WinStar (August 23)

Writing up a report on my gambling activities is not near as much fun when you lose, but it still needs to be done.

My brother and I went to WinStar Monday night and both walked out with lighter wallets. After four hours of play and folding 98 percent of my hands before ever seeing a flop I lost $265, but there wasn’t much I could do when seeing J-4 suited and 7-2 offsuit over and over again.

The only hand even worth mentioning was the one that sent me into a whirlpool of self-doubt and regret that took quite a while to escape from. I did not have the C.J. Wilson approach of living in the moment and breathing through the eyelids last night.

I was dealt Q-J of clubs in early position and called a $10 raise after putting in my two dollars from a player across the table from me. The senior gentleman on my left who liked to play a lot of hands, would chase draws, and hadn’t shown a true bluff yet also called the $12 bet. There were three others who called the bet as well, building the pot up to $72 before we ever saw a flop.

The flop came out K-6-2 with the king and two being clubs. I checked with the intention of seeing how everyone else reacted to the flop. Should a bet be made then I would let the mathematics and pot odds determine my action. It ended up not mattering because all six of us checked it around.

The turn was the 7 of clubs, completing my flush. I was thrilled to see this card and elected to not slowplay my flush. I didn’t want to give the guy with the ace of clubs the opportunity to get a free card and get the higher flush. As first player to act, I immediately made a $30 bet. The amount was a little small, but I was pretty sure my actions were very clear to everyone that I had the flush and was not making a bluff. So if they wanted to gamble and draw for a higher flush then so be it, but it would cost them $30. The gentleman on my left and the pre-flop raiser called my $30. This created a $160 pot.

The river was the ugly four of clubs, giving me the second nut-high flush. I disgustingly checked and the man to my left bet $35. The pre-flop raiser folded, bringing the action back to me. I was 100 percent confident the guy had the ace. I would have bet everything in front of me and in my wallet that he had the ace of clubs. However, when it came to folding my queen of clubs I couldn’t do it. To win $195 by calling $35, it was just too enticing. I knew I was beat, but I could not force myself to fold it.

I will say that although folding hands I know I am beat on has been a problem for the past year, lately I have been able to make the big lay down and preserve my chips. Yet, last night I reverted back to paying off people so I could see their better hands.

Sure enough, the guy did have the ace of clubs and raked in his pot. After that hand I self-destructed and didn’t recover fully until about two hours later, but by that point it was too late as I was repeatedly getting horrific starting cards that weren’t worth wasting two dollars on.

Last night’s loss brings me down to $3,095 of profit since November and $1,480 for the year. My hourly rate also took a hit from $21.07 to $18.93 since starting to play poker regularly again. Hopefully I have better luck in Weatherford this weekend, but because of my fantasy football draft Saturday night, I will probably show up late for the game.