Live One

Linda and Glenda wax poetic over Donkeys. That may be valid or not. Here, I’m not always sure. We three tend toward the 7 card games and early aggression often prices in drawing hands. And decent hands can also backdoor a longshot. But, I think the ladies aren’t ignoring that.

Live one is maybe a better term. I also think it might be more derogatory. They may not be true donkeys but they look forward to playing the next shuffle and can do it on a wing and a prayer. In the mix of 7 cards, almost any hand can succeed. To do so ignores odds. Using odds hopefully separates you and I from all those also rans.

Roy West wrote the a book on low limit Stud. Of course his idea of low limit is above where the majority play on PokerStars and Full Tilt. And it is way above what you find on Bodog. He promotes a very solid game. His idea is a skosh tight until you hit 1-2 and improves after that.

Going beyond the tight/loose and aggressive/passive leaves us looking at roughly three players:

• No Clue
• Not clueless
• Informed

That seems a bit weak or obvious depending on your vantage point. At Roy’s low limit he’s really addressing the last two. Those who aren’t clueless still have leaks – more than they should have. There isn’t a player that doesn’t leak in some manner. Even the pros will talk about their bad plays. Nobody plays mistake free poker.

Stud is a great example of being informed. That takes a bit of work and live factors in. In stud that’s live draws. Having a decent hand on 4^th street is not an unusual occurrence. Without good selection it can still be a recipe for disaster.

I just left a table that I actually won a bit from. My cooler has reversed – knock on wood – of late. In my last ten sessions, I’ve won more than the average for BB success in all but one and that was a loss of .85 in a two hand session where the table broke right after I sat. My VP$IP varied greatly. It was as high as 60% and in the low teens at times. I’ve average 35%. That’s a number I feel fairly comfortable with. By West’s standard it is too high. But, a more recent book mostly approves of my hand selection.

ADDENDUM:

Showing the flag is a term that covers a lot of very different situations. Here it is to the Martians or their galactic ilk.

The CD there to the left of the flag contains a mix of things: Some art, sci-fi, a quarter million names, and a message to future explorers. Seems pretty high-minded unless you consider it might be the only Earth artifact found by those drooling, green, bug-eyed aliens in the bubble top saucer should we totally screw up in any number of ways.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 at 11:31 am and is filed under Poker Thoughts. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.