Back in Seattle

I have been super busy at work since I got back to Seattle so I have not been able to play at all. I went last night for a short session because I was jones'n for some poker. I went up to Parker to play in whatever they have going at the high end. It was just an 8/16 game, but they had a seat right away so I jumped in. I have not been able to win in Seattle lately at the lower games and I just had the a ha moment last night. Since I have started playing a the higher games like 20/40, 40/80 and in LA I was playing 100/200 the 8/16 game was just not motivating me. I was playing way too loose for the game, it was a typical loose, huge multi-way pots game. I was calling with too many speculative hands, and hands that did not match up well in when I was hitting my hands. I was not putting the money into context and was not playing an A game. I also ran just horrible when I actually had a monster starting hand. I lost with AA's twice, once when I let myself get outplayed, and the last hand of the night when I had AA in late position and 3 bet a pot that got capped before it got back to me for 6 way action in a capped pot. The flop came down K,7,10 two diamonds. It was bet to me and I raised it. We got it down to 3 people. I assumed a K and a flush draw. The 7 paired on the turn, and the first player bet again. The middle person called and I raised again. Both called. The river was a 2, no diamond. It was checked to me and I bet again and got called, and then over called. The first person turned over J,7 hearts and took the pot. How crappy is that. J,7 in a capped pot. I put him on the flush draw and he had third pair on the flop and hit. O well that happens. All of my other big pairs did not win either. Always and A on the flop with I had a pair. I made the mistake of calling one down, when I was pretty sure I was beat. But hey it was only 16 bucks. Wrong, it was a bet. Those lost bets add up fast when you can't hit your big hands. I ended up calling it a night after about 4 hours, and down -$600. I probably lost $400 of that with bad play. Unacceptable!

If I am going to play in the lower games I have to play my A game all time or just not play. As a side not Tommy Hang of Seattle got 7th in the LA WPT event for a $130,000 cash. Congrats. Talk to you next time. SJ