Low Limit Games, Article 1
Low Limit Texas Hold 'em Games
“The Average Joe.”
by John L. Beath
Big wins can quickly be turned into big loses if you get greedy. Early last July I learned this simple, but valuable lesson the hard way. With nothing better to do on a semi-rainy Friday night I went to my favorite card room, the Tulalip Casino in Marysville Washington. Friday nights are always the busiest here, and offer lots of action ranging from 3/6 to no limit games with a buy in of $100 or $200. After entering the smoke free card room I noticed the waiting board was jammed with names, especially for my normal 4/8 game. The card room host put my name on several games and convinced me to sign up for a 6/12 game that would soon have an open seat.
Ten minutes after signing up my pager went off, signaling me to check in with the host. Sure enough, they had an open seat for me at the 6/12 game, just in time for me to post a big blind. Dam, what a way to enter a game, with the big blind right in front of me and no feel for the table or its players. I posted the six-dollar big blind and checked my hole cards – an ace of spades and two of spades. Not bad for a big blind hand, but I would have preferred pocket aces of course. Four players called before the flop. I checked without raising, just hoping for a good flop. The flop came Ace, two and four of spades, giving me two pair with a straight draw, flush draw and full house draw. I bet six dollars, the player to my left folded, leaving four players still in the pot. The turn brought a jack of diamonds, no help for the flush or any other draw. I bet $12 and all but one player folded. The remaining head-to-head player raised to $24 followed by my re-raise to $36. The river card brought a nine of hearts, no help to my hand and likely no help to the other player. Instinct and the way the other player stared at the ace on the board told me he had an ace with a high kicker, no more. I bet $12 and was quickly called, but not raised. A check raise would not have worked here because the player’s body language, slumping over, clearly debating with himself if he could win, showed he would have just checked. Betting the $12 added to the pot and helped me figure out exactly where I was with him. When I turned over my two pair, he cussed under his breath and flashed an ace queen.
Within half an hour, I doubled my $150 buy in, playing conservative with the solid players and loosely with the players who did not value their chips. I still had my name on the board for a $100 no limit start up game, something I really wanted to try instead of my usual 3/6 or 4/8 game. Maybe I could play solid and maybe take home more profit. In hindsight I should have stayed in my hot seat at the 6/12, with players I’d already learned a lot about.
At the no limit table the first hand was raised to $30 before the flop with no calls. The next four hands different players, all of whom were young and knew each other, raised $25 to $30 before the flop. Again, nobody called their raises. I was not about to call with horrible hands like seven/deuce or my best hand in the first five hands, a jack/deuce. Either these players had great cards or they liked to steel the $5 big blind and $3 small blind. Most likely they had big hands because it wouldn’t be wise to risk three to four times the pot with nothing in a ten player game.
On the sixth hand somebody finally called the $30 followed by another caller. With $98 in the pot pre flop, the first raiser shrunk a bit in his seat. The flop came ace, ace, queen. The raiser checked, the first caller raised all in followed by two quick folds. We still had not seen any of the young guy’s cards. After that hand nobody respected any raises, and someone always called a raise. The table dynamics went from aggressive stealing of the blinds to loose aggressive, look out action.
Blinds kept eating away at my stack of chips. In early position I peaked at pocket nines, the best hand I’d been dealt at the table. I called the big blind and was raised to $25 by the player on the button. The blinds folded and I called the $25. His raise and my call left us head to head. The flop showed a mix of small rainbow cards. No help to my hand and likely no help to his. After sensing weakness from the heads up player I quickly announced all-in. I sensed weakness only because I’d seen a few of his hands and noticed he liked to play small pairs and he loved his jack/queen starting hand. Knowing this I put him on a draw and risked my pile, hoping he would fold. He waited, pondered and eventually called, thinking he was behind in the hand. When I exposed my pocket nines, he rolled over pocket tens. I had read his weakness but failed to recognize my own weakness – don’t go all in against players who don’t respect their chips against someone who hasn’t even played a hand yet. He sighed with relief and I sighed in disbelief. How could he have called an all in bet with pocket tens and no help on the board?
