05-03-2002, 01:36 PM
I have read a few bankroll posts and I want to say that I generally agree with the suggestions I’ve seen. I play at mainly $1/2 online and over the last week have noticed that I was playing poorly or just running bad. I rarely consider me losing as “running bad,” I often looked for the faults in my own game to understand the loss.
Maybe due to frustration or stupidity, I decided to take my remaining bankroll and try a higher limit. I watched the $3/6 tables for a couple days and decided I should do well there. Here are the notes I made about my play. I voluntarily put money in pre-flop 23% of the time at $1-2 and only 11% at the $3-6 table. This is a huge difference in hand selection! I went deeper to discover that the main difference in the hands that I played was suited connectors, off-suit hands, certain suited cards and small pairs . The suited connectors were almost never played out of MP and EP in the $3/6 game unless they were impressive, but readily played at the $1/2 limit. In LP I was very tight with suited connector and played 76s once with 5 limpers. Big unsuited cards were (KJ, AJ, QJ, and JT) not played much, especially in MP and EP. The exception was AJo that played fine from MP. I was much more careful with other suited cards like QTs and KTs and worse – I just mucked them unless in LP and had a few in already. These hand have won money for me in the past but dropping in from MP and EP is an example of the tighter play. Next were small pairs, 44 or less from LP I dropped without 4+ limpers. Last was my play from the BB. I rarely defended without impressive cards. I dropped a few that I really wanted to play, but luckily they would have gotten thumped had I been in.
My hand selection was done without meaning to, it was just an observation when the dust settled and I could pour over hand histories. I played much tighter because of my bankroll limitations and enjoyed little swings in my sessions.
It was astounding to me that the higher limit that I am comfortable playing, but inadequately bankrolled, changed my game completely. I was seemingly relying on many straight draws and limping with many one and 2-gapper from LP (i.e. gambling) in the smaller game. Abdul Jalib wrote: “In general, S&M value pairs less than I do and off suit hands and suited connectors more than I do.” And: “A hold'em player cannot live by straight draws alone.” I believe that this is a major step in my play. I get stuck in many pots that I put too many bets in pre flop (due to raises behind me), flop a gut shot or similar long-shot and are too close to odds and draw to it. Even though I might have odds to draw, I should have never invested so much upfront. Please evaluate my observations and let me know if I am beginning to understand more. Most players feel they play tight, however I think I am discovering that the same players do not play tight enough. Thank you.
Maybe due to frustration or stupidity, I decided to take my remaining bankroll and try a higher limit. I watched the $3/6 tables for a couple days and decided I should do well there. Here are the notes I made about my play. I voluntarily put money in pre-flop 23% of the time at $1-2 and only 11% at the $3-6 table. This is a huge difference in hand selection! I went deeper to discover that the main difference in the hands that I played was suited connectors, off-suit hands, certain suited cards and small pairs . The suited connectors were almost never played out of MP and EP in the $3/6 game unless they were impressive, but readily played at the $1/2 limit. In LP I was very tight with suited connector and played 76s once with 5 limpers. Big unsuited cards were (KJ, AJ, QJ, and JT) not played much, especially in MP and EP. The exception was AJo that played fine from MP. I was much more careful with other suited cards like QTs and KTs and worse – I just mucked them unless in LP and had a few in already. These hand have won money for me in the past but dropping in from MP and EP is an example of the tighter play. Next were small pairs, 44 or less from LP I dropped without 4+ limpers. Last was my play from the BB. I rarely defended without impressive cards. I dropped a few that I really wanted to play, but luckily they would have gotten thumped had I been in.
My hand selection was done without meaning to, it was just an observation when the dust settled and I could pour over hand histories. I played much tighter because of my bankroll limitations and enjoyed little swings in my sessions.
It was astounding to me that the higher limit that I am comfortable playing, but inadequately bankrolled, changed my game completely. I was seemingly relying on many straight draws and limping with many one and 2-gapper from LP (i.e. gambling) in the smaller game. Abdul Jalib wrote: “In general, S&M value pairs less than I do and off suit hands and suited connectors more than I do.” And: “A hold'em player cannot live by straight draws alone.” I believe that this is a major step in my play. I get stuck in many pots that I put too many bets in pre flop (due to raises behind me), flop a gut shot or similar long-shot and are too close to odds and draw to it. Even though I might have odds to draw, I should have never invested so much upfront. Please evaluate my observations and let me know if I am beginning to understand more. Most players feel they play tight, however I think I am discovering that the same players do not play tight enough. Thank you.