Moving back to $0.25/$0.50 stakes, playing Short Stack Strategy (with a bit of position stealing thrown in) on nine consecutive tables, I managed to make $86 in a couple of hours. Pretty good run, with very few errors. Stopped a while for dinner and returned happy after a good meal for more blind-stealing goodness, or so I thought. Started off moving into deficit (from the earlier profit) when several premium hands like AK missed the flop. Then came this particular hand, played on a $0.25/$0.50 table.
I was in mid position with KcKd, UTG with a VP of 45 and PR of 7 (very loose and passive) player calls, next player folds to me who raises to 5xBB. Everyone folds to UTG who calls. Flop comes Js10d4s, a pretty wet flop with multiple possible draws. UTG checks and I bet $3, slightly more than half the pot, which he calls. The call puts me on my guard as he could have likely hit J10 or could possibly be on a draw. A 4c comes on the turn, and he bets out with $4.50. At this point, since he could be playing almost any two cards, the 4 might have helped make his trips so I opt for the cautious route (pot control) and flat called. The final river card was 8s, which completes almost any straight or flush draw. He shoves all-in for my full stack of $24.05. I thought for a very long time, wondering if I could fold my KK, but called in the end, and he shows me Ks3s.
With hindsight, it was a very easy fold. I only had a pair of kings to several possible made hands like trips, straight or flush. A passive player like him would rarely shove all in on a move, which made it all the more likely that he either made his hand on the turn or river, both of which would have me crushed. I made several bad plays, first of which was not betting the pot on the flop, and the next, not re raising on the turn to find out if he did indeed have a 4.
That hand caused me to tilt a little, and I quickly lost most of my earlier profit. Some due to missed flops, some due to marginal calls. 2 hours of hard work back down the drain. I took a deep breath and told myself to calm down. Then started fresh with 3 tables, of $0.25/$0.50 6-max, short stacked. Started playing well again, stealing when I should, folding when I should, showing down when I should. Multiplied one table's buy-in by 9, another by 2, and the last by 1. Which gave me back my original profit. Grinded for yet another 2 hours today and made $103, allowing me to return the $200.
Start: -$646.78
Time Spent: 6 hrs
End: -$460.51
It's gonna be a long climb.
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