Flushing $$$ down the…

I was talking about PokerTracker’s evaluation of my play. It classes me as L P/P and the icon for that is a fish. JB has mentored me a bit on stud. He was insistent that I raise with premium hands. I accepted that as gospel. I wasn’t running PT at the time but I did find it was -EV.

At the .25-.50 tables, I can have AA x UTG and even small rollups and complete. I will often get 3-6 callers. If any of those players make a pair by 4^th street, they will stay in the hand. Maybe 1:8 tables doesn’t show this willingness to chase. That has made me less aggressive in early play. I believe JB when he says not raising top hands is bad. But, at the tables I’ve been playing at it is also -EV.

Statistics say that 80% of hands are won by Jacks up or better at Stud. But, I can’t swear what I’ve seen bears that out. I’m sure the audits of the RNG at the sites will show the correct distribution. I’m not one that yells about ‘action flop’ type play being the fault of the site. I think it has recently been that I’ve just hit a cooler. And, I may have allowed that to affect my aggression even more. It certainly appears I’ve taken passive play too far.

The problem is what I’m going to do to correct. I have played a level higher and was profitable there. Since I got this cooler going I have avoided that. I only have enough of a bankroll to play at those levels on one site – Ultimate Bet. And that is the least active stud site that I am funded at. Moving money around isn’t as easy as it used to be. I am able to avoid the juice that goes with moving using credit cards and having checks issued. But, it is inconvenient and I don’t fund around like I once might have.

I could go back to HORSE play. The reason I went to stud was that it had become the stronger side of that game. I’d never been much for limit. I really don’t care for limit Hold’em that much. And, the Omaha games at that level and as big or bigger a zoo as the others. So, I thought going to Stud would be +EV.

What I’d really like to see is some spread limit games offered. I can’t punish chasers at limit. And when there are 3-4 there on 5^th and 6^th street all the time, there is no way to be the serious favorite. I’ve brought down the aggression because of this and it has hurt my game. Spread limit might be an answer.

What I’m going to do now is make it a point to reread what I’ve got on Stud. One of the even has “Low Limit” in the title. But, that’s 3-6 everywhere but where I am playing. I am not certain I can even find an answer there.

I don’t know what to be annoyed about at this point…other than myself. When I screw up at Hold’em, I have enough knowledge to know how I managed to do it yet again. At Stud, that comfort is not there and I’m searching. Its been a long time since I’ve been at this kind of level playing poker. I’m actually enjoying it – at least to a degree. It is a challenge that provides a path to a better game and that hasn’t been as obvious playing games I’ve been more comfortable with.

ADDENDUM:

Since starting this article a couple of days ago, I moved play from PokerStars to Full Tilt. I’ve managed two nice winning sessions of 30+ and 14+ big blinds. Had some draws hitting but more important seemed to be the lack of drawouts against my decent hands. When, I was doing the betting I was winning. That’s been the simple difference.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 6:20 am and is filed under Journal, Other poker. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.