Bad play makes money, worsens bad habits
I was talking to Katie last night when she convinced me to join the Party Poker 10:20pm no limit hold’em tourney. "It’s only $22 and it’s $40,000 guaranteed!"
"I don’t think I have any money in Party", I said.
"I’ll transfer it to you, no sweat," she promised.
So I got logged on, got the transfer, and got seated in my tourney, and promptly donked off all my chips playing my worst game ever. The minimum transfer was $50 though, so as I sat rooting her on, I decided to play a little 7 card stud at Party with the $28 I had left. (I usually practice at Full Tilt)
The lowest game they had was a $.50/$1, which is a level above where I’m currently working. In addition the ante on the game is high, $.25 for every hand, even if you fold it. This was going to be a challenge; I’ve never played a high ante stud game before, how should I adjust when there’s 2 big bets in the pots before the cards even come out?
It turns out I should play my normal game at this level. The poor quality of my opponents means that although playing tight lost me some antes, I often got paid of handsomely with the best hand, even if most of it was showing. As I ran the $28 up to $52, I decided to call it a night.
I went to the Cashier and tried to transfer $50 back to Katie. No go! You have to have a minimum balance of $100 to do a transfer. I returned to the tables since she was still in her tourney and I was committed to watching her finish. Katie made it into the top 500 of a 2,500 person field and went to bed. Shortly after that my stack hit $102 and I also went to bed, after sending her back the $50 she lent me.
Though the players are awful, I have to be careful playing there. Folding was definately a mistake against most players, which is not going to be the case at higher levels. I have to be cautious not to conclude that this style of play is going to work as I move up.
However I think I’m ready to play 7 cad stud in a casino, which is fortunate, since I’ll be in a casino in just a few days…