International
I play a home game with friends every few weeks. We play a tournament, and the blind levels burn out faster than a shooting star. We're lucky to make an orbit before the blind levels change. As the beer flows and the conversation goes, we usually don't as the night goes on.It's not classic poker. But I love it.
Why? Well, two reasons. One is, of course, poker is supposed to be fun, and this game is pure fun. It's with friends, it's a $10 buy-in, the music is loud, and usually there's beer, shots and queso with chips.
I mean, if that's not heaven, I'm not sure I want to make it there.
Second is, of course, this game fits my style perfectly.
That might surprise a lot of you who know me as a tightbox, old-school player who prefers to wait for the cards to tell me what to do. How can a super quick blind structure (every 12 minutes if you're wondering) favor a player who is probably too patient and doesn't like to steal too often?
Well, I'll give you a hand as an example. I did not play this hand, so we'll do things a little differently this week.
A player UTG raises to 200. This doesn't mean what it normally does, as the player is loose and aggressive, and most players at this table pay little attention to position. Still, it is a UTG raise. The blinds are 50-100. We started with 2,000 chips. My stack hasn't moved much, so I'm in decent shape. I look down at 10-5. This is an easy fold for me.
A player on the button calls. The blinds fold.
The flop comes A♠ - 7♦ - 3♥. The raiser bets 300 chips. The button calls.
The turn comes the 3♦. The raiser bets 600. The button calls.
The river brings a 6♥. The raiser bets 800 chips. The button calls.
Want to guess what the button had? Look at the title of the article.
The raiser flips over A-J. The button looks really disgusted and turns over A-2.
A-2.
"Stupid kicker," he says for five minutes. I keep my mouth shut.
"Well, I had to go with that," he says after his rant. "I can't wait forever. The blinds are too fast."
Well, he's right in a way. I can't wait for A-A either. But what many of the players don't understand, and the reason I enjoy this game so much, is a weak Ace is just that, a weak Ace, and it will cost you if you play that hand, regardless of how fast the blinds really are in a game.
Turbos, I think, promote stupid plays, and there's nothing as stupid as playing a hand like A-2 to a raise when you're being bet into down to the river and calling with that hand.
There are many hands you can and should play in a turbo that you might want to avoid in a slower blind structure. A-10 is probably a good example. You might have to go with that hand later on.
But you also don't need to play nearly as many hands as you think, and you always have time to avoid playing weak Aces. You really can. A turbo doesn't mean you have to commit suicide.
Unless, of course, you'd rather listen to music and drink another beer. If that's the case, I promise I'll put your chips to good use.
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