Giving up is hard to do

So, I went about 23 hours without a cigarette, then had three. However, I scrounged them from friends at the pub after work, didn't buy them myself, therefore they don't actually count.

I don't know if you do smoke, have smoked, or have tried to give up, but it is hard. And I am far from being a 20-a-day type of person - more like ten or less on average. Also, I don't smoke at home nor when I am out with certain friends, and I don't particularly struggle with that. Yet to give up completely, well I am finding it hard. I don't think I am yet 100% committed to the idea... a bit like never limping with trouble hands out of position.

Moving swiftly on, I played last night after my two day break. It went like this:

NLHE Heads-up matches: Played 4, lost 3. I am not enjoying much fortune in these at present, but I think I have deteriorated a little. Losing three of four sucked. -$12

PLO Sit n Go: I came 5th, thanks to an awful beat. I had kept my head above water really well but was the shortest stack of five fairly equal players remaining. I got a flop of JJ4 and I held AJxx. A complete moron, who had been lucky time after time and seen his stack go huge, small, huge, small etc, called my all-in. This worried me until he turned over KK4x. I was all set to go chip-leader and leave him absolutely crippled, but >>boom!<< one of his two outs instantly hit the turn and I was out. -$6

PLO Cash: A session that was frustrating at times. I played pretty tight, and had a pattern of getting ahead then losing it again when a big cautiously-played draw failed to hit. I actually had just about the biggest straight draw on earth in one hand, with (I think, will check the hand history later) fifteen outs on the flop and nineteen on the turn and a weak flush draw too (most likely flush blockers as you assume someone in a multi-way pot has the suited Ace). Its the sort of situation where the correct move woulda been a big raise on the flop, but I bottled it due to the bankroll and was happy to draw at the right price instead on all streets. That was a good thing, since the river paired and a bullshit two pair became a boat.

However, I won two biggish pots later on against opponents who made really bad all-in calls and finished nicely ahead. +$64 (approx)

PLO Sit n Go: Another attempt. This game dragged and dragged, but I stayed patient and got aggressive when the blinds started getting worthwhile. With three left I had two thirds of the chips, but the other two wouldn't play with me and could never manage to knock each other out either. This went on and on, until I took a hit to leave us almost equal in stacks - in fact, I was the shortest by a slim margin. But I continued to be aggressive while the other two fannied about and soon restored the correct order of things. At last I knocked out one, went heads-up with a 4-1 lead and finished the job very quickly for a beautiful and satisfying first place. +$19

It was a very pleasing result, because once again I was prepared to take the bull by the horns when we got to the business end, while my opponents were pussying around trying to avoid the bubble or third place. I don't want to big myself up too much, but I believe I played both the sit n goes better than anyone else at the tables, and thoroughly deserved my win.

My good run now looks like this: 1,2,2,1,2,1,7,4,2,5,1. I think that is pretty stellar, with a 142% return on investment over eleven games. I can hear 'Small sample alert!!' being screamed at me, but considering that my 4th and 5th place finishes were very unlucky I do believe I can avoid slipping too far off these sort of performances. I'll set out my approach and the reasons I am doing so well...

1. Lots of poor opponents, some of whom do not even know the rules. Last night there were a couple who claimed they thought they had entered Hold 'Em games, and the way they played showed that they were not running some kind of silly hustle. First two players out, in fact. So, there is usually dead money in these games

2. Pot-limit. It isn't no-limit, so in the early stages you can get some play, out-play people after the flop, and know that somebody can't just 'stack off' on you at any moment, particularly pre-flop. More chances for those bad opponents to make mistakes.

3. Many opponents play the game backwards. Meaning, they are happy to throw chips around early on when the blinds are tiny, and then they clam up when it gets to four or five players and when the blinds start getting reasonably sized. This is completely and utterly wrong - or at least, my results say it is wrong. I am not interested in anything but a mortal lock in the early stages. I see cheap flops and get the hell out unless I am in a hugely favourable spot. I make borderline folds to decent bets in these stages, where I would be raising all-in later on. So, I either get a decent stack when someone calls my nut flush with their weak flush, my full house with their straight; or I conserve enough chips still to be able to do damage as the blinds escalate.

When it gets short-handed I get aggressive with any decent or half-decent hand. My opponents fold far too often; and if they call, well Omaha hands run pretty close pre-flop
so I am always in with a shout.

And thats about it. I have blogger paranoia now, whispering in my ear that having set out my foolproof masterplan I will subsequently suffer a series of embarrassing defeats. I hope you're grateful!