/ Matthew Pitt / 04 February 2011 / Leave a comment
As a reader of many poker forum posts each week I frequently see new members posting their hand histories from micro-stakes games asking how is it possible to beat the fish who will call you with raggedy hands regardless of the action before them. The most common tongue-in-cheek response is to move up in stakes where the players respect your raises. Although this is completely wrong as if you cannot defeat the fish you are not going to be able to beat the better players found in higher stakes games, it seems to have worked for me!
If you read my previous post you will have discovered that I have been playing the dizzy heights of NL50 after realising that playing for any lower was basically pointless and a waste of my time and effort. For as long as I can remember fellow blogger and poker player Amatay has been telling me to ditch the micro-stakes and play much higher but I have always held back for one reason or another but now I am glad I have grown a pair and tested the, apparently, shark infested waters.
At time of writing I have played 3,076 hands and I am in profit by €87.76 for a win rate of 5.72bb/100, more than adequate for anyone, especially a newcomer to this level. My profits should be much higher too, €192.28 to be exact, but we all know that I run like dog turn when I am all in with the best hand but what I am most impressed with has been my discipline and lack of tilt when matters have not been going the way I would have wanted them to. By hand 1,500 I was down more than €110 and the old Yorkshire Pudding would have completely given up, withdrawn his bankroll and moaned to all and sundry. However, this new me simply kept playing, albeit over no more than two tables simultaneously, as I know I am better than most of the players, if not all of them, that I have come up against so far.
Concentrating on just two tables has allowed me to actually play some poker and take so many pots without a showdown that it is almost criminal! I have actually managed to win €81 of the €86 without showing down my holecards, which goes to show how badly I am running when I do have to showdown cards. The standard of players is obviously better than those I have come across at NL10 but only because they are more aggressive but aggression does not always equal skill. In fact some of these players just love to go broke with top pair and some are so transparent in their betting that they are essentially giving away their money to anyone observant enough to spot their tells.
One of the aspects of poker I have always struggled with is the money side of things, which is a big hindrance as money is what we use to keep score in this crazy game. I'm not sure if it is because I have always worked for my money so know its value or what but I have always found it difficult to disassociate the monetary value of my chips and view them as simply that, chips. For some reason moving up seems to have helped me do this, strange I know, but I've not thought about the money side of things for at least the past 2,500 hands. The only time I had previously was when I went with my gut instinct and moved all in with pocket jacks over the top of a turn bet on a board reading Qc-3c-8d-Qc only to see I was completely wrong and the villain held 8c8h for a flopped set and turned boat. At this point I thought that the €54.29 could have been better used but then I realised that if I had have been correct and won the hand then I would not be moaning about it. I must admit though that the old heart gets pumping when I find myself all in or running a big bluff!
My confidence is sky high at the moment but I need to be careful not to get carried away as it is very early days at my new level. I'll leave you with the biggest pot I have won so far, not surprising that I held aces, and the biggest pot I have lost so far too against an aptly-named "fish cun-t".
Until next time, thanks for reading and the very best of luck at the tables!
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