Big Boy Poker
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
I played some big boy poker tonight, and whooped some serious ass. To me, "big boy poker" = anything I can play at a casino. No micro limits. And, sadly, that means 2/4 limit. But hey! I won! That is key. In fact, I won $60, which felt like a lot more before I typed it. This is probably because I lost $10 earlier today and $5 in a Maui SNG. So, really, I won $75 in my session. Booya!
So, what was it that made me a winner? I think it came down to individual bets and raises. I started with one table, getting a feel for the players. When I was comfortable, I started a 2nd table (well, actually, the table finally openned up once I got comfortable). I started the SNG next, but once that was done, I went to another 2/4 room.
My reads were great, which to me is the key in these things. More importantly, I followed my hunches. This led to some key laydowns, that, at times, I may not have made. We all ("we" being lower limit players) have a tendency to get married to our good hands. We call someone down thinking, "He has me beat, but my TPTK is a good hand!" Well, buddy, your TPTK is only as good as the next guy's cards. And when he calls you down the whole way and leads off with a bet when that river hits, you better think twice.
That's what it is all about. Saving a bet here. Value betting there. Keeping notes on players help a lot, too. Nothing extensive. But if someone is playing like a newbie, I type "fish." If they put on moves, I'll type "good player." If they are plodding calling stations, "stupid." It's a very scientific system.
Here is another thing. I try to play tight, but I can't help but raise here and there with A9o. It's not the best hand, but in a short-handed 6-person (or less) game, it gets a lot better. So maybe my looseness is good. I'd like to think so. So would my bankroll.
Tomorrow, if all goes well, I'll be playing at the Genoa Club with Roose and Hole. $40 NL freezeout, with 15 minute levels. I'll have to play loose because of the quick blind increases. This will be an experiment to see if changing my style for a tournament's set up makes sense. On paper, sure. But in reality, as Chris Ferguson said in a Full Tilt email, if you play your best poker, the tournament structure won't matter.
That's it for tonight. See you all tomorrow, bright and early.
You want the poker? You want the poker? You can't handle the poker!!
posted by Jordan @ 11:34 PM,
3 Comments:
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At 9:39 AM,
Joaquin "The Rooster" Ochoa said...
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You should really be playing at 4/8 with your skill level
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At 10:07 AM,
TripJax said...
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time to get back on the limit challenge so you can grow to 4/8 like joaquin mentioned.
booya is right...good job j. -
At 10:54 AM,
Jordan said...
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Thanks for the compliment, Joaquin. I am ready for 4/8, but my bankroll isn't. I'm just short of $500 (and just short of the end of Sept, with my goal of reaching $500 by Oct. 1). As a result, I am following the Limit Challenge framework (see my link under Notable Posts). When I reach $550, I'll jump to 3/6 (which I accidentally played for 5 min and 5.50 profit last night). At $750 I'll move up to 4/8. This, hopefully, will keep me disciplined. Of course, I play NL and SNGs to shake things up. But when it comes to limit, I'm sticking with the framework. My goal is to have enough $$ to buy a kickass TV (we can't all win them in freerolls, Joaq).
Trip, you got the right idea. Limit challenge it is!
