The Omen

Ok it’s probably not an omen at all but after a tough start last night I checked my Laddys account before logging off and found I made a $66 profit on 6/6/06.

My pokery fun began with some full ring play with Juice at .15-.30 and that was where a few pennies dropped about why I’ve had such a poor week up until now.My last post before my weeks break was “out on a high” after a nice winning week and I think part of my problem was that I came back “on a high” and simply expected my winning run to continue without taking into account the fact that nobody wins every hand no matter how much of a favourite they are when the money goes in.Three steps forward,one back is just the nature of the game and while the number of steps forward and back in one session depend greatly on short term luck we all know that its only playing well which keeps us moving forward in the long run.

Played a $5 turbo mtt to no avail before crashing out early from a $5 sng with Juice and Mr Edge.I had managed to lose $40 at a 6 max table just after that sng and wasn’t looking forward to posting about another losing session today.Jordan mentioned he hates posting if he loses and I hate it too.I think that’s why bad beat stories are so tempting to post.It’s almost like you want to shout “hey I’ve lost but it wasnae ma fault”.

Anyways when Mr Edge and Juice left I was only a few $ up.Apart from the chat with Juice I was actually quite bored at the full ring table and moved straight to a $50 nl 6max table where I have to say I caught lucky to make my profit for the night.

The result of my poor/tilty play has been that I’ve loosened up too much and simply played too many hands and not played them well.I could probably count the number of times I’ve sucked out on someone on one hand over recent months.Ok slight exaggeration but it doesn’t happen very often as I prefer to be the one with the made hand, but last night I donned the drawing donkey ears and called a preflop raise with Q2 sooted,hit trip two’s on the flop and took the stack of Mr Premium Pair who probably still hasn’t stopped cursing.

To top it off I got all in with JJ v KK and AK and hit a Jack on the turn to win another nice pot.I managed to tighten up after these wins and went to bed happy to book a profit and hopefully back to playing a more solid game.( no calling raises with Q2 soooted tonight!).

Something I’ve been meaning to post about since my return is the concept of tight aggressive play.I’m wondering if the parameters for being “tight” are changing or perhaps the 6 max auto rate rules I use ( on Pokertracker) are designed with much higher stakes in mind.I say this because my Vpip % ( Voluntarily put in pot) is usually around 29%-34% at 6 max nl and I’m rated as “Slightly loose” when the table average is usually nearer 45%.Hence the jokes from the other players about “Acorn waking up” when I played hand the other day.

I realise the formula is not just based on Vpip% but my general guide for 6 max $50 nl at Laddys would be as follows :
Rock: Vpip under 25% ,Tight: 26% -35 %,Average : 36%-48%,Slightly loose : 49%-65% , Very loose:65%-80%
Extremely loose ( usually fishy or tilty) : Above 80%.

These figures are just based on my experience.There are plenty of good books and forums around but I’m not sure how many are entirely relevant to $50 6 max nl. I mentioned players folding to my first 6 raises in the $50 sng I played,well that was totally alien to me but I can see how raise or fold poker ( which I keep reading is how I should be aiming to play) works at that level but won’t work at a micro-stakes cash game.

It also strikes me as a bit strange that to be a Tight Aggressive is considered the most profitable poker style yet it doesn’t seem to be the style many players aspire to.I answered Tripjax’s quiz question about who my own favourite player is by answering “Devilfish”,and there’s no way he could be classed as TA.

TA may be a winning style but it's just not very sexy.To be a winning Loose Aggressive player who bets players out of pots by taking them out of their comfort zones,who raises randomly with nothing and who is very hard to put on hand is a far more exciting sounding propostion.We all want to be the instinctual ,feel type player who just “knows” what move to make in every situation and the LA type seems far more like that than the TA.

At the 6 max tables I frequent I would say I am a tight player compared to the table but I’m not such a rock that I wont play drawing hands from good position or even call a raise with not a lot if I feel I will either get the villans stack if I hit or push him off if he doesn’t.I suppose like so many things in poker it “depends” on the situation.

Back tomorrow with a shorter post!