"HAMMERED AGAIN"

Neteller: Last week $50; Current $350 (+300)
Inter: Last week $144; Current; $60 (-200)
William Hill: Last week $169; Current $69 (-100)
Ladbrokes: Last week $186; Current $95 (-91)
Bodog: Last week $83; Current: $53 (-30)

Total: Last week $748; Current $627 (-121)

I suppose it had to be coming, but I've had a really unredeemably bad poker week. I wish that I could say that it is all down to a run of poor cards, but really it's been a combination of both that and poor play also.

The downturn seriously set in with a hand where, after plodding along getting nowhere in particular, I found myself with 66. A player in early position raised substantially, I called, and hit the beast - a 6 on the flop. He bet out, I went all in and he called it. He had 2 Queens. He hit a third on the river - a 22/1 shot. That cost me $78.

Poker playing for the week went downhill from there. Basically, on reflection, I have been trying to force things to catch up and have been caught out as a result. Every time (4 times subsequently) I have had big pair, I have allowed myself to be sucked in and hammered by someone who called my big preflop bet and then hit a set (of course I didn't subsequently luck out on the river). It is a bad habit I have hopefully now cured myself from. SIGH.

Meanwhile I still can't make any progress on Bodog. I've reverted to playing Limit there, but a series of bad beats has seen me continue to decline. I think I'm going to have to give up on that site as a notion.

Meanwhile I played a "player points MTT" on Laddies last night and made the last 13, thus winning all of $1.30!! Still it was a good laugh. I finally crashed out when I went all in against a big raiser who turned out to have 2 Jacks. I had 2 Queens. One of his Jacks was a Spade. I didn't have a Spade. We had 3 spades on the flop and another on the river. What can you say?

A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS! - all 3 of you :-)