Monday, January 23, 2006

Learning how to get my grr on

I can get my grr on.
The only problem is it needs fuel.
My grr purrs like a kitten on catnip when I get even a decent run of good starting hands to raise with, some chips and a pegged donkey or two.
When I don't have that, though, or even part of that, my grr turns into a purr, and I try to fold my way to the money.
And that, as we know, almost never works.
When I first started playing SnGs, I was way too tight. I would only bet on top pair, and if someone pushed, I folded. Predictably, I won when I got monsters and check-raised with them, but many times, when the monsters didn't come, I wouldn't cash.
Now I've learned enough to raise, push and bet people off pots, even when I don't have the monster, and, as a result, I'm winning and cashing enough so SnGs are a profitable part of my overall poker package, if not the most profitable part.
But now that I'm starting to play larger tournaments, with more tables, and more seats, I've turned weak again.
I always assume someone has a hand worth raising. Many times I'm right. But not always.
Saturday, in that live tournament, I got no hands all night, as I've previously mentioned, and finished just out of the money, in 7th place. Sunday, I played another 30-person table, thinking it worked last time. And my third hand brought me K,K, with a K on the flop. Beautiful. I scooped a huge pot.
And did not win another hand the whole night.
That's what happens when you rarely enter them.
I figured, of course, that with my huge early stack, I didn't need to be involved in pots. It was the passive, old Dan way to play, instead of putting pressure on the table. When I was moved to another table with three other big stacks, my opportunity was gone, and I folded my way down to almost nothing, when I got A,A and wasn't paid off. The blinds consumed me soon after, and I finished in 10th place.
Now, I had no hands worth raising. When I get hands, I play them aggressively. But what happens when you don't get any hands?
One of the reasons I win a lot is because I do play solid, sound, tight-aggressive poker, and that's enough when you're playing against mostly weak players.
But I think, now, I've got to learn to fuel my grr with something more than high pocket pairs or A,K.

1 comment:

TripJax said...

hey man...sorry things have been busy around work (thus hard to write, read, and comment on blogs), but I haven't been missing out on your posts...just haven't had a chance to comment.

I can't tell you how often I want to type Grrrr!!!!! in the chat box.

Gary is going through tough times at work where he can't view blogs anymore. He is hating it, but I'm sure he will be around when he can...

I'll keep in touch Peak!