Action drying up?

This has been quite a tough week. I finished it up only $170, but had great luck in the big pots again, to the tune of $2600, so the bankroll stands at a healthy $13k.

I played 19 hours this week, without any long sessions, so this was quite a lot of effort for less than $10/hour.

Monday brought a disappointing $1500 loss. This was largely due to two badly played pots; one where I hopelessly bluffed $600 away with no pair and no draw against TPGK; another where I called $600 off with the idiot end of the full-house on a double-paired board.

For some reason, losses always seem harder to take on a Monday. It feels as though you have to win it back before you get started for the week. Obviously this is crazy-thinking: its not as though you can take the rest of the week off if you have a good day. Its just part of the flow of the game. You've just got to get used to it.

Looking back, I am quite pleased with how I played after that bad day. To finish up for the week represents a good recovery. This was helped enormously by finding AA on the button against KK in the big blind when playing short-handed.

Overall, I did OK in the big pots. I made $900 Sklansky-bucks (approx 6.3% return) in 25 pots, even allowing for the 2 bad losses described above. In the small pots, however, I had a losing week. This was probably due to the standard of the opposition at the tables this week. There were noticeably less fish about compared with a couple of weeks ago. Average pots were smaller and most tables had 7-8 solid regulars.

I've read before that the party won't last forever. Its no doubt true and to win consistently going forward its going to be necessary to learn how to win against players who don't just give their money away. Thats going to be a big challenge, but its a challenge that I will be ready for.