The main reason for the increase in hours played has definitely been putting myself in the mindset of treating the whole poker thing less as a recreational stab at making a few quid and much more as a serious job that I need to actually "work" at. I've even slipped into a steady routine whereby I've been leaving at around 10PM to start playing at around 11PM in the evenings. I've then stayed until about 6AM, and then walked back to the car to get out of the congestion charge zone by 7AM. I'd then have breakfast, sleep from about 8AM until 3PM to enjoy the main part of the day before heading off to repeat the process again. I'd say that the routine has suited me quite well.
Unfortunately, as mentioned, despite running at an acceptable £360 weekly profit by the end of Friday night, Saturday and Sunday proved extremely heavy-going as the dearth of getting any decent starting hand or hitting any board whatsoever started to set in. My second session at The Empire on Saturday (after a small £90 loss at The Hippo) was really when my hard work started to go out the window. This was when I sat at a fairly straightforward table but with a very loose and fishy French player who I had played against the night before. After playing in and attempting to isolate this French player in many spots - for two and a half hours - he continued to have the winning hands against me time and time again (including AQ < J6 when the board came Q x J J x). The final straw came when my baby-flush lost to his better flush and I left that session £260 poorer.
A quick half-hour visit to a £2/£5 table at The Vic allowed me to spin my bankroll back up another £200 (the table broke up due to players leaving) and I started to see the light again. At 3AM, I then returned for two more sessions at The Hippo and The Empire but just couldn't hit any cards. The former session saw me at a serious table where I was forced to fold QQ on a 345Q2 board after the villain threw in a massive river bet and the second session saw me on a table with a maniac table captain where I just couldn't hit any decent cards.
Sunday offered a glimmer of hope after I left The Hippo at 5AM, £80 to the good after a tough five hour session - but the encouragement proved short-lived. I tottled over for a one hour session at The Empire with the reason being that I needed to clock-in to earn Sunday points for their cash-race MTT freeroll (and to get swiped at 6AM for the Monday points as well).
It's early-doors and I really don't want to get involved in any serious pots but I soon find I've got it all-in on the turn for about £100 while holding 10 10 to a very low 8 9 2 4 board. The river brings a 3 and my villain... yep, you've guessed it... shows 33 for a 2-outer rivered special!
I don't like to admit it but from then on I play a little too loose for the short time that I'm going to be there and chuck away another £100 - probably due to tilt, thus turning my Sunday of poker from a mildly acceptable £80 win, into a morale-sapping £120 loss; a result that turns the whole 40-hour week into a losing one!
---------
Still, there are consolations:
1) The tables continue to be soft overall and although this doesn't gaurantee success, I'm postively looking forward to starting the third week tomorrow (Tuesday), to crack that monthly-nut.
2) The entertainment value that these characters supply is enorm. My last session during Saturday night had an assortment of three nutters (two drunk) who helped to make the live poker experience the special thing that it truly is.
-----------------
In Week 3, my main focus will be in attempting to play more aggressively in order to extract maximum value from my opponents.
Also, as I made the odd poor fold on more than the one occasion, I will be attempting to read my opponents with more depth and not to fold so easily or quickly to their aggression.
I'll let you know how I get on...
No comments:
Post a Comment