So a topic that has been on my mind lately is the idea of game selection and multi-limit playing. It’s weird how many players only play one specific limit during a given week. A friend of mine opened my eyes a few years back when he was playing 2/4NL one day and 10/20NL the next. I was confused for the first bit, asking myself “why would he do that? wouldn’t $200 seem like chicken shit if he was playing 5/10 the next day?”

The answer is pretty simple. With the way poker is today, regulars need to be flexible in their play, both in game limits and games themselves (many have branched over to PLO). You’ll often hear of mid stakes regulars who play 5/10 and 2/4 in the same day (or higher and lower depending). Take shots when games are good (ie. a fish is playing and you’re adequately rolled), drop down when they suck. One thing I personally can’t do is play multiple limits at the same time (ie. 1 5/10NL table open and then a 50 PLO game or something of that nature)…maybe just not good at multitasking enough.

Playing multiple limits is great psychologically as well. If you’re running bad, dropping down for a few days should be fairly obvious- grinding it out at normal limits with tougher opponents (than the lower staked) can lead to a prolonging downswing…but going down a limit and crushing can lead to good results and (even more importantly) resounding confidence. Today I played some 50NL for an hour and crushed.

Egos die fast in poker…sure everyone is cocky and arrogant, but those who refuse to accept that there are better opponents (and that their play(s) can be suspect)- they get their just deserts soon enough. Everyone eats their slice of humble pie at one point or another in their poker career.

In other news, I finally filtered alot of my PLO results over the past year or so. Before my monster downer, I was up probably $25k in maybe 80k hands of mainly 1/2 PLO. After the downer (probably ~10k in mostly 1/2) the results obviously aren’t as nice. Pretty much all on my damn desktop too, wish I could just scrap this piece of shit computer (rigged computer) for some of that money back.

I’ve decided I’m not going to play any more PLO for the rest of the month. It’s too frustrating of a game, I’m not playing well, etc. I loaded up my PLO graphs from the last few months, god they are nasty. Not only am I bleeding money postflop (non sd winnings are hilariously awful) but I’m also 5k under equity (in last 10k hands, playing mostly .5/1 and some 1/2). Not even sure what my laptop has but I assume something similar.

Going to take a few days off playing…not really playing well, not running well, not doing anything.

Interesting post by DOGISHEAD with regards to his current feelings about poker- LINK HERE

We all have our end, especially in a game like this…when will mine be? No idea. I’ve seen dozens of friends rise through the ranks and play high/make a ton of money. Alternately, I’ve seen twice that number give up the game, leave forever, never to return. Easy money doesn’t stay easy for long.

I’ve been thinking alot about the current state of poker and the future. This post is partly inspired by the article I linked last time, seen on Anskypoker.com- http://www.anskypoker.com/2010/02/the-poker-life-cycle/

The world of online poker is a declining one…not only because of the population setback (there are less players coming into the game, poker is no longer the new ‘fad’, etc) but also an increase in poker information available. While fish are always going to be fish (those who choose to not pursue strategy and will remain poor players for their entire life), the wealth of information out there has grown tremendously the past few years.

Looking at the micro limits, players now have:
-training sites
-Forums (and their stickies/etc)
-Coaching
-etc

There has been a tremendous move towards staking- midstakes+ players want to get many horses, stake dozens of smaller staked players and generate that ultimate goal of passive income. With the staking often comes support from the stakee (usually hand advice) and the lower limit players become better.

All of a sudden, we now have dozens of smaller staked guys moving through the limits/beating some of the micro limits, players who probably never would have before.

Obviously there is still an abundance of fish (especially at the lower limits)…but the mid/high staked games are getting tougher as time passes.

Headsup is another factor in the poker economy. Why sit with 4 other good players and 1 fish when you can have the fish all to yourself? Headsup has been a lucrative enterprise for many players the past few years…but with it has brought the element of ‘bum hunting’ (only playing fish) to an extreme measure…some people will sit out if you raise preflop…the very idea of that extremity makes me sick. Sure, everyone is a relative bum hunter to some degree (in that we will rarely give up medium-large edges to our opponents when playing)…but when someone sits out because he sees a 3-bet preflop, what a joke.

Headsup has led to a relative decline in action the past few years…people sit 5 tables+ at a time and the poker lobbies are filled with hundreds of people waiting for action. Fish bust fast, since a good player’s edge is magnified largely by only playing one person.

I imagine that the micro games are evolving as well. The last time I played 25nl in a serious sense was probably 2005…and while I’m a bit out of touch with those games, I have seen that 3-betting light/etc is commonplace, something that would have never been seen back then.

Games are evolving, players are getting better…fish are losing faster, regulars on all levels are getting better, and Howard Lederer is sitting back rubbing his hands together while his minions pile his cash. As fish experience less success at the bottom, it slows their progression to the higher limits (MSNL+). I would not recommend trying to play poker right now, at least until China gets in this shit….then we’ll have a ton of degenerates helping our games!