First of all congrats to Greg Raymer for winning the main event at the WSOP with by far the most players ever. What an amazing feat. From what I understand, Greg also won his seat at pokerstars so his story, like Moneymaker's, should lure more skeptical players online. I actually hope they raise the buy-in next year to limit the field a bit.
Congrats to Angel for becoming a celebrity by dealing the WSOP and especially the final table. Angel's poker storys would make a great book. I look forward to hearing some of the things he learned during this experience and to seeing him deal on ESPN.
This week I set two new personal records, both not the kind you want.
Thurs: I win 343 in 3 hours with the main hand my nut straight vs a one card straight where my opponent thought he had the nuts and capped the turn.
Friday: My first 4 hour session I missed several draws, incorrectly called someone down light and had a failed bluff attempt. I also had a player to my right who was going to lose his entire 700 buy-in and I could not win a hand and did not win a hand the last two hours.-420
The second 4 hours I started getting outdrawn with big hands...sets, trips, ect. Not only do I get hammered, but somehow through a bug in the software I am forced to post the big blind twice in two hands which adds insult to injury..lol.-408.
Sat: Was cruzing along until I got my nut flush castrated on the river. +38.
Sun: I lose a 400 dollar pot to a rivered two outer, but pull out of the hole in a short game with a minirush. +329.
Mon: Today my high pockets lost every time and I missed an incredible eight open ended draws in a row. I lost every hand for a record three hours and 22 minutes, but what makes it so bad is that I was not card dead. I just kept missing draws and getting outdrawn. When the smoke had cleared, I was stuck a personal high 1059 in a single day.
One thing I remember from TJ's book is that he says how you need to show down some winners to be able to bluff. I agree 100%. I often see otherwise solid players overcall against extremely unlucky players looking to hit like everyone else has. I think in close decisions against reasonable players who are losing, you can usually rule out bluffing(unless your opponent's on tilt).
Tues: I make a nice laydown with a beat set of cowboys today. I struggle with one pair laydowns when I'm raised on the turn and river. I have a system that saves bets in the long run, but it is so hard for me to lay down a good hand, so I'm inconsistant in its application. My discipline needs work. I am surprised after yesturday that I can win some hands and make some plays and hit some draws. +533.
Wed: I played at another site and I had a weird hand come up where a solid player cold-calls and ends up beating my AA with 27o. There was someone else in the hand, raising the flop, so I reported it as possible collusion. Could be someone just playing around, but I don't think it was. I hit a couple sets and ended the day up 308 but losing 336 on the week.
One more thing about the TJ book. He says he often is exhausted after focusing so hard on his opponents play during a tourney. I believe that focusing on my opponents helps me quite a bit. For example, online you will often be in a game with a horrible player who you will never play with again. The faster you know about that player, the more money you will make. But I do not focus to the point of exhaustion. In fact, on a scale from one to ten, I would say I'm about a 6.5 and when I played two games I was about a 2. I need to work on building my concentration and focus.
Have a good week.
