Third Round, When the Train Comes Off the Wheels

Ugh,  so the third round didn't start so well. 

I folded sevens to a preflop raise and the flop came 6 2 6... which my sevens would have been awesome for.  The turn was a 2 and the river a four,  so my sevens would have been great.  Except i folded them,  which actually turned out to be a good thing since the winning hand had eights.  Folding that hand was about the only thing that went right...

I had eights and called a raise to see a A 6 6 flop.  As last to act,  i almost bet,  but played it safe.  The turn was another 6, so i had a boat,  but was worried about the ace...  out of four original callers,  someone had to have an ace.  First to act bets, two guys fold,  and i call.  We both,  thankfully, checked a two on the river and he showed an ace.  Ugh.

Then things got downright ugly.

I had AQ offsuit one off the button and had a raise and a call in front of me...  and almost folded.  But you can't fold AQ preflop,  right?  So flop comes 3c 9c Qs with like five people. I have top pair with top kicker.  i honestly don't remember the exact betting,  but i bet 4,500 into like a 6 or 7k pot.  Big blind shoved for 10k and small blind called with 15k behind...  and it's on me, the other two folded.  Ugh.  I don't know what to do...  surely one is chasing a club flush and maybe i have the other beat.  I consider folding top pair, top kicker because i don't know what to do and i can walk away from this hand with 45,000.

But i don't and instead i raise all in...  i figure maybe i get both but hopefully get at least one...  even if he wins the main pot,  i can take 15k from her and recover some.

He had a set of nines,  she had AQ clubs...  so same hand as me,  but chasing a club draw.  She hit the club on the river when he got a boat and i lost it all...  down to about 25,000. I lost over half my stack on that hand.

And i wanted to cry,  but didn't have time...  i had more chips to lose.

I got big slick suited,  one of the best starting hands possible.  So i raise with a couple callers. Flop comes Q Q 3 with two hearts.  So we all check and the turn is no help.  It's on me so i bet big...  not a total bluff since my bet could win,  i had two overs,  and the nut flush draw,  but my bluff got called.  I missed the river and had to fold when i checked it and he bet big.  Ugh.

Then,  a couple hands later,  AQ off.  I raised with no callers and won the blinds.  Yay. I'm now down to like 21,000.

Then i get big slick and bet it hard.  Flop comes 6 K 7... finally!  Top pair,  top kicker.  So i bet it down to the river and he calls me the whole way with pocket sevens,  he hit a set on the flop.  15,000 and plummeting...  nothing can go right.

Pocket tens under the gun.  Raise and big blind calls.  Hit a set on the flop,  he checked,  i checked.  The turn brought nothing of note and he bet 1,600 which i raised to 4,000. He called that raise,  but not my bet on the river and i stopped the bleeding briefly.

Of course,  then i limped with J2 suited and got two hearts on the flop,  but i had to fold to a bet.

And that was how i went from 56,000 to 16,000 and back up up to 20,000 in one miserable hour. 

Ugh. I'm still tilting a bit, but am trying to keep it under control.  I almost tried to get it all back in one shot with pocket fives,  but thankfully folded them.  I feel like Jay Cutler after a third interception...  no logic or rationale left,  just a burning desire to make it all better with one miracle play.

I got A 10 off in the big blind and called a raise,  but missed the flop and didn't chase his bet out of position.  Everything is going very poorly.

And what's kind of funny is that there are people out there that read my second blog post that think things are going well right now. 

That's not the case.

And i just keep replaying it all in my head.  If i just would have folded.  If she wouldn't have hit that stupid club and we would have chopped,  I'd have 15k more just from chopping.  Nope.  That's not what happened.

I need to get out of this round and to dinner ASAP so i can get off tilt and refocus...  I'm still ok compared to the blinds,  which is most important, but I'm in a bad place in my head.  And I'm short stack at the table. 

AJ off got me no callers and i picked up blinds with about fifteen minutes to go. Which...  does nothing to placate me.

For my last trick of the round,  i called a raise with K J off from the button. Flop came 5 J 3. He checks,  i bet,  he raised me big.  Other guy folded,  i called his check raise.  Turn was a 6. He checks,  I'm confused because you don't normally follow a check raise with a check.  So i bet a decent amount figuring this is the hand i go down on,  six minutes before dinner break. He thinks for awhile and calls. The river pairs the board,  he checks,  and so do i. He was chasing a straight draw and missed,  i actually won a decent sized hand.

Anyway,  I'm running to dinner and didn't have time to double check my count,  but it looked to be about 29,925. That would be a M Ratio of about 37 heading into the next level.  If i didn't over count in a hurry.