Nip it in the bud...

My previous post is definitely on the conservative side and to be honest, I immediately regretted some of it right after I wrote it. Whining about a $28 loss is pretty lame. That being said, I continued my losing streak by dropping a whopping $11 (plus a $6 tilt-tourney) last night. I'm definitely becoming a problem gambler :)

Seriously, though, I've been pretty tilted the past two days. This issue is not the amount of money I lost, but how I lost it. To be honest, I feel like I really have a handle on low-stakes NL tables online and it is my strongest game. I definitely am not suprised when I get drawn out on. But, when I make basic mistakes that I know I shouldn't do (calling down with top pair, for instance), that tilts me to no end. It is one thing to lose to bad luck. It is another when I play poorly in an easy game.

Case in point:

$50 NL on Stars last night, $18 effective stacks. I limp in EP w/ Ah Ac, just me and the blinds ($1.50 pot) see a flop of 8h 6s 4s. SB and BB check, I bet $1. SB raises to $2, BB drop, and I need to decide what to do. He had $13 more behind, and I seriously thought about pushing, but instead I just called. Turn was 3s, he bets $2, I raise to $5, and he pushes for $13 total. Again, debate, then call, to see myself drawing dead to his Qs 8s.

Again, my problem with this hand is not that my aces got cracked -- that happens. My problem is I made a number of bad mistakes throughout the hand that caused me to lose the maximum. I probably would have gotten all-in with him on the flop if I played it right (he was loose and called a lot of raises), but what bugs me is I made many fundamental mistakes.

Limping with aces on any table that isn't super aggressive.

Just calling the flop with an overpair on a draw-heavy board.

Not bailing when his betting showed he had me beat and I had improper odds to call.

What bothers me most is that I was creating my own bad luck and playing in a tilted fashion. As a result, I decided to take my own advice and I took today off of poker (boy, it's hard not to play). Tomorrow I'll be running in the 500 fpp free-roll on Stars, so hopefully I'll have a good tourney. I don't have plans to play any cash games tomorrow though.

I can't help but think this is the down streak I usually have after a long period of running well. It will be a big deal if I can break out of the pattern.