Back to the wallet, to fish out another $100 to rejoin the game. Again, the blinds ate away at my pile. I just couldn’t get any starting cards worth playing against $25 to $30 wild raises and calls. Blinds and two more close loses with pairs beaten by the next biggest pair soon left me with few chips. Back to the wallet for another $80 to keep me at $100 worth of chips. I knew better than to have a short stack in case I get a good starting hand. As I peaked at my cards out of the small blind, I saw a beautiful ace and nine. Not great cards, but better than I had been dealt in awhile. I raised to $20 and got just one caller pre flop. Finally, heads up with an ace. The flop came ten, ten, ace. The other player, who lit up like a 1,000-watt bulb, announced all in. I quickly folded to tens full of aces.
My last hand, before leaving the casino, left me with an Ace Queen. I raised before the flop, everyone got out except the guy who flopped a full house on me the previous hand. The flop came a mix of small rainbow cards. I went all in with just $80 left. The guy called me, flipped over a king queen off suit? What was he thinking? I flipped my Ace/Queen to his dismay. The river paired him with kings. Dam!
I had lost my winnings from the 6/12 game and the winnings from a tournament the previous Thursday. This is what they call riding the waves of poker. It does hurt when I do not win. I have grown accustomed to winning, usually 4 out of 5 times. I had won twice before playing the Thursday tournament, then at live 3/6 game after the tournament and once more at the 6/12 game. That is five out of six wins if you count each game as a session.
My lesson: Do not count trips to the casino in your win/lose ratio, count each table you play at as a session. That, my friends, will help when calculating when your luck runs out. Alternatively, I should have stuck to my usual rule of cashing in after doubling my stake.
Greed won out again, along with the mathematical odds that a player's luck and skill wave must eventually fall from its peak. Poker is no different than throwing a ball in the air. Eventually it will fall – the trick is learning to throw it higher and then catch it before it hits the ground.
Big wins can quickly be turned into big loses if you get greedy. Early last July I learned this simple, but valuable lesson the hard way. With nothing better to do on a semi-rainy Friday night I went to my favorite card room, the Tulalip Casino in Marysville Washington. Friday nights are always the busiest here, and offer lots of action ranging from 3/6 to no limit games with a buy in of $100 or $200. After entering the smoke free card room I noticed the waiting board was jammed with names, especially for my normal 4/8 game. The card room host put my name on several games and convinced me to sign up for a 6/12 game that would soon have an open seat.
Ten minutes after signing up my pager went off, signaling me to check in with the host. Sure enough, they had an open seat for me at the 6/12 game, just in time for me to post a big blind. Dam, what a way to enter a game, with the big blind right in front of me and no feel for the table or its players. I posted the six-dollar big blind and checked my hole cards – an ace of spades and two of spades. Not bad for a big blind hand, but I would have preferred pocket aces of course. Four players called before the flop. I checked without raising, just hoping for a good flop. The flop came Ace, two and four of spades, giving me two pair with a straight draw, flush draw and full house draw. I bet six dollars, the player to my left folded, leaving four players still in the pot. The turn brought a jack of diamonds, no help for the flush or any other draw. I bet $12 and all but one player folded. The remaining head-to-head player raised to $24 followed by my re-raise to $36. The river card brought a nine of hearts, no help to my hand and likely no help to the other player. Instinct and the way the other player stared at the ace on the board told me he had an ace with a high kicker, no more. I bet $12 and was quickly called, but not raised. A check raise would not have worked here because the player’s body language, slumping over, clearly debating with himself if he could win, showed he would have just checked. Betting the $12 added to the pot and helped me figure out exactly where I was with him. When I turned over my two pair, he cussed under his breath and flashed an ace queen.
