I have a new favorite local casino poker game. For about a year, the only casino poker cash game I have played is the Ameristar $1/$2 NLHE game, which is the biggest NL game they have (sad). I play this mainly because they have the 75% rule – you can sit down with 75% of the biggest stack at the table. This sort of compensates for the antiquated Missouri “loss limit” rule, where you can only purchase $500 in chips every two hours. To my knowledge, no other state in the nation follows this silly rule.
But I played in the Harrahs $2/$5 NL game last Saturday, which does not have the 75% rule. This is a better game in terms of player mix and structure. Although the stacks are nearly the same size as the Ameristar game, the slightly bigger blinds make the game play bigger. This I like. I sat down with $500 and cashed out for over $1600:
But I played in the Harrahs $2/$5 NL game last Saturday, which does not have the 75% rule. This is a better game in terms of player mix and structure. Although the stacks are nearly the same size as the Ameristar game, the slightly bigger blinds make the game play bigger. This I like. I sat down with $500 and cashed out for over $1600:
I was in seat 10. I had to go extra tall with the stacks rather than wide, because the dealers had trouble keeping their elbows off my stack. Shift to the right, go high. Being a chip snob, stack configuration is important to me.
I went into the game extremely focused, and had a read on nearly every player for the entire session. I was focused enough to plan ahead in each hand – figure out what I would do on future streets in a hand based on player styles, stack sizes and my read at the very start of the hand.
By the end of the session, something occurred to me. This seems to be a fundamental truth about my live cash games:
My best cash game sessions happen when I lose the fewest number of showdowns.
At first, this may seem like a fairly unremarkable statement. Of course you do better when you win more showdowns. But that’s not it. My very best sessions are when I lose the fewest showdowns, not necessarily win the most showdowns.
This can be the result of several factors that mark a good cash game session:
--Winning only a few pots early on, but big pots.
--Folding before the river when you are behind.
--Playing tight early and building up a solid image.
--Later in the session, winning lots of smallish pots before the showdown based on your image.
Something else I was very happy about – I maintained the discipline to fold a lot, despite having the big stack at the table. Even though I more than tripled up in this session, overall my cards were terrible. I went for extended stretches where I was forced to fold crap like K3, Q4, 92, endless junk. When I have a big stack in a cash game, I’m willing to play nearly any playable hand for a standard raise, down to small suited connectors. But I wasn’t even getting those type of hands. I’m sure I looked like the biggest nit at the table, but as the session wore on I really didn’t care, because I could pick up the occasional modest pot based on my tight image.
I lost one showdown all night, which was a small and inconsequential pot. Every other hand at showdown was a winner, including 2 hands where I held the nuts and managed to get paid for maximum value.
By the end of the session, something occurred to me. This seems to be a fundamental truth about my live cash games:
My best cash game sessions happen when I lose the fewest number of showdowns.
At first, this may seem like a fairly unremarkable statement. Of course you do better when you win more showdowns. But that’s not it. My very best sessions are when I lose the fewest showdowns, not necessarily win the most showdowns.
This can be the result of several factors that mark a good cash game session:
--Winning only a few pots early on, but big pots.
--Folding before the river when you are behind.
--Playing tight early and building up a solid image.
--Later in the session, winning lots of smallish pots before the showdown based on your image.
Something else I was very happy about – I maintained the discipline to fold a lot, despite having the big stack at the table. Even though I more than tripled up in this session, overall my cards were terrible. I went for extended stretches where I was forced to fold crap like K3, Q4, 92, endless junk. When I have a big stack in a cash game, I’m willing to play nearly any playable hand for a standard raise, down to small suited connectors. But I wasn’t even getting those type of hands. I’m sure I looked like the biggest nit at the table, but as the session wore on I really didn’t care, because I could pick up the occasional modest pot based on my tight image.
I lost one showdown all night, which was a small and inconsequential pot. Every other hand at showdown was a winner, including 2 hands where I held the nuts and managed to get paid for maximum value.
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