I was hoping that the first time out after starting this blog was going to be glorious. That didn't happen. It was a pretty bad session overall.
But it somehow ended on a high note...
I was into the game for $360 and I was ready to go home, putting the last of my chips in with AQo. I made a full house by the river that qualified for the poker room's high hand promotion. Unfortunately, so did another player. So I chopped the pot, and eventually split the payout on the high hand for $250.
I hung around and played a bit more after that, eventually ending up down $317 on poker. But the high hand bonus cut my losses to $67.
I also picked up $595 from my hours played in August. The room gives you $5 an hour if you play 100 or more hours in a month. So I got paid today and went home with a nice little chunk of change. But that's on the ledger for last month, prior to starting this blog.
As far as the session itself goes... it was not pretty. I didn't play particularly well. I wasn't running good either, of course. But it doesn't help to dwell on that. Getting coolered or drawn out on is going to happen all the time. How you respond is all that matters.
I ended up playing far too many hands, and calling too many flops. That's a recipe for disaster. I was just bleeding money trying to get lucky. And then when I had a strong hand that I knew wasn't good, I'd pay people off relentlessly.
I need to learn how to play better if I'm going to win.