Life and Times of a Poker Addict

I don't know why it's so hard to follow this simple tenet. Just trust what your gut is telling you to do and 98% of the time you'll move along just fine.

Things have slowed on the poker front lately as I took a few days off to get the brain back in shape. Played in the Motown Invitational on Thursday and even though I wasn't card dead, I just let myself get ground down. There were two critical hands as I remember it, not critical as far as where they would have put me overall, but critical because I ignored what I intially thought I should do.

Hand #1: We started off with T2000 in chips, and with blind levels at 20/40 I had dumped off a few chips on AK with a flush draw the hand before and was down to around T1400. I looked down and had A10 diamonds from middle position and decided to bring it in for a raise. I raised to 150 and got one caller from the big blind. He had thought for a little bit before deciding he would play. Flop came 10 6 4 and I led out for 200, which he quickly raised to 700. My gut immediately messaged in to go back over the top of him all-in. Instead, I slowed down thought about it for a while, and let him get away with what he told me later was 10 7.

Hand #2: I had managed a decent comeback through the rest of the hour and was up to 1800 with blinds at 70/150. Tournament was moving along quickly and big stacks were dictating the action. I looked down at wired Jacks under the gun and brought it in for $500 raise. The next guy went all-in for about 1300 total and then from around the table another guy went all in for his stack of 1900 which had me covered. Again, my gut messaged me, and this time it was telling me to fold. The first raise was something I could think about playing, but the second one was definitely Aces. I thought and thought and thought, finally decided that with the money that was in the pot and the fact that I'd be under T1000 after the blinds went through and may not see a hand as good as Jacks, I called. Queens and Aces. I was screwed either way. The Aces held up and I was out. It may not have been an incorrect decision after examining all factors, but looking back on it now, I'm disappointed because my game has come far enough for me to lay a hand like that down.

During this losing streak I have taken solace in the fact that I have still usually been making the right decisions and I have stayed aggressive in the face of everything else. Three of the best hands I have played have been a result of trusting my instincts and calling with mediocre hands in the face of what a player seems to be representing. Every time I've been right, and have taken down those hands with middle pairs.

Just keep plugging away I guess, and hopefully things start running well again soon. Tonight is the weekly game, could use some love there....