I've been a bad blogger ...
I know, I know, the blog has absolutely sucked the past couple of weeks. I have no excuse except to say that I needed the time away to do, rather than to write.
Poker has been on my mind as much as ever, and probably more so. Super System 2 really threw me for a loop. It opened up the game to me in a way I had never thought about before. I know, the NLHE section is merely updated from SS1, but I had never gotten around to reading that section before. I had bought SS1 very early in my poker playing days, when I played strictly limit, and I never felt the need to read Doyle's chapter before. But by the time I was able to get SS2, I was fully engrossed with NL.
Before reading SS2, however, I was pretty much a disciple of the Phil Hellmuth School of Poker Snobbery, which seems to run rampant among other "thinking" players. I would mix my game up some, but I was pretty much an extremely tight, selectively aggressive player. And, as such, I was also extremely frustrated. That type of play, or at least the way I had interpreted and adapted it, was suitable for eking out a small long-term profit, but it was also susceptible to huge swings, especially in the low limit purgatory where I dwell. I could run a small profit over the course of a few weeks, and then lose it all and more on a couple of sessions when the cards "ran bad." Of course, that's just a loser's way of saying that, dazzled by my own "brilliance," I overvalued the importance of starting hands and overplayed my "monster" hands, even when it was quite obvious I was beat -- pretty much the same way Phil has busted out of every tournament I've seen him play the past couple of years.
But then came Super System 2, and the scales fell from my eyes. And, in a bit of great fortune, the same day I bought the book I sat down to play with an old timer who works as a prop player for a casino out west who pretty much embodied much of the spirit of SS2. Even before I'd had a chance to read much of the wisdom that awaited me in Doyle's writing, this fellow was reinforcing the lessons I would soon learn.
I could probably go on and on, but I'll spare you. Let it suffice to say that I've learned more about the game in the past couple of weeks than at any other time. More importantly, I have also discovered how much more I need learn before I reach the level of success I want.
And, I've been hungry to play. That explains my absence from the blog of late. Whenever I sat down at the computer and poker crossed my mind, I would think, "Well, I could either write about poker, or play," and playing would win out every time. It's not all been successful. In fact, I've not managed to do much more than break even lately, but I attribute that to my need to grow more comfortable playing a style that is unlike any I've played before.
And, strangely enough, I've also felt the need to step back down and play limit for awhile. The level of aggression needed to succeed at no limit does not come naturally to me, and it's even more difficult at the present time because I just haven't "felt" it lately. So, in my effort to try to adapt my play and game choice to my current psychological state, I've gone back to playing limit because I realize the chaser in me is dominating my play. Until I can corral the chaser and jump start the aggressor in me, it's both safer and more profitable to play limit.
MORE TO COME: Wow, I just realized I've already written quite a bit, and I've only touched on two subjects that I wanted to address. But since it's getting late, I'm going to have to cut off for the evening.
However, in the very near future, I want to address a few other topics, which I list now both as a preview for you and as a way for me to avoid forgetting what I want to talk about:
Thanks for stopping by, and for not giving up on my while I've been away. More to come very soon.
Poker has been on my mind as much as ever, and probably more so. Super System 2 really threw me for a loop. It opened up the game to me in a way I had never thought about before. I know, the NLHE section is merely updated from SS1, but I had never gotten around to reading that section before. I had bought SS1 very early in my poker playing days, when I played strictly limit, and I never felt the need to read Doyle's chapter before. But by the time I was able to get SS2, I was fully engrossed with NL.
Before reading SS2, however, I was pretty much a disciple of the Phil Hellmuth School of Poker Snobbery, which seems to run rampant among other "thinking" players. I would mix my game up some, but I was pretty much an extremely tight, selectively aggressive player. And, as such, I was also extremely frustrated. That type of play, or at least the way I had interpreted and adapted it, was suitable for eking out a small long-term profit, but it was also susceptible to huge swings, especially in the low limit purgatory where I dwell. I could run a small profit over the course of a few weeks, and then lose it all and more on a couple of sessions when the cards "ran bad." Of course, that's just a loser's way of saying that, dazzled by my own "brilliance," I overvalued the importance of starting hands and overplayed my "monster" hands, even when it was quite obvious I was beat -- pretty much the same way Phil has busted out of every tournament I've seen him play the past couple of years.
But then came Super System 2, and the scales fell from my eyes. And, in a bit of great fortune, the same day I bought the book I sat down to play with an old timer who works as a prop player for a casino out west who pretty much embodied much of the spirit of SS2. Even before I'd had a chance to read much of the wisdom that awaited me in Doyle's writing, this fellow was reinforcing the lessons I would soon learn.
I could probably go on and on, but I'll spare you. Let it suffice to say that I've learned more about the game in the past couple of weeks than at any other time. More importantly, I have also discovered how much more I need learn before I reach the level of success I want.
And, I've been hungry to play. That explains my absence from the blog of late. Whenever I sat down at the computer and poker crossed my mind, I would think, "Well, I could either write about poker, or play," and playing would win out every time. It's not all been successful. In fact, I've not managed to do much more than break even lately, but I attribute that to my need to grow more comfortable playing a style that is unlike any I've played before.
And, strangely enough, I've also felt the need to step back down and play limit for awhile. The level of aggression needed to succeed at no limit does not come naturally to me, and it's even more difficult at the present time because I just haven't "felt" it lately. So, in my effort to try to adapt my play and game choice to my current psychological state, I've gone back to playing limit because I realize the chaser in me is dominating my play. Until I can corral the chaser and jump start the aggressor in me, it's both safer and more profitable to play limit.
MORE TO COME: Wow, I just realized I've already written quite a bit, and I've only touched on two subjects that I wanted to address. But since it's getting late, I'm going to have to cut off for the evening.
However, in the very near future, I want to address a few other topics, which I list now both as a preview for you and as a way for me to avoid forgetting what I want to talk about:
Giving Hellmuth Clones Their Comeuppance. The Hazards of Slow-Playing. Destroying the Home Game. My Beautiful New Chips. Goals for 2005. Contemplating the Bonus Whoring Life.
Thanks for stopping by, and for not giving up on my while I've been away. More to come very soon.
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