Today I played a very aggressive HU match against Isildur and finally came out with a win. I had been getting crushed by him the past few days and finally got a great result winning $432k. For the 4th session in a row I ran under all in EV, this time I was $130k under expectation. Although this doesn't mean everything I think its a pretty good indication of how I have been running. I also feel like I have been on the bad side of coolers, as it always felt like I was getting underset and never undersetting him. This may not be the case as I am more likely to remember the times I am underset and forget the times I underset him. I think this is common thing that poker players do.

I have to admit the past ten days has been incredible frustrating for me. Over this time I have run horrible to the tune of 2.4 million dollars under all in expectation. I was the main reason, along with Durrr and Ziigmund, that Isildur was able to turn 60k into 4+ million in that time frame. Its pretty incredible the run he had over this time. To make so much money so quickly with such a small amount to start with is such a rare occurrence. I would be very surprised to see him to it again, not because I don't think hes a great player but rather that its alot of money to win so quickly vs very tough competition.

Anyways the intent of this blog post wasn't to discuss how poorly I have been running because I have run very very well this year. I should be the last person to complain about a slight downswing. Rather it was just to illustrate how frustrating poker and in particular HU PLO can be. There were countless times where I was just in aw of the sickness that would happen. I think of myself as a very level headed analytical player and I just felt as though I was going to get sucked out on. I just felt like every time before the cards were dealt I would know I was going to lose and my flush draw would brick out, or my set would get sucked out on by a draw. I usually don't let beats get to me as I realize they are a good part of the game, but there were countless times I found myself not just muttering about them but yelling at my monitor about the grossness of it all.

For one of the first times in my poker career I wasn't able to walk away easily. I found myself totally consumed by our matches and would think about them way to much. When out to dinner I would be replaying hands in my head. Usually when I am done with poker and close the computer I don't give another thought to it and can focus on my personal relationships or other activities. This has not been the case the past ten days as I have been a bit consumed by the play.

Anyways here are some hands from today...

This one caused me to cuss at my monitor, something I rarely do.

http://weaktight.com/1787933


I was surprised how much equity he had here.

http://weaktight.com/1787934


As irrational as it may sound I just felt the club coming...

http://weaktight.com/1787936


A cooler for me.

http://weaktight.com/1787938


And another cooler for me. Its very easy to forget these and just remember when they happen to you.

http://weaktight.com/1787940