{Ed. Note - I had it in my head a week or so ago to make a last minute push to attend Okie-Vegas. Unfortunately, one of those inevitable life events got in the way, so it didn't happen. I also had no internet service this weekend - again - so I couldn't follow the festivities, or those of Gentile Summit, or the WSOP, or the big weekend tourneys, or ... DAMMIT. Life fail.}
There are two immutable laws to winning money when you're a bad poker player.
Any bad poker players here? (*raises hand*)
I put both of the laws to the test during recent live sessions. Because I'm bored and have nothing better to write about, let me tell you all about it.
Rule: You can win despite sucktitude if you have a government-approved late model Luckbox (tm).
A Friday evening session took place at the charity room. I had been playing horrible poker and had donked off more than half my buyin. Dreadful flops for my hands had not helped, but really the responsibility was entirely with me and my lack of discipline. Check fold, check fold, check fold. I have more leaks than a levee made entirely of swiss cheese.
Sad. Short stacked.
And ... then I got back to within $2 of even in one hand. I committed myself with a weak holding and tilt-called an all-in for less on a 7 high flop ... with pocket fours. Somehow they held on a 72279 board, even though another player had called behind. Two big aces split the side pot while I tripled up.
Embarassing.
Yes.
It got worse.
I donked up and down, playing way too many hands. I picked up black pocket 8s on the button and called a raise. Four players saw a flop of Qs 9c 6c. The initial raiser shoved for what little he had left - $15 into a pot that was already at about $50. The other callers folded. I thought. "Let's see. I'm getting better than 4 to 1. I don't necessarily think I'm good here, but there is a non-zero chance of AK. Or complete air. I have to call."
Raiser shows AA. Oops. I think he even had the Ac.
The turn and river were the 7c and 5c.
Um, yes. I just made a runner-runner one card straight flush to crack your aces. So sorry. That was wrong.
So wrong. Sick even.
I finished up the session and made the stroll of embarassment - not to be confused with the walk of shame - out of the place with an entirely undeserved profit. It wasn't much, but it more than covered my one recent losing session.
Luck is good.
I can't believe that I actually had some. Yo Full Tilt random number generator, I'm coming for you next.
Moving on ...
Rule: You can win if you find players that are even worse than you.
The most recent session involved a limptastic table. Plenty of unraised family-style pots. People leading out postflop for the minimum. I can't remember the last time I saw a $2 postflop bet at a $1/$2 no limit table, but it happened. Repeatedly.
I'd like to say that I played well, but I didn't. I just played well enough to extract money for some of the donators. A husband and wife combo went through at least three full buyins between them - she mentioned that he'd dropped three or four earlier in the day. He was playing every hand. A drunk guy blew through four short buyins in no time flat. A couple of obvious newbs rotated through, staying only long enough to donate.
I didn't get nearly enough of the easy money, but I did get some of it. I also got a break when one of the better players couldn't lay down his hand after I four-flushed a river while holding the ace.
Hooray for donkeys!
Playing in this room usually involves playing the same opponents. Some are better than others, but really, if you play often enough you should learn at least something about how to play.* That frequently makes the games tougher than they otherwise would be. Not optimal.
I just got lucky and found the table with some non-regulars.
Who happened to be worse than me. Yay profit.
* I'm currently testing this theory, obviously.
State of the live game
I'm improving, slightly. My reads are getting better. I picked up a terrific tell on one of the semi-regulars, but I never got a chance to use it before he busted.
I still suck.
I continue to play way too many hands. This is my biggest leak, even at $2 a pop. The next time I go, I'm going to make extra sure to fold more, especially from early position.
I don't raise enough. I play small pot poker. With enough aggros this is a profitable strategy, I think, but it means that I often don't have much information about my opponents' hands.
I don't extract enough value on the river. Too often I check instead of leading with non-nut hands. I shouldn't fear the check-raise (even though several players in this game love it) as much as I do.
Lots of work to do to reach competency, but still ... as long as I am on the right side of the laws of live poker, it's profitable.
