Day 4: -$9.60 (-10 BB at $.50/1)

Overall: +$60.00 in 548 table minutes

I have no reason to complain. Even though the cards suck and I can't believe the sorts of beats I'm getting, I have no reason to complain. Things like this build character. Plus, I know how soft the game is, and I know it's just dumb luck that I wasn't able to get out of the first stage today.

Yes, I have my collection of poorly played hands. Those will always be there. Ego gets in the way, and I do stupid things because I think I understand the villains better than I do. Straight-forward play is where most of the money is at this level, and I need to keep that in mind. It's not like the weak-tight games where I can open-raise from almost any position and get heads up, and then most of the time take the pot with a flop and turn bet.

Also, seat selection made itself apparent tonight. I sat with a LAG on my left, and it was much harder to do anything I wanted to do. I know I laugh at those who really focus on seat selection at these stakes, but it is true that it affects your winrate. Being stubborn, I stayed in my seat and played it out. I've got to re-learn a bunch of things about short-handed play, and being OOP against a LAG is one of them.

Hand 1: This was the stupidest click of the night. I raise a limper with AJo from SB and get called by BB (the LAG above) and (of course) the limper. The flop is 746 two stpades (I have the ace of spades). I bet, get called by LAG and the limper folds. The turn is a T of clubs. I know that LAG is going to bet just about any hand if I check to him. I know he's capable of raising a pair on this low board against my bet because he (rightfully) puts PFRs on high cards. So what do I do? I check and then check-raise. Why? I don't know. I'm pretty dumb that way sometimes. I had seen him fold a couple times to turn check-raises, but the action was completely different. He called the check-raise. The turn is a 4. Now I'm faced with exactly the same situation. I expect him to bet almost any hand here (the 4 is a good bluff card), but do I really want to call with ace-high after he calls the turn check-raise? I decide not to call his bet. He rubs in the fact that he bluffed me by showing 92 spades for the missed flush draw. Surprisingly, there's no ego-tilt from this. I played like crap, and got beat by crap. In my right mind, I probably check-call both streets and laugh at the LAG... just like I used to...

Hand 2: This hand is of the bad-beat type. Two limpers and I limp from SB with A2o. BB raises and we all call around. BB is somewhat new to the table, and he seemed fairly passive, so I didn't expect him to raise. The flop is K54 with two spades and one club (I hold the ace of spades again). I check, BB checks, and the first limper bets, folding out the second limper. I call because this is an easy spot to peel one off with the gutshot, backdoor flush draw, and plenty of pot odds. I just hope BB doesn't hold something like AK and check-raise. He just called, which is good. The turn is the magic card, the 3 of clubs. I check and suddenly BB bets. Wonderful! Usually a play like this means AA, KK, or sometimes AK. The flop bettor raises. Even better! I 3-bet with my straight, BB calls, and the other guy caps. This is good. The river is the ace of clubs. Backdoor flush draw... Alarm bells are ringing and I flash back to the other backdoor flush. I get scared like a weak player and I check. BB donks all-in for $0.80, and the aggressor raises to the full dollar. I call. The aggressor had 55 for a set of fives, and I win $0.40 from that. BB turns up J8 of clubs for the runner-runner flush to take the big pot away from me. Yes, I should have gone harder against the flop bettor because I know he usually doesn't have 67, 62, or a flush with this action. But I suck at poker.

Other bad beats: Let me just get them out of the way here. KK runs into A2 on a 622 flop. KT flops two pair heads up and the other guy turns an "obvious" flush that I'm compelled to pay off. A different LAG raises bottom pair and catches trips on the turn, I pay off with top pair. I correctly value bet my weak pair against a loose chaser who hits runner-runner flush. I do it again to another player, and it happens again.

With all of this going on, how did I manage not to lose a bunch of money? When your opponents play this loose, you can win win win with value betting and good preflop calls.

Hand 3: I have 55 on the button. Limp-raise-coldcall in front of me, so I call with my pocket pair. This is a standard call with three players already in the pot in front of me. Against players who chase too much, you can make this call with two players in. All six players see the flop, and it's a money flop, A35. The action is fairly boring. I check/3-bet, and lead the turn and river to get paid off by 54o and ATo (the preflop raiser -- too bad he was all-in on the flop).

Hand 4: I have A6o and open-raise from the cutoff. Button (the LAG from above) calls and it's heasd up on the flop. It's 776. I bet, he calls. The turn is a 2. Bet-call. River 7, bet-call. My boat beats his ace high (A3o).

There are a good five or six hands with that sort of action, getting called down by junk hands. They keep me afloat when the bad beats come. And when the bad beats aren't there, they contribute to a high winrate.

Just FYI on some stats: 26.18/20.02, 3.67/3.40/1.47/2.98, +7.11BB/100. I c-bet too much, which is making my flop and turn AF a little higher than they should be.