Since my last update things haven't gone particularly well. I ended last month break-even in cash games, but thanks to this $16k+ donkament ship and a few $$k rakeback i had a winning month.
My May grind was delayed as i went home for a few nights out and watched the Sunderland V Man U game with friends. Wasn't a great game, but plenty of beers with old friends made it a thoroughly enjoyable poker free break. Since ive returned im around $3k down this month. Took 2 shots at 5/10 (stupidly) down to boredom/degeneracy and dropped 2 stacks wit top 2 twice to rivered sets in a raised pot and a 3 bet pot. Shouldn't have been playing 5/10 in the 1st place but would be nice for the poker gods to cut me some slack 1 time.
So the title of this blog post relates to myself in the state of todays games. At Midstakes im on a 30bi downswing at present only now, with the new stars tables its fair to say i cant beat midstakes anymore. Up until early April, i still think i was a winner in the games but since the changes there are sometimes only 4tbls at 2/4 running Euro hours and i doubt i could be a winner in most of the lineups anymore.
In the past i had the excuse of running 90bi below over a 9 month period, which for someone who has played over 1.5 million hands has been tough but during this period i was still confident i had an edge and i still believe this was the case. Now however, despite still running under EV i feel im getting outplayed at $2/4+ and its time to consolidate and grind SSNL for a couple of months to see if i can churn out a couple winning months.
Thankfully ive been crushing 200nl for the past week, although ive ran rediculously hot ironically which just makes me more bitter. Im sure a true reflection of my winrates would be for them to be closer than they currently are, but hey shit happens. So for now im just left questionning my "shelf-life" as a poker player as im sure everyone knows or have heard of players in the past who beat certain limits, before sliding down the limits and donating a ton of it back. I dont really want to slip into that category so i'll be treading water during the next 2 months making sure im realistic about my roll in the poker economy.
One option im considering is playing High stakes HU sng's $200+. They seem fairly soft and since HU cash is dead i think i could turnover a 8-10% ROI in these over a fair sample i might experiment in the coming weeks.
Played a little live pokerz last week and booked a £1k win. Was £1.8k down at one point so a nice +£2.8k swing in the early hours was good for my sanity. If all else fails i could always become a live pro and make a decent living. Tomorrow im settng off to play UKIPT Nottingham. A £500 4 or 5 day event (can't remember) THere also running a £220 6max side event, so if i bust i'll hop into that or grind cash games for the weekend. Should be good fun nonetheless and im really looking forward to it.
JP
