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Ok, I got back from The Fox at around 9:30PM and to be honest, I really didn't feel right for this MTT anyway. When you leave the club after an early exit in the tourney but are in a good mood because you're sick of travelling back late at night anyway, you really shouldn't be playing in the first place. I think I need to stop playing live for a bit now because this makes five losing sessions in a row now which amounts to a loss of around £500 and I really can't be doing with that. Oh, I did say hello to PKR players Tigerwing and SoooSick in the lobby. When I left, it looked like they were well on their way to their second (back to back) final table finish in the £300 buy-in main event. Nice. --------------------------------
I picked up an issue of Stacked from the club tonight and what mainly caught my eye was an excerpt from Tri "SlowHabit" Nguyen's book The Poker Blueprint. I won't go into the ins and outs of the article but two things stood out for me: 1. He recommends that young players should move up as soon as possible; just what I was writing about in one of my forum posts today: Move up as quick as you can. 2. He states that a $1/$2 regular can make $100K a year. I'll write that again: $100K A YEAR! Kind of puts my piddly graphs to shame don't you think?
Anyway, onto my views on table selection:
Anyway, onto my views on table selection:
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$400nl Cash Games and Table Selection
Take a look at all the $200nl cash games at PKR and, generally speaking, the tables will be occupied by about 30%-50% of strong, solid players. Do the same at the $400nl games and the figure goes up to about 70%-80% possibly more. Of course, these are ballpark figures and the percentages are relative to the player. You get the muppets, the one-shot depositors and the no-hopers, for sure, but they soon disappear in a puff of smoke before you can say "Here today, gone tomorrow." But the point is when you move up you face stronger opposition - simple as that!
My goal in mid 2010 was to become a regular at the $400nl cash games but three things have made me change my mind: (1) I could not sustain my run of good results so the momentum isn't there. (2) You need at least $10K and I don't have that bankroll. (3) I'm just not good enough and don't think I have the edge needed to compete at that level!
Here is a screenshot of a $400nl cash game at PKR:
I'll give my reasons for blanking out a player's name shortly. Now my brother, Hugh Jarce, paints a very interesting metaphor when you get players of equal strength sitting at a table but I think the metaphor also works when thinking about online poker in general. He says it's like a whirlpool, players spread the chips around amongst themselves and this is all the money swirling around the outside but it gradually gets sucked down the middle - and that's the rake. With this in mind, I was slightly puzzled why a good regular player actually chooses to sit at the table consisting entirely of other good, solid regulars - but then I worked it out.
I asked about this once on the forums and a few replied by saying that there were a lot of bad regulars. Hmm. Let's go back to that screenshot, which I took last night. Notice that the fella blanked out has come to the table with way less than the full 100BBs. Let's call him the mark. He is an unknown player and will probably just add to the whirlpool.
That's what happens at $400nl. Regulars play each other knowing that the edge, either way, is very small but are prepared to mix it with other regulars to improve their game. They no doubt have a huge bankroll. They continue because they know that they'll be 1 or 2 marks coming along shortly for a game and they are the ones who add money to the pool. Not only do the good players rise up towards the top but the money does as well. And that's why, unless I spy an edge, I aint touching the $400nl game with a barge-pole until I improve my game.
Make no mistake. The $400nl regulars know and respect each others' game. Make sure you are at least a good intermediate player with a meaty bankroll before you even think about sitting at their tables (I say "their" because a lot of these guys practically live on those tables). Make sure this is the case or they'll most likely eat you for breakfast.
Take a look at all the $200nl cash games at PKR and, generally speaking, the tables will be occupied by about 30%-50% of strong, solid players. Do the same at the $400nl games and the figure goes up to about 70%-80% possibly more. Of course, these are ballpark figures and the percentages are relative to the player. You get the muppets, the one-shot depositors and the no-hopers, for sure, but they soon disappear in a puff of smoke before you can say "Here today, gone tomorrow." But the point is when you move up you face stronger opposition - simple as that!
My goal in mid 2010 was to become a regular at the $400nl cash games but three things have made me change my mind: (1) I could not sustain my run of good results so the momentum isn't there. (2) You need at least $10K and I don't have that bankroll. (3) I'm just not good enough and don't think I have the edge needed to compete at that level!
Here is a screenshot of a $400nl cash game at PKR:
I'll give my reasons for blanking out a player's name shortly. Now my brother, Hugh Jarce, paints a very interesting metaphor when you get players of equal strength sitting at a table but I think the metaphor also works when thinking about online poker in general. He says it's like a whirlpool, players spread the chips around amongst themselves and this is all the money swirling around the outside but it gradually gets sucked down the middle - and that's the rake. With this in mind, I was slightly puzzled why a good regular player actually chooses to sit at the table consisting entirely of other good, solid regulars - but then I worked it out.
