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EXPERT VIEW - The Perils Of Pot Limit Poker
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11 October 2005
If you were going to equate various poker games to drugs, and why not since barbiturates and card games both seem to feed certain basic urges, at least in me, then it is clear that pot limit resembles meth more than any other narcotic. The swings in pot limit poker are so pronounced and swift that the highs and lows come upon you with a matchless fury. I would say that low-limit and medium-limit poker games would have to be classified as hallucinogenic, because you see things that make you rub your eyes in absolute amazement. Limit games can also make poker players paranoid and delusional - you get to a point where you expect terrible beats because you just know that someone at your table stayed with 2-5 and has now made a full house on the river.
But back to pot limit poker, the quick fix for the poker pro who needs an instant score to replenish his bankroll. I am in Chicago this week enjoying the sites (marathon runners puffing away and expiring at my feet - don`t these people realize that they are going to die someday? Why not live life in-doors and sedentary? For what did our forebears climb down from the trees, huddle in caves, and yearn for metal tools, if not so that future generations could put their collective feet up and stop running?) And supposedly taking a break from the rigorous lifestyle of an online poker pro. But, great city that it is, I brought my laptop with me, and my hotel room has a phone line, so away we go. I deposited $2000 into a new online account and decided to play a little during the day, leaving my nights for celebrity-spotting missions at Tavern on Rush (spotted the guy who plays Arli$$ yesterday, mainly because he sat next to me at the bar while I enjoyed an excellent grilled salmon BLT sandwich).
The first $2000 went very quickly at a $1000 buy-in (max) pot limit table, and I`ll be the first to admit that I played very badly yesterday. It shames me to come to you as a professional when I have to lose AJ showdowns against AQ. It should never get to that point with a lousy hand like AJ, a hand that needs an even weaker opponent to have any chance of surviving a showdown when there is an A and no J on the board. You`re hoping you ran into the kind of fool who plays AT or A9, and meanwhile he`s hoping you weren`t one of those sharp players he`s heard about who would show him AK right about now. Have no fears, I am that soft mark you have been waiting for, throwing good money after bad by chasing flushes that never get there. On the flipside it was one of those days where other people`s flushes and straights had no problem getting there for them, so envy and anger ate into the rest of the $2k, but it doesn`t take long at $30/$60 anyway.
I then managed to lose another $1000 this morning, simply by playing good poker and suffering as a result. This happens as well, and you`d better learn to deal with it. This I did by going back to the cashier one last time, I swear, for another $1000. $4000 is my limit for this week in Chicago. I still need enough cash to catch some live jazz and the film festival is on, which suits my budget perfectly. The last $1000 was used in pot limit poker with a maximum buy-in of $1000.
I managed to whittle that down to $515, following the simple money-is-flammable philosophy that has served me so well for the last 48 hours. See, poker has a lot to do with state of mind, and a positive attitude where you expect good outcomes is far more valuable than the lack of confidence that can overwhelm any poker player. It is this feeling where you wait as you would for the executioner, all-in and way ahead but knowing that the turn or river will come to get you. Do not play if you have this attitude, because you might as well take out your wallet and burn your cash for the hell of it. With $515 and AQ of diamonds in my hand I bet the pot from middle position, but it was only $50 at the time. The button called, and the small blind re-raised $150. I like even numbers, and would rather be down $4000 than $3650 so I called, as did the button. The flop came Ah - Kd - Th, the small blind checked, and I promptly bet my maximum, which was all-in. I figured the small blind had JJ, QQ, 99 or some other miserable hand, which he would feel compelled to call with. Instead the button called! The small blind folded quietly. The button turned over Kh - 9h. It`s a typical pot-limit situation. Totting up the outs we might even find that our foe is a slight favorite, but you hate to lose any hand to K9 suited; a hand designed for morons in the first place.
He had a lot of outs, and was there for his nut flush. For once, I am proud to report it did not get there, and I wept with joy as my balance was restored to $1500+. That`s my position as I type, down only $2,500 and life feels good. I guess if you met a one-eyed man who was complaining about his condition you could poke out his one eye as a life lesson about how things could always be worse. Sure -$2.5k hurts, but not nearly as bad as -$4k, which was but a "heart-beat", awful pun but forgivable I reckon, away...
Posted by: Marc Weinberg at 20:43
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