Party Spirit

Mondays eh.Who needs 'em.

Finally got into the Party spirit late last night after a take it easy day with Mrs A.I deposited $100 to enable me to play the $50k UK residents freeroll and hit the tables around 11pm.

I've got no debit card at the moment due to my useless bank.Missed out on being able to deposit at Inter this month for the match bonus.At least I've still got two pending.

I will be cashing out $100 from Pokerroom when my new card arrives to cover my Party adventure so its not "new" money I'm playing with there.

Bought in for $25 at a $25nl ( .15-.25 ) full ring table and managed to double it by the time I left.I quite like the software ,speed of play and even that daft "Congratulations" tune made me laugh the first few times.( not that I heard it that often!).

I checked the bonus page and discovered I'd played 36 of the 100 required hands needed for my $20 bonus.I've never been a bonus chaser.A creature of habit and routine I only played at Pokerroom for nearly my full first year before trying Inter and Ladbrokes both of which have been far more profitable for me than PR.

I'd also been put off bonus chasing by Inters initial sign up $200 bonus which I've only just cleared after 6 months and countless hours of play.However the monthly deposit bonus at Inter is far easier to do and while its only $20 I've done 36 % of Partys after just over an hours play.Made me realise that not all bonuses are so hard to earn and that my laziness and reluctance to shop around has cost me.

Rakeback is something else I've never bothered with.Probably only really for higher limit players but when I look at the $$$ in rake I've paid ( thanks PT) it may be worth looking into.

Not much else today but I did want to mention ( cue long ramble) a hand thats given me food for thought since I played it.

Rewind back to the wee sma' oors of Sunday morning.I was at the table with one player who was acting the maniac.The same guy who had 108 off and bet $29 preflop then called my accidental all in with QJ for another £100.

The above makes him sound like a total idiot and many of his plays were like that but as with all maniacs there's always danger as you can't ever put them on a hand when they have got one.

A few weeks ago when I was feeling really sick of the game I played an hour at the play money tables and blew off some steam going all in on every hand.Then my competitive nature kicked in and while I was still way way too aggressive I slowed slightly and played raise or fold for a while.
The point is that I did notice that while I blew a load of play chips I won big with most of my big hands as I got loads of action.

Now to the hand in question.Remember I'd been playing for 7 hours straight at this point and had recovered from being stuck $120 to being ahead.

I get QcQh and call the maniacs low $3 raise from late postion.The bb and sb both call too.

Flop comes Ts 3h 9h . bb and sb check.Maniac bets £36.

I folded and left the table after the next hand.

Its been bugging me ever since.Every hand should be played correctly and to the best of my ability regardless of other factors yet the truth is I would have reraised ( possibly all in) if I'd still been down for the night but as I was ahead I didn't want to commit to a pot which could wipe out my gains and indeed result in a loss for the night.

He never showed as he mucked which he had been doing up until then and his raise preflop was unusually small for him so I could have been behind to a higher pp 2 pair or trips but chances are I was ahead but too timid to push which tells me I've a long long way to go to be any kind of a player at this game.

I'm very good at handling it when I win big pots at higher levels ( or even low levels with high pot averages) but the thought of losing a car payment etc in a pot still makes me feel ill despite me having a bankroll that can cope with such losses.Easy to say its just chips etc.Read an excellent analogy from The Grinder which compared such situations ( the old play every hand correctly and welcome the bad beats story) to non smokers telling smokers to quit cos its bad for them.Easy to say and easy to agree with but not so easy to actually kick the habit.

Why bother with a 3k bankroll if I'm never going to use it.May as well leave myself $500 online and go from there.

Maybe I shouldn't post every single win/loss and weekly figures.Would that give me more of a long term outlook or would I just lose focus? Not sure.

I am sure this post is long enough! Back Tues or Wed...