Shhhhhh!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Don't tell anyone.
It appears, and I know I'm jinxing myself by saying this but, the 2-year period of "run-bad" might have slowed a bit.
I hesitate to say, or even think, that I'm running good, because that definitely is not the case, but, for the last 10 days or so, I'm in the black by a significant amount, compared to where I was, wallowing in self-pity, just a couple of weeks ago. How's that for a run-on sentence?
I'm still playing Rush Poker, for the same reasons, the bonus and I'm like a meth addict, needing my fix. The one thing that I've done to switch things up is I've switched to the full ring, 9-handed tables. This allows even more time for patience, waiting for just the right spot, without getting over-anxious due to the blinds eating away at my stack. I'm not sure if that is the end-all and be-all answer that I've been looking for, but it sure seems to have worked alot better for me in the last couple of weeks. I'm only playing $10 NL so there are never going to be any major swings upward or downward in my roll. Well, you have to have a roll first, which I don't, so a downward swing wouldn't last long.
You ever hear the term "roaching"? I'm not sure where I heard it first, maybe Bayne's blog, but it basically means sitting back and folding at the money bubble to sneak into the money or to sneak up a spot on the payout structure. I'm good at it. Unfortunately, for the last month or so, I've been roaching my "bankroll" winning $2 one night, giving away $5 the next, trying to stay afloat with some money in my account. I attribute this to my extremely tight nature and the fact that I've basically quit playing tournaments. I know I said I was going to go back to the SNG's that I used to be succesful at a few years ago, but I can't seem to drag myself away from the cash tables or Rush Poker.
The 6-max tables have never been good for me, I've known that for a while, but I got hooked on them a while back and have basically played nothing but 6-max for the last year or so. Maybe I am on to something, at least the 9-handed tables seem to suit my nittish strategy alot better than the 6-handed tables. That makes sense, not sure why I've been so thick-headed about it up to now.
I'm still playing basically the exact same fold-a-lot, nitty game that I've always played, but with Rush, there are still people willing to gamble it up. I've caught my share of hands over the past 10 days, not really outplayed anybody, other than squeezing in a few value bets that paid me off here and there. Other than that, it's been the standard K-K vs A-A a few times, (on the bad side once) and flopping a set vs. an overpair several times. It sure is nice when it's the other guy that can't lay down Q-Q on an all-under flop, instead of vice-versa. Anybody else ever fold K-K pre-flop in a cash game? I can't seem to make myself do it and I'd guess I'm 50-50 on being right and getting stacked.
I did flop my first Royal Flush in so long I can't remember. I limped along with 137 other people at the table, with A-J spades, and caught my miracle flop.
K-Q-10 - all spades. I know, what the hell? How do you get paid?
I checked it through on the flop, bet the pot after 4th and got a call and then bet approximately 86.33 percent of the pot on the river and got a call. Wow, I made 7 bucks with a Royal Flush. The caller flopped a flush too, with 9-2, in EP. Nice call there. I just wish he'd not been an American, maybe he would have re-raised me at some point and really paid me off.
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Here's another question for you. Why is it that, when I flop a set with, say, 7-7, it's ALWAYS a highly coordinated flop with straight and flush draws everywhere? I can promise you, every time it happens, the flush or straight card hits the turn, without fail. I've finally stopped trying to be tricky on the flop just because of this. Every time it happened before, I would check my set, the scare card hits the turn and I'm looking at a pot bet from the other player. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. I know that he doesn't have it, most of the time, but it makes for unduly hard decisions in a $10 NL game. I'm a big fan of making as few tough decisions as possible in a cash game, even if that means scooping up the blinds and moving on to the next 9-3 off-suit.
Another thing that appears to be out of whack and it's probably written in the fine print somewhere, I'm just too lazy to look, but what's the rake like on Rush compared to a regular ring game? I know of a couple of times I've gotten my stack in against another player with a full stack and not quite doubled up, like 5% less than a true double up. Is the rake more on Rush? Like I said, I'm sure that it's written down somewhere on the site, but I'm just too lazy to look it up.
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So, the great experiment continues. I'm really only playing an hour or two a night, trying to clear as much of that bonus as I can and also being entirely too nitty when it comes to protecting what puny bankroll I have left at FT. Like I've told some of my friends via IM, I'll probably continue to play after the bonus expires, but it won't be as much, maybe an hour a night, when I get home from work. If I'm ever able to work up to some type of playable roll, maybe things will change and I'll get more serious about it, but for now, I'm happy where I'm at. (and overjoyed that the doom switch has been temporarily switched at least to intermittent) It's just a matter of knowing when it's turned on and when it's turned off. ;)
I know I'm not ever going to be anything more than a casual poker player with a bad habit. I came to grips with that a long, long time ago, but I do think I can consistently win at this game, at the limits that I choose to play. That's the main reason I continue to play, that and the whole competitive nature thing.
Until next time, I fold.
G
posted by GaryC @ 4:15 PM,
1 Comments:
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At 5:31 PM,
BamBam said...
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"moving on to the next 9-3 off-suit."
So that's where "the Bammer's" been all week! NOT that I miss it....AT ALL!
;)
