So I sort have started up in NL cash games.

Part of becoming better is about game CHOICE. I'm not saying that the Omaha games have dried up, but sometimes it feels like I'm stuck in a rock garden and can only play nut or near nut hands.

Needless to say, this is not how I want to play poker. I'm taking a break from O8 because I feel like it's turned into a total grind and the people are the same damned faces every time. I'm not very secure as a stud player, but I've had a crick in the neck from working out as of late and visually following the cards around effs me up.

So I sat down in the Commerce $100 N/L game last night. I asked a lot of questions which caused people to wonder if I was some kind of beginner. Since I'm used to tournament N/L, I'm a little perplexed at the rules of cash games and probably because this is totally not my normal game, I look like a sucker.

The impression of me looking like a sucker was reinforced by the fact that I lost 3 buy-ins right off the bat. I was raising 3 to 4 times the BB with stuff like TT and AK and AQ and getting 6 zillion callers and losing to 69 soooooooted. I played my draws strongly like I normally do in tournaments and people were JUST NOT AFRAID OF ME.

I debated doing a fourth buy-in and decided to go for it. At Commerce, even though it's a $100 game, when you get felted after the first buy-in you can rebuy for $150. This is what I did after going for a walk around the casino, trying to fix my game. I realized I had to play it like I played the start of tournaments, with the same degree of tightness and that a pre-flop raise had to be closer to SIX times the BB to get any respect. There were other rules I decided on such as refusing to play stuff like KJ or KQ up front and instead of calling the $1 in the SB, raising to try to pick up the pot then and there.

Crazy thing is it worked. I got paid off on my nut hands and I stayed out of trouble. Pretty soon I was up to $580 and called it a night. So I recouped my losses and even turned a profit. I'm not even close to regarding N/L my go to cash game. But it's a dependable game. The O8 games are not always there and even when they are, the texture can be a little too rocky for my taste.

WOOT

congrats etc.

Is this forum dead or what?

Went to the Bike last night to watch the Laker game and play some live N/L. I've decided that since I do exclusively N/L hold 'em tournaments, I need to develop my N/L cash game instead of playing *gasp* Omaha or Stud games. Stud and Omaha taught me POKER but I need to learn the game in which my bread and butter is based. I've been doing my education at the $100 N/L tables.

Interesting hand comes up. Everyone limps preflop and I'm on the button with K9 so I limp in as well.

Flop comes 988 rainbow. Checked around to me and I bet out $10 (4 limpers at $3 apiece). One early position player flat calls. Okay great. He could have an 8 or a 9 with a worse kicker. Turn is another 8. So I've got 2nd nut boat. I'm not so worried about the 8 anymore but I bet another $10. Guy flat calls.

River is some kind of useless brick and I think my boat is good. I bet $10, the caller raises another $15 and I flat call. He had the 4th 8.
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I feel very lucky here. I could have lost a bundle on the hand thinking my boat was good and instead of getting greedy, I just called. I made the money back from another player a little later but found this to be a very interesting hand because I felt I lost pretty close to the minimum for the strength of the hand I had...