Two live reports

Two nights at Fourth Street this week. Tuesday was the £10 rebuy, and it started very slowly for me. In the rebuy period I didn't win a single pot till the very last hand, when I went all-in to grab blinds of 150 with K4, purely to take a chance at either getting some chips, or going bust and being able to rebuy. Luckily, one of the drunk muppets at the table (of which there were three) called me with inferior cards and I doubled up. Once we got to the freezeout, I managed to knockout one of the muppets when I picked him off trying a complete bluff on the turn. At the first break I was doing quite well - I had one of the bigger stacks.

A bad read cost me when a small blind went all-in for 3BB on my BB. I had A3 and thought he was trying it on so called, only for him to turn over AT. I made it to the final table though and exited when my AQ came up against the BB's pair of tens. I'm getting quite annoyed by the fact that I keep managing to find BBs who have proper hands when I go all-in, and yet I always seem to get trash, which I can't defend when the other guy is all-in. Didn't help matters on Tuesday that the guy who knocked me out was a bit of a wanker who thought he was all that. More than one of the other people at the table quietly expressed their disappointment that I had lost to the tosser.

Last night was the £30 freezeout and I had a bit of a mare. I got some chips early when I managed to trap another guy with a set of threes, but chips dribbled away till I had exactly what I started with - 2500. I then managed to make a complete mess of a hand which did for me. I saw a free flop of 997 with A3. Four of us in the pot, and it's checked round to the guy who I beat with the set earlier. He bet 100 into the pot, but I took it for a steal and raised to 500. He called and it was just us two for the turn of an Ace. Whilst I originally read him for nothing, I now had the added insurance that even if he had a nine, I was ahead. I decided I would like to check-raise him all in, and my plan worked, only for him to call with K7 and that was me gone.

It was a dreadful risk to take with no more than a hunch, especially when it was so early in the tournament. I've noticed I've been trying to pick off bluffs a bit more recently, but I think I need to ease off unless I have a cast-iron reason for thinking someone is trying it on, rather than just 'maybe he's bluffing'.

A couple of SNGs did nothing to recoup my losses. I've been doing OK in these recently, as my more aggressive style pays off in the contracted levels/chip stacks in these, but I think I had a bit too much of a 'fuck it' attitude last night (like calling two all-ins with 22).

Overall my poker losses on the night were £57, so my live poker losses are now getting on for £300. One tourney win will sort that out, and I am due a big run of good luck in the main tourneys (ignores fact of luck being totally random and uninfluenced by past events).