It's really frustrating to have to go broke and move down, but there it is. Hopefully, I will be able to move up again by next spring. I'll be dropping down to the range of stakes from 25/50 to 100/200 and probably putting in some hands up to 250/500 mixgames as well. I've never been good at bumhunting, so when I sit at a stake, I'll usually play most people who sit. So I won't be fishing at bigger stakes.

I don't really have a ton of regrets as to how I played during this downswing. I just lost too many big hands, and too many hands overall to not go broke. I'm sure some tighter players might have been able to lose less while running bad. I have a big emphasis on analysis- so when I think a range is weak I go after it, sometimes that doesn't work out when I never have a hand and my opponents call with atc.

Most of this downswing occurred playing fishy regulars hu who I know play pretty weakly. For instance, I lost 400k to luckexpress in 1200 hands of 2/400 plo and on and on and on. Fish sits at high stakes and busts me. Can't really complain, I have the edge, and they decided to gamble with me, they have to win sometime! I just wish I could string the improbable and massive losses out a little more and not have them all converge at once. The latest disaster was a 40/80 nlhe session against noluck17, a regular on ftp. I mean, I lost 300k in the session at 40/80, which is 37.5 bi. Normally, I think taking that kind of loss in a session means I was tilting, but this match was so batshit insane preflop that he was getting in hands like 88 for 200bb and AQo for 300bb and playing 800bb pots with TPNK. So it was really just some crazy streetpoker. Here are some hands, maybe they are interesting...

Seat 4: Sauce1234 ( $41525.50 USD )
Seat 5: noluck17 ( $120183.65 USD )
Sauce1234 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
noluck17 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ 4h 5h ]
Sauce1234 raises [$200.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$880.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$720.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3s, Jh, 2s ]
noluck17 bets [$1440.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$1440.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qs ]
noluck17 bets [$4080.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$13028.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$8948.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 7c ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$26097.50 USD]
noluck17 calls [$26097.50 USD]
Sauce1234 shows [4h, 5h ]
noluck17 shows [6s, Js ]

Not a ton to say here. I bluffed with the bottom of my range on a card which hits my range hard. The only variable is his turn betting/calling range, which I know from experience was extremely wide, going down to hands like 8s8x and 7s7x as well as ofc pure bluffs and AK of any suit. I can't hate this play, I just ran into the top of his range. Kudos for him for fake timebanking the turn for like 25 seconds like he does with marginal hands.

noluck17 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
Sauce1234 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ Qc Kd ]
noluck17 raises [$200.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$800.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$2400.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$5348.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$3588.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4s, 3c, Qh ]
Sauce1234 bets [$7131.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$7131.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jc ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 bets [$15120.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$15120.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Qd ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 checks
noluck17 shows [Kh, Ac ]
Sauce1234 shows [Qc, Kd ]

Obviously preflop is really strange by me. He had been 4betting 13% for the match and 15% near the end of the match with deep stacks. My 5bet is for value, though I am planning on raise/folding to a 6bet. Postflop I played it well vs him, I would have had to call a river jam since he may jam AA as well as like a Qxss type hand and maaaaybe a bluff.

Dealt to Sauce1234 [ Kc Kh ]
noluck17 raises [$200.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$800.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$640.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qd, 3c, 9d ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 bets [$1440.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$1440.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5c ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 bets [$4080.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$4080.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 4h ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 bets [$20240.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$20240.00 USD]
noluck17 shows [6c, 7h ]
noluck17 wins $53279.50 USD from main pot
Sauce1234 doesn't show [Kc, Kh ]

Again, not much to say here. I was planning on c/jamming river, but when he overbet I decided to just call which proved to be the right choice.

Dealt to Sauce1234 [ 9s 9d ]
noluck17 raises [$200.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$800.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$2400.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$1760.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3s, 8s, 6s ]
Sauce1234 bets [$3921.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$8240.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$10070.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$39013.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$9083.25 USD]
noluck17 shows [Tc, Ts ]
Sauce1234 shows [9s, 9d ]
noluck17 wins $24178.75 USD
** Dealing Turn ** [ As ]
** Dealing River ** [ 5c ]
noluck17 wins $51428.00 USD from main pot

Not a ton to say here. My hand is just too strong to not get allin, and I chose this line to get it in with. I would have hero folded to the flop raise with 99 no spades or 8s7x, but I think my hand is just too strong, considering he can have a bunch of hands like As3x or As8x and the pot is huge. There also might be an occasional pure bluff here. I mean it obviously sucks to be completely dead against his actual hand.

