Tuesday, May 10, 2005

A New Way To Play

Bill may not want to take credit but his recent post on chasing poker (not casino) bonuses has really shown a light on a glaring weakness in my poker game.

I've been playing to finish the hand, not to win. In other words, playing not to lose, rather than playing to win.

With the limited time I have to playing online (roughly 10-15 a week, less during the summer), I should be using the time to advance my game rather then mindlessly trying to cram eight tables and play ABC poker to clear a $100 bonus on IHaveAPokerSite.com (if this is a real site I apologize). Sure bonuses are great buffers vs. variance. A safety net as you will. They are excellent bankroll builders when starting out. The bonuses take the sting out of "paying for your lessons" while learning the game in the lower stake rooms.

But, I've come to realize that $100 represents one stack at .50/1 NLHE (which I'm well bankrolled for), and instead for mindlessly clearing 3,000 hands and not paying attention, I could earn that $100 by trying to win it from my opponents in much less time. As I stated above, time on the virtual felt is a premium for me.

I have outgrown poker bonuses. Now, this doesn't mean I won't hit up the sites I plan to play on (Party and Full Tilt for ring games and UB and Stars for tournaments) should they offer such a bonus. It would be stupid not to take the free money being offered for something you are already doing (as Bill stated...). But, I won't go hopping around site to site just to clear a bonus. Casino bonuses are a different beast. Definitely check out Sound of a Suckout for a guide to clearing these moneymakers. Blackjack is something you can mindlessly play while making a profit clearing bonuses and there's no learning repercussion from not paying attention (except maybe hitting on 20 which I've done before *whistles*). But not paying attention while playing poker can be disasterous, especially if your goal is to become better and move up to the higher stakes.

I believe this is the reason why I have not progressed beyond the .50/1 and 1/2 NL Hold Em and 2/4 Limit Hold Em games in recent months. True, there's been some bad cards but I also believe there's been some bad play (ok I KNOW there's been some bad play). With the help of some generous bloggers and re-reading a couple of books, I am confident I will be a regular at the 2/4 NL Hold Em and 5/10 Limit Hold Em games by the end of the year. Or if I have it my way, I'd love to play Omaha 8 or better (but the hand tracking ability is a little sketchy at the moment).

Damn, I didn't even play last night yet I wrote all that.

Softball was on tap last night (yes beer was involved if you caught the not-so-subtle pun). My arm is killing me but I did manage to throw out a couple of base-runners from left field and go 6 for 7 at the plate (legging out three triples have left this old man in need of a respirator this morning). We split two games only because we managed to rally for 6 runs in the bottom of the seventh again.

With all the softball and volleyball I have been playing lately I wonder if I should change the header of my blog.

Naw, I don't play USVBA sanctioned tourneys anymore, I play small town drink-fest tourneys (much more fun since drinking at a USVBA site is frowned upon). While the softball league is very competitive, I don't play in national qualifiers every weekend against the best in the state. I'm just a humble dad who's out getting some exercise and enjoy playing a side game of I-throw-you-go-run-after-it with Little Drizz. And that keeps a smile on my face this morning despite getting four hours of sleep.

Thanks for dropping by now go read all about the USVBA in your area. I played in the North Country region (but you won't find my name on the all-tournament teams because frankly I was an average Class A/AA player).

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