$1348 - Working My Way Back Up
Smokkee commented that I should quit the ladder challenge and drop back down to .50/1 NL. Sorry, not going to happen. I really think it is doing wonders for my game. If you could take away the first hand history from yesterday, which was a very unusual hand for me (I pretty much never get it in for a full stack preflop with AK in a cash game), My stats would be pretty solid all around right now. I'm just going to work myself back up to 2/4 NL and give it another shot. The variance as a portion of your bankroll is huge when using an artificially small ladder challenge bankroll. I fully expected that I would be bouncing around the $1600 level while taking shots at 2/4 NL. What I did not expect was to play solid and with confidence at 1/2 NL. This level has kicked my ass on so many occasions in the past, I can't begin to count them. But because of the challenge, I am now pretty sure I can beat it long term. I have not even played a single hand of .50/1 nl during the challenge. Yesterday, I won about $117 back at 1/2 NL
Smokkee does raise an interesting point though. A ladder challenge is open ended in a way. If you never go busto with the bankroll it goes on forever. With the $800 cushion I put in place at .50/1 NL it is doubtful I will ever go "busto". So I guess it will go on forever. Actually, I am thinking I am going to run it for 10,000 hands. Seems like a nice number. Then if I ever run it again, I will do another 10,000h and compare the results. It will be interesting to look at the breakdown of hands played per level. If your playing more hands at the higher levels the second time, your game appears to be improving.
Now for a quick OCPT Championship recap. It was clearly not my night. I was card dead for the entire rebuy period. I won 1 hand when I bluffed from the SB into the BB on a 442 flop, and got him to lay down 2-pair. Just before the rebuys ended, I got QQ and raised about 3.5x getting called by the BB. I got it in on a J82 rainbow flop, and got stacked by J2o. I double rebought, and took the add-on. Again pretty card dead, but worked my stack up slightly bluffing and splitting a pot with a boat on the board. Then I got Q9o in the BB and limped with 2 others. Flop was A93 rainbow. I bet $100 to see if anyone had the ace, since it was a limped pot. They both call, and I am done with the hand. Then a Q drops giving me 2-pair. I have one of these guys on a decent A, so I bet $300 with less than $300 behind and get reraised all-in. I pretty much have to call, and think I am ahead, but he flips up 33 for the flopped set and IGHN. It was a lot of fun, and Joe Speaker made a guest appearance taking down 3rd for a nice payday. My buddy Tom (TA) won the championship title.
posted by Blinders @ 7:50 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
you misinterpreted my earlier comment. i don't want to see you back at .50/1 you've been stuck in the mud at .50/1 for way too long.
you're bankrolled for higher levels. just take your lumps and continue to work on your game at 1/2 or 2/4.
if drop back down to .50/1 i might have to kick you in the junk myself.
You seem to be doing pretty well, and there's no one "correct" way to play. However - at some point you'll probably want to consider opening up your pre-flop play a bit. 16.7/6.7 over 3,000 hands is on the far end of the tight-passive scale, and as you move up you may find people who are better at not paying you off, given those numbers.
Conversely, your play after the flop seems to be to ram and jam as your AF is off the chart. At lower levels this is probably correct (since they'll pay you off in most instances), but at higher levels you may want to consider slowing down a bit to extract more value. You'll have to make bigger laydowns, but that will be tempered by the times you're able to stack someone.
F-Train,
Thanks for the comment. Any help from a post flop player of your caliber is much appreciated.
My post flop stats look so aggressive mainly from aggressive folding. Actually, I rarely make calls post flop. Because call% is the denominator, by keeping that small, your PF aggression number goes way up. I bet a lot of draws, and take numerous stabs at the smaller pots which help as well. It all seems to work with the tight image I am projecting. I don't get to see a lot of flops, so I try to make the most of it when I do, which can scare a semi observant player, who may put me on a real hand from my preflop image.
I would love to open up more preflop, and possibly make an extra call or two post flop, so all tips are welcome. The program seemed to work pretty good at 2/4 NL until I got stupid with AKs on hand 560.
Post a Comment
<< Home