Seat 4: Sauce1234 ( $22157.50 USD )
Seat 5: noluck17 ( $172741.65 USD )
noluck17 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
Sauce1234 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ Ad Ah ]
noluck17 raises [$200.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$800.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$640.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9c, Th, 7s ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 bets [$1440.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$1440.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kh ]
Sauce1234 bets [$4131.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$170421.65 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$15706.50 USD]
noluck17 shows [Td, Kd ]
Sauce1234 shows [Ad, Ah ]
noluck17 wins $150584.15 USD
** Dealing River ** [ Ts ]
noluck17 wins $44314.50 USD from main pot

This is the last hand of the match. I think a fold is probably correct over the turn raise since the only plausible value hand I beat is AK and he might slowplay that. he could conceivably have a weak combo draw but I think that's unlikely. Other than that, my flop line is fine, my turn line is terrible, I should c/c down. Misplaying this hand so badly made me quit the match, I thought I wasn't thinking sharply.

Seat 1: noluck17 ( $125353.75 USD )
Seat 6: Sauce1234 ( $20278.00 USD )
noluck17 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
Sauce1234 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ Kh 3h ]
noluck17 raises [$200.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$800.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$1920.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$1280.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7c, 8h, 3d ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 bets [$2320.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$2320.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3s ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 checks
** Dealing River ** [ 9h ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 bets [$7440.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$15798.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$8358.00 USD]
Sauce1234 shows [Kh, 3h ]
Sauce1234 wins $40555.50 USD from main pot
noluck17 doesn't show [Ah, As ]

My preflop call kinda sucks, but might be slightly +ev its almost impossible to tell. His turn and river play don't make any sense.

Seat 1: noluck17 ( $97063.20 USD )
Seat 6: Sauce1234 ( $58264.25 USD )
Sauce1234 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
noluck17 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ Kh 7h ]
Sauce1234 raises [$200.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$880.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$720.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qs, 5h, 8h ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$1671.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$1671.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4h ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$4318.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$4318.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 6d ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$11892.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$11892.00 USD]
Sauce1234 shows [Kh, 7h ]
Sauce1234 wins $37681.50 USD from main pot
noluck17 doesn't show [Kc, Qd ]

Everything went according to plan here, even the hero call !

Seat 4: Sauce1234 ( $17319.50 USD )
Seat 5: noluck17 ( $144397.15 USD )
Sauce1234 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
noluck17 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ 3c 3d ]
Sauce1234 raises [$200.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$880.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$720.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3s, Tc, 4h ]
noluck17 bets [$1440.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$1440.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8h ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$3631.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$3631.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Ah ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$11288.50 USD]
noluck17 calls [$11288.50 USD]
Sauce1234 shows [3c, 3d ]
Sauce1234 wins $34638.50 USD from main pot
noluck17 doesn't show [8c, 5c ]

Ditto with this hand.

Seat 1: noluck17 ( $81131.70 USD )
Seat 6: Sauce1234 ( $74196.25 USD )
noluck17 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
Sauce1234 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ 4h Ah ]
noluck17 raises [$200.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$800.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$2400.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$1760.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6d, 5d, 6s ]
Sauce1234 bets [$3981.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$3981.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jc ]
Sauce1234 bets [$9431.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$9431.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 4d ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 shows [4h, Ah ]
noluck17 shows [As, 5h ]
noluck17 wins $32103.50 USD from main pot

I actually checked the river here to probably call. Thinking he is turning exactly AK/AQ into a bluff. Kinda wild. This was my first lead of the match, I figured I'd try. It was probably bad with my exact hand, it seems like he was not folding to any line.

Seat 1: noluck17 ( $111315.25 USD )
Seat 6: Sauce1234 ( $16040.00 USD )
Sauce1234 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
noluck17 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ 9s 7s ]
Sauce1234 raises [$200.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$880.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$720.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qd, 8c, 7h ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$1432.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$1432.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7d ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$3481.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$3481.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 6d ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$10167.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$10167.00 USD]
Sauce1234 shows [9s, 7s ]
noluck17 shows [7c, Jc ]
noluck17 wins $32079.50 USD from main pot

vbet gone wrong

Seat 4: Sauce1234 ( $15920.00 USD )
Seat 5: noluck17 ( $161788.65 USD )
Sauce1234 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
noluck17 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ Qh Ac ]
Sauce1234 raises [$200.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$880.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$2691.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$4640.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$12989.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$10320.00 USD]
Sauce1234 shows [Qh, Ac ]
noluck17 shows [8c, 8h ]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4d, 3s, 8s ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jd ]
** Dealing River ** [ Kc ]
noluck17 wins $31839.50 USD from main pot

