Operation Mouse Break Begins

After an inspiring second session in Operation: Robusto, my third session showed me why I'm busted in the first place.  During a day where nothing could go right, everything went so extremely wrong.

I did not get paid on any hands that I hit, except for one.  Shortly after that, and by shortly I mean two hands after that, I lost it back holding AA on a Q-high board.

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Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - View hand 693504
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

MP1: $4.00
MP2: $10.00
CO: $12.05
Hero (BTN): $11.10
SB: $8.95
BB: $10.25
UTG: $10.20
UTG+1: $5.45
UTG+2: $5.10

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BTN with J Q
UTG calls $0.10, 5 folds, Hero calls $0.10, 1 fold, BB checks

Flop: ($0.35) J 8 Q (3 players)
BB bets $0.20, UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.85, BB raises to $2.60, Hero calls $1.75

Turn: ($5.55) 2 (2 players)
BB bets $3, Hero raises to $8.40 all in, BB calls $4.55 all in


Hero shows J Q (two pair, Queens and Jacks)
BB shows 8 Q (two pair, Queens and Eights)

River: ($20.65) K (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $20.65

Hero wins $19.65
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And two hands later

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Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - View hand 693514
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $4.00
UTG+1: $10.00
UTG+2: $12.20
Hero (MP1): $20.50
MP2: $8.90
CO: $10.00
BTN: $9.95
SB: $5.50
BB: $5.10

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP1 with A A
1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $0.40, 1 fold, Hero raises to $1, 5 folds, UTG+1 calls $0.60

Flop: ($2.15) 6 J Q (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $1.60, UTG+1 raises to $3.20, Hero raises to $19.50 all in, UTG+1 calls $5.80 all in

UTG+1 shows Q Q (a full house, Queens full of Jacks)
Hero shows A A (two pair, Aces and Jacks)

Turn: ($20.15) 5 (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($20.15) J (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $20.15

UTG+1 wins $19.15
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After losing two and a half buy-ins I decided to end the night with a few single table Sit N Go's.  I thought that perhaps I would switch my Operation: Robusto strategy over to a Sit N Go format.  This would allow me to gain more buy-ins for my money, as well as satisfy the cravings for action that I used to get playing cash games - I always found the element of eventually having to shove a mediocre hand in a tournament appetizing.

Here's the first hand of the first Sit N Go I played:

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Poker Stars $1.00+$0.20 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t10/t20 Blinds - 9 players - View hand 693517
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

BTN: t1500 M = 50
SB: t1500 M = 50
Hero (BB): t1500 M = 50
UTG: t1500 M = 50
UTG+1: t1500 M = 50
UTG+2: t1500 M = 50
MP1: t1500 M = 50
MP2: t1500 M = 50
CO: t1500 M = 50

Pre Flop: (t30) Hero is BB with K Q
UTG calls t20, 1 fold, UTG+2 calls t20, MP1 calls t20, 3 folds, SB calls t10, Hero checks

Flop: (t100) 9 K K (5 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, UTG bets t420, UTG+2 calls t420, MP1 folds, SB folds, Hero raises to t1480 all in, UTG calls t1060 all in, UTG+2 calls t1060 all in

Hero shows K Q (three of a kind, Kings)
UTG shows K 6 (a full house, Kings full of Sixes)
UTG+2 shows A A (two pair, Aces and Kings)

Turn: (t4540) T (3 players - 3 are all in)

River: (t4540) 6 (3 players - 3 are all in)

Final Pot: t4540

UTG wins t4540
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A rogue 6 came to screw me out of all the hope I gained after Session 2, and suddenly 7 years of bad beats, steamed bluffs, and angry nights came flowing back to me.  I can remember a few times running up a stash on Full Tilt in mid-limit Limit Hold'em, and a few sessions of live poker where I went home with a pocket full of cash that I couldn't even believe.  Sadly enough I can remember more instances where I've been slashed up by such a bad run of cards that it would shake up even his holiness the Dalai Lama.

I was feeling pretty pumped up about this "project" at the end of Session 2, but after going through my past poker history in my head I can't help but feel a bit irritated after Session 3.  I always laugh at people who take only a couple hours of poker playing results to heart - as I write this I can't help but join those people in damning the poker gods for mere minutes of bad running.

I am thinking of switching to $1 Sit N Gos instead of only having 3 buy-ins to $10NL, and now a weekend looms in front of me in which I won't be able to play for days.  I'll use the time to mull the decision over, but it feels like I'm leaning towards SNGs just because I want to play cards, and I don't want to lose the $30 in a single Session 4.

I decided to play down to my original $30 in $1 SNG buy-ins.  In one I pushed all-in preflop on the bubble with AJ vs chip leader's 79dd.  Board came out 82Q98, and the turn sealed the deal to put me at 0/2 in SNGs on the night.

My third single table Sit N Go I managed to catch 1st for the only winning game of the night.

OPERATION: ROBUSTO - Session 3

Gain/Loss: -$30
Total Bankroll: $33.85
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Tournament Gain/Loss: + $0.90
Total Bankroll: $34.75