Absent. Sorry. Today I am in the last stages of yet another cold. This one is five days old. I think I can trace it to the enormous smoking woman who coughed near me while I killed a little time playing video poker at The Palms last week. What's this about video poker? Well, it turns out that with a little research and discipline (much like actual poker) you can find machines that will pay you back over 100% of your investment. The "Deuces Wild" machines that I play from time-to-time could net me as much as $5-$6/hr. if I played them 40 hrs. a week. Now, there is no way I'd play them that much, but as a diversion, it's nice to know there is another game out there with a positive expectation.
But I digress. I followed through with my feelings (and my data) around the middle of January and returned to playing 2/5 No-Limit Hold Em at the MGM and Caesar's Palace. From January 15th to February 18th I'm up $2225 over 41 hrs with a win rate of $53/hr.
My earlier convictions about this level of poker remain intact. The more chips/cash on the table, in front of a given player, the better the chances that they are willing to part with large chunks of it -- compared with the lower limit 1/2 & 1/3 NL game. For me, this means that a lot of my initial style from limit play regarding hand selection remains true in this game. By playing fewer and more valuable starting hands against the guys that play too many hands with an abundance of chips, I can catch them overplaying their selections.
This is not to say that I won't bluff or play some weaker selections given the correct pot odds or premium position. There are always situations that make themselves so plain, that if you didn't "play the player" and try to steal it would be a crime!
As for improvement, there are two sessions I ran into where I lost and I know exactly why:
1. At the Bellagio, I was playing away and stacking up a modest win when I got involved in a hand where I was best on the flop and lost to a two-outer on the turn against a player-type that I like to play against: a lot of chips with a lot of gamble. I rebought and became just like him and on the next hand got pocket jacks (not that strong of a hand) and lost all my chips again to a different guy (he had queens). I rebought a 3rd time and lost that, too. I forget how. Losing that first hand upset me. I should have either taken a break or quit that game. Playing upset is not winning poker.
2. At the MGM, I went through a session of very cold cards. Early in the session I lost a hand against a playing drawing slim and then didn't receive a playable hand again for about four hours which I also lost. I obviously stayed too long in a game in which I wasn't winning. A game can have all the potential in the world, but if the results don't get any better, it's time to move on. I could have found a different table earlier in the session, or I could have just left and gone home.
Looking forward, I intend to continue playing 2/5 three to five session a week if my results continue to be consistent.
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