Was I playing bad?
Hey y'all,
I've started playing poker again after a ~4 year break, live casino (in the UK), trying to build a bankroll grinding 1/1, 1/2 tables.
Last night I was sat at a 1/1 table with what I believed to be a relatively weak field - mainly rec calling stations who are entering far too wide into pre flop raises (with hands like K7os, J4os). There was however one LAG directly to my left who was constantly raising 20, 35 preflop. He had won several huge pots holding the nuts (or close too) and was sitting on about 1k after only a few hours (max buy in was 200), mainly playing junk cards that kept hitting and using his aggression to bluff out players and also getting calling stations to pay him off in pots they shouldn't be in, with even worse hands than his.
I was card dead the vast majority of the night. I think I had literally one pocket pair all night (44, which I raised and saw a flop with 3 overcards that people bet into) and literally saw only 3 hands approaching premium (AK, AQ, KQ) all night during this 6 hour session. Everything else was literally 10-3os, J3os, 92os etc. The few times I got 78s / 89s I called/raised, with mixed results. Rest of the night I folded, folded, folded.
I ended the night down about 40 and I'm sat here thinking about what I could've done better. Part of me thinks I played ok, that I shouldn't change my strategy and that this is just a natural downswing that I should just play through. Another part thinks I am being too much of a nit, and that if I think this guy is raising junk I should just 3bet him with my 10-2os and just barrell with the right board textures - which immediately seems like a bad idea given his stack size and general stickiness.
Opinions? What are your strategies in these spots?
2 Replies
Welcome to the forums .. and back to Poker!
I like what I see here .. When it comes to 'those guys' I don't mind being on their right as it creates a pseudo Button for you .. and this guy is always in the SB for PF action. yes, it can get a bit tricky post-Flop if you miss. But there's a huge advantage to seeing how the other Players respond to the action before you do.
The one thing about 'those guys' is that they like to bet .. and if you take their shiny toy away from them by taking over the betting lead they will stomp their feet and fold out .. OR .. they will overplay their holdings in an effort to prove a point. Thank you value town.
Either way .. if you are card dead then perhaps seat or table change. It sounds as if you didn't give in to frustration .. nice job! GL
You played fine. No one at a small stakes table ever folded too much pre-flop to be profitable.
Realize that poker is a betting game usually played with cards, not a card game usually played with betting... Meaning: You don't control the cards. You only control your bets.
Sounds like your betting was fine. Your cards sucked. That's pure variance. You did well to minimize the loss, -40 is a solid result on a night like that.
