Game Selection
Yesterday was a somewhat strange day with respect to my poker playing. First, I am in the middle of clearing Party Poker's three-stage bonus. The first stage is a $100 bonus for playing 1000 hands; the second is $100 for 1500 hands; and the third (if I get to it) is $100 for 2000 hands. The first stage must be completed within 3 days before you can go on to the second stage... I had originally deposited on Sunday evening. By Monday evening, I had cleared about 990 raked hands, so I stopped. I wanted to wait a bit before clearing the first bonus so that I could benefit from some upcoming free time on Friday. Anyway, I logged on to Party yesterday and I noticed that they had already given me my first stage bonus even though I had not cleared all 1000 hands.
(FYI: I am clearing these bonuses by playing $50 NL (6-max). About 85% of the hands are raked; and because it's 6-max, I can play a lot of hands very quickly... especially while 2-tabling and 3-tabling.)
This round of bonus chasing is going very well so far. I have made a major improvement in my NLHE game recently by focusing on game selection. My modus operandi is to buy-in to a table and play tight for about 20-25 hands. By this time, any total fish are easily identifiable (VP$IP > %60 or PFR > 20%) and I know who to attack. I then proceed to attack these fish, while generally avoiding everyone else unless I have a premium hand. If there are not any fish at the table (rare at Party), then I move on and find another table.
I was following this plan yesterday afternoon when I bought into a 6-max table that had another member of TPF in the room. I have previously played with other TPF members in full-ring games, but this was a first for me playing 6-max. In some respects, this was nice because I knew that at least one person should be avoided. The really nice thing is that he did not say "hello" (perhaps he did not recognize me) -- the last thing I wanted to do was announce to the other four people that at least two of us had a clue about how to play. More likely, however, he wanted to remain as anonymous as I did.
Anyway, after 20-25 hands, I had identified the lone fish at table and I went about attacking him. I perhaps pushed too hard and I lost a few hands. He eventually busted, leaving a table of tight players -- so I left. I think I lost $0.30 at the table -- hardly a success.
Last night, I continued with my game plan and found numerous juicy tables. I had a bunch of bad luck early on when I kept losing big hands on the river. I also played several hands very poorly when I tried to bluff call stations. The combination of bad luck and bad play had me stuck $50 at one point. The "bad luck" hand of the night was when I flopped a set of tens, check-raised all-in, and got called. My opponent flipped over KK. The turn and river, however, put a straight on the board and we split the pot. Grr....
Eventually, though, I hit some big hands. The best hand of the night occurred when I was dealt AKs under-the-gun. I raised to $2 (big blind = $0.50) and got re-raised to $3.50. The big blind cold-called and I called also. The flop was A 4 4 (rainbow). The big blind checked and I checked also. The button bet out $6 and the big blind called. I then pushed all-in with top pair, top kicker. Luckily, both the button and the big blind called, flipping over QQ and 55, respectively. Ahhh.... the joys of Party Poker, where you can find tables with two donkeys willing to call an all-in bet with an underpair. Neither of them improved and I tripled up.
(FYI: I am clearing these bonuses by playing $50 NL (6-max). About 85% of the hands are raked; and because it's 6-max, I can play a lot of hands very quickly... especially while 2-tabling and 3-tabling.)
This round of bonus chasing is going very well so far. I have made a major improvement in my NLHE game recently by focusing on game selection. My modus operandi is to buy-in to a table and play tight for about 20-25 hands. By this time, any total fish are easily identifiable (VP$IP > %60 or PFR > 20%) and I know who to attack. I then proceed to attack these fish, while generally avoiding everyone else unless I have a premium hand. If there are not any fish at the table (rare at Party), then I move on and find another table.
I was following this plan yesterday afternoon when I bought into a 6-max table that had another member of TPF in the room. I have previously played with other TPF members in full-ring games, but this was a first for me playing 6-max. In some respects, this was nice because I knew that at least one person should be avoided. The really nice thing is that he did not say "hello" (perhaps he did not recognize me) -- the last thing I wanted to do was announce to the other four people that at least two of us had a clue about how to play. More likely, however, he wanted to remain as anonymous as I did.
Anyway, after 20-25 hands, I had identified the lone fish at table and I went about attacking him. I perhaps pushed too hard and I lost a few hands. He eventually busted, leaving a table of tight players -- so I left. I think I lost $0.30 at the table -- hardly a success.
Last night, I continued with my game plan and found numerous juicy tables. I had a bunch of bad luck early on when I kept losing big hands on the river. I also played several hands very poorly when I tried to bluff call stations. The combination of bad luck and bad play had me stuck $50 at one point. The "bad luck" hand of the night was when I flopped a set of tens, check-raised all-in, and got called. My opponent flipped over KK. The turn and river, however, put a straight on the board and we split the pot. Grr....
Eventually, though, I hit some big hands. The best hand of the night occurred when I was dealt AKs under-the-gun. I raised to $2 (big blind = $0.50) and got re-raised to $3.50. The big blind cold-called and I called also. The flop was A 4 4 (rainbow). The big blind checked and I checked also. The button bet out $6 and the big blind called. I then pushed all-in with top pair, top kicker. Luckily, both the button and the big blind called, flipping over QQ and 55, respectively. Ahhh.... the joys of Party Poker, where you can find tables with two donkeys willing to call an all-in bet with an underpair. Neither of them improved and I tripled up.
posted by frazwood at 10:11 AM
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