Broadway Monday + Cash Game leaks

This post was written in August -

Ok so it hasn't been the greatest few days for me in poker, I can't get anything going in any tournaments and I unwisely played a host of $50c-$1 and 10 minutes worth and $-200 of $1-$2.
Basically when I sit down in online cash I become some crazy spewtard who broke his fold button. In all I'm down about $350 since Friday from cash game misadventures. Every few months I get it into my head that I'll become an online cash whizzkid, even though I'm about 5 years too old and have the patience of a 2 year old. So for the last time, I promise, I'm telling myself I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER, I'M A TOURNAMENT PLAYER.

There...that feels better.

So I played Broadway's £25 '(inverted commas accentuated) deepstack' on Monday. It's 8k chips, 30 minutes for the first 3 levels (25-50,50-100,100-200) and then 20 minutes plus an ante from then on starting at 150-300 50.) The average stack once you reach level 5 is roughly 15 bbs so it becomes a shovefest. The fields vary from 100 - 170 players so it's £1k give or take to the winner. It's the best structure you're going to get in a weekly regular tournament for that buy-in , which shows how poor live structures are in general.

I drew the funniest 'lol live poker' starting table ever. Here's a bulletpoint look at some of the collective wisdom espoused:

• "My mate's favourite hand is 9 6. They did a survey and 9 6 comes out on the flop more than anything else."
• "In gambling and poker the odds are fixed. It doesn't matter how much you put in you always lose 25%. If you put £1 million in at poker you get £750,000 back. (So Ivey is down roughly $20 million then?)
• "I'll bet you any money that neither Man United or Liverpool finish in the top 4." (I had been half listening, but at this point I almost jumped up out of my chair and tried to get a bet on with this guy but he wasn't having it.)
• "Sometimes you just have to go with it you know, I always play my Ace 2 because Ace 2 wins for me everytime I play it so I always go with it."
• "I've had Quads 7 times and they've lost 4 times."
  

I doubled up in the second level (50-100). Flatted a fairly tight (but not JD and Turk tight) woman from the cut-off with AQ off who had raised 600 in the hi-jack. Dishevelled Greek guy who I have played against at least 20 times at Broadway and Dudley but who I would prop-bet could not recognise me in a police line-up; pretty sure he doesn't ponder his table image and other players styles when he slopes off back to Greece/Cyprus for his holidays; called out of the small blind. Flop came AA4 rainbow. Greek checked, woman bet 1k which pretty much turned her hand face-up as a pocket pair so i flatted to win some more on future streets but the Greekraised to 4,500 from his 10k stack, woman folded I shoved he super-snap called with A9. He got rewarded for his excellent pre-flop call I guess.

It was going really well until I sometime in about the 6th level I made it 1200 out of a 16k stack from the hi-jack on blinds of 200-400 50ante with K5hh. Obv I want to take down the 1k or so in the middle but I get a call from one of the wise men to my left and the BB. We have about 4200 in the middle on JJ7 hh. I don't think either of these two are folding a pocket pair here so in order to pofitably c-bet I have to hope they have an AhighKhigh suited-connector air type hand. Instead I want to keep the pot smallish and so decline the c-bet. We get to see a black 8 on the turn. Again the BB checks as do I, and then the cut off makes it 4k. He has about 10k back after this. It's gonna cost me 4k to win 8,200 but this guy is a calling station, if I make a flush I could probably stack him. I definitely don't like the fact that I have invested just under a third of my stack on this hand but the call feels right especially as I feel my King might be live. Before making this call, I tell myself very clearly that if I miss, I WILL NOT BLUFF THIS RIVER. The dealer burns and turns a black 9 to complete the board at JJ789. As soon as this card hits the deck, the guy to my left says "CHECK." He has declared out of position that he is checking which means that if I check he can't bet, and if I bet he can only call. How can I not bluff here? Especially as the board is now super super scary. I put him on an 8 or a 7. I bet 6,400 and before the chips even hit the felt he says "Call." What does he have? 55 obviously. Grrrrr.