Can't Run Any Worse

After a fun Friday session of one-table sit-n-gos I was feeling pretty good going into today's games. I had just come out of two final exams for my first semester back as a full-time student, and things were feeling pretty good. Session 4 had raised my bankroll up to $42.85, and I was ready to play some cards. Unfortunately, cards were not ready to be played.

Over the hours of play I put in at single- and multi-table sit-n-gos, the pokerverse exacted every two-outer it could muster up. Here's just a couple:

Poker Stars $1.00+$0.20 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t100/t200 Blinds - 5 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
SB: t3380 M = 11.27
BB: t685 M = 2.28
Hero (UTG): t5155 M = 17.18
CO: t1550 M = 5.17
BTN: t2730 M = 9.10

Pre Flop: (t300) Hero is UTG with K Q
Hero raises to t600, 2 folds, SB raises to t3380 all in, 1 fold, Hero calls t2780

SB shows T Q
Hero shows K Q

Flop: (t6960) 2 Q T (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: (t6960) 7 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t6960) J (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t6960

SB wins t6960
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Here's my final hand of that tournament a couple minutes later:

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Poker Stars $1.00+$0.20 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t200/t400 Blinds + t25 - 3 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: t4235 M = 6.27
Hero (SB): t1875 M = 2.78
BB: t7390 M = 10.95

Pre Flop: (t675) Hero is SB with K A
1 fold, Hero calls t200, BB raises to t2000, Hero calls t1450 all in

Hero shows K A
BB shows 6 A

Flop: (t3775) 2 7 4 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Turn: (t3775) 6 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t3775) 5 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t3775

BB wins t3775
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On this next one I know I should have put him in on the flop, but I had so many tables flashing at me I got all discombobulated.  It's gonna take me a bit to be able to smoothly function with more than four games open.

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Poker Stars $1.00+$0.20 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 7 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG): t2210 M = 29.47
UTG+1: t2430 M = 32.40
MP: t1705 M = 22.73
CO: t2905 M = 38.73
BTN: t1575 M = 21
SB: t2375 M = 31.67
BB: t300 M = 4

Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is UTG with 4 4
Hero calls t50, UTG+1 calls t50, 2 folds, BTN raises to t200, 2 folds, Hero calls t150, 1 fold

Flop: (t525) 8 4 J (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets t250, Hero raises to t500, BTN raises to t950, Hero calls t450

Turn: (t2425) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets t425 all in, Hero calls t425

Hero shows 4 4
BTN shows K K

River: (t3275) K (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t3275

BTN wins t3275
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I also decided to create a new User ID to create a new image, both on the tables and in my own head.  I figured I'd create the new account and transfer everything over.  There'd be a couple days' wait on the transfer, so I added an extra $10 to my new account to finance another round of sit-n-gos for the session.  This brought my total bankroll contribution amount from $30 to $40.

Feeling good and refreshed, with a new User ID and added bankroll, the beatings continued.

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Poker Stars $1.00+$0.20 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t75/t150 Blinds - 7 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

SB: t960 M = 4.27
BB: t9170 M = 40.76
UTG: t4508 M = 20.04
UTG+1: t3267 M = 14.52
Hero (MP): t2670 M = 11.87
CO: t3100 M = 13.78
BTN: t3325 M = 14.78

Pre Flop: (t225) Hero is MP with A K
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to t360, Hero calls t360, 2 folds, SB raises to t960 all in, 1 fold, UTG+1 raises to t3267 all in, Hero calls t2310 all in

SB shows T Q
UTG+1 shows Q J
Hero shows A K

Flop: (t6450) 6 6 8 (3 players - 3 are all in)

Turn: (t6450) 4 (3 players - 3 are all in)

River: (t6450) Q (3 players - 3 are all in)

Final Pot: t6450

UTG+1 wins t3420
UTG+1 wins t3030
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And although this isn't so bad to deal with, it was surely a fitting end to the night.

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Poker Stars $1.00+$0.20 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t100/t200 Blinds - 4 players
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: t3865 M = 12.88
SB: t3630 M = 12.10
BB: t4285 M = 14.28
Hero (CO): t1720 M = 5.73

Pre Flop: (t300) Hero is CO with J K
Hero raises to t600, 1 fold, SB calls t500, 1 fold

Flop: (t1400) T K J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets t1120 all in, SB calls t1120

SB shows Q K
Hero shows J K

Turn: (t3640) A (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t3640) 3 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: t3640

SB wins t3640
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There were about 25 other hands like this throughout my sessions, and perhaps I should have realized that it "just wasn't my day" a tad earlier than my 20th game in.  Now that I've had some time off from the game, my whole mentality has changed.  I'm taking the beats less emotionally, I'm looking at things more subjectively, and on the whole I'm trying to be less superstitious.

I definitely realize that when I first started getting into poker, I took everything super emotionally.  Even if it was just the luck of the draw, I held vendettas against people and against the cards themselves, which lead to me trying to force plays that had no business even being thought about.  In live play I didn't experience this so much, but I can't even count all the wasted dollars I stacked off after taking four beats in a row.

If I'm going to succeed in trying to build a bankroll, as trivial as my challenge seems, I'm going to need to play with a level head.

After going through what I did today, I think I'll stick with the less emotional and subject approach to the game, but perhaps next time I get a superstitious feeling...I'll trust it.

OPERATION: ROBUSTO - Session 5

Bankroll addon: +$10
Tournament Gain/Loss: -$7.90
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Total Bankroll: $44.95 
Total Bankroll Increase/Decrease: +$4.95