Changing Gears

Jed, only one man in a hundred plays poker by the odds. Luck's only important when you sit down with men who play as tight as you do. When I find that out I quit. It's *gambling*. -- Bret Maverick - Maverick


As often happens when I sit down and start spewing thoughts onto text with little filtering, some of my thoughts didn't come out clear or as intended...

My mention of the success of LG and David came across as complaining about not being able to make the dollars they are. Though it would certainly be nice to see $1000+ weeks, I'm smart enough to know that that success only comes when you put in more hours then I have available. It was pointed out to me that my success is measured as a value of BB/100 hands and if those numbers are showing an appropriate win rate then I should just simmah dahn nah...

As for the HDub and Monk reference, I think need to point out that my comment wasn't supposed to come across as a "Monk stole my lunch money" sort of comment. I was trying to get across that HDouble is an excellent tutor. The discussions he and I have had on poker strategy have been enlightening and thoroughly enjoyable. Monk and HDouble's relationship transcends poker.

Okay, enough clarification. It's my blog and I'll cry if I want to. Except to say, I would still like to sit down with LG or David and pick their brains a little bit. I promise when/if I ever get to the level they're at I'll stay off their tables!

Armed with my new mental realignment and the words of MajorKong fresh in my head, I resolve to play smarter poker and sit down at my usual 3 50/1 tables. The difference in my game was basically a loosening up of my pre-flop hands, and the first three tables I was on were great. Loose/passive with lots of calling. If I had top pair, I'd stay in the hand. If I had overcards to the board and the pot was big, I would stay in. I was basically paying more attention to what outs I had and how they could help me or hurt me. After 2 hours I was up almost 20BB. Then two of the tables broke up and I moved to others.

And the bottom fell out. Suddenly cards were missing. I was getting outdrawn. It was deja vue all over again. Within another hour my 20BB gain turned into a 10BB loss. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Finally, out of sheer frustration, I logged off of the two tables that were breaking up and replaced them with two 1/2 tables, keeping the 50/1 table I was doing worse at, but was still full, open. Immediately on one table I took off again, but it was all together different. Raises meant something. Aggression was reacted to. Table image paid off. It was amazing. In 30 minutes I was up 12BB on the one table. The other 1/2 I was getting smacked down pretty bad on, halving my buyin in the same 30 minutes, but then I got pocket Kings and they help up to a ton of action for a nice pot to bring me about even. In the next half hour the table I was up huge on sort of foundered and I neither gained nor lost, while on the other table I scratched back up to I managed to bring in a 2BB gain on. Meanwhile the last 50/1 table I had open I managed to scratch back from a 14BB loss to a 6BB loss.

Take for the day, around +$13, but it was rough. After having such a stellar start, I was brutal watching it all go away when the cards suddenly went ice cold. The move to the 1/2 tables was borne of frustration, but it seemed that, as of the short term at least, this might turn out to ultimately be a better move. We'll see, I guess, how this goes.

One thing I've noticed lately. I usually play 3 tables of 50/1. For as long as I can remember, it always seems that I'm up on two and woefully down on the third. Always. For you other guys who play 3 or 4 tables at a time, how do you know when it's time to get off a table and move to another? Instinct? Bad beat? Stoploss?

I don't have access to PartyPoker from work, but I think my bankroll right now stands at around $330. I'm going to say "what the fuck" and make my move to 1/2. I shall stay there until I hit either $200 or $600 (not real sure of the top yet, but definitely the bottom). I have to do something to inject some enjoyment back into my game, and I think maybe, just maybe, a move up in levels might do it for me.

Either that of I'm cruising for a world class bruising.