Iggy Said There'd Be Days Like This

I've always been good about losing in poker. It's a must if you wanna be successful.
--Iggy

Losing is one of the most difficult aspects of playing successful poker. Even if you play perfectly, you can still have losing days, and that's difficult for many people to wrap their heads around. The corollary to this is that many people have a tendency to blame their losses on "luck" or "variance", rather than bad play.

I've played live NLHE six times since early December -- in AC the week before the WPBT Winter Classic, twice at the Winter Classic, in AC in early February, at the Commerce in LA, and in AC this past weekend. Six times is not a huge sample, I realize, and yet I'm 0 for 6 in booking a win. My total losses over that period are not a small number.

That's not to say it has been all losses. I booked solid wins in the 10/20 Borgata game in December, the 9/18 Commerce game in February, various home games, and even picked up an $1800 NLHE tournament win at the Sahara during the Winter Classic. But specifically playing cash NLHE, it's been a train wreck. There is no question that not all of my losses are a result of bad play -- thinking it through, I can say about one-third were the result of bad beats -- but there's also no question that I haven't been as sharp as I'd like to be. Trying to look at it as objectively as possible, the flaws I've identified (aggression is off, reads are slow, not listening to my "poker sense") all tie back to the same fundamental root cause: lack of practice.

And yet, I hate playing online, and I hate playing NLHE online most of all. Unless Donald Trump decides to move Atlantic City an hour north up the Garden State Parkway, I either have to take my chances with the handful of small underground clubs still operating in NYC or consider giving up NLHE cash games for a while.

Some hands for consideration from Saturday's disaster in AC, in increasing magnitude of sketchy play:

Hand No. 1

Showboat, 1/2NLHE 60/300. I have $240 after a couple of pre-flop raises that were called 800-ways and missed the flop. (This was when my table was still "good" with three or four donators. They all wound up busting or leaving before I got any of their money, sadly.)

I'm in the CO with Ah5h. Four limpers to me, I limp, and the button raises to $15. There are two callers by the time it comes back to me and I call as well.

The flop is 5s-7h-Jh, hitting me about as hard as I could hope. It checks to me and I decide to test the button's pre-flop raise by leading into him for $50. He responds by immediately pushing in. It folds back to me.

I have him on an overpair, obviously. QQ-AA. That gives me two fives, nine hearts, and possibly three aces as outs. PokerStove tells me that I have 49% equity given his range, as I'm a slight favorite if he has KK or QQ and a small underdog if he has AA. I have to call $175 to win $335, giving me pot odds of very nearly 2-to-1. Even though I don't like racing my stack on a coin flip, the pot is laying me a pretty good price, so I call. He shows AA and my hand doesn't improve.

Bad result, but my read was correct and I just didn't catch. The call was +EV, so this one wasn't all that terrible, except for my willingness to race my stack on a coin flip.

Hand No. 2

1/2NLHE. We're at the Taj now.

QQ in the BB. Five limpers to me before I raise to $20. The only caller is UTG, a fairly tight player. The flop is 9h-5h-6d. I bet $50 and he raises me to $100. My poker sense started nagging at me. He limp-called $20 and was now raising me on a junkish flop. In fact, I mused aloud "Really? Hmm, I could be in trouble here." I figured he was wired up, probably on a range of 99-AA. Calling his raise was a no-no; my hand would only get more difficult to play as more cards came out. It was raise or fold. Overriding my spidey sense, I pushed, and he called and tabled KK.

I think I should have been able to get away here. I have in the past.

Hand No. 3

1/2NLHE at the Taj. This hand is probably the most interesting of the three, and also the most disgusting from my perspective.

I'm on the button with 6c7c. There are a few limpers before the hijack raises to $10. I call, counting on the early limpers to call behind, which they do. We're 5-ways to the flop.

4s-5s-Qc

A solid(ish) guy in MP opens for $25. He is not the type to bet a draw in a 5-way flop, so I give him credit for a queen. It folds to me (including the PFR), and I consider raising before thinking that I may have "invisible" outs in the form of spades, and would be better able to sell a flush bluff by calling and looking like I was drawing. I also had not been flat calling much on the flop so I saw some value to it as a scare tactic. I call. We took the turn heads-up, pot $100.

Turn is 7s. Perfect. He checks to me and I "bet my flush" for $50. He calls with no hesitation. Really? No hesitation? Does he also have a spade in there or does he not believe me?

The river is 9c. He checks again and I check behind. I wanted to bet, but I didn't see how he could fold. Given my read (queen), and that he called the turn, I thought he would almost definitely have to call the river. He tabled 88, which was good enough.

Obviously, I hate myself on this hand. Our resident NLHE cash game pro had this to say:

If you put him on the Q, I'd take a pot-sized shot at the pot [on the river]. The pot was $200 and he had over $200 left. I don't think that is an easy call even with a set. He'd have to have a great read on you. You mentioned that he was a solid player so I'd expect him to fold even if he is frustrated. I would've put him on a queen with a big spade or a set because those hands still have a redraw against your flush. It looks like he missed the river. I'd take a good look at him and to make sure he wasn't going to make a tilt-call or a calling station call and go ahead and bet $150-$200.

There's a time when I would have bet this river. I need to rediscover that time, that groove. I need to rediscover the time when I would trust my reads and not push my QQ into the tight UTG player's KK. Or, I need to stop playing NLHE cash games until I do.