by palman » Fri Jan 28, 2005 10:44 pm
No politics involved...... my computer has been out of commission for quite some time.
Originally I thought I just needed a new power cord... but in fact my power cord melted the piece it attaches to in the computer, and I just haven't been able to find the time to get it fixed.
The way I played that session in NL takes mostly being able to analyze how people react to your extreme play.
The hardest part about playing that LAG way, is that you can never be right all of the time. You're going to run into monsters, you're going to run into people who won't lay down a hand. You can't beat yourself up for doing something that in retrospect looks moronic. I did plenty of moronic things during that session. For example, in that hand posted above with the 65, I obviously wanted him to drop it on the turn. For some reason, I felt he didn't have a strong enough hand to call my turn bet. You're never going to be right all that often. In fact, with all the bluffing, odds are you break about even. The profit comes from the fact that when I had big hands, I could get people to go broke with really weak hands, like top pair weak kicker.
Once I got my stack up to the point that I was dwarfing everyone else's stacks.... AND they were willing to go all in with just top pair, even if I doubled them up once or twice, I'd eventually get it back.
During this session I always bet the size of the pot. Theoretically, this is probably one of the worst things you can do if you are trying to buy a lot of pots. It's ideal to get in a situation where you can buy pots with half-pot sized bets, since each bluff would be more profitible.
The reason I don't do that in this situation, is that if I was making half-pot sized bets, then my opponnents when I DO hit a big hand, will be able to realize that I have a big hand without investing as much money (since their re-raise will be smaller) and they won't feel pot committed to make bad calls when I come over the top of them. If the pot is $30 preflop since I'm raising every hand, and I lead out for $30 on the flop every time, for them to know where they stand it will cost them at least $90. Whereas if I lead out for $15, a simple raise of $45 will let them know where they stand. Furthermore, with the pot that large, I can afford to slowplay or let them bet out for me if I have position, since just one standard bet will be $100, and it will be worth it.
Obviously, all of this is dependent on the players at the table, who you have to your left and right, etc. This style is ideal to play if you are catching some hands, since you maximize your earn when you are on a good run. However, you also will maximize your loss if you are on a bad run.
Every time I've played shorthanded NL on party, I end up with at least a 5x buyin stack or 10x buyin stack. However, often it will take me a few buyins to get to that level, and often I will lose that stack rather quickly when I get it.
It really takes some mental fortitude to handle the swings. I kinda chuckle on UPF when people talk about their horrific runs of being down 5 buyins and it hurting their bankroll, when I routinely will be down 5 buyins at the start of a session. Often I start off my sessions willing to take some chances on some draws to double up, since all the money is made on these tables by doubling up off the big stacks when you have a big stack as well. The -EV I take with just 1 buyin is more than justified in the time it would take to play tightly to get the 4-5 buyins normally. If you run through a few buyins playing like a maniac, but change gears when you have $500, your opponnents likely won't realize you've changed gears and will make a huge mistake for their stacks.