Erased progress from good session. Not a big deal, had some sick hands get coolered, or a guy got there with a draw, or I missed, the usual.

One hand I was upset with myself over. I had QQ with a $150 stack. A loose player raised to $10 from EP, and I reraised to $40 in MP. Folded around to him, and he raises $50 more. Now, even among loose players, at the lowest live limits, the third raise is pretty much always Aces or Kings. Maybe he has AK, but against a range of (KK+, AK), my equity is pretty poor. I thought about folding, but obviously I switched to donkey mode and pushed, got called by AA, and I still couldn't suck out WUNN TYMMMME! Live Poker is rigged anyway.

Then I somehow won $140 playing $3/$6 limit. I actually managed to get top pair to hold up, to dodge a flush draw, and to make a hand I was going for. Don't believe.

I turned that $140 into a nice little freeroll for myself at the NL table and got crushed when I had [As Ac]. I have a stack of about $150, and I raise to $18 after two limpers. Only the BB calls, and the flop is [Th 7d 3h]. He checks, I bet $30, he shoves, and I call, having him barely covered. Turn [Ah], river [4h], he has the [Kh 9h]. Oh noes! Getting it in over 2-to-1 favorite and then spiking a redraw on the river obviously isn't good enough.

Meh, I am undeterred, but I really feel like I am running well below expectation lately. Dangerous thinking, but when I review hands (aside from that QQ debacle), I can't find a lot of major holes. Perhaps I am playing too loosely.

One play I have added to my repertoire in these loose short-stack games is the limp-reraise with AK. That way, I either get to play a very small pot, or a really big pot, and I avoid those yucky mid-size pot decisions, where everyone has mondo implied odds and I have to play with my hand face up. If you can cut the stack-to-pot ratio down to like 5 or below, AK is a lot easier to play, especially if your opponent will fold to a flop push even on boards you miss (after all, he will probably miss too). Also, AQ and AJ are officially the work of the devil. I lose more money with those hands than any other hands, hands-down. Unless I flop a straight with them, I'm screwed.

As I alluded to in my thread, I want to start studying PLO more closely, and maybe take some cracks at it. Everyone says it's the game of the future, and a lot of internet players are getting bored with Hold'em, so I think it's time to give this game the old college try. I may try and work some PLO8 in there as well, as I have never really given this game its due, either.

Finances may require some adjustments, as I am starting grad school and moving in a couple months. My actual living expenses should go down, as I'm going to cut my rent about in half and greatly reduce the amount of driving I do, but that tuition can be a biatch. Minus the stocks and scholarshare money I have, I have like 12 grand to my name right now, and I will probably need like $400ish for my next round of car maintenance. I may be headed to Vegas in a little over a month, but that largely depends on my financial situation (maybe that "stimulus" check will be good for something). The moral of the story is I will probably have to stay at the low limits for awhile and see what I can do, or God forbid, I might have to get a job. Oh well, there's always loans, and even with interest, it beats having a crappy job.