It's rare for me to be speechless. Whether it's politics, religion, other random social issues, poker, football, or sports in general, or the crappy driver in front of me, I have an opinion about all of them... and yet, the past couple of days, I have been out of material. Actually, I'm not sure if I'm totally out of material or I'm just in a lull. Now that the football season is over, I don't really have any passion in any of the sports going on. I personally love playing basketball but in terms of watching, ESPN highlights are more than plenty and actually, even that is starting to become a chore to watch. YouTube in that sense has been a god send because you type in a player's name and you're more than likely to catch all sorts of highlight reels that may not have made the cut on Sportscenter.
The other day, my friends and I had a discussion about what would make a good reading material when you do battle with #2 in the bathroom. So, I made the comment that if I were at home, I'd just take my laptop in there with me while I inevitably continue to play poker or browse the internet... and this is when I realized how sick I was... the list of sites that came to me off the top of my head were www.cardplayer.com, www.pokercash.blogspot.com, www.thepokerforum.com, www.fullcontactpoker.com, etc. And that was literally just ones that immeidately came to me. When I think about it, I go to www.cardsharkmedia.com, the 2+2 forums (which I admittedly don't know the address immediately off the top of my head), and very occasionally go to the websites for Bluff magazine and All-in magazine. And I realize that all I do is visit poker sites... I really need to get a life outside of watching football and playing poker...
So, this blog is going to bounce all over the place but... recently, I've been playing in a lot of tournaments with limited success (translation: limited success = no success). I mean I have played in two FTOPS event and didn't cash in either one, played in the ironman freeroll and was bounced 4 spots away from the money (btw, congrats to tilt away for cashing in the gold freeroll... free $80, not a bad deal), played in a few more smaller tourneys, and haven't cashed in any of them. Note: My "smaller tourneys" mean smaller buy-ins, not less entrants. I'm really not interested in playing any tournaments with less than a 100 players unless it's a bigger buy-in tournament (and my bigger buy-in is $100+ which I realize is not that big but I don't have a killer bankroll either). So, I think on average, the non-FTOPS tourney I've played in have approx 700-900 entrants. I guess the way I see it, if I do win (which at this rate seems like I never will), I want to make $5,000+. Anything less to me is relatively meaningless, not financially but in terms of poker accomplishments. I mean if a few hundred bucks was good enough, I'll go play in one of those massive sng's.
So, I just wanna get my thoughts down. I know playing tight isn't the only way to play poker but in general, I think that fits my style in tournaments because I still can't figure out how to make plays in a situation where all-in becomes a favorite choice (another reason why I prefer cash games so much more - there's more play than tournament, IMHO). So, here are some things I've learned in the past few days... These are hands that are reraise worthy: AA, KK, QQ, AK, AQ, and maybe JJ. I also realized that putting your life on the line with the following hands are stupid: AQ, KQ... unless of course, I'm short stacked. But if I'm trying to push someone off, AQ or KQ or obviously anything less is just a stupid way of losing chips. I've also noticed that as the blinds get bigger and my M approaches 15-20 range, I need to fold the following from early or even mid position: KJ, any pair 66 or below, AT or below, QJ. Esp in tournaments where the players are decent, there's almost a guaranteed raise from late position and none of those hands really excite me in terms of putting more money in the pot or playing out of position. I think this might be poker 101. It's probably in every "beginner's guide" to poker but I've learned some tough lessons with AQ, KQ, low pocket pairs, etc. So, in lieu of tonight's FTOPS event, I'm gonna try to keep these in mind and see if I could play a little tighter, a little smarter, and a little more aggressive all at the same time. If I don't cash in any of the FTOPS event, I'm a total dud, a fish, a donkey, a loser, an idiot, etc. And I'd hate to be any one of those. COME ON ACES!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hard for me to lay down any pocket pair from early position. Even if my stack is low and I think someone is going to raise behind me I will play them. To me, the potential benefit outweighs the cost. And hitting trip 2's on a A/9/2 rainbow can destroy any player (good or bad). In fact, for years I have had names for pocket 2's and pocket 3's. Pocket 2's is called "The Ruiner" and pocket 3's is called "The Destroyer".
If you miss the flop then you miss the flop and if they won't let you see a free turn card then so be it. Fold. It's no time to be a hero and try and overplay garbage. But the potential of those cards is too great in my opinion.
Post a Comment