Within half an hour, I doubled my $150 buy in, playing conservative with the solid players and loosely with the players who did not value their chips. I still had my name on the board for a $100 no limit start up game, something I really wanted to try instead of my usual 3/6 or 4/8 game. Maybe I could play solid and maybe take home more profit. In hindsight I should have stayed in my hot seat at the 6/12, with players I’d already learned a lot about.
At the no limit table the first hand was raised to $30 before the flop with no calls. The next four hands different players, all of whom were young and knew each other, raised $25 to $30 before the flop. Again, nobody called their raises. I was not about to call with horrible hands like seven/deuce or my best hand in the first five hands, a jack/deuce. Either these players had great cards or they liked to steel the $5 big blind and $3 small blind. Most likely they had big hands because it wouldn’t be wise to risk three to four times the pot with nothing in a ten player game.
On the sixth hand somebody finally called the $30 followed by another caller. With $98 in the pot pre flop, the first raiser shrunk a bit in his seat. The flop came ace, ace, queen. The raiser checked, the first caller raised all in followed by two quick folds. We still had not seen any of the young guy’s cards. After that hand nobody respected any raises, and someone always called a raise. The table dynamics went from aggressive stealing of the blinds to loose aggressive, look out action.
Blinds kept eating away at my stack of chips. In early position I peaked at pocket nines, the best hand I’d been dealt at the table. I called the big blind and was raised to $25 by the player on the button. The blinds folded and I called the $25. His raise and my call left us head to head. The flop showed a mix of small rainbow cards. No help to my hand and likely no help to his. After sensing weakness from the heads up player I quickly announced all-in. I sensed weakness only because I’d seen a few of his hands and noticed he liked to play small pairs and he loved his jack/queen starting hand. Knowing this I put him on a draw and risked my pile, hoping he would fold. He waited, pondered and eventually called, thinking he was behind in the hand. When I exposed my pocket nines, he rolled over pocket tens. I had read his weakness but failed to recognize my own weakness – don’t go all in against players who don’t respect their chips against someone who hasn’t even played a hand yet. He sighed with relief and I sighed in disbelief. How could he have called an all in bet with pocket tens and no help on the board?
Back to the wallet, to fish out another $100 to rejoin the game. Again, the blinds ate away at my pile. I just couldn’t get any starting cards worth playing against $25 to $30 wild raises and calls. Blinds and two more close loses with pairs beaten by the next biggest pair soon left me with few chips. Back to the wallet for another $80 to keep me at $100 worth of chips. I knew better than to have a short stack in case I get a good starting hand. As I peaked at my cards out of the small blind, I saw a beautiful ace and nine. Not great cards, but better than I had been dealt in awhile. I raised to $20 and got just one caller pre flop. Finally, heads up with an ace. The flop came ten, ten, ace. The other player, who lit up like a 1,000-watt bulb, announced all in. I quickly folded to tens full of aces.
My last hand, before leaving the casino, left me with an Ace Queen. I raised before the flop, everyone got out except the guy who flopped a full house on me the previous hand. The flop came a mix of small rainbow cards. I went all in with just $80 left. The guy called me, flipped over a king queen off suit? What was he thinking? I flipped my Ace/Queen to his dismay. The river paired him with kings. Dam!
I had lost my winnings from the 6/12 game and the winnings from a tournament the previous Thursday. This is what they call riding the waves of poker. It does hurt when I do not win. I have grown accustomed to winning, usually 4 out of 5 times. I had won twice before playing the Thursday tournament, then at live 3/6 game after the tournament and once more at the 6/12 game. That is five out of six wins if you count each game as a session.
My lesson: Do not count trips to the casino in your win/lose ratio, count each table you play at as a session. That, my friends, will help when calculating when your luck runs out. Alternatively, I should have stuck to my usual rule of cashing in after doubling my stake.
Greed won out again, along with the mathematical odds that a player's luck and skill wave must eventually fall from its peak. Poker is no different than throwing a ball in the air. Eventually it will fall – the trick is learning to throw it higher and then catch it before it hits the ground.
posted by GoFishMagazine.com | 4:38 PM
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