As stated in my last post, my foray into online poker began one year ago at Party Poker. I remember the thrill of the congratulations, cheers and fireworks when I took down my first pot. So cool (I still love to hear it - I keep that option on). I quickly doubled my buy-in and had visions of quitting my job, going pro and being the first woman to win the World Series of Poker. These visions quickly dissipated, though, after busting to zero in short order. Something was not right.
It was clear that my limited skills honed over 100 years of penny ante kitchen poker wasn't going to secure me that spot at the final table at Binion's. All I knew about poker strategy was never draw to an inside strait. I invested in every-poker-book-ever-written (slight exaggeration) and studied. I moved over to Ultimate Bet, which had a lower deposit requirement and penny tables. I lived with the poker books - reading and re-reading - and on each re-read something would gel and I'd work it into my play. As my knowledge grew, my play got better. Sorta. I was still busting out - but it was taking longer. I studied more.
I had a solid grasp on the basics and couldn't understand why I wasn't able to make significant gains. Gradually I began to see that I was focusing solely on my hands and not giving my attention to what else was happening at the table. If I had good openers for middle position, I'd play them. Sounds ok on the surface, but it didn't matter if I was acting after and UTG limp, acting first, or after a pre-flop raise - I'd play those cards the same way every time. The first plugged leak was to pay strict attention to what the rest of the table was doing. Just because I had good openers, didn't mean I had to play them let alone play them the same way every time.
My second plugged leak was to stop chasing. I had no grasp of pot-odds at this time, but it became clear that chasing the Ace was siphoning off too much of my gas. I eventually wrapped my brain around the concept of pot-odds although, being a complete math dunce, it wasn't easy. I tightened up considerably. One of the hardest lessons for me to learn was to be able to lay down a hand. I just couldn't let go of a hand knowing it wasn't the nuts and beat by one better. We all suffer from that unique condition of "hand denial" - we don't want to believe the evidence of raises, re-raises and capping that are screaming at us we are beat. "He was in the big blind, he couldn't have had Aces in the hole.."
Conversely, though, I also learned to call the river those times when, somehow, your subconscious had gathered and understood the information being fed from the play, but your conscience only feeds you the 'hunch'. I began to see that, gosh, I had the best hand after all - and just because someone's betting into me or raising, doesn't mean he's got the best hand. The information that leads me to the hunch was gathered from everything I'd witnessed in prior hands leading up to that moment. Who said it? You fold - you save a bet and lose the pot, you call you win the pot. But you have to pay attention.
In short, I was learning what "it depends" truly means in the world of poker. At each new drop of knowledge which fell into my poker pool, my play improved, but my bankroll still suffered from gravity. It was truly frustrating. I blamed the site, I blamed the fish, I blamed the full moon.Following my last bustout, sometime in late November, early December, I did some serious evaluation of my future at the tables. This had to change or I would have to quit. I'm of Scottish heritage with an episcopalian/presbytarian upbringing (heathenistic, though, now I be) and I can squeeze a penny until it screams.
The next big piece of the puzzle fell into place when I landed on the site promotion described here. First I had to fully acknowledge that I was solely responsible for whether a session would be a profitable one or not. Not the site, not the fish and certainly not the moon. Before I began to play, I settled on a game plan. I would not play tired, distracted or in a state that would cause me to play less than my 'A' game. I had 15 dollars, and 15 dollars only. Not a penny of my own money would supplement that bankroll. I began on the baby hold-em tables and the 5 card draw. I also played the $3,000 freerolls and would end in the money most of time giving another $4-$10 at a time to the bankroll. I hated the site software, but the play was very soft, which made it easy to grow the bankroll, hone my discipline and play. When I felt comfortable, I moved up in limit. I was playing comfortably at $1/$2 when I cashed out in January and moved back to UB briefly then to Poker Stars for a while and now back to where it all began, Party Poker.
The tenets I keep in my arsenal now can't be better said than Iggy over at Guinness and Poker:
- Other players bad play will make me far more money than my fancy or brilliant plays.
- The guy that leads with a bet on the turn after not betting previously, typically has a big hand.
- Folding costs me nothing pre-flop. If it's a close decision, I can't go far wrong by folding.
I would add:
- Don't slowplay a set at a loose passive fishy table.
- Be extremely stingy with free cards
(I've stolen a lot of pots from late position by betting with nothing after the table had checked around - in fact, Poker Tracker tells me my most profitable position right now is 2 off the button).- Never play tired or distracted.
- Pay attention. (also my main rule for life).
There's more, but these are the main ones - my 'home base' I can return to when I feel things slipping, which they still do. My bankroll swings wildly - but I'm also playing at higher limits ($2/$4 on occasion) and have just recently started $25 buy-in No-limit (which I am getting thoroughly addicted to - hard to go back to limit).
So after a year, I'm having a ball. Poker is still fun. And there's an extra special bonus of becoming a member of the unique poker blogging community. Now, my next celebration is my birthday April 29 - I might just set up a private table at Party for the occasion. Interested?
