**&#*@(#!!!

Well, yesterday marked the 4th day of the tailspin I've been having in the ring games. I played about an hour and a half of 3x.50/1 tables, and walked away $21.00 lighter in the bankroll.

While watching the buy-ins tick down on my tables, I suddenly remembered all the talk about the ultra-soft NL games. I figured I was on the way to easily pissing away another $25 at least dorking around in these limit games, so I left all three tables and sat down at a $25 NL table.

Within 2 orbits, I was in middle position when I peek down at AA. Perfect. A $3 bet convinces everyone but 2 people to fold away, and the flop comes 678 rainbow. Heh... Checked to me and I push $6 forward. One guy mucks, but the other guy hands on and we go to the turn. 7d completes the Men's Warehouse. Checked to me again, and I ponder. Some scary things about that board, but what the heck, I'm on tilt, so I push all-in. The other guy things for about 20 seconds and folds out, giving me a nice $11 win.

A couple of hands later I'm dealt A7s on the button. Middle position raises it to $1, Cutoff calls it as do I and the BB. 4 of us to the flop of Ac8s7s. Boom. 2 pair, and I'm feeling pretty good about this... Checked to me and middle position raiser makes it $2. Cutoff goes away and it's to me. Middle position is very close to the felt. The BB has about the same stack of chips as I do, so I want him to go away. I make it $7. Too big for BB to stick around for the drawing hands, and big enough to put MP to a decision for the rest of his chips. BB goes away and MP pushes in his remaining chips. Turn is a 3d, River is a 5c. MP turns over his AKo for a pair of aces, and I roll my A7s for the two pair and rake a decent $7.80 profit. I see no other useable hands and bail from that table. A few minutes later I sit down at a different NL table and buy in for another $25. Not even one orbit after I post the blinds I look down and am again greeted by the Rockets Under the Gun. I push out my obligatory $3 raise and get one caller. Excellent. Flop comes 3h9h5c. Sloppy. I like it. I push out a nearly pot sized bet of $6 and that's called. Turn is a 3c, and it's deja-vu all over again. Two flush draws out there, but would he be silly enough to call down $9 in bets with a 3 in his hand? Time to find out. I push my remaining $15.25 into the middle. He pushes his remaining $8.20 in and we see the harmless Js fall. I turn over my AA for the two pair and he turns over...




Wait for it.....


6h8c for.... NOTHING! A pair of 3's!

I rake my jaw off the floor and the $16.20 profit and run for the exit. Folks, if you're not playing NL in Party/Empire, you're just missing out on the best in life. Someone literally gave me $16 and change!

Total take for the day: +$7.95. Given the horrid beatings I took on limit ring, I'm the luckiest guy on the planet right now.

Checking out the PT stats, yesterday was another day of hands falling apart post-flop, sprinkled with that little bit of cheese one grows to expect in Party ring games. I'm just running into a bad string of cards, but I'm starting to think perhaps I'm not giving myself enough opportunity to win. In a slide like this, I tend to tighten WAAAY up and maybe start moving towards weak/tight, which will just kill the bankroll. I think this morning will demand some study of Abdul Jalib and review of my pre-flop hand selection. I think my post-flop play is pretty darn good. I'm making the folds I need to be making. It hurts to fold away something like QQ, but every time I have done something like that, I've been right.

The only way out is through, so I'll likely put some more time in today before heading to work. But first, some study.