Sometimes The Bear...

My new favorite saying when asked about my poker is "When you go bear hunting, sometimes the bear gets you".  Such was my day yesterday.  It started off very bad with 3 "big game" pot limit players seated in a row killing time before their game started.  I determined that I would not play any hands unless they were super premium.  The first 3 hands dealt were huge pots due to constant straddles, raises and re-raises.  Several people got felted early including one big gamer, while 2 of the big guys chipped up large.  I did o.k., making $60 or so.  They finally left and the game settled down.

I can't put my finger on the reason, but despite winning one high hand for $100 bonus, still ended up stuck for $175 after 9 hours of play.  Getting "quartered" 7 times was one issue, although I did not lose anything on a couple of them due to quantity of players.  I hate that shit.  The high hand win was unusual in that I got a short stack all in preflop with a good but not great hand, A/3/9/x but was counterfeited on low draw when 3/9 flopped.  A 9 on the turn filled me up, no low materialized, and I won the main pot posting a very weak high hand which miraculously held up.

I am getting to know a few players and becoming more friendly.  I know who the good players are and who the donks are.  If I can make any observation about consistent winners it is that they are all tight aggressive.  The players who are in every hand usually get stuck eventually.  Where am I?  Somewhere in between.  It is as if I am a split personality, sometimes playing tight and good, other times way too loose and bad.  Yesterday probably too loose, making way too many crying calls and chasing too much drawing dead.  The one error I am avoiding is chasing low draws...which granted sometimes win.  The big losers are consistent about pursuing these.