Trying To Catch The Sun

Apologies for not updating for a while. Been a lot going on around here that has diverted my attention. Things much more important then poker.

But, this is a poker blog, so dammit, on with the POKER!!!

I suck. I decided yesterday to try my luck at a $10+$1 sit and go yesterday morning, seeing as how on the ring games at that hour I get my ass routinely handed to me.

I finished 4th.

Nice to know things haven't changed there. I did a little peeking at my PokerTracker stats for Sit and Goes, and it turns out my "in the money" percentage is still around 41%. A great in the money percentage, and certainly a profitable area, but in the short term I've been an absolute bubble boy on those. It always seems that, when it gets down to 4 people, everyone slips into "survival mode" and waits for the blinds to kill someone off. I made my move with pocket 8's and ran into AKo. Of course, the K hits and that's all she wrote. 45 minutes of work, -$11. Outstanding. S&G's are a great way to control variance when your bankroll is hurting, which is what I did several months ago for that very purpose and managed to claw back into the game. It has it's purpose, but if the bank for ring play exists, you'll realize a faster return on the ring games... At least, I think so.

Of course, after today, maybe that's not quite the case. Sat down and played 2 table of 1/2 for about 2 and a half hours. I got crushed. down about -$45.

It is bizarre. I saw very tight play on the 1/2 level today. On the passive side, but still tight. This created the problem of me losing big pots to passive guys who don't give me hints that they're sitting on monsters and winning small pots as any sign of aggression makes them fold. This, coupled with a steady diet of hands that don't flesh out or end up being second best, and it was a rough ride.

I tilted. Felicia gave the advice that perhaps during the daylight hours, it might be better to back off a level and play the 50/1 tables. Her words were ringing loud and clear in my head as I contemplated the beating I had just taken.

Off to the 50/1 tables I went. I started two of them and was quickly down a couple of bucks. Hmmm... I found myself lingering on the beats I was taking. Thinking too much about them. Contemplating how I'm going to exact revenge against the bastard that just rivered my ass... again... This is a bad way to be. Then it suddenly dawned on me. If I was able to move immediately to another hand (say the other table gets a playable hand), I wouldn't stew about the beat.. I'd just move on. Unfortunately, the games were moving at a glacial pace today, so I pulled a David Ross and opened up a third table. Three tables on a 17" screen at 1280x1024 is a challenge, though I could conceivably fit a 4th on there, if I'm sitting on a corner I can see myself on each table.

With 3 tables open, my attitude changed tremendously. I was still getting smacked around by the occasional suckout, but I didn't have the time to dwell on it as another table required my attention. A couple of other points:

- Playing 3 tables forces you to play ABC poker. You can't be concerned with reading into people's play and trying to make a guess at what they might or might not have. This makes having notes on players VERY important. Of course, the obvious bluffer or loose/maniac is still easy to spot and exploit, but since you're busy, you'll only do it when you have the best of it, and not when you thing he's full of shit and trying to make a play at you.

- You play tighter. You're too busy to try to massage marginal hands into winners.

- At least for me, I play more aggressive. I find I have less time to second guess putting bets out for fear of making a mistake. I pump or dump. No time to limp around.

- I don't worry about how my buyin is doing. See above point.

- With this many tables going on, I don't find myself surfing the net between hands. My concentration is better.

- I don't get bored folding a bunch of hands and loosening up just to have something to do.

Played for an additional hour and 15 on the three .50/1 tables, and made back all but $3 of my 1/2 losses. A friggin GREAT day, if you ask me.

The thought has crossed my mind that, once I build sufficient bankroll to support 3/6 play I might start banking some of my winnings. I've got some things I'd like to do that are outside the scope of my conventional savings plan (like this for instance) and by funding these little projects with poker winnings, I can do the things I want without compromising the family budget or my marriage! I don't have any aspiration at all to play poker professionally. I've already ruined one hobby by making it a career, and I don't think I can handle the stress of having to be a winner in order to make the mortgage payment. Besides, I like what I do for a living.