Poker Stars and WWdN

As I said in my update post, I deposited $35 into Poker Stars last month. Even though I am bonus whoring as much as possible, and Stars does not fit that bill at all, Poker Stars is my experimental ground.

Basically, I like playing in the WWdN tourney each Tuesday. Actually, I have only played 3 times so far including last night, which I was bounced out in 58th place out of 91 players.

One of the reasons I first starting typing here was because of all the fun it sounded like people were having in the blogging community. I was a daily reader of Mean Gene, Donkeypuncher, Tripjax, and others and what appealed to me was the people, with such varied backgrounds, were having a lot of fun doing something that I liked to do, which was play poker. More importantly, they were sharing their stories with each other, and ripping each other to shreds (in a good way) at the same time. After reading about the blogger trip to Vegas, I wanted in. People from all walks of life came together and had a blast.

Once I starting writing here, I guess I started to play a lot more poker to give me more content. I think that has made me a better player, definitely made me aware of some of my leaks, and of the fact that I was basically just bleeding money online. Reading everyone else’s exploits made me realize that there are many of us in the same situation and it is nice to have encouragement from others.

I have read more and played more than ever over the past few months and have improved, but not a whole lot. The reason I like to play in the WWdN though, is to meet new people and put my game to the test. Also, to try new things and see how they work. You won’t ever get berated for sucking out in this tourney (not that I really give 2 shits when I do get berated), actually, it is celebrated. It is also fun to go down in flames trying to wield the hammer, as I did last week. I got a gg from everyone in the room, and had a couple new people view my spot after that tourney.

I have been reading more about aggression and how you need to use it to be a long term winning player. I am not there yet. I am normally pretty weak, where I will fold to almost any heat without a great hand. Way too tight and passive. In this tourney, I have no expectations because the players are so good. Bloggers talk about how good or bad they are each day, but really, this is a tough tourney and I have no delusions about winning. Someday maybe.

Last night, I decided to be more aggressive. In some spots, it won me chips. In other times, I bled off chips terribly. My final hand, I had QJh and the blinds were at 50/100 and it was raised by 1 person to 400. I called with position and the flop came down J high. I only had 950 left after the call and the bettor, 123skidoo, who was the big stack at the table, bet out 600 into the pot of 950. I pushed and he flipped over AJ to put me out. Two things I have read plenty of times should have warned me to save my aggression for later. One is the first in vigorish that Harrington talks about. Even though the big stack might have been on a steal, you have to respect the raise. Second, his bet after the flop wasn’t a probe, it was about ¾ of the pot. I really didn’t even think, I just pushed and paid.

Anyway, by playing in this tourney each week I can:

Keep learning from good players
Try new things with low expectations
Meet new people, pick up new readers
Have fun without worrying about the bankroll

To me, that is worth my $11 each week. Have a good day all.