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The last 3 months have been abusive session after abusive session and I’ve honestly just had enough. Sitting in the parking lot of my apartment complex and I’m just devastated after suffering another loss tonight at the 1-2 NL tables.
(I’m sitting on a $200 stack which is the max where I play)
Action: UTG calls, UTG1, UTG2 call, and I raise to 12 with pocket aces. Small Blind calls and so do all the UTG players. Flop comes 8 6 10 with two hearts, SB bets 30, utg calls, I raise to 150, SB calls, UTG shoves, he has about 600 and SB has 200. I call for the rest of my stack, and SB folds. VILLAIN SHOWS 7 9 OF DIAMONDS, WHO LIMPS FROM UTG AND GETS THERE ON THE FLOP. It’s just nonsense I understand variance and the way the game works but I feel like I’m just burning money at this point and people just catch against me ALL THE TIME. I’m now in the red $2,600. Doesn’t matter how hard I study or review hands I still get fucked…. super tilted and I’m honestly just done. At these stakes players will call with any two and it kills the game.This is exactly why I moved up in stakes. Between the rake and the players at that level, 1-2 is unbeatable long-term in some poker rooms. It doesn’t matter how good you are, when every hand goes 4+ players to the flop, you lose so much equity and someone is bound to hit.
I used to play the lowest limits and I found I didn’t enjoy most of the time. I just played less often, because obviously it’s easier to burn 2 buys-ins and 1-2 than it is at 2-3 or 3-5.
I actually found that I play better at higher stakes for a few reasons. First, I don’t get bored and start playing garbage like I would at 1-2. And second, there is actually strategy beyond making hands and getting paid that you often see at 1-2. The stuff we talk about here actually applies at higher levels. Concepts like blockers and hand ranges from certain betting positions just rarely applies at lower levels.
I suggest taking a month or so off and try playing a night at the next level up. The game becomes more about thinking and less about luck.
Well being that flop is quite wet I would have favored just calling the flop. Also a larger sizing preflop would have been better. Most live 1/2 will call raises if they have already decided to limp. So if your usual raise is 8 to 10 with no limped. I would say make this somewhere in the realm of 15 to 20 after 3 limpers.
Once flop comes I would call. Then decide turns as these low limit players think they are negreanu and can play suited connectors all the time not realizing they are wasting more money than they are making on these hands.
Bad luck though with that flop. Take sometime and level out. Dont let ego tilt affect your play. Losses happen. Take the swings as they come.
I agree with Chris. I would’ve raised a little bigger preflop (15-20), I’d flat the flop, after there’s a dbet and a call, on that board. If i chose to raise, I then would have folded when UTG 3bet shoves. That shows a lot of strength, he could’ve hit a set or 2 pairs. You’re drawing dead vs a straight (or wish the board to make runner runner straight so you’ll chop). Drawing very thin vs a set, and vs 2 pairs you got some extra outs if the board pairs and counterfeits villains 2p.
We can imagine villain could shove as a semi-bluff with a straight draw, maybe a pair+gutshot. But that would be the best case scenario. And wouldn’t he be more passive with a draw?I realize you started the hand with 200, so your raise on the flop was pretty much an effective all-in (12 pre / 150 flop) you got $38 behind, yeah, you cannot fold to UTG’s shove. That’s another reason why I’d prefer a flat on the flop, you’ll be left with too small of a stack compared to the size of the pot when you raise and get 3bet/shove on. Even if villain just flat, turn’s a brick, you got 38 into a pot of 408. Not much choice here either…
I think (and I understand that very well, I’ve been through that with online poker a few years ago, I stopped playing for about 2 years) that you might be on a “latent” tilt due to your late bad run. You might have seen an opportunity to win a big pot, and overplayed a little bit that hand.
If you wanna take a break, it can help. If you wanna quit poker, it’s ok too, but quit if the game is no longer fun, not because a bad streak, in my opinion. You might tilt because of the money swing, I understand that as well. Take a break and if you can put money into your bankroll from your job income, $x per week, you set an amount, and then after a few weeks or months, if you feel fresh and confident, go out there and have fun 😉
GL with thatI bigger raise preflop and maybe proceed with caution. I have seen this many times in 1-2 cash, the fish love suited gappers and connectors and will call a 6 to 12 dollars most of the time. Don’t stop playing but maybe a little more study would be needed. I took over a month off recently and my game has improved. Also totally agree with Chuck M statement. Good Luck
Gil, my first thought was that your preflop raise was light. I’m still learning a lot of things, but I would have pushed quite a bit harder in that game to rid the donkeys with garbage hands right from the get go. That said, you’ll probably still attract plenty of idiots with garbage hands who play to “gamble” rather than to win. Now, I have recently been juggling this thing in my head. Do we want someone to call us with garbage when we are holding AA?
Ultimately, yes. When they hit and crack our Aces, it sucks. But we should win in this situation far more than we lose, right? So push those in and raise higher preflop. 1/2NL is my typical game. I did realize 1/3 had a little less of the nitty player, but it’s still not a high stakes game.
The first time I mistakenly sat at the 1/3, I left the card room up $500 in like 6 hrs. First major win doing nothing special. I found that quite interesting. It could have been the stakes, maybe just good running cards or maybe it was a mixture of a lot of things. But the lower limit 1/2 games draw any and everyone who wants to play hands more often than not.
I think the mention of flatting the flop is a good idea, at least for me. I probably would have gotten an idea where the betting was going and decided then to either fold with my minor loss realizing sometimes Aces don’t win. It sucks to realize this. The strongest hand is sometimes beat out.
Take a break from the game and focus on some other activities a bit. I have had a lot of bad runs lately. But I’m not willing to walk from the fun yet.
-Chris
Thank you all for all the advice and insight. I have been studying a lot and really trying to perfect my ranges and preflop action, I have so much love for the game I don’t realistically think I can walk away. I am deeply considering moving up in stakes, however I’m unsure of whether or not I should since I’m not yet a “winning” 1/2 player. Nonetheless thank you all for all of the posts I’ll take all this into consideration on, and off the felt.
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