After my recent "vacation of Poker" in Detroit and Cincinnati, I was reflecting on the Good and the Bad of the experience. And I finally came to the realization that I'm not getting any better at this game.
Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't suck at Poker. In fact, I would rank myself as an "Above Average" player in both NL Cash and Tournaments. The problem is that I have been at the "Above Average" rank for the past 2-3 years, and I haven't made the natural progression to the "Good" ranking.
So what would it take for me to consider myself a "Good" Cash Player? Simple. Beat $2/$5 NLHE.
Between 2009 & 2010, I've lost $1877 at $2/$5. That is only 8 sessions (2 Wins, 5 Losses), which I know is a small sample size.
Sure, I'm a winning $1/$2 player, but how hard is it to beat $1/$2? Besides, my numbers are not as good as they should be. I've only been keeping track of Hours Played since September '09. During that time, I have won $2034 in 158.75 hours during 48 sessions. That works out to $12.81 per hour, which sucks.
Another bad thing about my numbers is the size of the Cash-outs. My biggest ever at $1/$2 is just $720, and that was back in Oct '08. After that, I've only got 2 other Cash-outs over $555 ($628 in 03/09 and $601 in 06/08).
The good part about my small Cash-outs is that my losses are also small. The most I've ever lost is just $450 in 10/08. I am certainly a Small Ball player when it comes to NL Cash games.
So what am I gonna do about it? Maybe I'll just keep plodding along, and hopefully some magical switch will click in my brain? No, that what I've been doing. I need to attack this, and put a plan together.
I have been thinking about this for the past week, and I've come up with a few things. Some are stuff that I need to start doing. Some are things that I need to think about in a different light. And some are probably just bullshit, but I'm gonna list them anyways. After all, that's what a Blog is for.
- Change my Preflop Raising: I've been using my standard $1/$2 preflop raise of $7 for a long time, and overall, it's been good to me. But it has gotten me into some ridiculous situations, because all the limper jump on board. Going to the Flop with seven players in a raised pot is not good poker.
So I'm gonna tweak it a bit. In the $200 max games, I will still do $7, but I will add $1 for each limper. For the $300 max games, I will do bump it $10, with the same $1 for each limper. I'm not sure how much of a difference this will make. But it will make some of the pots bigger. And that's a good way to have bigger Cash-outs.
- More 3-betting Preflop: For those who don't know, a 3-bet is the 2nd raise that is made on a particular street (usually Preflop). Online, 3-betting is standard, with the aggressive players 4-betting, and even 5-betting. In Live play, 3-betting is very rare without a premium hand.
So I'm in the Cutoff with a hand that I'm would raise (say JTs), and a player in Mid position raises to $10, then why not 3-bet to $25 instead of just calling? It would reduce the number of players to the Flop, and I would have Position on that player. That seems like smart Poker to me.
- Less "Bingo!": It's not uncommon to sit a $1/$2 table that is playing like a $3/$6 Limit game. A whole lot of limping, and a whole lot of calling preflop. Everyone is just hoping to hit their "Bingo!". Sometimes when I'm in the BB, I'll just check my option, and say "Come on, Red 32!", which is Roulette reference.
Don't get me wrong, sometimes a little "Bingo!" is perfectly OK. But like everything else in Poker, it needs to be in the right situation. Usually, as cheap as possible, and with Position. But when you start calling preflop raises because everyone else is. or you start chasing on the Flop, hoping to hit your miracle Turn card, then you're just gambling.
Also, when you see the players on High Stake Poker playing all kinds of crap, trying to hit their "Bingo!", they are playing against players who have 150-400 Big Blinds in front of them. At a $1/$2 table, many of the "Bingo!"players are sitting there with $80, and are hoping to hit the Bad Beat Jackpot. Just how much can you win with your miracle card?
- Win more pots before showdown: This is one of those mental things. As I just said, players love to call Preflop and on the Flop. Even on the Turn, some are willing to call. But by the River, they will often give up because they didn't hit what they were chasing.
If I get into the mental state of trying to win pots before showdown, then I don't actually need a hand in order to win the pot (in theory).
- Focus solely on NL Cash: I enjoy tournaments, and I enjoy playing other forms of Poker. But NL Cash games is where the money is at. So, if I want to get better, then I need to focus on just NL Cash for a while. That means no more tournaments on my Casino trips.
As for my Home games, I still gotta play tournaments, since I'm the Tournament Director. But I will play the $1/$1 NL game when ever I can, but no more 8-Game for a while.
This will also apply to Online Poker. I don't play much Online, mostly because I get bored after an hour or so. Usually, I prefer to play other games, like Limit Hold'em or Limit Omaha-8. But I've already started playing 6-max NLHE at very low stakes (.05/.10). It plays completely different than Live Poker. But part of becoming a "Good" player is adjusting to the table that I'm playing.
- Be more willing to play bigger pots, and willing to go deeper into my pocket: This one is self explanatory. Being a Small Baller, I'm not a big fan of playing big pots with just One Pair, as we saw in this Hand Of The Day. But if I want to start getting bigger Cash-outs, then I need to start playing bigger pots. Also, I need to be willing to go deeper into my pocket for more buy-ins when the situation is right.
- Work on Tells and Strength/Weakness: I have to admit that I really suck to this stuff. Yes, I can pick up the occasional Tell on the New/Bad player. Mostly that's because they are No0bs, and don't know any better yet. But with the Good/Experienced players, I just don't notice this stuff. I really wish I could. It would be the #1 thing that I would like to improve in my 'game'.
I know that Tells aren't the most important thing, and they really aren't that big of a factor. Betting patterns tell you so much more. But if I could make just one good $30 call, and one good $30 fold because of the Tell, then that would increase my win-rate by $60 a session.
Awhile back, I bought the Phil Hellmuth & Joe Navarro book, "Read 'Em and Reap" about Tells. One of these days, I really should start reading it. But I ain't never been one for no book learnin'.
And finally...
- Start playing more $2/$5: This is another "DUH!". If I want to start beating $2/$5, then maybe I should play it more. And if my bankroll can't support it, then I need to make more trips to the ATM. I really hate dipping into my Real Life money to do that, but I can afford to do it. It's time to step up, and see if I really can be better than just a Recreational player.
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