Picking a Good Game

So I received some interesting feedback about my "Rotten Apple" blog. I am somewhat surprised by the passion on both sides. I was just sitting in an airport lounge trying to get some things sorted out on my MacBook and I was underwhelmed, so out it came. Perhaps I was hoping someone with some juice at Apple would read it and do something. I know, way too much to hope for.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program: Poker.

Each time I begin a tournament series, I try to formulate a plan of attack. For the bigger buy in events I like to play satellites or finance them with cash games. I believe over the course of a year it will have a huge impact on your bottom line. Sometimes it will depend on the quality if the live action cash games as well. At places like The Commerce or Borgata you can pretty much always find a decent game of some sort when a tournament is in progress. During the WSOP it is also relatively easy to find decent games at the Rio or the Bellagio.

I have been asked what is it that makes a game decent and worth playing, and how I decide what to play, and that's not always a simple answer. Some might say that a game full of drunken tourists, who don't care about money, and are very deep stacked, makes the best combination, and while I won't shy away from those games, my preference is players who I know well, are predictable, and are what I would label recreational players. These are players who may also like blackjack and craps and play merely for the fun of it. Now don't get me wrong, they want to win and sometimes do, but they just enjoy playing the game. You have to adjust your style of play for the type of game you are in. If you are playing with calling stations, then bluffing becomes difficult. I remember in a small tournament at Caesars last year Erica Schoenberg got called after moving all in with AK suited on the flop with 4 to the nut flush, after raising pre-flop and was called by someone with pocket deuces. Obviously there were three over's on the flop and she could have had a larger pocket pair. Maybe I'm just not good enough to call all in with pocket deuces, and even if I did, there is no way I would have dodged 15 outs twice.
You also need to assess how the game has changed over time as new players join and others leave. Last April during the WPT championship at the Bellagio, I was in a really good game with three guys who kept dumping money, playing almost every hand and making terrible calls. They didn't last long and after they left it became 7 handed with 6 really solid players and me. Although I felt like I could still eek out some profit, it just wasn't worth it.

Another ingredient which must be considered is how your game is that session. Are you tired and at the end of a long session, are you playing you're "A" game? Has some degree of "tilt" entered your game? There is a really solid player I have encountered several times over the past year or two who plays these 36-48 hour sessions. Once at the Wynn he bought in for about $2,000-3,000 and 36 hours later had $30,000. I sat down along with another solid player, we were 5 handed at the time and he proceeded to dump the whole $30,000. Try and put yourself in the best possible position to win, know your limitations. I have read in several books on poker from pros I respect that when a game is good don't limit your win but stay and keep hammering them. While there is merit to this, sometimes you catch a few good situations early in a session and are way up, and leaving is not the worst idea. One of the things that annoys me most is when I have a good win which turns into a loss, if only my crystal ball worked.

I have adjusted my cash game style to be relatively tight, and what amazes me is I still get paid off. I wouldn't pay me off. In fact there are a couple of guys at the Commerce I play with semi-regularly who are very tight and I don't often play pots with them unless I think I'm ahead or have the type of hand I can get paid off with. The next couple of weeks it will be interesting to see what the games are like at the Bellagio and elsewhere in town. This is usually a busy tournament series for them and I am hopeful there will be a good turn out for the events and the cash games.

The next thing I have been trying to do more is look for really good situations and I really do ask myself not only am I putting my money in ahead, but is this the best opportunity to put a lot of chips in the pot. I realize that is you keep putting your money in as a 2-5% favorite, over the long haul you will be ahead. However, if you can find the spots where you are better than a 2:1 favorite when you commit a lot of chips, your variance will be greatly reduced and you should sleep more soundly at night.

For more information on Roy Winston, you can visit his website: www.oraclepoker.net or send him an email: [email protected]. The contents presented herein on this blog are purely the opinions of Roy Winston, and are not intended to reflect or promote the opinions of any other person, group, or entity. If you like what I write than thanks for reading, and if not well, thanks anyway