I'll reveal why I know I'll never be very good in a later post.
There are two immutable laws to winning money when you're a bad poker player.
Any bad poker players here? (*raises hand*)
I put both of the laws to the test during recent live sessions. Because I'm bored and have nothing better to write about, let me tell you all about it.
Rule: You can win despite sucktitude if you have a government-approved late model Luckbox (tm).
A Friday evening session took place at the charity room. I had been playing horrible poker and had donked off more than half my buyin. Dreadful flops for my hands had not helped, but really the responsibility was entirely with me and my lack of discipline. Check fold, check fold, check fold. I have more leaks than a levee made entirely of swiss cheese.
Sad. Short stacked.
And ... then I got back to within $2 of even in one hand. I committed myself with a weak holding and tilt-called an all-in for less on a 7 high flop ... with pocket fours. Somehow they held on a 72279 board, even though another player had called behind. Two big aces split the side pot while I tripled up.
Embarassing.
Yes.
It got worse.
I donked up and down, playing way too many hands. I picked up black pocket 8s on the button and called a raise. Four players saw a flop of Qs 9c 6c. The initial raiser shoved for what little he had left - $15 into a pot that was already at about $50. The other callers folded. I thought. "Let's see. I'm getting better than 4 to 1. I don't necessarily think I'm good here, but there is a non-zero chance of AK. Or complete air. I have to call."
Raiser shows AA. Oops. I think he even had the Ac.
The turn and river were the 7c and 5c.
Um, yes. I just made a runner-runner one card straight flush to crack your aces. So sorry. That was wrong.
So wrong. Sick even.
I finished up the session and made the stroll of embarassment - not to be confused with the walk of shame - out of the place with an entirely undeserved profit. It wasn't much, but it more than covered my one recent losing session.
Luck is good.
I can't believe that I actually had some. Yo Full Tilt random number generator, I'm coming for you next.
Moving on ...
Rule: You can win if you find players that are even worse than you.
The most recent session involved a limptastic table. Plenty of unraised family-style pots. People leading out postflop for the minimum. I can't remember the last time I saw a $2 postflop bet at a $1/$2 no limit table, but it happened. Repeatedly.
I'd like to say that I played well, but I didn't. I just played well enough to extract money for some of the donators. A husband and wife combo went through at least three full buyins between them - she mentioned that he'd dropped three or four earlier in the day. He was playing every hand. A drunk guy blew through four short buyins in no time flat. A couple of obvious newbs rotated through, staying only long enough to donate.
I didn't get nearly enough of the easy money, but I did get some of it. I also got a break when one of the better players couldn't lay down his hand after I four-flushed a river while holding the ace.
Hooray for donkeys!
Playing in this room usually involves playing the same opponents. Some are better than others, but really, if you play often enough you should learn at least something about how to play.* That frequently makes the games tougher than they otherwise would be. Not optimal.
I just got lucky and found the table with some non-regulars.
Who happened to be worse than me. Yay profit.
* I'm currently testing this theory, obviously.
State of the live game
I'm improving, slightly. My reads are getting better. I picked up a terrific tell on one of the semi-regulars, but I never got a chance to use it before he busted.
I still suck.
I continue to play way too many hands. This is my biggest leak, even at $2 a pop. The next time I go, I'm going to make extra sure to fold more, especially from early position.
I don't raise enough. I play small pot poker. With enough aggros this is a profitable strategy, I think, but it means that I often don't have much information about my opponents' hands.
I don't extract enough value on the river. Too often I check instead of leading with non-nut hands. I shouldn't fear the check-raise (even though several players in this game love it) as much as I do.
Lots of work to do to reach competency, but still ... as long as I am on the right side of the laws of live poker, it's profitable.
I'll reveal why I know I'll never be very good in a later post.
1 comment:
Wish I had known, I sure would have put the full court press on. Maybe next year, Mike, it is going to be after the Main Event next year, for sure. Hope you can make it.
G
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