Live from the TS Poker Room

Got to play quite a bit at Turning Stone last week, in both tournament and cash settings.  Some notes:

Tournament
The tournament was $40 plus a $10 bounty; add in the dealer tip but subtract the coupon I had and the seat cost $32 - not bad at all.  It was also a re-buy tournament, which I severely dislike, but hoped to use to my advantage if people were overly aggressive during the re-buy period.

I got off to a decent start, but took a huge hit when I raised with pocket queens, got two callers, the second re-raised me after a 9/2/J flop, and I called and he had pocket deuces.  I was on tilt for a while after that; the same "physically angry" feeling returning that I used to experience all the time but hadn't in quite a while.  What made me mad was that I put him on a bigger hand (something like pocket jacks or J/9 suited) post-flop, but called his re-raise anyway.  Stupid.

Talking it through later with Tina, I realized I should have gone with a bigger pre-flop raise.  I had forgotten two things: a small pot is better than no pot, and it isn't always wise to attempt to trap. 

The remainder of my chips got in the pot in a much better situation, holding A/4 clubs and the flop giving me the nut flush draw.  I got two callers but couldn't hit, and that was it for me, still steaming.

By this time, the re-buy period had (barely) expired, so I finished 38 out of 41 players.  Still, factor in those that were KO'd and bought back in, and there were at least ten more who were "out" before me.  Here I sit trying to rationalize.

One of the ones who finished ahead of me was Tina, who ended up 15th - without, it should be noted, the benefit of a single re-buy.

Cash
After a quick trip to the bathroom, I headed right back to the poker room and saw an available seat at 1/2 NL.  In hindsight, I probably should have taken a few more minutes to calm down, but I didn't know how long there would be a seat available.  So, I jumped right in, and quickly realized I was at a table with eight regulars. Fun.

All joking aside, it WAS fun.  The people were hilarious, led by the Asian guy to me immediate right, Jeff. 

Action didn't take long to find me - what hits me first hand after I get my chips?  Bullets.  Of course.  I called a $12 pre-flop raise, but folded post-flop to a $24 bet (not wanting to piss away a third of my $150 starting stack on the first hand when my aces got cracked, as they always do).  It was a smart move as it turned out, because both of the people still in the hand would have had me beat.

Otherwise, I didn't have many good hands, lots of two off-suit face cards and the like.  I found myself having an aversion to non-paired hands that didn't contain aces, so a lot of times my K/Q or K/J would be folded post-flop if I didn't hit.  Not helping was my huge headache; not sure where it came from but it made it hard to focus, despite numerous conscious attempts to do so.

In the end, I had played for six and a half hours at the table, and finished down $31.  It was my first losing cash session, something which was in my thoughts near the end, and really shouldn't have been.  Years of playing not to be first out in the SFPT have gotten to me, and switching gears between cash and tournament play is something I'm going to need to work on.

Lessons
To sum it up in one word: RAISE.  Do it more often, and be aggressive about it.  There's no reason min-raises should be my only raise.  I have to start controlling the action more often.  I can't always have the nuts.  Speaking of nuts, I simply need to grow a pair.

There are a lot of reasons why I play scared, and I am finally beginning to understand what they are.  Money is actually only a small part of it: I come to the casino fully expecting to lose every cent I bring.  I just want it to last as long as possible, which is a terrible way to play poker.  I also found myself thinking about playing Let it Ride and saving enough money to do so, another unwanted distraction.  Finally, the lack of regular trips to the casino - I don't know when I am going to be back, which brings me back to wanting the money to last as long as possible.

Solutions?  Bring a separate bankroll for poker (something I really should have anyway) and plan trips on a regular basis.  Both are relatively easy, and things I just figured out while typing this recap.  Viva writing. 

Now, if NYS would just get it's collective crap together so Fingerlakes could have a poker room...