Feed my Frankenstein

I think I am becoming a monster 25/NL poker player. None of this mean anything of course but it is fun. I have been on a good heater at Full Tilt lately.

I am so glad that MiamiDon suggested I play cash. I honestly had no desire to be a cash player before he sat me down and got me straightened out. He got me back to the fundementals of grinding out poker wins day after day and week after week. I also pretty much refuse to get stacked with TPTK or Overpair unless I have a damn solid read. He also told me to come over to Full Tilt where the players are "better". I think the players at my level are more aggressive but I am not sure that means better. Lately he has been like "Come on play a token", and I have been "Nah I am playing cash".

Two plays I took from the book of DA last night. I actually do remember what I read. In essence what DA said was in big stack poker it sometimes is the right move to call a draw if you are SURE that your hand is fairly well disguised and that the guy will pay you his stack.

I did this twice last night. One time I am sitting on TJ s00ted. I get a 1$ raise after me and decide to play the hand. Apparently it is even better than AKo. Anyway the flop gives me an OESD. There were three people in the hand. The initial aggressor bets $2 into the pot. My first thought is this guy has a big hand. Overpair or something like that. My second thought is I can call a $2 bet to get over $20 that he has behind. I know this sounds much more impressive when DA is talking about 2-3K stacks but stay with me people. So I turn my OESD. I actually hit the 8 I needed and there was a flush draw on the board. Just a draw not made. So I thought my hand was reasonable disguised. I also KNEW this guy was not folding. So instead of value betting or any crap like that I push on a slightly scary board and I KNOW he is going to call me. It does not fail and I stack him. He berates me for the next few minutes which is just a bonus. HOW COULD YOU CALL THAT PRE-FLOP! HOW COULD YOU CALL THE FLOP BET! Well Sir I invested $3 to win over $20. I stacked you. I did good.

I did this once more when I called a pre-flop raise with 79h. Different guy. Same result. Actually this time he bet a really low amount on the flop. Trying to trap me. I had a gutshot draw and was willing to dump if I did not make my straight on the turn. I again had a read on the guy that if I did make my hand he would never put me on it and he would pay me off. I again made my straight and pushed my entire stack in. I also again got paid. Twice. Once by his stack and once by his berating of me in the chat! I was laughing so hard I think I blew boogers out my nose. My notes on him btw: Next time you have a flopped monster cold call him again. He will put you on a draw and you can stack him again. History is your friend. Use it.

I may be butchering the concept here.. but If you know your opponent can not fold and your hand is well disguised it may be worth it to call of a couple bucks to stack him. Think of the big picture. If your playing a tight guy and he will not call your big bets then you need to be more cautious. If your not going to get paid for these hands then it is not worth trying to hit them. I am terrible at reading flops. I get pushed off alot of hands because of this. However I am good at psychological warfare and when I know for a fact what your going to do when I do something you are mine.

I am sure as I move up levels I will need to adapt my style more but for now I am enjoying myself. I am taking parts of alot of peoples games and incorporating them into my style. Until then I will enjoy the rush. I have practically trippled my initial deposit to Full Tilt in the past three days. I think I will take a peek into the 50/NL waters soon. Let the bankroll grow a little more at 25/NL and then see if the 50/NL guys play any differently.