A loss of $11,700

Don't worry -- it is not MY loss! This week I was playing a $10 SNG and I checked out one of my opponents at Sharkscope, after I noticed that I had played against him before (I like to have notes on the "regulars"). Previously I had sometimes seen people with an overall loss of $3000 or $4000, but what I found this time really took my breath away.

I just couldn't believe it at first: how do you manage to lose more than eleven thousand dollars and keep on playing? For $10 a game no less! I looked at a closeup for this player and saw that it wasn't even a question of ups and downs - only downs and further downs.

Indeed, the graph of this profit over time looked pretty much like a straight line - at a 45° angle downwards. It looked like he basically lost almost every game he was playing in, it was horrible to see.

I felt quite badly about playing against him and even thought about saying something to him, but what is there that you can say to such a player? I have been lucky enough to have been playing with my winnings for a few months now, having withdrawn my original deposits at around that time. But I just cannot imagine how you could keep on depositing so much money for such a long time. Of course I don't know how long he has been playing, but he must have made a LOT of deposits, or some very large ones.

Anyway, this really took out the fun of playing. I don't want to take the money of somebody who has already lost $11,000! But of course I know, if it wasn't me, somebody else would take his money. Eventually this player even managed to outlast me and I went out on the bubble, so at least I don't have to feel too bad about this particular game. (Although, it is results like this, I imagine, that keep him coming back for more....)

But enough about him. I played one more $20 game and this time I really had the feeling that I had risen to the level of my incompetence (Peter's principle). The opponents were quite good, and though I managed to survive at the bubble for a couple of rounds, I always had the feeling it was an uphill battle and indeed I did not manage to cash this time. So I played a few more $10 games, but without much success so far. But overall I cannot complain, my net profit at Pacific is approaching $500. Not bad considering it was all done with $10 games or less.