Today was just one of those days. I couldn't get ANY momentum and the day was pretty much just a snore/bore fest punctuated by me getting shit on. I lost about 2k, I ran about $600 under EV but, mostly I just got coolered and made some questionable plays.

As per usual, nanonoko had QT vs my KQ on QT4 my cutoff vs his BB and i called his cr and barrels on blanks. I expect him to have AJ/KJ/J9/same hand/theoretically QJ at least part of the time. Compared to the combos of TT (which he 3b sometimes/44 (which I'm not positive he can even have) and AQ/QT, his value range seems smallish, but he ALWAYS seems to have it. Idk, he tilts me hard, and he's taken about 5-7 BI off me in exactly these kinds of spots. So maybe I'll just start folding 1 pair like a pussy? Idk, gonna research the hem in any case.

I also have to hold myself accountable. I played really mediocre poker today and it's just not acceptable. Playing less than my A game is never part of my gameplan and I really need to continue to strive to make the difficult calls and particularly the difficult folds (god I fucking hate check folding) in certain spots.

This is a hand in which I think I burned lots of dollars. ]

PokerStars Game #39252265816: Hold'em No Limit ($2/$4 USD) - 2010/02/04 23:55:20 ET
Table 'Tolosa II' 6-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: messier111 ($459 in chips)
Seat 2: iLeftFTP ($432.30 in chips)
Seat 3: mak10 ($416 in chips)
Seat 4: CrabClaws ($487.10 in chips)
Seat 5: #1 Mathlete ($973.20 in chips)
Seat 6: Shaitan87 ($436.20 in chips)
CrabClaws: posts small blind $2
#1 Mathlete: posts big blind $4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to CrabClaws [As Jd]
Shaitan87: folds
messier111: folds
iLeftFTP: raises $8 to $12
mak10: folds
CrabClaws: calls $10
#1 Mathlete: folds
*** FLOP *** [Jh 8d 5c]
CrabClaws: checks
iLeftFTP: bets $20
CrabClaws: raises $52 to $72
iLeftFTP: calls $52
*** TURN *** [Jh 8d 5c] [8h]
CrabClaws: bets $112
iLeftFTP: calls $112
*** RIVER *** [Jh 8d 5c 8h] [9h]
CrabClaws: bets $291.10 and is all-in
iLeftFTP: calls $236.30 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($54.80) returned to CrabClaws
*** SHOW DOWN ***
CrabClaws: shows [As Jd] (two pair, Jacks and Eights)
iLeftFTP: shows [Ks Kd] (two pair, Kings and Eights)
iLeftFTP collected $865.60 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $868.60 | Rake $3
Board [Jh 8d 5c 8h 9h]
Seat 1: messier111 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: iLeftFTP showed [Ks Kd] and won ($865.60) with two pair, Kings and Eights
Seat 3: mak10 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: CrabClaws (small blind) showed [As Jd] and lost with two pair, Jacks and Eights
Seat 5: #1 Mathlete (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: Shaitan87 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

I think the flop is good. He's going to call with the entire portion of his value cbet range which includes probably TT/99 and certainly all the worse jacks. The turn is good-ish for me, because it makes sets less likely, good people don't cr bare 8x here and all of my 9T/67/QT etc etc remain in. He can continue to call with worse jacks, and other worse pairs and if he picks up extra equity I think there is a good chance he foolhardily shoves. The river blows for obvious reasons as the range that I can get value from is probably now folding. It sucks that if I check I'm telling him in no uncertain terms that I have no better than 1 pair, but sometimes you just gotta toss up the white flag. This is certainly one of those times.

Props to Klink for dispelling my inclination to check call against a thinking player. I think there are scenario's where it would be awesome, but this is not one of them.

I'm also still working on the art of letting bad things happen and coping with big number losing days. Starting with a few beers. Good luck friends.

Brandon