Moving on up
My online bankroll has been moving in the right direction as of late, and quickly at that. I've had a really good week. I guess when you make more $$ in your 2 days off than you bring home in your weekly paycheck, that qualifies as a good week, right? Or I just needing a better paying job, it can work either way I suppose- lol.
The main thing I have been doing differently is choosing a better game, rather than jumping into the first available seat. I'll take a few minutes and scout out a few tables, and then when I decide on a table and join the waiting list, I'll turn down openings until I can get position on a few "target" players who I think I can outplay. This strategy has done wonders for my bankroll, but I feel a little sleazy about it at the same time. Shouldn't I just be sitting down and letting my skills determine my wins and losses, rather than picking on those who just seem to be giving their money away? Am I becoming a better poker player, or just an opportunistic one? In a lot of the poker books that I have read, they talk about table selection being a big factor in finding success in the game. It was advice that I have overlooked until recently. It's good advice. I've run into a few more bad beats and suckouts than I would have normally, but the huge pots that I take when my hands hold up have more than made up for them.
Related to my choice of tables, has been my choice of games. I have finally convinced myself to stay away from the Multi Table Tourneys. While I have hit for some nice finishes in MTT's in the past, I am a much better ring game player at the moment. I just haven't been going deep enough to come close to breaking even on my buy ins lately. This has become very apparent ever since I started tracking my play. I record every session and every table that I sit down at. The day I went out and bought that notebook and started noting my results, it forced me to be a better player. Maybe not a better player, but a more responsible one. Up until that point, my bankroll management skills were severely lacking. To a point I guess you could say they still are, since I am still playing slightly above my bankroll. And let's not forget that just a few weeks back I nearly wiped out my account. I'd like to ride this current rush that I am on just a little higher, so I can get my bankroll to the point where it can handle the variance of playing 1/2NL and not worry about getting felted again. When that happens, I'll go back and reread a few books on tournament play and give those MTT's a try one more time. But for the time being, I'll stick with the cash games.
I've been itching to get back down to Atlantic City again, but it won't be happening anytime soon. Jess and I will be heading out of town tomorrow on a 4 day weekend to Wisconsin. My Dad has 6 brothers and sisters that are spread out all over the country, and every year we all get together during the last weekend of July. This year it is just outside of Milwaukee. It's always a fun time. A little more tame these days than I remember them growing up- back in the day, they would work through multiple kegs over the course of the weekend. I guess it is time for my cousins and myself to pick up the slack. There will definitely be some cards in the air as well, the men usually retreat to the garage to play some micro-limit poker, and the girls take over the dining room table to play a game called "May I". I don't know how the game is played, I just know that it is a very loud game- always resulting in shouting, sometimes tears, and very occasionally violence. It's extremely intense, and us men want no part of it.
The main thing I have been doing differently is choosing a better game, rather than jumping into the first available seat. I'll take a few minutes and scout out a few tables, and then when I decide on a table and join the waiting list, I'll turn down openings until I can get position on a few "target" players who I think I can outplay. This strategy has done wonders for my bankroll, but I feel a little sleazy about it at the same time. Shouldn't I just be sitting down and letting my skills determine my wins and losses, rather than picking on those who just seem to be giving their money away? Am I becoming a better poker player, or just an opportunistic one? In a lot of the poker books that I have read, they talk about table selection being a big factor in finding success in the game. It was advice that I have overlooked until recently. It's good advice. I've run into a few more bad beats and suckouts than I would have normally, but the huge pots that I take when my hands hold up have more than made up for them.
Related to my choice of tables, has been my choice of games. I have finally convinced myself to stay away from the Multi Table Tourneys. While I have hit for some nice finishes in MTT's in the past, I am a much better ring game player at the moment. I just haven't been going deep enough to come close to breaking even on my buy ins lately. This has become very apparent ever since I started tracking my play. I record every session and every table that I sit down at. The day I went out and bought that notebook and started noting my results, it forced me to be a better player. Maybe not a better player, but a more responsible one. Up until that point, my bankroll management skills were severely lacking. To a point I guess you could say they still are, since I am still playing slightly above my bankroll. And let's not forget that just a few weeks back I nearly wiped out my account. I'd like to ride this current rush that I am on just a little higher, so I can get my bankroll to the point where it can handle the variance of playing 1/2NL and not worry about getting felted again. When that happens, I'll go back and reread a few books on tournament play and give those MTT's a try one more time. But for the time being, I'll stick with the cash games.
I've been itching to get back down to Atlantic City again, but it won't be happening anytime soon. Jess and I will be heading out of town tomorrow on a 4 day weekend to Wisconsin. My Dad has 6 brothers and sisters that are spread out all over the country, and every year we all get together during the last weekend of July. This year it is just outside of Milwaukee. It's always a fun time. A little more tame these days than I remember them growing up- back in the day, they would work through multiple kegs over the course of the weekend. I guess it is time for my cousins and myself to pick up the slack. There will definitely be some cards in the air as well, the men usually retreat to the garage to play some micro-limit poker, and the girls take over the dining room table to play a game called "May I". I don't know how the game is played, I just know that it is a very loud game- always resulting in shouting, sometimes tears, and very occasionally violence. It's extremely intense, and us men want no part of it.
posted by kindbits at 4:53 AM
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