I asked about this once on the forums and a few replied by saying that there were a lot of bad regulars. Hmm. Let's go back to that screenshot, which I took last night. Notice that the fella blanked out has come to the table with way less than the full 100BBs. Let's call him the mark. He is an unknown player and will probably just add to the whirlpool.
That's what happens at $400nl. Regulars play each other knowing that the edge, either way, is very small but are prepared to mix it with other regulars to improve their game. They no doubt have a huge bankroll. They continue because they know that they'll be 1 or 2 marks coming along shortly for a game and they are the ones who add money to the pool. Not only do the good players rise up towards the top but the money does as well. And that's why, unless I spy an edge, I aint touching the $400nl game with a barge-pole until I improve my game.
Make no mistake. The $400nl regulars know and respect each others' game. Make sure you are at least a good intermediate player with a meaty bankroll before you even think about sitting at their tables (I say "their" because a lot of these guys practically live on those tables). Make sure this is the case or they'll most likely eat you for breakfast.
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My shots at $400nl during 2010
Now it's time to contradict everything that I've just said. You gotta take shots once in a while right? If you don't bring a little bit of a risk element to your game, once in a while, your game is just likely to go stale and stagnate. It's a bit like being continually happy to just scrape into a cash place in an MTT or being happy to stay at the micros for years and years even though you're crushing the game.
Anyway, I had four memorable sessions at the $2/$4 game. All the sessions took place at a time when I was feeling just a little bit tilted and desperate. Two were profitable and two were not. Here they are briefly, but not necessarily in the order in which they happened:
1. I was having a bad session at the $100nl where I just couldn't seem to get it together. I hit the $400nl table with about $350 and proceeded to run very good.
2. I was running bad so I shortstacked the $400nl table with about $100. I held AA and went all-in to someone who called with AQ. I doubled-up and left. Yep, I hit and ran, sue me!
These losing sessions were where I actually learnt something:
3. I plonked down $1000 on the TV cash table. I proceeded to play very bad, scared-money poker - and it was probably obvious to the good players as well. I raised 9BB when I saw AA and again when I saw AK. Needless to say I got no callers. I played one hand quite well but overall it was dire. It wasn't too bad though as I must have only lost about $150 but it could have been a lot worse.
4. Finally, during my long break-even session over the last 2-3 months, I sat down with the likes of Najammq, Tigerwing, Rhymenoceros and, I think, LooserSR. I started off good by spinning up to about $460 and everything was hunky-dory. Then things went dead, I dropped to $350 or something and I really felt like I was being reeled in! I pulled the plug on that game quicker than you can say "stacked off!"
Lesson 1: You'll play badly when under-rolled.
Lesson 2: If you take shots, do so while playing well and running well rather than while tilted and desperate.
Anyway, I had four memorable sessions at the $2/$4 game. All the sessions took place at a time when I was feeling just a little bit tilted and desperate. Two were profitable and two were not. Here they are briefly, but not necessarily in the order in which they happened:
1. I was having a bad session at the $100nl where I just couldn't seem to get it together. I hit the $400nl table with about $350 and proceeded to run very good.
2. I was running bad so I shortstacked the $400nl table with about $100. I held AA and went all-in to someone who called with AQ. I doubled-up and left. Yep, I hit and ran, sue me!
These losing sessions were where I actually learnt something:
3. I plonked down $1000 on the TV cash table. I proceeded to play very bad, scared-money poker - and it was probably obvious to the good players as well. I raised 9BB when I saw AA and again when I saw AK. Needless to say I got no callers. I played one hand quite well but overall it was dire. It wasn't too bad though as I must have only lost about $150 but it could have been a lot worse.
4. Finally, during my long break-even session over the last 2-3 months, I sat down with the likes of Najammq, Tigerwing, Rhymenoceros and, I think, LooserSR. I started off good by spinning up to about $460 and everything was hunky-dory. Then things went dead, I dropped to $350 or something and I really felt like I was being reeled in! I pulled the plug on that game quicker than you can say "stacked off!"
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Bankroll considerations are so important when it comes to taking shots. That $1K TV game saw me play like an idiot and that final session mentioned above, I knew my game was fucked in that second losing session when I started getting kicked around like a football. Lesson 1: You'll play badly when under-rolled.
Lesson 2: If you take shots, do so while playing well and running well rather than while tilted and desperate.
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Anyway, that's it for today. My live game may have gone to pot but I'm enjoying the $30nl-$50nl cash games at Betfair and the $25-$50nl games at PKR. Until next time...
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