Weekend of long knives

Time for a Monday moan! I ran horribly at the tables at the weekend.I only played turbos with very little cash play and couldn't believe some of the luck I ran into.I began the evenings play with a 2nd in a $6 turbo I played with Juice.2nd was ok but I'd got my money in as favourite four times whilst heads up before the final suckout which cost me a win.

Next up was the Bloggerment and when my AK reraise all in was called by QJ,I wasn't at all surprised by the Queen falling on the flop.Congrats to Rob at Poker4ever for taking it down.

I ran A10 into A9 ( yes the 9 came on the turn) in a game with Al Eleven before four tabling some more $16's and running into yet more coolers.The pro's would probably brush it off as a downswing but when every dominating hand is being scudded both pre and post flop it feels like a soul destroying experience.Even simple ones like K9 in the big blind v J7 on a 9 7 3 ragged flop.Money in,Jack on river.Arghhh!

At midnight I was one cheesed off poker player.I took a break to sort my washing and make my sandwiches.I also told myself I DO win overall at these sngs,variance is a bitch and that I need to learn to cope with downswings especially if I'm going to be four tabling.

I came back to the table refreshed and hit up my final four tables only to be suckered by this one outer...

PokerStars Game #13468910994: Tournament #68327034, $15+$1 Hold'em No Limit - Level II (15/30) - 2007/11/25 - 19:27:41 (ET)
Table '68327034 1' 9-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: mopoff (1545 in chips)
Seat 2: zagga (2800 in chips)
Seat 3: svdadon (3225 in chips)
Seat 6: gomerkj1 (1010 in chips)
Seat 7: drknaim (1560 in chips)
Seat 8: Sussys (1905 in chips)
Seat 9: donrik327 (1455 in chips)
zagga: posts small blind 15
svdadon: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to zagga [8s 8h]
gomerkj1: calls 30
drknaim: folds
Sussys: calls 30
donrik327: folds
mopoff: folds
zagga: raises 390 to 420
svdadon: folds
gomerkj1: raises 590 to 1010 and is all-in
Sussys: folds
zagga: calls 590
*** FLOP *** [7s Jh 4s]
*** TURN *** [7s Jh 4s] [Qs]
*** RIVER *** [7s Jh 4s Qs] [5d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
zagga: shows [8s 8h] (a pair of Eights)
gomerkj1: shows [5c 5h] (three of a kind, Fives)
gomerkj1 collected 2080 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 2080 | Rake 0
Board [7s Jh 4s Qs 5d]
Seat 1: mopoff (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: zagga (small blind) showed [8s 8h] and lost with a pair of Eights
Seat 3: svdadon (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: gomerkj1 showed [5c 5h] and won (2080) with three of a kind, Fives
Seat 7: drknaim folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Sussys folded before Flop
Seat 9: donrik327 folded before Flop (didn't bet)


Forget poker skill and reading poker books.To be successful at this game you need skin thicker than a rhinos and an unshakeable belief in your own game.I wavered slightly as I made a daft tilty reraise with 44 v 1010 ( obvious he had a higher pair) and ran JJ into QQ in another one.I registered for one more and managed a 2nd and a 4th place in my last two games of the night to leave me sitting only $30-ish down for the weekend.

I truly believe playing turbos is both one of the easiest and one of the toughest ways to make money at poker.Yes the beats/races lost were soul destroying but the 18 player ,$16 games are as soft as mushy peas and it doesn't take much skill to be able to beat them.

Picking up Nacho tonight,watching Stuttgart v Rangers tomorrow night,babysitting for Step A on Wed and I've a lads Xmas night out on the bevvy on Friday night.

Back soon...