[Note: I considered telling a few stories about my last few games. That's really what this blog does well. You don't need much strategy advice. Still, sometimes just typing this stuff helps ME play better. And... this IS a blog.]
Ain't it funny how fast you can go from genius to moron and back again? Two months ago I thought I was on top of this game. I made this arrogant observation to Mr. Blood after Tunica, "I feel comfortable at any table. There's no game where I can't hold my own."
To be fair, I'm actually pretty arrogant.
Then I went on a month-long slide. Some pretty awful beats were part of the carnage, of course, but I was playing like crap. Here's what I learned:
I STOPPED HAVING FUN... AND PLAYED BAD POKER FOR THE SHEER THRILL
You've done it too, dear reader, I'm sure you have. Sometimes it's the "I'm having a bad night what the hell" variety. Sometimes it's the, "I've been treading water for about 3 hours and need to make something happen NOW!" disease. I was just looking for action. I started gambling.
Which is dumb.
I actually remember saying to Badblood, on the way to Gucci Rick's, that I'd figured out the reason for my slide. I can't play poker when I'm bored. I wonder if anyone can?
I remember why I enjoyed poker at first, I liked hanging out with my friends. That's the reason I still enjoy the game at Gucci Rick's. The EV is horrible there with me and Otis and Blood and theMark and Rick. It's a single table game and nobody wins big. But it's fun and I usually don't play badly.
I remember why I fell hard for the game a few years ago. Poker is hard. We joke, us G-Vegas types, about the clarity of vision we have when we're not involved in the hand. Somehow, after folding and watching the action UNFOLD, it's simple to figure out what everyone has. Hole cards are transparent. That kind of detective work is fun.
For a long time I thought it was important to watch those hands we fold if only because we'd learn some information that would be useful later: betting patterns, physical tells, who is loose and tight and whatnot. But there's another element I somehow forgot. Paying attention, and HAVING FUN with paying attention, is critical to avoiding the gamble monster later on.
If I'm having fun with the hands I'm NOT involved in, I won't get bored. If I don't get bored, I won't feel the need to make bad plays (bad calls for the most part) just to LIVEN THINGS UP!!!
STACK SIZE IN A CASH GAME IS A MISLEADING INDICATOR OF HOW "GOOD" A TABLE IS
I play for stacks and I like big pots. I doubt that's a unique trait. I must admit, my personal style of chasing impied odds and looking for stacking hands, left me looking for tables with tall stacks. Nothing said STAY AWAY like a $1/$2NL table with 9 stacks of $150.
But I forgot about the rebuy.
Some of my best nights of late have been at shorter stacked tables with people who brought $1000 and bought in 10 times. There's a reason some people don't have many chips. They keep giving them away.
Last night I cashed out for more that the value of the remaing chips on my table... combined.
SOME POTS AREN'T MEANT FOR YOU
Regular readers, and regular players, have just sighed a collective, "DUH!" but for some reason this is a lesson worth repeating. At least, it is for me. This is the donkey trait I know I can still fall into.
Why, when I've stabbed a good-sized bet on the turn, is it so hard to let go?
When I'm playing well, this is exactly the donkey mentality that pays off my big hands. This is why the check-raise is such a good play. It's also something that, when running bad, I can fall into. It's as if I DESERVE to win and I want to go ahead and lose just so everyone at the table can see what a bad position I'm in. How stupid is that? It happens. It shouldn't. But it does.
$100 UP IS STILL UP
Back when I was accustomed to winning several buyins each night I somehow convinced myself that finishing up just a few hundred dollars is A COLLOSAL WASTE OF TIME.
Granted, this is a further symptom of the "NOT HAVING FUN" rule, but it still creeps into my thinking. Why is it I can't be happy playing well for 5 hours and finishing up just a little?
I rarely am and this, again, invites the gamble monster into my thoughts.
A win is win, G-ROB you fool, learn to love it. The big wins will happen.
That's it for today's "Advice you don't need but I do" column.
Actual stories will resume forthwith.