I Broke the Cardinal Rule

One of the first rules of bankroll management is to not play outside of your bankroll. Well, I violated that rule tonight. I was playing my standard sit and go, and had played about 10 or 12 of them. I was getting frustrated and just couldn't win. I cashed in two of them and everytime I had a favorable situation, I lost. I had AK vs. A2 and lost. AQ vs. AJ and lost. KK vs. A10 and lost. See where I'm going with this? I made two dumb moves, but in terms of the situation, it was probably the right play. Suited connector with nobody in the pot, 6 handed, and only the blinds to go through. Got called by A7, I had 89, got no help and was out of another one. That's the way my night was going. I couldn't win a race, my hands weren't holding up, and I was getting frustrated.

I took about a 10 minute break and decided that I was just playing with bad players and that I wasn't playing poorly. I looked back over the hands I won and lost, that's a great feature about Pokeroffice. I kept getting my money in good, but I was getting called by some very weird hands. They weren't getting the right odds to call and were snap calling with a ton of very strange hands. So I decided to go up a level. I played two sit and go's, at the same time, only up one level. It worked out for me. I won the first one and took second in the other one. So long story short, I won back my losses plus some. I know you shouldn't move up in levels to try and win back losses. I did not move up to win back money, I'm pretty sure my bankroll can handle the move up, or at least take a shot at the next level. I moved up to hopefully face better players.

That's something I find funny about my game. My game is geared for better players and not weak, passive, or just outright bad players. Maybe it's because the bad or inexperienced players don't understand or even think about what I might have, and they simply play their own hand. However, I think it's because bad players hate to be bluffed and for the most part can't be bluffed. They think, "I have second pair, he's probably bluffing." They don't stop to think...I raised in early position, and have shown strength on a 10 high flop. Could I possibly have an overpair? To them, NO WAY. So, I took a shot at the higher level and won. I will go back to my normal level, and do a little analysis on both my bankroll and what level it can sustain. Personally, I like to have a little added cushion to my bankroll. I play pretty aggressive and the swings can get pretty big, so I need to make sure that I have the adequate amount. So, back to the grind.

Low limit players are just amazing. It is amazing how bad they play and how much they brag about how great they are. I can't even count the number of times the pot was raised, then re-raised, yet 4 people call. The hands they eventually show down are very marginal at best. There was one hand in particular, where I had KK under the gun and raise to 200, with the blinds at 40/80. Pretty standard raise for me. Two people call in between, and the button makes it 600. The big blind shoves in for 1600, and it comes back to me. Now I have the second best starting hand, and I'm pretty sure the button probably has AA. I get a feeling I'm beat. I'm praying they both have AK and just went crazy. I decided to fold, but then the middle position player shoves in and the button calls all of them. Three to the flop with two all in. The big blind had 10's, the middle position player had AQ, and the button had AA. With the action that preceeded the shoves, it's pretty evident that 10's and AQ were not the best hands. It's just amazing how players just cannot fold.

I just got done playing a tournament where one guy minimum raised every hand. Didn't matter what position he was in, didn't matter what his starting hand was. He sucked out a few times to get some chips and had the chip lead for a while. But eventually lost everything and went out in 6th place. I was accumulating chips pretty regularly and was playing my typical small ball style. I raised to 200 on the button with A10 and nobody coming in ahead of me. Both blinds called, one of which was the minimum raise guy, who was from Finlad by the way. The flop came Q-10-8 with two hearts. It checked to me and I bet out 375. The small blind called. The turn brought a 4 off suit. He checked again. I bet out 740, he called again. The river brought an 8. Now he bets out 160. I just called. He showed A8. He called me down out of position with third pair and no draw. Just amazing how many calling stations and weak players you run into at the low limit tables. The funniest thing about it all, is that they don't stop to think about the hand or what their opponent might have. I laid down KK because the action in front of me told me I was probably beat, and with my chip position, I could make the laydown and still have enough to outplay the table. Other players though just don't think on the same level. They think, "I got a pair, I'm good" and go into calling mode or worse yet, hyper aggressive mode.

On a final note, there was another hand that illustrates how bad low limit players are. I'm in late position and have 78 suited. Nobody comes in ahead of me, and I've been playing pretty close to the vest. So I raise to 300 with the blinds at 60/120. The big blind calls and is getting short on chips, but he still has a lot of fold equity. The flop comes down Q-8-6, rainbow. He checks, so I bet out 400. He calls, leaving him about 600 behind. The turn brings a 5, so now I have second pair, open end straight draw, and best of all a tight image. He goes all in for his last 620. I stop and think about it for a second. 97 is the nuts, does he have it? Don't think so. 910 and he's now semi-bluffing? I think he would have pushed on the flop with a hand like that. AQ, KQ, or just a weak queen? Probably, but I think he would have pushed on the flop. So now I go to the math. There was 660 before the flop in the pot, and 1460 in the pot on the flop. He now bet out 620, so there's 2080, costing me 620, so I'm getting better than 3:1. What are my odds? I figure I can hit 3 - 7's, 2 - 8's, 4 - 9's, or 4 - 4's. So I have 13 outs or about 26-28% chance. Getting the right odds and I have chips to spare. I decided to call and he shows Q2. I hit a 7 and suddenly this guy goes off and starts ranting about how it was a bad call and the standard, "You're a donkey" and "You play badly, how can you make that call." I just find it funny that he called a raise out of position with Q2 off suit. Yeah he got lucky on the flop, but he didn't even stop to think that I could have had a real hand or not. But I digress.

I'm getting so sick and tired of bad players and weak, passive players. When I go to the World Series, I'm sure I will run into a lot of these types of players. As I said before, my style is best against good players. So I need to make adjustments to my play against weak and bad players. I need to get better at spotting the bad players and adjusting my play accordingly. I think that's why I win so many times at our weekly home game. We have some good players. So that's what I'll be working on for the next few days. I'm going to be working on some new pre-flop and post-flop strategies. I'm taking a lot of notes on players, playing styles and plays that have been made. I'm thinking about putting them in a book, but more about that later.