Supertilted by moron in .01/.02 NL

[VeryMoonFunk]

So recently I lost the rest of the money on my account, and have been trying to grind only a few dollars. I broke even for the day yesterday, suffering a handful of bad beats in some $1.20 45-person tourneys, then bouncing back to flop the nuts twice in a matter of 5 hands at .01/.02NL.

Then today I won 5th place in a $1.20 45-person for $4.00 then proceeded to sit down at a .01/.02NL with $2.50 (I know a lot of you suggest max buy-in, but that just doesn't make sense for me right now with only about $7 in my account). So I notice this guy who keeps pushing all in for the dollar in front of him. First time he got me to fold AKo, which really got me thinking. Here's what happened 2 hands later....

PokerStars Cash game, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit, 5 players
Hand History by

SB: $1.02
BB: $1.03
UTG: $2.85
CO: $2.66
HERO (Button): $2.75

SB posts Small Blind $0.01
BB posts Big Blind $0.02

Pre-flop: Q A ($0.03)
UTG calls $0.0
CO folds
HERO raises to $.08
SB folds
BB raises to $0.9
UTG folds
HERO calls $0.9

Flop: Q 8 3 ($1.81)

Turn: Q 8 3 2 ($1.81)

River: Q 8 3 2 T ($1.81)

BB shows J 9
BB wins $1.99 with a straight Eight to Queen


So now obviously I'm pretty pissed. I read the guy perfect and got rivered.
2 hands later I get AQs. I make my usual preflop raise to $.08, he asks "wanna try again?". I say nothing, expecting him to push anyways. He folds. Then after hand plays out and I win 74 cents, he says " if you had said yes i would have done it with 7-5". So now I'm thining if I play it right I can get my money back pretty easily. Next hand, JJ's in the BB, everyone folds to me. I make 1 cent. and the next hand......

PokerStars Cash game, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit, 5 players
Hand History by

HERO (SB): $2.11
BB: $1.01
UTG: $2.04
CO: $2.45
Button: $2.63

HERO posts Small Blind $0.01
BB posts Big Blind $0.02

Pre-flop: K A ($0.03)
UTG calls $0.0
CO calls $0.0
Button folds
HERO raises to $.08
BB folds
UTG calls $0.08
CO calls $0.08

Flop: 9 A 6 ($0.19)
HERO bets $0.0
UTG raises to $1.8
CO folds
HERO calls $1.8

Turn: 9 A 6 5 ($3.62)

River: 9 A 6 5 3 ($3.62)

UTG shows 5 A
UTG wins $3.98 with two pair Aces and Fives

Truly the worst I think I've evr run in .01/.02NL, but surely the dude stacking me every hand didn't help.

Anyone have a tissue?

(didn't convert perfectly so I had to do some editing, think it's all right now)

[Invigilator]

uugh. Grinding it out at that level is going to be nasty. Good luck though. I am still playing below bankroll at 25 max, but I am getting close.

There are different benefits and challenges bewteen cash games and tournaments. I don't know what your tournament play is like, but I would suggest that is better with about $7 if you are any good at it. The risk of cash games combined with the nutty play at the lowest level makes building up from there pretty challenging.

[Reel Deal]

Put him on your buddy list.

[VeryMoonFunk]

Thanks for the advice Invigilator. After it happened that's what I was thinking, that that $2.50 could've been much more profitable in some SnGs.

Stupid idiot players like that ruin all of the low limit cash games. But, theres nothing anything anyone will ever be able to do about it, obv.

[PunkyChikn]

I was having the same problem with .01/.02 NL. Ran into a downswing and kept getting slaughtered by either players like the one you're describing or by calling stations catching the goofiest T3 two pairs...

Playing tournaments is good advice. Rather than sitting with the $5 buy-in at .01/.02 NL 6max, I've been playing the $5 27-man sngs on stars. My record so far has been pretty damn good in those (two seconds, a third, and two fifths in the past three days...maybe $75 in money won in maybe 12 tournaments at the most). They're super soft and the goofy beats aren't nearly as likely to send you into dejection.

My anyway.

[Invigilator]

No problem. Keep in mind however, those nutty players are in the tournaments too. You need to play an "A" game with a lot of patience.

With no reloading and the payout only after sifting through the field, tournaments can be an excellent exercise in patience. I did okay in micro sng's for my first year, but my tournament sense has slipped a little bit since I have been playing cash games. Stars has open tournaments at the .10 .25 .50 and 1.00 levels too. I did a lot of .10 turbo tournaments when I was starting out with my original $50 (that was more than a year ago and I have never reloaded).

You will be surrounded by idiotic play and radical gambling attitudes. Play a solid game and don't let the lunacy take you off of it.

[VeryMoonFunk]

Thanks. I tend to have a lot of success in those $5 27-persons too. I really need to put in a deposit so I can play these again. It's just hard to spend my last $5.50 on a tourney like that. I actually won 1st place the first time i played in one which made me instantly fall in love with that tourney. You're right they are super soft, so easy to make it the the FT!