. On the one hand, I'm heartened that this bad play is still happening in abundance, but on the other, it's having a browbeaten effect when it seems focused on me.

I play too darn much. Every day, some 4-6 hours or so into daybreak when I hear the plonk of the newspaper hitting my front door. My bankroll is fine, but I'm prone to tilt on blackjack and slots. All that I've won from poker go into this dangerous -EV alternative pasttime, and it ain't good. I mentioned new Belle Rock slots to GrannyMae, and she said she hated me for telling her about them, but of everyone, she and mamagrub are the only ones who share my love for those little bonus reels.

On the Howard Stern show last week, KC Armstrong made a revelation that he won over $320,000 on Let It Ride online. He moved into a bigger apartment in NYC, bought a big TV, and was ready to pay off his debts. Within the next few days, he lost it all. All before he could get the first check (which he said would be doled out at $4000 per week).

The troubling thing is I can see myself doing the exact same thing. I would hope I'd have the mindset to sock away at least half, but the gambler in me would say otherwise. Whenever I have a few thousand sitting in NETeller, I waste it away on blackjack and slots.

I'm also troubled by Lord Geznikor's last few posts about his bankroll being precariously close to $0 since he began poker full-time six months ago. This could very easily be me, with poker being a sole source of income. I haven't achieved the Maslow level of poker enlightenment, and every time I get a beat it affects me enough that I have doubts I could pull off a living from this game.

Through all my complaining about being unlucky, however, I do very well in poker where luck is part of the game. I don't do very well in blackjack and slots, where luck is all of the game. Lately I've been spending too much time and money in blackjack and slots.

This leads up to some desperately needed mental health days.

Time for another extended break from playing, to get some nonpoker things done (like laundry), and to read noted poker authority Ed Miller's new book cover to cover (which I took to Vegas but still remains unread). And to watch some Netflix DVDs that I've had sitting here unwatched for the past three months. Under the dirty laundry.

I might need sunglasses, I don't know how bright it is outside in the sun.

I'll still be posting, you'll just have to go to Hellmuth's site for further bad beat whining.