The Lull Before the Storm

SNG Update:

(10+1) NLHE 6-handed (profit/loss: +275.00)

1st: 17

2nd: 13

3-6th: 29

ITM: 51%

I'm reasonably happy with these results; my goal is to get into the money 50 percent or better of the time, and clearly I'm scraping by in this regard.

***

Last Thursday was probably a low point for me. I've been running bad for about three weeks, and all the bullshit seem to culminate that evening.

I was playing in a live tournament at my local casino. I hadn't hit any big hands, but had managed to steal a few pots and was traveling ok on an average stack. I was in a fairly good mood as I'd picked up a tell on one of the players - a young guy who seemed to know all the poker theory but also seemed in awe of live play. Probably he was weaned on the Internet. But anyway, we tangled on one particular hand - he bet pre-flop, bet the flop, checked the turn, and I took it away from him on the river with nothing. There are times at the table (that I experience all too rarely) when you can feel with near 100 per cent certainty that the pot is yours. And this is how I felt against this particular player. His pre-flop bet was positional, and his post flop bet was a timid little quarter-pot bet that screamed weakness. When I made a pot sized bet on the river, he made a show of thinking about calling, but I just knew his cards were going to find there way into the muck.

Anyway, as this isn't a good news story, I'll get to the point.

So the cards went dead and the blinds got big. I put it in all in the middle with AQ, and found myself against AT.

And the flop comes (ATx). Hmm.

Just not finding a groove in live play these days.

So I collect myself, go home, and fire up a 6-handed SNG. Second hand I get dealt AK and raise it up. Two callers including a guy who just limped. Flop A33. Nice. I bet about 3/4 of the pot and get two callers. It's hard to put either of them on a 3 here. Sure, it's the internet, but for whatever reason (no substantive reason when you think about it - it was the second hand of the match - but I felt it anyway) I thought one had a worse Ace and the other was an idiot with a medium pocket pair. Turn 5. Well, unless one of these guys has A5 I'm fine, right? So I put in a big bet, one folds, the pre-flop limper goes all-in. I have him covered and it's not much more to call, so I call. He shows 55. Hmm. Nice call on the flop dickhead.

So I lose the rest of my chips when I push my short stack in on 99 and run into KK. Sigh.

So with my head starting to spin slightly with discontent, I fire up a second game and... the computer switches off. Huh?

I turn it off and on again. I pull out every plug and re-plug. Still nothing.

That's about the extent of my computer knowledge. You know that skit where Seinfeld says something like: "Why do I get out of the car when it breaks down and look under the hood? I have no idea what I'm looking for. Unless there's a big on/off switch on the engine, the car's not going anywhere". Well, that's how I am with computers.

So I lose my buy-in for that SNG and go cool off.

If I wasn't getting decent results with 6-handed SNGs I'd be broke by now. Something just isn't clicking for my tournament play. It's not that I'm playing badly; to be honest I don't know what it is. Maybe I'm just having a quiet spell with the cards and playing with less than optimum confidence.

Of course, I'm not going to sit back and imagine that it will all come good. I'll keep putting in the hard yards. I finished Harrington's second volume (which I strongly recommend) and am flicking through Super System 2. I've got a number of live tournaments lined up for the next few weeks, and that dreadful mirage known as Party Poker will always be there, with its promise of great riches shimmering in the distance. May I find my way through this desert.