Sat in seat 1 of a 4/8 table today. Last week the best pocket pair I got was tens. This time I got pocket kings, queens, and aces, and raised pre-flop with each of them.

Kings in MP2: MP1 raises, I 3-bet, BB calls, MP1 caps. Flop is Q-x-x. MP1 bets and I call all the way to the showdown. MP1 has rockets. -4.5BB

Queens in CO: UTG+1 raises all-in .5 SB, I 3-bet, BB and UTG call. Flop is A-T-x. Checks to me, I bet, Button calls, UTG raises, I call, Button calls. Turn is a K. UTG bets, I fold, button folds. UTG wins the side pot with K7, UTG+1 wins the main pot with KT. -2.25BB

Aces UTG: I raise, it’s folded to the blind, who also folds. Damn.

I also missed out on a couple big bets when I didn’t bet the river with top pair high kicker. The calling stations had second/low pair or a middle pocket pair, but I freaked out about getting check-raised. Bad, bad play.

Then there were the hands where I had AJ, KJ, JT, AQ, and the flop missed me completely. Suck.

On another hand I flopped bottom two pair in the blind, and my attempt to check-raise backfired when it got checked all the way around. The turn gave my opponent a flush draw and second-pair, high kicker, leading her to call my bet. The river paired the board, and she outkicked me. Oh well.

All in all, I was down 10.875BB, most of which is a result of losing with kings and queens.

SL played the 6/12 tables and apparently got hit in the face with the deck. Lots of pocket pairs and suited cards made sets and flushes, leaving him up +10.3BB for the session. Nice.

So here’s the admission: it’s become a problem. Not a major one, but a problem nonetheless. Last night after the weekly game I was tired as hell, but fired up Multi and Pacific and played 1/2 and a $8+.80 SNG. Two hours later, I had bubbled out of the SNG and was up 5BB at the 1/2, but I was so tired that I kept half dozing until Multi would beep at me to act. What the fuck was I doing? This morning I overslept and showed up a couple hours late for work. That’s when I figured I had to cut myself off completely.

I just can’t do it. I have a full load of classes and work three days a week. Having money in my accounts just makes me want to play, and late night play when I’m tired has always been -EV for me. So I’m cashing out what remains of my OPM bankroll and putting online poker on hiatus until I get some time to devote to some good, winning sessions. That’ll probably be December at the earliest. I’ll still be playing at the weekly home game and on the occasional Hustler run, but other than that, there won’t be much poker content from StudioGlyphic. Watch for a content spike in mid-November as I get ready for the Vegas trip.

Editor’s note: The original post’s time stamp was screwed up, so it’s been fixed.

JB sat out this week. Apparently he had a gig.

    This week  Cumulative  Average
CR    +$1.00      +$1.35   +$0.14
EM    +$2.00      -$1.10   -$0.10
ER    -$0.85     +$13.55   +$1.36
JC    -$3.60     +$13.15   +$1.32
Me    +$1.45     -$11.55   -$1.05

JC lost most of his chips into the second hour, and that led to some memorable games. Lots of aggressive play and suckouts. He took down one big pot with a complete bluff: there was a straight on the board and I had overcards. I folded to his raise on the river when all he had was a pair of fours. Rats. That pot would have put me on top for sure. Ah well.

On the online front, things have been going very poorly. More on that later.

Apparently.

You already know about the trip to Hustler.

And I guess it wasn’t enough because I immediately jumped into a $25 PL ring game. Suck. Ever since Thursday it seems I haven’t been able to do anything in PL. I lost another buy-in today and really it was just awful. No bad beats or anything like that; just missed draws and missed flops. Blah.

I jumped into a few 2-table SNGs over at Pacific and placed in the money enough times to net me $20 for the day there. I also watched Pauly take a shot at the Aussie Million prize over at Party Poker, but unfortunately the Hiltons ran up against Big Slick and bounced Pauly out in 30-somethingth place when an ace hit the flop. Can’t say I blame him for pushing; he needed to make a move and this was the time to do it.

Afterwards I tried to do some homework, but decided to fire up Pacific and MultiPoker instead. The 1/2 game (I decided that I should try mixing it up) started out very well for me. Big stack raised pre-flop while I had AJ in the BB. I check-raised the flop when QJx came up, and watched with delight as an ace appeared on the turn. Big stack called to the river and folded when his hand didn’t improve. A few hands later, KT on the button flopped two pair and I raised LP on the flop. Didn’t want any draws to complete. Turn was a rag, and LP check-called. River was another king, and LP check-called once again. He had AJ, giving him nothing. Seriously, I’ve seen lots of showdowns (in which I’m not involved) where ace high takes it, but c’mon, how often can that really happen?

Soon after that, a complete maniac bought in and promptly raised with any ace, any king, and a good number of other hands besides. Oh, it was brutal. The first beat she handed down was when I had Big Slick UTG. I raised and she called. Flop was A23. I bet and she called. Turn was a 4. I bet and she raised. Really? A 5? Did she have A5 suited? Pocket fives? I called. River was another ace and I check-called. She had K5, giving her the wheel. Oh goodness. After that it was all downhill. She was jamming lots of pots pre-flop, on the flop, etc. And either she spooked people out or happened to win with her pair of kings or pair of rags with king kicker. It was incredible. She saw 87% of the flops voluntarily and raised pre-flop 21% of the time, or 2 out of every 9 hands. It suddenly became a 2/4 table, and it took me a little while to adjust. In the meantime, I lost the $25 profit and $20 of my buy-in. In fact, for that session, this chick alone was responsible for taking $33.50 off my hands (net -$17.50). It soon caught up with her, though. After running up her stack to nearly double her buy-in, she began losing badly as she continued to jam pots with nothing. I’m happy to say that the biggest pot I won was one where I had a King high flush on the turn. She had Ace high. Not an ace high flush, just ace high, yet she was happy to 3-bet when I check-raised the turn (it sucks because I’m sure it chased out the two people who were caught between us–even when she lost, she cost me money). After I capped it, she just called down the river with her Ace high. Anyway, she went out with nothing and left the table.

Big stack had made fun of this girl because of her play, and I tried to stand up for her, saying that her aggression was winning her lots of pots (of course, by this point, she had less than $5 left–I wanted her to stay so I could tighten up the gap). After she left, I told big stack that it was a shame she was gone because she was giving her money away and that he shouldn’t have made fun of her. She was profitable for him and anyone who actually had a hand. He said she ruined the game, and I agreed that it had gotten a little crazy. Then I got cowboys on the button, and when LP1 raised, I 3-bet and declared that I was going to take her place. I think that made big stack a little mad, since he was the BB. I got four callers and the flop came up 746. I bet and got four callers again. Turn was a K and I bet; this time I only got BB and LP1 to call. River was a 3 and when it was checked to me, I suddenly got worried about some idiot calling 3 bets and flopping an open-ended straight draw with the odds to call to the river. I checked and found BB with the 6 to 9 straight draw and LP1 with KJ suited. You just gotta love calling stations like LP1.

When I left the table, I was up $24. I could have saved myself some time by just leaving after my first five hands. Then again, I need 200 raked hands to enter some Poker Cruise Freeroll tournament that I probably can’t even play (it’s on a Thursday morning).

All in all, I ended up about $70 for the day. Really, that PL loss just put a big drag in my daily numbers. Maybe I should just give it a rest for a while.

So there it is. About 12 hours of poker. I need help.