Fabulous Fridays (longish, boring psycho wail)

[Orpheus]

This is going to sound crazy, but I have hit a Friday problem with each new game I learned, and this helped:

Try play money games before every Friday session. Sure, the games are crazy and seem to bear little resemblance to the Real Thing, but a good player can obviously beat them, especially with a little table selection for the most "sensible" games from the large available pool -- e.g. avoid huge average pots which suggest maniac play) The adjustments I made to win in play money (plus the boost and "winning outlook" from my play victories) carried over when I switched back to Real Money, and apparently this was exactly what I needed to turn the corner and beat the loose Friday games into a senseless pulp (though, frankly, they were pretty much senseless pulps when I got there.)

Obviously, it's just a special case of the common failure to adapt to game conditions, as others have said. Once I mastered adapting at a certain level, it didn't feel like I was doing anything at all: after all, it'll just be a matter of a few observations and decision before you sit down at each table--and vigilant monitoring of changing table conditions.

In fact, it occurs to me that though there are many other more obvious differences in the Friday/weekend games, I should figure out a way to test my database for the effects of table-hopping and busting out by casual/drunk Friday players. It may not be a big factor, because (when I was laid up with a medical problem), my Friday slumps started at 3-4pm (presumably due to avid Friday players "warming up" -- sharp college students, people who skipping out early from work on fridays, and weekday "regulars" changing gears for the weekend). A modest number of casual/bad/mini-stake table hoppers could be amplified as observant players switch tables in response to changing table conditions.

You might want to ignore that last idea. It's just a random thought that hit me. However, any suggestions on how to test it with an existing database would be welcome. I don't see a simple way to do it in (e.g.) PT/PTO, and I don't know of comparable programs in (e.g.) TD 2-7.

Adapting is the key. Perhaps that's why I haven't found moving to higher levels to be as traumatic as many 2+2ers have reported (Not that I've ever been a true high limits player. Thus far, I've preferred to learn other games after I was a comfortable winner at the low-mid limits, because I love working out the analysis as much as the actual play.)