Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Beating The Game One Table At A Time

After spending the last three months four to five tabling, I've scaled back my play to one cash game and one/two tournaments at a time for the past week.

The results have been quite nice.

I have won two buy-ins at the $.50/$1 tables ($100 a pop) over my last 4 sessions at the cash games. I cashed at the Pot Limit Omaha tourney at Full Tilt.

Last night was no different, I won a half buy-in while chipping away at the Empire reload bonus. I will probably be forced to four table on Friday morning to clear the bonus before it expires, but I will just play the $25 tables instead of risking $100 or $200 while finishing off this bonus (losing a $100 stack would defeat the purpose of clearing the bonus now wouldn't it).

The only downside to my evening was two MTTs at Stars where I managed to run TT and QQ into AA at the same time on different tournaments after they min-raised. One was a turbo tournament and I didn't have a choice, the other was debatable. Am I the only one who gets that fingernails-on-the-blackboard feeling when someone min-raises late in a tourney? I know its a good way to get action but its also a good way to get them cracked when 4 to 5 people call. Any other bloggers/readers agree with the min-raise with a monster style of play? Is it a sign of passivity or craftiness?

I know a couple of other bloggers have been shying away from the bonuses, in search of enjoying poker and LEARNING the game once again. You don't learn anything from spamming the fold/call/raise buttons when no thought went into your decisions. True, bonus whoring will always have a small place in my game since it is a great buffer vs. variance, but as stated in previous posts, I will no longer try to clear six different bonuses on six different sites just for the sake of clearing the bonus. I may try twelve tabling .50/1 limit sometime just to see what the working rate is for seeing 500-700 hands per hour vs. my current one/two tables of $100NLHE or $50 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or better.

Vegas.

Yes, Vegas is coming soon and the hype has the bloggers reaching for double doses of Ritalin and SoCo. Will the hype match the experience? Having met the walking party its hard to not believe the hype. I just hope my tolerance for tequila keeps up. Everyone seemed to have listed things they want to do in Vegas during the WPBT event, so here's my short list:

Spin the wheel at the Excalibur - If I have to multi-table to get Aces cracked I will.

Play at one table over my usual comfort level - This one I've been thinking about for awhile. I know I can play higher stakes, but everytime I get to a cardroom, I go limp and play in the $2/$4 game. Wuss indeed. Besides liquid encouragement, if anyone can help me pass this mental barrier, let me know. And no, I'm not looking for "Drizz your game is good enough to play", I'm looking for "this is how you should visualize when faced with larger bets then what you're used to".

Puke and rally while playing Craps with the Nardi brothers and Al - This is only if Bobby Bracelet isn't tied up with Norman Chad discussing his win over Layne Flack at the first WSOP event. GIMME DA HI-LO AND A BUCKET!

Learning the serenity of drunk Pai Pow Poker from Otis - I've always played Pai Gow sober (no idea why).

Get my Full Tilt T-shirt signed by some pros - I'm not a total drooling fanboi, but I've never met a pro poker player before and would like to meet the players behind the avatars or at least get their ink on my FT t-shirt.

Play in a mixed game at a casino - I'd love to play some form of H.O.R.S.E or S.H.O.E. at a casino, this will depend on Felicia's natural charm with the brush though :P

Get the same bouncing waitress at the Aladdin during the WPBT tourney - For luck purposes only. I swear!!

Play at a new card room - I'd most like to play at the new Wynn cardroom, but the brand new Belliago card room has my attention also. Hopefully some other bloggers have the same interest.

Come home with a story and experience I'll never forget - This one is a given. If I laugh at an electronic screen I'm sure the same jokes are 100X more gut-busting in person.


Thanks for dropping by now stop watching that bootleg clip of Girls Gone Wild in Provo and start playing some poker!!

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