I think I may have a leak in my game.

Loss: $3

I had a longish session on Full Tilt after the 888 debacle and may be coming round to the fact that much of what's going wrong could be to do with my game. This hands highlights this:

I had AQs on the button. I raised and was called. Flop was Q62. Perfect looking bored. I make a bet of about pot, he raises 2.5 times that amount. Hmmm, I think, he's been raising my bets on the flop quite a bit, the board looks good, let's shove him all in (for a total of about $6). He calls and shows a set of sixes.

This has got me thinking now. I am playing far too loose in cash rooms. In SnGs I play really tightly and can quite easily get away from hands like this (the worst I would have done is called to see what happened on the turn). I've learned over a long period of playing in beginner type rooms that massive raises usually suggest that top pair top kicker (and, indeed, two pair) is usually beat. People just get the money in thinking the other person is going to call. I didn't used to, but I am now.

Now this sounds simple enough, but I also know that in cash rooms you can't wait for the blinds skyrocket and then make a move. So in cash rooms I have been playing looser pre-flop - raising A7 utg and calling raises with 45s. I've been doing quite well in this respect and win a lot of small pots. The problem is I lose big pots. Huge pots. Pots that bust me out. I was $3 up for the session when the above hand came when I lost $6. Equally so yesterday, I was up to $17 in the 888 room when some git drew out on me on the river. I lost $10 there.

So the balance needs to be this I think: play aggressively but know when to lay a hand down and don't push just because you have an inkling of a hand.

I also need to do some serious reading up on cash rooms too. If anyone has any suggestions I've very open to them. Harrington on Holdem is good book, but really for tournaments. I'm going to start reading No Limit Holdem Theory and Practise by Sklansky tonight.