7 noticeable descents

On Tuesday night, I hit the felt twice. I don't think I played that badly, but that could be selective (and protective) memory at work. The only hand I can remember really misplaying was one where I slow-played a flush I made on the flop or the turn, and lost to a higher flush when four of the five board cards turned up spades; like a fool, I bet the river big, instead of simply checking. A classic example of acting too late, trying to make up for not acting earlier in the hand.

Looking at the bar chart of my stack size over the course of the session, there are 7 noticeable descents. I'll now go back over those particular hands, and grade myself on them.

descent 1: I had a gutshot straight draw, and folded on the river when it didn't materialize. Chips lost: 4,600. Grade: B-. That was a reasonable amount to spend on a gutshot.

descent 2: I was dealt a pair of kings, and fell in love with them, even though the flop was all diamonds. I went all in and got one caller, who thankfully had less chips than me at the start of the hand. Chips lost: 17,500. Grade: F. I had no business whatsoever going all in.

descent 3: I flopped a straight, went all in on the turn, but wound up losing to a full house. Felting #1. Chips lost: 9,900. Grade: A. I'd play that hand the same way again, every time.

descent 4: I hit a full house on the river, but lost to a better full house. Chips lost: 16,000. Grade: A. I had sixes full of queens, where all the sixes were on the board, and the queens were the top pair; I lost to sixes full of kings, since my opponent had been dealt a pair of kings.

descent 5: I was dealt ace jack offsuit, then got caught in a raising war preflop between two other players. I eventually folded, but not before spending a bunch of chips. Chips lost: 7,000. Grade: C-. I should have recognized I was caught in a sandwich and folded earlier.

descent 6: I flopped a flush, bet 1,300 on the turn, and then 6,500 on the river (which was a fourth board spade). My 9 high flush lost to a 10 high. Chips lost: 8,200. Grade: F. No way I should have bet a single solitary dollar on the river.

descent 7: I was dealt a pair of eights, which turned into two pair, queens and eights; I lost to an opponent who'd been dealt a pair of nines. I'd had to go all in to call; this was felting #2. Chips lost: 5,700. Grade: B. I was short-stacked, and didn't have much choice in the matter.

My 2 As and 2 Fs average out to four gentleman Cs. It turns out I played pretty badly after all.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 87 hands and saw flop:
- 8 out of 10 times while in big blind (80%)
- 5 out of 10 times while in small blind (50%)
- 39 out of 67 times in other positions (58%)
- a total of 52 out of 87 (59%)
Pots won at showdown - 2 of 10 (20%)
Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $-80,000
balance: $2,426,842