Poker Perambulation

In a Land Far Away…

No, this hasn’t turned into a Star Wars blog … yet …

I am being about as historic though. I’m talking about my transitions in my poker play.

I started out in total idiot mode when I started to get serious. Hey, that’s where we all begin. I did it on PokerRoom. There cheapest ring was .25-.50 and, frankly, that was way above the level I should have played. I dumped $200 over a couple of months play. Didn’t have the foggiest.

Over time, I moved to other sites. The distaste for limit carried over. I played NLH SNGs and then MTTs. (I wonder what those who are thinking about making a first deposit would think of that shorthand!) Now, I am playing limit and finally understand it … or at least am closer to that.

After starting at PokerRoom, the next time I played limit was in a tournament. It was a Sunday morning and I’d just got up and turned on Ultimate Bet. I was playing tourneys and one was starting in 1 minute so I quickly registered and had missed it was limit. Funny, but I got huge hands. I must have had AA three times during the first level. Might have won a couple of small hands but I was gone cussing before the 3^rd level got too far. I swore never again!!! And that held up for a couple of years.

My next encounter was in CC’s tournament. I had to pick the one he misclicked on and made it a limit tournament. I ended up with a push monkey on my right (Pauly) and never got decent enough cards to play back at him.

Then, HORSE got Moneymaker’d at the WSOP. I was pretty burned out at the time and it came as a godsend. Why it attracted me I’m not sure. I had no limit experience; most of my Omaha was PLO; I’d played some RAZZ but Stud was way below rudimentary. UB had very cheap HORSE table that made it a learning spot though. I then moved to FullTilt at a bit higher level.

Stud really caught my interest from the HORSE play. A didn’t have the patience for the hi-lo games but the high game has kept my attention. My struggles at it have been charted here. I stay profitable but can’t get legs. When that seems like it is going to happen, variance shows up. You’ll see that in the graph below.

The challenge to play is still there. It seemed at times that it was leaving or had left. Without the variety of other games, it is likely I be blogging about what I had for lunch somewhere. Instead, I’ve found ways to at least postpone that.

If you haven’t looked for variety, you may have missed something. Yes, learning a new game takes you out of your comfort zone. But, isn’t that a good thing?

ADDENDUM:

As we pontificate in our blogs, it is often apparent that we’re at a point in time more than anything else. Readers need to interpolate that feature into their read. We all struggle with the game. We have different solutions at different times. That’s like sitting at the table. The next hand changes things completely. Our idea of a moment ago becomes a hindrance instead of a strength. It is an unending struggle that makes this game so interesting.

As I think I understand something and try to communicate it, reality often impinges. I’ve been on a Stud kick as any regular reader can attest. It has dropped readership as many Holdem only folks think there is little to garner. That isn’t the case. The struggle is the same and learning something in what seems foreign and maybe useless is really a plus to another discipline by making us think beyond our norm. I really think that if I returned to another of the tabs on a poker room lobby, I’d play better from what has transpired. That’s what this blog tried to get across.

Just to keep my humility in check I’m providing a graph of that horrid bit of my current world. Namely that is my .50-1 ‘game’ that has had it ups and downs. The emphasis is on downs. My recent reports to you have sort of bragged up my approach back to profit there. Well, this graph indicates just how transient that idea might be:

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Click here. You’ll be amazed.

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Well, I did manage to put together back to back winning sessions since that graph. No big change but a real sop to the pride.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 11:19 am and is filed under Journal, Other poker. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.