Heater=Me
Okay, against my better judgement, I'm going to make the following announcement: I'm on a freaking heater. I'm crushing .50/1 on Party. Since August 5th, I've played just about every day and logged only two losing sessions. I'm up over 100BB's in that time, including several winning sessions in the 10-20+ BB range.
I have been paying big time attention to how my opponents play, and I'm finally using the notes feature to flag donks and good players. Also, I'm reading my moods a little better and quitting when I'm not focused or tired. In fact, one of my recent losing sessions was after last weekend's poker marathon and I was going stir crazy with poker. I knew I didn't really want to play, and I paid the price. I've been REALLY good at stopping if my winnings are being whittled away or if I feel like I'm going to start nodding off. Believe it or not, I used to play and fall asleep between bets.
Also, I've been more aggressive than usual, especially in heads up situations or if I'm first to act with only two other weak players in the pot. I've always thought I wasn't aggressive enough, but Dave was nice enough to put my Poker Tracker ranking on his site: Tight Aggressive/Aggressive. Pretty gratifying.
In fact, I think I'm bluffing too much and I'm making some questionable calls that haven't hurt me too much yet. Why?
Well, first, I'm running in to more heads up hands than at the lower levels (go figure.) I feel pretty much locked into betting out if I'm first to act. Unless I've got a hand strong enough to slow play, I think checking is pretty much conceding the hand. So, if I've got second pair and my bet is called, what do I do if I don't improve on the turn? Checking only puts me in the dilemma of whether to call or not. As odd as it sounds, being aggressive in these situations feels right to me, even though the pots are small and I risk losing more money than if I was more conservative.
The main reason for my creeping looseness is this, and I hate to admit it: Even though I'm just wringing money out of the games I sit at, I'm getting bored and antsy with limit hold'em. Ack! Limit is the ONLY +EV game for me at this point. I have no interest or inclination at this time to sacrifice my gains learning a new game or paying my dues in NL. Tournies- forget it.
So, where do I find myself for about an hour last night? At a play money Razz table. Razz. May the Lord Baby Jebus forgive me, but I actually seem to like this game. I immediately had a better feel for it than Stud, which is just a confusion of cards to me. I had a better handle on what hands to play, and what my opponents might have. I even won a few hands and finished ahead.
Still, it would be nice to have a handle on a few somewhat important aspects. Like what the betting structure is exactly. Make no mistake, you will not find me playing Razz for money in the near, intermediate, or far future, but it might be enough of a distraction to help get over the monotony of Limit HE until I can move up to 1/2 and satisfy my action habit in a relatively safe manner.
I have been paying big time attention to how my opponents play, and I'm finally using the notes feature to flag donks and good players. Also, I'm reading my moods a little better and quitting when I'm not focused or tired. In fact, one of my recent losing sessions was after last weekend's poker marathon and I was going stir crazy with poker. I knew I didn't really want to play, and I paid the price. I've been REALLY good at stopping if my winnings are being whittled away or if I feel like I'm going to start nodding off. Believe it or not, I used to play and fall asleep between bets.
Also, I've been more aggressive than usual, especially in heads up situations or if I'm first to act with only two other weak players in the pot. I've always thought I wasn't aggressive enough, but Dave was nice enough to put my Poker Tracker ranking on his site: Tight Aggressive/Aggressive. Pretty gratifying.
In fact, I think I'm bluffing too much and I'm making some questionable calls that haven't hurt me too much yet. Why?
Well, first, I'm running in to more heads up hands than at the lower levels (go figure.) I feel pretty much locked into betting out if I'm first to act. Unless I've got a hand strong enough to slow play, I think checking is pretty much conceding the hand. So, if I've got second pair and my bet is called, what do I do if I don't improve on the turn? Checking only puts me in the dilemma of whether to call or not. As odd as it sounds, being aggressive in these situations feels right to me, even though the pots are small and I risk losing more money than if I was more conservative.
The main reason for my creeping looseness is this, and I hate to admit it: Even though I'm just wringing money out of the games I sit at, I'm getting bored and antsy with limit hold'em. Ack! Limit is the ONLY +EV game for me at this point. I have no interest or inclination at this time to sacrifice my gains learning a new game or paying my dues in NL. Tournies- forget it.
So, where do I find myself for about an hour last night? At a play money Razz table. Razz. May the Lord Baby Jebus forgive me, but I actually seem to like this game. I immediately had a better feel for it than Stud, which is just a confusion of cards to me. I had a better handle on what hands to play, and what my opponents might have. I even won a few hands and finished ahead.
Still, it would be nice to have a handle on a few somewhat important aspects. Like what the betting structure is exactly. Make no mistake, you will not find me playing Razz for money in the near, intermediate, or far future, but it might be enough of a distraction to help get over the monotony of Limit HE until I can move up to 1/2 and satisfy my action habit in a relatively safe manner.
posted by C.L. Russo at 8/24/2006 05:53:00 AM
2 Comments:
12 months? Not sure I can do it that fast- I build up to a minimum of 250BB's with 5k hands played before I move up--give 24 months.
If it's still legal to do so.
I've been afraid of the variance with short handed play. I know there's a ton more action though...
I have to get off my lazy be-hind and look at the rakeback thing.
Thanks for the advice and I'm looking forward to reading your blog.
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