Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Don’t be a Hater

I have been writing some interesting posts lately about doing things outside of the normal thinking box. I guess in some ways it appeases my gamboooler nature. At every turn I have been faced with the lame ass stock answer of “Why not play Red 17”. Well screw you. Get off your high horses and join the dark side. Luke liked the little taste he got. Even though that wussy went back to the good side.

If I played Red 17 on the roulette wheel, or played a slot machine, I would have A LOT less chance of winning than playing Titan 5/10 with fifty bucks. I have some short term data that suggests I can do this well. I have had many sessions where I have bought in short, ran it up, and took my winnings and left. I am playing within my bankroll. Fifty bucks is well in the range of acceptable loss. The upside is circumventing a week or more of grinding. I do not know what you brainiacs make a night grinding, but normally I will win ¼ to ½ a buyin on a decent night per table. I might also lose anywhere from a few bucks to a buyin.

If I put down my fifty on the 5/10, with the expectation that I MIGHT lose it, I have a chance to make anywhere from 1-3 buyins at my normal 2/4 level easily. So by risking half a buyin I have a chance to buy a weeks worth of grinding time. Not a bad tradeoff.

If you are commenting without experiencing the 5/10 tables at Titan then you have no idea what you are talking about. Some examples of the hands from last night.

I get dealt 77. I raise pre-flop, and an ace hits the board. I assume at this point I am dead but bet out anyways. I have some tool that called my pre-flop raise with 94o call me all the way down to the river because he caught his 4. Now this is not the best example because I probably needed to fold, but daaaaamn, how can you lose?

Couple hands later. I get dealt pocket jacks and two people call my pre-flop raise. The flop is a very not scary Jxx rainbow board with no straight draws. So I cold call the first guys bet. We have three players at this time. The turn makes a flush possible as most turns do, so I raise the initial better and he re-raises me, so we end up capped. The middle guy is STILL in the pot. The first guy gets wise and just calls my river bet. BOTH GUYS are in on my river bet. The first guy, who was somewhat smart, turns over AJ. Ok. I can see that. The other guy turns over ATo drawing dead to an Ace.

The passivity and just bad poker play at these tables is AMAZING. If you are basing any of your opinions on 5/10 play you have seen at other sites please at least view a table for 10-15 minutes.

So just to recap:

Upside
1. Not Risking Much
2. Possible Large Gains
3. Staying in my Bankroll

Downside
1. Can not maximize my winnings on a monster until I win a few hands
2. I absolutely need to win some pots in 10 orbits, probably less. This does not bother me much as I have rarely seen ten orbits of unplayable hands.
3. If I get one suckout it is over.

It kind of amazes me how much I get the same answers when I bring these things up. I think people get indoctrinated into “The Way” of winning at Poker. While I agree grinding is a tried and true method it is not the only way to grow a bankroll. Using different methods to accelerate the process is not always a bad idea. Throwing your whole bankroll on one table would be bad, but taking calculated, minimal, risks is not.

What is there to lose? Why the hell would you not want to do this? ESPECIALLY if you have had some success at it. It is not like I am taking a $100 bankroll and trying this out. I have a $1400 bankroll and the $50 does not even make it sneeze. I have had a perfect winning record at playing short at higher stakes on Titan over a VERY short sample size. I know I will not always win. I can accept that. The times I win though more than make up for it. So for now I will keep mixing it up. Playing some MTTs. Grinding. Taking shots at the 5/10 tables for minimal buyins. Up over $1400 in a little over a month. Something is working. So Don’t be a Hater!

9 Comments:

Blogger TraumaPoker said...

I am with you man. Sometimes you need to travel the road that no one else wants to go down. I play BJ on Party sometimes like we talked about last night....who gives a shit. Call it -EV all you want sometimes I want to gamble and sometimes I want to grind. Sitting with $50 and 5/10 is the same as sitting short and a NL game and waiting for a hand to jam with, people do that all the time but no one every calls them crazy.

9:26 AM

 
Blogger MaxSquat said...

Hey why not? I do the same thing when I play Omaha.. Of course it sucks though when you get a great hand but cant put any more money in the pot...if it works...keep it up...is this what you normally do to build up your bankroll?

12:13 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You can lose that 50 dollars in your first hand at 5/10. If you take that same 50 dollars to lower limits such as 1/2, you have a way better chance of coming out ahead in the LONG run. You have been successful lately playing above your limits, but like you said, VERY small sample size. Eventually you will go broke with this method. So, with that, what is your goal? To keep doing this throughout your poker playing career? Or to hit a number, say 3k, then play within your limits? That is what I think determines whether this is an o.k. idea or a bad idea. You know this Sir, long run it won't work. Short term, gamble it up, stop and rebuild when you lose too much, stop when you win enough. Repeat. Are you disciplined enough to do that? I don't think so. I know I'm not.

ChiefBigtoke

6:24 PM

 
Blogger Heafy said...

Anyone can tell you that buying in with only 5BB might not be optimal strategy - but you seem well aware of the pros and cons of such a venture so why the hell not?
Thats the beauty of poker, there is no such thing as a perfect guaranteed strategy - any strategy can work if you apply it correctly.

8:16 PM

 
Blogger Human Head said...

This plan definitely seems to suit your style, Sir. I think you'll do well with it as long as when you lose that buy-in (which, of course, is bound to happen eventually) you stay strong and close up shop for the night instead of a mini-tilt and a rebuy :)

6:33 AM

 
Blogger Unknown said...

How many bankrolls have you gone through?

Its your money, but don't defend/preach your way of play as being profitable.

Its no better then sitting at a video poker machine no matter how bad the players are at the table.

6:35 AM

 
Blogger MaxSquat said...

eh eh eh....the title of the post is "Don't be a Hater"...still "everyone" posts a "hate" comment...

8:29 AM

 
Blogger MaxSquat said...

...off the point....I couldnt find your email address....pop me an email at MaxSquat2000@yahoo.com and we'll talk about Omaha 8

12:25 PM

 
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2:19 PM

 

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