Loss of Focus at Party Poker
I sat down last night focused and ready to play well. Unfortunately, I first caught up on the various posts at thepokerforum.com and noticed that someone had opened a private table. My ego got the better of me and I bought into that room. It was filled with what are normally really good poker players playing like maniacs -- essentially a mine field. I decided to play tight-aggressive and I initially won a few bucks, but then I took two tough (bad?) beats and lost my whole stack.
The first bad beat was when I was dealt 92o in the BB. The flop gave me trip 2's and I checked. The long and short of it, the LAG to my left had limped with 24o and filled up when a four came on the turn. The second bad beat occurred about ten hands later when I was dealt AA under-the-gun. I figured a limp-raise was the best play here because the table was so aggressive. Unfortunately, this was about the only hand at this table that was not raised pre-flop and someone caught a flush on me. After that, I played $2/$4 limit, although I don't have the bankroll for that right now (~$570 at Party). I took a couple of tough beats early, but slowly clawed my way back near even (< $4 loss).
While doing all of this, I played $0.50/$1.00 limit hold em at Poker Stars. I played really really well at these tables. I was slowly grinding away with a decent win rate (~3 BB/100 hands) when I was dealt 88 in middle position. The hand was folded to me, so I raised it up (the tables were pretty tight) and I got four callers. This would have been very disappointing (the 4 callers, that is) except that my ideal flop came of A 8 3 (rainbow). I check-called the flop and check-raised the turn (3-ways). I forget all of the details, but I took down a > $20 pot.
My stack at Poker Stars, therefore, has been steadily climbing since I got my head out of my butt and started playing a better limit game. Simply put, I was making too many continuation bets when I flopped nothing... sometimes I would do this with multiple opponents. I am playing much much tighter post-flop, and the results are taking care of themselves. Against better opponents, I'll need to loosen up, because they will actually get a read on my style of play. But for now, these low limit opponents give me more than enough action to keep me profitable.
My stack at Poker Stars is now ~$95 and the one at UltimateBet is ~$82.
p.s. I almost forgot... I cleared my Poker Stars bonus yesterday, which I quickly withdrew. My new policy is that all bonuses are withdrawn and are not part of my "playing" bankroll. This is all about discipline, since I have noticed that I play better when I am a little short on the bankroll.
The first bad beat was when I was dealt 92o in the BB. The flop gave me trip 2's and I checked. The long and short of it, the LAG to my left had limped with 24o and filled up when a four came on the turn. The second bad beat occurred about ten hands later when I was dealt AA under-the-gun. I figured a limp-raise was the best play here because the table was so aggressive. Unfortunately, this was about the only hand at this table that was not raised pre-flop and someone caught a flush on me. After that, I played $2/$4 limit, although I don't have the bankroll for that right now (~$570 at Party). I took a couple of tough beats early, but slowly clawed my way back near even (< $4 loss).
While doing all of this, I played $0.50/$1.00 limit hold em at Poker Stars. I played really really well at these tables. I was slowly grinding away with a decent win rate (~3 BB/100 hands) when I was dealt 88 in middle position. The hand was folded to me, so I raised it up (the tables were pretty tight) and I got four callers. This would have been very disappointing (the 4 callers, that is) except that my ideal flop came of A 8 3 (rainbow). I check-called the flop and check-raised the turn (3-ways). I forget all of the details, but I took down a > $20 pot.
My stack at Poker Stars, therefore, has been steadily climbing since I got my head out of my butt and started playing a better limit game. Simply put, I was making too many continuation bets when I flopped nothing... sometimes I would do this with multiple opponents. I am playing much much tighter post-flop, and the results are taking care of themselves. Against better opponents, I'll need to loosen up, because they will actually get a read on my style of play. But for now, these low limit opponents give me more than enough action to keep me profitable.
My stack at Poker Stars is now ~$95 and the one at UltimateBet is ~$82.
p.s. I almost forgot... I cleared my Poker Stars bonus yesterday, which I quickly withdrew. My new policy is that all bonuses are withdrawn and are not part of my "playing" bankroll. This is all about discipline, since I have noticed that I play better when I am a little short on the bankroll.
posted by frazwood at 8:55 AM
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