Experiment in Failure; three steps forward, two back

OK, a couple days ago while playing some draw poker on Planet (yes, I play draw poker--not everyone is strictly a hold’em player) and Omaha 8’s or better [O8] on UB, and I get an announcement that Roy Cooke is starting a new 3/6 hold’em table and will be playing every hand. Playing every hand? Might as well say that he’s giving away free money.

So, off I go to 3/6 Hold’em.

Let me first say that before this, the highest stakes that I’ve played online for hold’em is 2/4, twice. Normally, I play micro up to .50/1. I played the 2/4 at TNT [Dynamite Poker] as part of a GoAllIn table two nights. Destroyed the first night: chased down at every turn (set run down by flush, top pairs run down by middle pairs pairing or bottom two—you know the deal, things you normally only see on micro limits). Second night I won 30 of the 40 back that I dropped the first time; got you that time chasers!

Therefore, this is my first time at a 3/6 table. I get the seat to Roy’s right. Bad, bad, bad. I don’t have position on him; plus, at times he forgets to do the “play-every-hand” and figures he needs to make up for this by raising the next hand. Why does he always choose to either: 1) decide to do this on my blind, or 2) when I’m trying to limp with a small pocket pair? And of course, since everyone knows that he could have any two cards, people are still coming in, giving me odds to call the raises. Live and learn.

I actually got myself back to the 100 that I bought in for just after Roy left the game. I guess they figured that since the game was going, that he could leave. Well, now I’m getting cards and don’t want to leave! Big mistake. I get AQ UTG and raise; bet the flop; get check-raised by the blind on a J-high flop. I call with my over cards. Turn, bottom pair pairs the board and the blind bets again. I figure he at least has the J, if not top and bottom, and possibly now a boat; I fold. Ace on the river; someone chasing 2nd pair calls the flop and turn bets; BB checks, check, shows down J2o. He check-raised me with top-pair-no-kicker. Good play, I knew he had the J and I gave it up before hitting my A.

After that, I really get no cards. Yet one guy at our table is raising every time he has suited cards: K3s, 84s, etc. Worst part, he’s hitting! Me, I dropped 53$. Ouch.

Felicia and I talked about it after. She was saying that I tried to go too high in limits (for online). I was thinking it wouldn’t be that big a deal, as I’ve played 5/10 and 10/20 live before. But of course, online is different. You get so many more hands per hour that it’s like playing a higher limit. Plus, I was just reading in Gambling Theory and Other Topics that some players play too low or too high for their abilities. Since I have been playing mostly micro limits and have high C.V.’s [coefficient of variation] for most the games, I felt I could move up in levels. Of course, I did go too high and ended going from playing too low, to playing too high.

Yesterday, therefore, I played some.25/.50 hold’em at Planet. This was to get my confidence back in playing there (once again, I normally only play draw poker on Planet). After winning $5 in a half an hour, I could tell this was under my ability. This time, instead of skipping levels, I went to .50/1; and promptly won 6$ in a rather short period before the game broke up. Kewl! I tried to go three steps forward, got stepped on, so, I took 2 back.

I also have been getting some help in the draw poker area and found some good old articles. That led me to Paradise Poker where there seems to always be some 1/2 draw poker tables going. I found a 2/4 going and decided to watch the table and takes notes on people who must be better since they are playing higher limits. Better? I think the pot was raised twice in the 20 minutes that I was watching and taking notes. Just as I was getting up the courage to join the table and take advantage of such a passive table, someone else took the one empty seat before I could. Shoot. Still, it made me want to play, so I searched out one of the 1/2 tables. I found one that looked good and sat down. I played for about a half hour before bigpooch sat down. He’ll play 4 tables at once and slow the game down. Plus, he knows how to play and will up the aggression on my table (plus, he’s on my left, bad position for me). I took my $4 and left and decided I’d do more of what I came to Paradise for in the first place: to watch and take notes.

That’s the nice thing about online poker; you can watch people whom you’ve seen, or may see again, and take notes on their play without them even knowing you’re doing it. Next time you meet them in a game, you have more information on them.

After that initial experiment in failure, I have been watching, reading, studying and learning. Maybe it wasn’t that much of a failure after all.

Posted by Glenn