A much needed update

Wow, there’s so much to write about!  I’m still grinding, working on building my bankroll.  $8/$16 is becoming less ominous, more familiar, and dare I say, easy?  I left Diamond Lil’s today with well over $1000; I felt more than a little uncomfortable carrying that much money out of a casino in a less than desirable part of town.  It’s kind of interesting; I had expected that $8/$16 would be a lot more difficult.  I had expected to have to make a lot more adjustments to style based on the players.  But for the past few weeks, I’ve found that playing more or less “by the book” has been the best strategy.  It’s easier to figure out who the good players are, and just be careful to choose my battles; focus my energy and chips on people who don’t play well, and I tend to do well.

I feel like limit Texas Hold’em has become pretty standard; I know the statistics really well, and I know pretty well when it’s appropriate to draw.  I’m surprised less and less by difficult decisions.  It seems like the decisions are pretty standard – pretty easy right now.

That’s not to say I’m good; I’m better than average, but I know so many ways that I’m weak and need to improve.  But I’m still in the beginning phases, where I’m building my bankroll and trying to move up the ranks.

There’s another player at Diamond Lil’s who I respect, and feel is also a better than average player.  He seems to be good enough that he could be playing at the $20/$40 tables, so I asked him today why he doesn’t play there.  His answer wasn’t a big surprise – the best players in the house are at the $20/$40 tables, so why not focus his energy on lesser players at the $8/$16 tables where there’s more dead money?  It made a lot of sense.

I feel like I need to play at the $20/$40 tables eventually – but I need to build up a significantly larger bankroll first.  In so many ways the $8/$16 game isn’t that much different from the $3/$6 or $4/$8 tables I’m used to playing at.  The players, on average, don’t seem to be that much better, and when I do encounter another player who is better than average they’re easy to identify.

I’m working on my tournament skills.  Tournament poker is so different from the grind of cash games.  In a cash game I can always dig back into my bankroll for another buy-in, but in a tournament you usually get only one chance.  So you have to time your moves and aggression just right.  I’ve been reading one of the Two Plus Two books:  “Tournament Poker for Advanced Players” by David Sklansky.  Sklansky is one of my favorite poker authors, and I can easily recommend any book published by Two Plus Two.  In “Tournament Poker,” Sklansky really clarifies some of the tournament concepts well.  Some of the concepts require that the other players are better on average, but this book has also been very helpful for the small tournaments I play in around the Seattle area.

I’m proud to say that I won the tournament last week at The Caribbean.  I’m starting to make the final table on a regular basis, and outplaying many of my opponents – to my surprise.

I’m not bragging; I know I have an awful lot to learn, and I’m anxious to read and practice as much as I can.  I am looking forward to entering the Women’s Event at the 2009 WSOP – I think if I can keep reading and practicing and playing and preparing, I might actually have a chance to cash.