Random stuff

Nothing too specific for this post, but a few things I've been thinking/doing/planning. I played the big tournaments on Stars on Sunday and despite having a few stacks wasn't able to do much. Had 3 cashes but nothing major breaking a two week streak of positive Sundays (doesn't sound like much but the way they'd been going for the last few months it felt pretty sweet :) ). Fun hand of the day was on the exact bubble of the 109r, where I was pretty short. Someone opened in early position and I jammed KK for about 10bb. He calls KJo and that's it for me after a TQQAx board. Luckily someone shorter than me busted the same hand so I got the mincash!

I've also been looking to learn a new game recently. I started playing PLO in December and while I've really enjoyed that, I find the big bet games somewhat stressful...so when I just want to play a table or two while I watch some tv, I've been playing a little bit of 2-7 triple draw. For those who don't know how to play, basically everyone is dealt 5 cards and there are 3 draws (hence the name) with fixed betting rounds before and after each one. So in a 1-2 game, you can bet or raise $1 before and after the first draw, $2 after the second and third. Unlike most games, the worst hand wins, so 23457 is the best possible hand (people also seem to call it the wheel and number 1) and straights, flushes and pairs count against you.

For people who find they're stagnating a bit in poker, I really recommend trying to learn a new game. You'll take a bit of a pay cut (either from playing lower stakes or from getting crushed at your regular stakes) but it can really help you improve as a poker player and gives you more games to choose from as well. Playing PLO has definitely made me rethink some situations in NLH and made me a stronger player. I might make a longer post about that later, but wanted to talk a bit about a really cool situation/play from the 2-7 triple draw section of Super System 2 (incidentally written by fellow Canadian and Team PS Pro Daniel Negreanu).

The situation is this: You're in position, your opponent has bet after the first draw and you call. He stands pat and you draw one. Now when he stands pat you can put him on either a monster (made 7 or strong 8) or a more marginal hand (like a weak 8, 9 or maybe even T low). You draw your one and make something like 87542 and your opponent bets. You may be ahead more than 50% of the time, but that doesn't necessarily mean you want to raise. First, if he has a monster you'd obviously prefer to call, so let's look at times he has the weaker made hands. If you raise, he'll likely fold the worst of his hands but may call and draw with something like 97532. When he calls and draws, you get an extra bet in good, but he has 10 outs to beat you or roughly 25% of the deck. If you call on the other hand he's likely to pat (not draw) to his hand because he thinks you're still drawing. So while you miss the one extra bet (which you may get on the river anyways), you go from a 3:1 favourite to win the pot, to winning it EVERY time.

It's spots like these that really make you rethink your general poker outlook. It's so easy to get into the robotic "raise because I probably have the best hand" when that can often be a huge mistake. Focusing more on the reasons behind a bet/raise/check/call will really help make you a better player, and learning/playing new games forces you to do just that.

That ended up being much longer/rambling than I'd expected but hopefully the gist of it is still good. As for my plans for the week, I've been helping out with my old high school's badminton team and they have the Eastern Ontario Championships on Wednesday, so I'm looking forward to that. Unfortunately it involves waking up ~6am and driving 2.5 hours, not so much looking forward to that part...Other than that, play some more PLO and then tournaments on Sunday. I've been playing 1/2 since December and am planning on taking some shots at 2/4 sometime soon, hopefully that goes well.

Steve