Thought of the Week - September 16, 2007
September 17, 2007
Two quick topics today. Both stem froma conversatin I had last night att he Bellagio with a regular, young, $100-$200 player. Things are slow right now at the Bellagio, with the highest limit game being $30-$50 (up to $10-$20 NL). One of the first thingsd he mentioned was that he felt I was a low variance player, based on his observations of the time we played. Now many of you know that is not true, but I admit it may look that way over several sessions. The reason came to me as I watched some football this week (my fantasy team is 0-1 thanks to Plaxico Burress last week, but it looks good so far).
Several quarterbacks were saying, “You have to take what the defense gives you.” I thought, “Hey, that applies to poker as well.” There are games where you simply cannot do anything but wait for cards. Nobody folds to raises, nobody lays down hands on the flop. Few people raise to let you know where are. I remember a $20-$40 game about 15 years ago where after a few minutes I turned to my friend on my left and said, ” This is a game where you can’t do anything but wait.” He ignored me of course and continued to play California Standard. He lost a ton, i won a decent amount playing almost no hands. You have to be able to recognize and take what the game gives you.
That’s why it’s wrong to have a “style.” I used to think, “Let the game come to you,” another sports mantra, but this week I think I’ll go with, “Take what the game gives you.”
The pro also mentioned that he when gets up a lot, but then goes down some, he leaves so he will not lost it all back. This may make sense from a psychological point of view, but from a poker perspective, it is nonsense.
First, as you know, the next and you play is the next hand you play, regardless of whether you cash out first, or tag home, or sleep, or whatever. Second, that’s not entirely true, because the fact that you are at the table means you have already studied the players and have some idea what you are up against. If you go home and come back, new players will be in the game (yes, even the $100-$200) and the other players will be playing differently than you remember because stuff will have happened to them.
Also, if you stay, you can trade on a certain amount of respect because you are winning. Your opponents may defer to you a bit more, meaning you may be able to steal an extra pot, get a free card, eliminate a player or otherwise make a play you will not be able to during the the next game.
Certainly you should go home if you are tired, or not playing well, or want to see your family or many other excellent reasons. Being up and then losing some back is not one of them.
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