Well the past nine or ten days have been great in terms of profit on pokerstars. However, this blog has suffered and after having made every effort to write on it before starting cash games, I have neglected it since. No more. I am back to my blogging self and with my new computer losing some of its 'newness' I no longer have any excuses.
Well, I am still playing cash games and as of last night and a small session this morning I am at $991.65. Yes, I am nine dollars away from my goal. A goal I set some three months ago looks like it may come to be. Fantastic.
However, I am a little disappointed in that I didnt do it playing SnG's. Merely because it was what I set out to do. That being said, I think I was being naive in my goal as I believe it is impossible to start with $25 and make your way to $1000 and still improve you game by staying at the same level. By starting out at the $5 SnG level, I gave myself every chance to do well. I was playing the lowest single table limit and it was a level I knew I could do well at. However, at what point does my skill level stutter without moving up a level. The players at that level are ok. There are some solid players but most are fish. I dont want to play only fish. I want to get better as a player and I think I had to do what I did, ie jump up levels, to do that. I am now playing cash and I know that my game is improving everyday. I learned very quickly that aggression is the key to poker. When in doubt raise. Obviously I knew that already, but it becomes very clear when you have 100 BB's and all in with AK is not an option. I am glad I switched to cash but in no way have I played my last SnG. It is merely a small part of my becoming a better poker player.
I would also like to comment on some comments made by Yorkshire Pudding. He has posted since the beginning of my blog and it is obvious he knows poker. He commented in a recent post about me playing cash games over my head. You are absolutely right, no doubt about it. I was playing these games and I shouldnt have been. I started playing the lower limit tables, but to be honest I did not like the way people felt pot committed and did not fold when they should have. ie I knew what they had and I knew they should fold to my bet but they would give a crying call and win. I wanted poker where people had plenty of bets behind and could fold after reraising another player. That is why I started playing above my head. That being said however, I try to limit the games I play with players who could potentially stack me. I tend to play with players who have well below the max buy in. For example I will look for a six handed table with low pots and players with low rolls. I will sit down for ten to fifteen minutes and take the table by storm by raising and reraising. When I have built up some profit, I move to a nine handed table and wait patiently. It is a system that has many flaws I agree, but has served me thus far. I will take your advice though Yorkshire and not play 1/2 any more. I will play .50/1 as my highest stakes for the forseeable future. I know that is still too high, but I feel comfortable there and if I was to ever lose a few buyins I will step down.
I am enjoying playing cash and I am definitely enjoying winning money. I am going to have to come up with a new goal for after Christmas, but for now I am focused on getting to $1000 by Christmas and continuing to play well.
Heres to hoping.
2 comments:
Wow, the bankroll has been seriously boosted, well done that man! The only reason I commented was because I've read about the hard work you've put in to build the roll and I didn't want to see you lose a big chunk over a bad session like I have done in the past! I'm all for taking shots at the next level and it sounds like you have a decent table selection process there to limit potential loses etc! Have you thought about sitting in short stacked, say with $50-60 in a NL100 game instead of finding a table full of shorter stacks as your expectation will still be the same, or at least I think it should!
I'm torn between hitting Stars again in the new year as I can play 4 tables with no overlap on my rubbish laptop, or staying at Full Tilt where I get rake back but can only play 2 tables. One thing's for certain, I'll be avoiding your table for the time being!!
I've added you to my links if that is ok.
Good luck at the tables!
Thanks very much for the comments!
First of all, in no way was I upset or discouraged by your comments. As a fellow poker player who plays with a bankroll near around the same as mine, I look at your comments as helpful and insightful. It is always positive to have a different view of my play. I appreciate your comments as I do others who post on here. Thanks for adding me by the way. I have tried to make links on mine but I dont think my template is compatible. I will try though.
My game selection is not without its flaws as I said, but playing against players with lower stacks then me allows me to play confident poker and in most cases fearless. I am not sure if it is a god thing or bad thing, but when the money is in my account I treat it like gold, when it is on the table I dont see money, only chips with which to win pots. And I dont flinch putting $40-50 or more in on a stone cold bluff if I feel the time is right. (I know in poker terms it is a good thing, but in real world terms quite scary).
To be honest I like full tilt and I may give it a shot in the future, but I just always compare other sites to stars with stars an automatic ten in my books. Perhaps it is the fact it was my first online site, or the fact I think the software is the best I dunno, but I cant imagine not playing on stars and changing for another site. That being said, I realise how good the compettion is on stars and at some point may look at playign another site for the WSOP sats. (which I believe will be my next goal)
Good luck to you too Yorkshire
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