Stud started working

It’s Friday morning as I write this. I played some Stud on all three of my regular sites – FullTilt, PokerStars and Bodog. Had great sessions on all three. More than double up on Tilt and had 16 BB’s to the good on the other two.

FullTilt is even back in the profit category. OK, it is by a whopping $1.80 but it was down around -$60 just a few days ago.

I went and watched some 8-16 stud on FT yesterday. Figured I might learn something. All I learned is people at that level like to bluff, chase, and all the rest as much as my lowly tables. One in particular was an unbelievable super-aggressive. He was raising every hand. Some times he had it and other times he didn’t. I watched him go from around 400 to almost 1100 and then blow it all. He did it in the face of horrid calling station play by others trying to outdraw him. There was one identifiably good player on the table and possibly a second.

I had the same experience at my .25-.50 table this morning. There was a player there that could have been his equally evil twin. I was patient; I got hands; it was a great table. I took it for 36 BB’s.

Play has gotten much better on the cheap tables. I’d say it was a stronger table than the 8-16 I mentioned. People still do dumb things there – including me on occasion. But, many are learning that folding makes money too. That means fewer suckouts when I have a hand.

Don’t get me wrong. I am still in baby steps mode. I could track cards better. I envy those with total recall. I pretty much keep track of ‘my cards’ and when my hand moves in a new direction, I can get a bit lost. Odds I can track are in the nature of ball park. I know things like a suited starting hand that bricks on 4^th street need 8:1 odd to continue. I know the hands that look strong but are average or worse. In my little world it’s adequate at best. Sit me at a table of good players and my best move is to roll over on my back so that can shear me without cutting the skin.

That said. Things are looking up. I stayed alive earlier with the help of clearing bonus. That’s been done for a month. So, I’m alive, if not particularly well, without it. I call that a win. Stud has major variance associated with it. That, of course, can and does flow both ways. I feel comfortable in saying I am better than I was but don’t ask me how much. It a lot easier to answer that against flop based games.

ADDENDUM:

We move from Friday to Monday. I lost on Saturday so I’m back under water a bit. I lost nothing on Sunday except my patience. At around 3 AM the tree next door that should have been taken down last summer succumbed to the strong winds and managed to fall and take down the electrical lines. It took a dozen hours to right that. My UPS kept the router up another 4 – 5 hours and I did use the laptop to check my mail. Other than that it was sit in the living room near the kitchen’s two stove burners. Chill factor for the day was in the zero range and the winds continued to howl.

Electricity came back on a bit after 3 and I turned on the TV to find that the Bears had fallen too. This time all over the hated Packers and were clobbering them like they were the ones who under achieved all season. That silly QB rating system reversed the rolls making Orten the god of the moment and fodder for conjecture by the analysts.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 24th, 2007 at 1:06 pm and is filed under Journal, Other poker. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.