Just an example of how nutty preflop play was. My jam preflop is marginal but I thought that he can have Axo occasionally and maybe a suited connector and stacks are shallow after his 5bet that I just want the last psb in. I think his 5bet is ok tbh, I was 4betting a ton.

noluck17 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
Sauce1234 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ Td Qd ]
noluck17 raises [$200.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$800.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$640.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7h, 3d, Tc ]
Sauce1234 bets [$1432.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$1432.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ As ]
Sauce1234 bets [$3841.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$3841.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 3s ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 bets [$9280.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$9280.00 USD]
noluck17 shows [8c, 9c ]
Sauce1234 shows [Td, Qd ]
Sauce1234 wins $30865.50 USD from main pot

I like my line on every street here.

Seat 1: noluck17 ( $72031.70 USD )
Seat 6: Sauce1234 ( $83290.25 USD )
Sauce1234 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
noluck17 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ Ac 8c ]
Sauce1234 raises [$200.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$160.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ad, 4h, Kh ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$400.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$400.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7h ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$1120.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$4640.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$3520.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 8s ]
noluck17 bets [$9680.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$9680.00 USD]
noluck17 shows [Qc, Td ]
Sauce1234 shows [Ac, 8c ]
Sauce1234 wins $29919.50 USD from main pot

Same with this. I am calling any non heart river, my 2pr is irrelevant.

Seat 1: noluck17 ( $107276.75 USD )
Seat 6: Sauce1234 ( $38341.00 USD )
Sauce1234 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
noluck17 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ 2c 3c ]
Sauce1234 raises [$200.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$880.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$2681.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$1961.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ts, 2s, Td ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 bets [$2745.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$2745.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qc ]
noluck17 checks
Sauce1234 checks
** Dealing River ** [ 6d ]
noluck17 bets [$8480.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$8480.00 USD]
noluck17 shows [As, Qh ]
noluck17 wins $28291.50 USD from main pot
Sauce1234 doesn't show [2c, 3c ]

I almost quit after this hand. I knew that the Q smashes his range. The problem is that he bluffs so often, and even with some unlikely hands that it is really hard for me to fold anything in a pot this big when I take the line I did. I have no clue if the river call is good/bad/indifferent, just a really frustrating spot. I almost bet the turn really small so that I could chk back river and sometimes get value from AK/AJs, but decided it was too thin. Blah.

Seat 1: noluck17 ( $33587.20 USD )
Seat 6: Sauce1234 ( $121715.75 USD )
noluck17 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
Sauce1234 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ 8c 7h ]
noluck17 raises [$200.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$800.00 USD]
noluck17 raises [$2400.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$1760.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2h, 6h, 2c ]
Sauce1234 bets [$4012.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$4012.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2s ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 checks
** Dealing River ** [ 5d ]
Sauce1234 bets [$6052.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$6052.00 USD]
Sauce1234 shows [8c, 7h ]
noluck17 shows [Ad, Qd ]
noluck17 wins $25407.50 USD from main po

Again, I don't know if this is good/bad/indifferent. I had been bombing away with good hands mostly, and so I tried for a 'leveling' type bluff. He timed down to 0 seconds and called, so I spose it might not be awful.

Seat 1: noluck17 ( $115106.75 USD )
Seat 6: Sauce1234 ( $30522.00 USD )
noluck17 posts small blind [$40.00 USD].
Sauce1234 posts big blind [$80.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Sauce1234 [ Ks 8s ]
noluck17 raises [$200.00 USD]
Sauce1234 calls [$160.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9h, Ts, Qd ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 bets [$400.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$1120.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$720.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3s ]
Sauce1234 checks
noluck17 bets [$2240.00 USD]
Sauce1234 raises [$8612.00 USD]
noluck17 calls [$6372.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 5h ]
Sauce1234 bets [$20550.00 USD]
noluck17 folds
Sauce1234 wins $20550.00 USD
Sauce1234 wins $19943.50 USD from main pot

My one successful bluff lol. He had been 3betting good hands very frequently on the flops like this, so I felt that his range had very very few combos of the nuts in it. I had equity on every street and no showdown value, so I went for it...

Looking over these hands again, it seems like I played pretty damn well in the big pots. The 87 hands and the AA hand being notable exceptions. Especially the AA hand, my line just has no merit, so I quit. So there you are, sometimes you gotta be lucky, and I haven't been lucky enough recently to keep in action.

GL All, I'm going to bed

Ben