Thursday, March 08, 2007

Warning: Bad Beat Story Ahead

Well, I haven't played in a couple days, but I have a couple more hands I want to share from my Monday session.

I'm at a .05/.10 table in LP. Folds around to MP, who limps. I make it .50 to go w/AJo. This is generally a PREMIUM hand at this level, so I'll take callers or blinds, whatever. BB calls my .50, as does MP, and away we go! Flop comes XAJ. It checks to me, and I bet .50 again. Called in 2 places. Turn is a Q. BB checks, MP bets .50, I call, BB calls. Now I'm worried about AQ and K10. The river is a blank, BB checks, MP bets like $1.20, I call (cuz I gotta see it so I can tell this story), and BB calls. I know I'm dead, but I did not expect BB AND MP to flip over...AQ...and split the pot. I flop 2 pair and these guys are drawing to 2 outs or runner-runner...and hit.

The other isn't so exciting and relatively routine, except for the whole "kicking him while he's down" factor involved here. I buy into a new, fresh, 50% PPF, .05/.10 table and pick up KK in my 2nd hand. I reraise a PF raiser, and it folds back around to him, who pumps me again. Now in a bigger game I honestly would've considered folding here, but at .05/.10 players could be pushing anything from K10 suited to any pocket pair. So I get the rest of it in the middle and lose to his AA.

Am I too jaded if I start calling KK vs AA all-in preflop "routine"??

Anyway, just wanted to get these hands on the record for posterity. Imagine the chuckle I'll get when I have a 7 figure bankroll and look back on these old blog posts.

*removes tongue from cheek*

3 comments:

SirFWALGMan said...

IMHO that is what makes low stakes harder in a way than hi stakes. There is no folding, push a ton of possible hands, and play has no logic. So is KK a good call at that level.. possibly.

WindBreak247 said...

I agree wholeheartedly. Its exactly what I hate about micro limits.

Its a vicious circle. I feel like I have the skills to be playing at a higher level, but I don't have a bankroll. And I don't have a bankroll because I go through bouts of variance like this that gets me stuck trudging through the sludge of the micro limits.

I was *so* close to the $20s, and I feel like if I could've just gotten there I could've started to break free.

Its ironic, because I think its actually harder to beat donkeys playing garbage than it is to beat players with true skills. In the micro limits you could be up against any two at any time, and while that's certainly the case at the higher levels, the key difference is the ability to make plays based on any number of factors and get people to fold. You can damn near take that out of the equation at micro limits, therefore forcing you to have a hand that will win at showdown. And given that fact and the fact that the players could be playing any two for any number of reasons, of which good luck figuring out, I'd go so far as to say it puts the more skilled player at a distinct disadvantage. You just have to get in as good as you can and hope for the best. Your biggest "moves" are trapping with the nuts, pushing and hoping they don't have a hand worthy of their entire stack, or value betting and hoping you have the best of it at the end.

So yeah...its PLENTY frustrating.

Thanks for stopping by, man!

lightning36 said...

wind - You got it 100% correct regarding the online micro-limit tables. It is like playing $2/4 Limit in Las Vegas - people will hang in hands with anything. Very frustrating to play solid poker and lose to people risking all on longshots.

If you could possibly afford it, playing at least $.50/1 tables would be a huge improvement. Play tight and wait for the opportunities. You'll make money.