Poker Perambulation

My latest Stud book is by Ray Zee. (Won’t destroy its dignity by naming the other two.) I’ve been struggling over how to play Stud as you are all too aware. I supposedly see too many flops and am not aggressive enough. That has been something I’ve fought over everything from MMT’s on down or up – however, you wish to frame it. So, it is annoying to see that Poker Tracker’s ineffectual ranking system calls me a fish. From my cursory viewing, it is the tight players that are often the biggest losers.

I have tried playing the TAG approach at lower limits. I see the occasional player that works for. By and large, it’s never worked for me. OK, maybe I need to work on my reads or whatever. I recently talked about raising and trying to isolate. Conclusion is a reverse based on level played. But, even the bit of 2-4 I’ve played has its own form of loose play.

Page 137 of Stud for Advanced Players is a chapter title An Important Concept. I touched on it recently in my own thoughts but they hadn’t really jelled. This brings clarity. The chapter is a lead in that uses RAZZ as the example. (Linda and Glenda are on a rant on the very topic.) The next chapter returns to stud for its examples.

The tables discussed are of the loose variety with calling station tenancies. In the cheap seats it is the rule rather than the exception. The can lead us to anger and even distraction. (A big hi to Jesus’ harem, here.)

We all want to be tight-aggressive. It is winning poker. Yet, there can be a better play on these types of tables. When you think you have the better hand – and I can see why RAZZ was used to start – it is obvious. You have a 6 up and he has a 8. Your hand has the greatest potential. RAZZ is about as simple a read as it gets.

Moving that to stud gets more complex.  JB wanted me to play it right. Bang those premium pairs. Works for him. Problem is that his cheap seat is the level just about my premium level. I tried his way and they were killing me.

It is all about pot odds. You raise the door. It doesn’t drive anyone out and you at least suspected that’d be the case.  In fact some guy with a rag up bangs you back.  You’ve just provided the pot odds for a donkey to get rid of his ears. He now has or is close to having the odds to chase.

Not betting or raising with the best hand seems counter intuitive and it is. But that is the early street action. When the big blind kicks in is the time for working the room. There isn’t a one-size fits-all answer here. But, we’re all big boys and can work that out. Made your boat in 5? Sure, you want to carry as many along on the ride as you can. Other times you’ll try to eliminate on 5^th street to get the odds more in your favor. You work the room to hopefully max out the pot as best you can.

At the loose tables, you can play more hands than is prudent elsewhere. You want the bad players making poor entries here. If everybody limps, the pot is small and their mistake is magnified by poor pot odds. Your idea is you’ll outplay them later. Showing your strength when the betting is at the smaller bet isn’t necessarily prudent play.

I’m feeling better about my decision making here. It a better self-read than I’ve had. So, I’ll cut this short and head for the tables – hopefully, with a clearer head.

ADDENDUM:

The other day was a very nice one. I played several different .50-1 tables. Only minor setbacks with the movement upward. I’m down from being a total donk at that level. You’ll recall I was in the mid $100 negative. I have that down to – knock on wood — $36.55.

One table stands out. It starts off disagreeing with the article above. My VP$IP (bring in rate) dropped to single digit levels. The cards were so bad you’d think I was playing Linda’s account. But, it turned around and I left with a ‘respectable’ VP$IP at 34%. And, I left with a $27.60 profit. Patience can be a virtue and the move from the single digits to my average meant I was getting in there for more hands but they needed to have a reason.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 17th, 2008 at 8:25 am and is filed under Journal, Other poker. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.