This will be a short post…

Last night I banged out a quick & easy Slot Demo profit at the Party 2/4 tables. Nothing too eventful, some fortunate cards here and there. I even made some awful law-downs and ended up ahead. One hand had me flop the nut straight, catch blanks on the turn and river, and manage to get two of those streets capped FOUR WAYS!!! These guys were awful, but I sure wasn’t complaining when I dragged the immense pot ($100 or so).

Anyhow, I came home tonight intending to go out later on, but plans fell through. I’m traveling tomorrow and Slot Demo will have a busy Sunday, so I felt justified in taking some time at the online tables. Long story short, I played piss poor poker, and the cards didn’t help me mask it. Slowplayed some sets in bad spots, made horrible (costly) folds, and just overall wuss play. I dropped 50BB in 600 hands. Never done that before… it was strange, I didn’t get angry or anything, I was kinda serene about it. But losing $200 in two hours? OH THE HUMANITY!!

So I took a break, capped some people on GTA: San Andreas, ate some food, and came back to try and take a second stab. My strategy was sound, I just wasn’t executing it well earlier in the evening during the monster losing session. Lo and behold, 330 hands later, I had made all of it back but $30. That’s some swingy poker, people!!! Up 20BB one night, down 50BB the next, only to go on a tear and end up down merely 7.5BB on the night. Wow.

My play, a Short Update

I’ve been treading water at 2/4, with a little growth in the BR in the last few days. My monsterous 5+ BB winrate per 100 is going to come down slightly as a result, which was probably inevitable anyhow. Generally, I’ve been taking sizeable losses early in sessions (25BB+ in some cases), only to claw back to even or more slowly but surely. Don’t know whether its a virtue or a vice, but I HATE HATE HATE to end a session down substantially if its not late at night. I’ll keep playing, if the game is good and I’m sure I’m not tilting, to see if things don’t turn around.

This strategy saw me drop 25BB at 1/2 5-max on Tuesday (where did my shorthanded skills gooooo?), then swing from up 20BB to down 25BB to up 4BB on PokerNow 2/4 later that night. Tonight I ground out a small winning session at 1/2 5-max on Paradise, and am almost done clearing my TURKEY bonus there. I’ve decided that once its clear, I’m cashing all the way out and moving to Party. The difference in opponent skill is astronomical, and there’s no reason for me not to make the move and maximize profit potential.

The 2/4 tables provided just as much of a rollercoaster tonight… didn’t make very many draws, which cost me since I play them very aggressively. I swung from +15BB to down 20, and finally back up to +9BB after 900 hands. Four tabling really shows how short term variance works, as these sessions often leave me up over $100 at one table, down $80 at another, and up or down a little at the other two. But hell, if you want an example of the unfortunate side of variance on decent play, read up on Chris Halverson’s OIC experience the last few days. I feel for the guy, as he was on his way up and so close to the top of the leaderboard.

So anyhow, for the week ending tomorrow night I’m up about $410 or so, including bonuses. That money will look just fine on the green felt of the Bellagio’s poker tables. Mmmmmm.