Two Fish is Company, Three is a Crowd?
Sorry about the lack of poker content and updates lately. I just haven't had that much time to play, and therefore haven't had that much to write about. Also, the (minor) losing streak I am on right now is sapping my motivation to play.
It's possible that content will be thin for the next few weeks as I adjust to a new schedule. The combination of this (hopefully short) losing streak, starting a new job, and the weather getting nicer may seriously affect my ability to update here on a regular basis. I hope not--like I have said before, this blog has become its own hobby, almost distinct from playing poker.
I gave my friend "J" a ride home from volleyball the other night. J plays poker in my local group. Not long ago, he and I swapped referrals--I used him as a referral for UB, and he used me for Party. That way we each earned some cash for the other. Anyway, I asked J how he liked Party, and he said he was getting crushed there. He said he liked UB better, because people at UB respected a raise and tended to play closer to "real" poker. It sounded like he was getting his money in with the best of it most of the time, but was getting sucked out on when he got called by multiple players all the way to the river (or all-in). He said he hated Party because there were too many bad players.
I hear this logic all the time online. I hear people complain about too many bad players spoiling the game. And although I do understand where that frustration is coming from, I still think it's the wrong attitude to have about game selection. The more bad players in a game, the more opportunities there is to exploit their mistakes and make money. I completely understand that games with higher variance cause big bankroll swings (and thus big emotional swings), but the bottom line is that the more bad players you have in the game, the more money you stand to make.
J didn't say this, but I hear it all the time: "Should I move up in limits? Because the players at these low limits are just terrible and it's impossible to make money!" The limit isn't the problem. A good player must adjust their game to suit the texture of the table. If you can't do this successfully at a lower limit, the only thing that's going to chance when you move up in limits is that you are going to lose your money faster. High limit tables can have tons of bad players too.
It's possible that content will be thin for the next few weeks as I adjust to a new schedule. The combination of this (hopefully short) losing streak, starting a new job, and the weather getting nicer may seriously affect my ability to update here on a regular basis. I hope not--like I have said before, this blog has become its own hobby, almost distinct from playing poker.
I gave my friend "J" a ride home from volleyball the other night. J plays poker in my local group. Not long ago, he and I swapped referrals--I used him as a referral for UB, and he used me for Party. That way we each earned some cash for the other. Anyway, I asked J how he liked Party, and he said he was getting crushed there. He said he liked UB better, because people at UB respected a raise and tended to play closer to "real" poker. It sounded like he was getting his money in with the best of it most of the time, but was getting sucked out on when he got called by multiple players all the way to the river (or all-in). He said he hated Party because there were too many bad players.
I hear this logic all the time online. I hear people complain about too many bad players spoiling the game. And although I do understand where that frustration is coming from, I still think it's the wrong attitude to have about game selection. The more bad players in a game, the more opportunities there is to exploit their mistakes and make money. I completely understand that games with higher variance cause big bankroll swings (and thus big emotional swings), but the bottom line is that the more bad players you have in the game, the more money you stand to make.
J didn't say this, but I hear it all the time: "Should I move up in limits? Because the players at these low limits are just terrible and it's impossible to make money!" The limit isn't the problem. A good player must adjust their game to suit the texture of the table. If you can't do this successfully at a lower limit, the only thing that's going to chance when you move up in limits is that you are going to lose your money faster. High limit tables can have tons of bad players too.