A bad session

I headed up to Northville Downs on Saturday night for a brief session, sitting down at about 10pm. I sat down brimming with confidence, knowing that I was one of the best players there, reinforced first by my own observation, and second from the results of my 30 or so sessions I have played there since November. Unfortunately, it was one of those sessions when from the start, nothing seemed to be going right.

When I first sat down, it was hard to ignore the huge stack of chips in front of the 22 year old kid 3 seats to my right. I estimated it to be about $1800, which is a ton in a $200 buy-in game. I was curious to see if it was because he was running great, or playing phenomenally.

I got a chance to see in one of my very first hands. He limped along with another limper, and I made it 14 with KhKd. Folds back to him and he is the only caller. Flop comes TT5 with 2 clubs, and he checks, and I make a relatively small continuation bet of 20, and he calls. The turn is a 7h, he checks, and I check behind for pot control. The river is a 6c, pretty much a terrible card as it completes the flush draw. He confidently leads out 40, and even though I think this is ordinarily a fold, as I don't beat much that would have called that flop, aside from random pairs that didn't believe me on the flop, I decided to call. But then again he is a young kid with a massive stack, so I'm guessing he thinks he can outplay anyone and feels pretty invincible at this point. Based on that, and his likelihood to believe by checking the turn, I called and he showed 66 for the rivered full house.

That put me in an early hole, but I rebought up to the max. I lost a few more pots, and continued to rebuy until I was in for 400 when this hand came up. A few limpers to me and I had ATo in LP, I elected to limp behind as I had been fairly active pre-flop, and felt I was likely to get multiple callers unless I made a giant raise. The flop came AT6r, and the SB led for 8, the guy directly to my right called (playing about 120), and I raised to 28. SB folded and guy to my right called. The turn was a 4, and he led into me for 40. I basically shoved and he called, and rolled over A7 to be drawing completely dead. When he got up to rebuy, the dealer asked me if we had played a lot before, saying that he never sees him get out of line like that. I told him I didn't recall very much history at all between us. This hand got me back to a point where I was down only $50 or so.
A short time later, I was in a large limped pot with 87o, in mid to late position. Flop is JT9, so I flopped the idiot end of the straight. The BB led out 10, there was 1 caller, and I elected to play small ball at this point and called. The SB called as well. The turn was a low blank, and the BB led out 20 this time, again I called, and the SB came along as well ( he only was playing about 100 before the hand started). I realized that I was allowing people with an open ended draw to come along cheap, but I wasn't positive I was ahead of the BB at this point. The river was a 7, making anybody with an 8 the straight. The BB again led, this time leading for 50. His sudden switch to a larger bet, after a bad river card, had me starting to believe that I was behind. But since I played the hand like a calling station to that point, I decided to follow through and complete that plan and called. The SB called as well and the BB rolled over KQ for the nuts. The SB apparently also had 87.

After a stretch, I finally got a chance to play a hand with the table maniac. He had been playing big pots with relatively weak hands the whole night, and I was chomping at the bit to play a biggie with him. He also had just lost a big pot, and I believed he was on the verge of tilting. He was the kind of player who rarely knows when it's his turn to act, didn't really understand the concept of the button straddle, and had shown a large bluff or two to this point. He opened in EP to 10, and after 2 callers, I called with 3d2d from the button. We saw the flop 5 handed, and it came down T54, given me a reasonably hidden OESD. Maniac bet 30, I called, primarily because I wanted to see if someone behind me woke up with a big hand, and also because I didn't think the maniac would fold any pairs in this spot. The rest of the players folded and the turn was a 2, giving me a pair with my draw. The maniac then shoved for 114. My initial inclination was to call, but I sat tight and wanted to observe his behavior. He seemed a little agitated, and I saw him swallow a big gulp in his throat, which is normally an indicator of a player who doesn't want a call. He also began talking a lot, completely unsolicited by me or anybody else. He yelled to the bar to bring him a beer, and generally his behavior just seemed uncomfortable. Putting all of it together, I elected to call. He rolled over T9 for TPNK, and I missed the river and quietly mucked my cards. So I believe I was right in my read that he was weak, but not as weak as I had hoped or needed, as I really believed he had two big cards, including an ace, and felt that he was really only drawing to 3 outs as an ace would have made my straight. In any case, I had a 30% chance of winning the pot after the turn, so it wasn't a completely dire situation, but it didn't work out.

They combine tables as a few are getting shorter, when this hand comes up. I open UTG to 8 with 5d4d, and I believe 4 players go to the flop. Flop is AQT with diamond, and I make a continuation bet of 20 at the pot and a semi-regular calls in position. I don't have any real history with him, but I don't fear him. I am done with the hand until an interesting turn card comes, the Kd. I think for about 10 seconds and bet 40, as I have a diamond draw now, and also the 4 card straight may scare my opponent. He thinks for about 20 seconds and calls. The river is the 6c....meaning I am playing the board. I think the regular has at least 1 pair, maybe 2 pair, but definitely not a straight, so I debate the best way to try to win the pot. I debate the merits of a large bet, and decide he may call bullshit with that line, so I settle on what looks like a small "value" bet, and bet out 50. He thinks for nearly a minute and then decides to call, I roll over my 5 high, and he turns over QT for a flopped 2 pair. I chalk him up as a guy who doesn't like to fold marginal hands.

Finally though, the crown jewel for the night. We are playing 6 handed, and I have about 260 in my stack, with both villians covering. I straddle button for 5. SB (the reg from the previous QT hand) raises to 10, BB calls, 2 others call, I call with 55. Flop Ks5h3d. Pot is 50, SB checks, BB bets 25, fold to me, I call, SB calls. Turn Ks5h3d(Js). Pot is 125. Checks to me, I make a weak bet of 45 as I don't think anyone is very strong at all, and I'm not really worried about being run down either. River Ks5h3dJs(Jc). Pot is 260, checks to me, I have 160 left, but think a shove looks too strong. I settle on betting 110. SB is debating for a while, but I think he's going to fold. Both of them have a recent history with me of me showing down bluffs or not very strong hands. After about a minute SB declares "All-in", and BB folds. I am a little shocked now, but with only 50 left, I call and he rolls over KK! I am absolutely shocked that he checked 3 streets there, I was 100% sure that I was winning that pot.

One of the more painful aspects of that hand was at the end of it, the guy who won the pot looked so smug, like he had just made a dynamite play to get my stack, when in reality he would have had my whole stack at any point, and he actually played the hand in the only way possible where he may not have gotten it all.

Obviously chalk the last hand up to a cooler and move on, but I find after a losing session I always have a slight tinge of fear and bankroll concerns. Even though I can handle a few losses like this, the doubt and fear is creeping in there. I realize that losing sessions are a natural part of the game, but this is my largest loss in this game since I have began keeping meticulous records. Maybe it's because the losing sessions have been so infrequent, that it makes it feel worse. But in any case, I need to get back in there asap, and play my A game and have a winning session to turn things back around.