Life Shouldn't Be A Fuckin' Grind

I will never be a poker pro, but my lifetime poker ledger is positive and I think that's something to be proud of.

Monday, January 16, 2006

Playing for a Living

I don't know if I've mentioned this on here or not, but Thank God for poker. Since I quit law school a few weeks ago I've been looking for a job and having very little success. If it wasn't for all the money I've made playing poker, I'd be in very hot water right now. As it is, I've got enough that I can take out enough to cover this month's bills and living expenses and still be bankrolled for 2/4. This month, I've known that profits would likely go toward's keeping myself afloat financially, and let me tell you it adds an element of pressure to the game. I haven't exactly had a great month of January on Party Poker so far, so I'm really hoping things start to pick up in my 2/4 games the rest of the month. I'm also hoping to get a job in the next couple of weeks so that I can start concentrating on improving my game, instead of concentrating on playing for money. There really is a lot more pressure when you're playing for money and still playing low enough limits that your hourly expectation isn't that great and downswings can really hurt. I've made it so far though, I'm sure I can survive until I find a job.

Tonight I went to the boat and had a huge night. I played 4/8 Hold'em for about 4 hours and won $178. I don't normally play 4/8, but it was what was open when I got there, so I decided to play it. Then, after the 4/8 table broke I played 3/6 for a 3.5 hours until they closed and won another $120 or so. In between I played a little 2/4 and about broke even. For some strange reason I haven't had success in my limited experience with live 2/4 and I think that part of it is that the stakes feel very low to me and I'm not sure I focus quite as well.

A couple of highlights and lowlights from tonight:

-My first hand at the 3/6 table I come in around the CO seat and find JJ, I raise and see a 5 or 6 handed flop of JTx. A lady in one of the blinds leads out and a couple of people call. I raise, then bet the turn and river picking up a couple of callers on each street and take down a monster pot with my set of Jacks against the flop bettor's QQ.

-I had pocket Aces 3 times tonight, Queen's twice and of course the set of Jacks. I also made a very good laydown when I flopped a set of Tens, but the board read JT98 on 4th street and King came on the river. I just knew the guy who bet into me had a straight and I laid it down, somebody else called and my read was confirmed when the bettor turned over Q3s. I didn't lose with AA or QQ, in my 5 times having them, but I did only get the blinds the 3rd time I had AA. The night was winding down and we were 3-handed at the 3/6 table and I raised UTG+1 and picked up the blinds, then laughed and showed my rockets to the table.

-The only real donkey play I feel like I made all night was when I raised in LP with 99 and got a few callers, the flop came 665 and everybody checked to me, so I bet and I got check/raised by a guy in MP. I should probably have gone ahead and laid it down there, but instead I called the flop, then proceeded to call the turn and river just so he could show me his 55. That cost me 20 bucks or 2.5 BB.

-At the 3/6 table I also made a pretty egregious error of board/hand reading. I raised in MP with KJs and got called by a few people. I then bet a flop of KQx and got called by I think 2 players. Then, the turn came another Q and for some reason I got scared and check/called when an older lady behind me (who actually was pretty decent by the standards of that table) bet. I was really fearing the Q and decided to check/calldown (in and of itself probably a poor decision on my part). Anyhow, the river was a T and it was just me and her left, I checked, she bet and I called expecting to be shown the third Q. Instead she turned over KT and for some reason I thought I was beat, I showed my KJ, and announced that that's what I had, said "nice hand" and turned it over and flipped it towards the dealer. He then pushed the pot her way and it wasn't til about 5 minutes later that I realized that that was actually my pot. We both had Kings and Queens, but she had a Ten kicker and I had a Jack. Now I'm not sure, but I really think the dealer should have said something. I don't really know the exact rules on that, but I figure I mostly screwed myself on that one. I'm not too angry about it, mostly because I had a winning session anyway and she was a nice lady, but I am pretty pissed at myself for fucking up like that I need to resolve to be even more careful in the future. At the casino I don't have the Party Poker computer to make sure that the pot goes to the correct person.

All in all though, I had a good time tonight and I made money, so I'm in a pretty good mood.

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