Back to the Beginning
May was a month of going back to the drawing board for me, poker-wise. In late April I picked up a copy of Small Stakes Hold 'em, and my intent was to begin really focusing on my limit ring game. I dropped back to the stakes where I would have a full bankroll (300bb, according to 2+2) and no worries about timid play or saving bets here and there. In my case, the starting point was .25/.50.
My plan is to consistently play a given limit until I have a comfortable bankroll for the next limit and then move on up. Ultimately, I'd like to reach the 5/10 or 10/20 level. I think that if I can develop my game to the point that I am a winner at those stakes, I will be able to pull money out of the bankroll for "extras" and still have a good amount of working capital to play with. Right now, my bankroll is so tiny that even a small withdrawal has a crippling effect.
The real challenge this month has been altering my playing style. The attacking style put forth in SSHE is about as far away from my natural game as you can get. My natural limit game is to wait for premium starting hands, bet when I have a good hand, raise when I have the nuts or close to it, and get out of the hand when I'm pretty sure I'm beaten. As an interesting side note, this is NOT the way I play NL (SNGs and MTTs) - in NL tourneys, I'm quite a bit looser and much more fearless about attacking the pot. I guess the difference is that in a tournament it's just chips - not real money. Let's just say that Ed Miller see's the low limit ring game much differently than I do. I've worked REALLY hard this month to change my style. My SSHE book already looks like it's five years old, because I've read and re-read parts of it so many times.
The good news is that the work is beginning to pay off. I've moved from .25/.50 to .5/1, and I expect to move to 1/2 this week. The Ed Miller style still feels pretty unnatural for me, but I feel like I'm starting to "get it". Right now I'm focused on playing by the book, but I expect that I'll eventually work parts of my own style back into my game. There's some good poker ahead, for sure!
My plan is to consistently play a given limit until I have a comfortable bankroll for the next limit and then move on up. Ultimately, I'd like to reach the 5/10 or 10/20 level. I think that if I can develop my game to the point that I am a winner at those stakes, I will be able to pull money out of the bankroll for "extras" and still have a good amount of working capital to play with. Right now, my bankroll is so tiny that even a small withdrawal has a crippling effect.
The real challenge this month has been altering my playing style. The attacking style put forth in SSHE is about as far away from my natural game as you can get. My natural limit game is to wait for premium starting hands, bet when I have a good hand, raise when I have the nuts or close to it, and get out of the hand when I'm pretty sure I'm beaten. As an interesting side note, this is NOT the way I play NL (SNGs and MTTs) - in NL tourneys, I'm quite a bit looser and much more fearless about attacking the pot. I guess the difference is that in a tournament it's just chips - not real money. Let's just say that Ed Miller see's the low limit ring game much differently than I do. I've worked REALLY hard this month to change my style. My SSHE book already looks like it's five years old, because I've read and re-read parts of it so many times.
The good news is that the work is beginning to pay off. I've moved from .25/.50 to .5/1, and I expect to move to 1/2 this week. The Ed Miller style still feels pretty unnatural for me, but I feel like I'm starting to "get it". Right now I'm focused on playing by the book, but I expect that I'll eventually work parts of my own style back into my game. There's some good poker ahead, for sure!
posted by Chris at 2:44 PM
1 Comments:
Chris,
I have Small Stakes Holdem and am really impressed with it so far. I hope to do exactly what you are doing to build my bankroll to a respectable amount and to improve my game to the point I can sit down with almost anyone and not embarrass myself. I play at Absolute Poker but think I will be putting money into Poker Stars in the near future to test their limit waters. I WILL NOT play PartyPoker as I always lose there.
I primarily have been playing SitNGos at Absolute but have hit a bad stretch and feel it is time to make a change in an attempt to increase my bankroll.
Where are you playing and how much are you bankrolling? I am going to start with $200 on Absolute and $100 on Poker Stars.
I am going to link your Blog so I can follow your journey.
Good Luck
Wolverine Fan
pokerandgolf.blogspot.com
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