Limited Limits

A lot of books, articles, and advice from professional players advise that you should play at the correct limits commensurate with: a) your abilities; and b) your bankroll. The latter factor is easy for most of us to understand. The swings inherent to this crazy game make it obvious that you need enough dough in your ‘roll to weather the occasional prolonged losing streak. If you play $50 SnG’s, for example, and your bankroll is only $200, you are more than likely to go broke. All it takes is a few losses in a row and suddenly you’re on the rail, looking in.

The other factor (playing at the limits that are commensurate with your abilities), however, is a little more subtle to understand. Sure, you cannot expect to jump into a $40/80 game if the sum total of your experience is kitchen table poker and the occasional trip to the casino to play $2/4 limit. Unless you’re a skilled player, the sharks at the higher limits will eat you alive, period. Most people understand this concept, but what a lot of folks don’t get is that playing at limits too low for your abilities can be bad, too.

I’m a solid $5-10 SnG level player. I can do okay at the $20 level, but it’s outside of my comfort zone and my bankroll zone. In other words, I shouldn’t play at that upper limit. Just as importantly, however, I shouldn’t play below $5 either. Unfortunately, though, I often do. Frequently you will find me logged into a $2 (or even $1) game just to get some inexpensive seat time and play some low-stress poker. The bad news is that I rarely, if ever, take my poker playing seriously at those lower limits. Yes, I money a fair bit down at these levels, but I’ve also been accused of “playing silly” at the $1 and $2 tables. In other words, I don’t play good poker and, worse, I reinforce bad habits when I do win.

Take last night as an example. I played a $6 turbo and took first place. It was a tough game and demanded my full attention. As a result, I played (I think) pretty good poker. I made reads on other players, bluffed when appropriate, backed down when I thought I was beat, and basically acted the part of a fox to get into the money. In other words, I worked hard to win the game.

Following the win, I jumped into a $2 turbo... and promptly donked out in fifth place. Why? Because I wasn’t playing my A-game. I opened a chat box while playing, had the internet going in the background, was poking at a chapter of a book I’m writing... and, oh yeah, played a little poker at the same time. Not a good combination. If this had been another $5 or $6 game, I would probably have given it more of my attention, but because it was “only” $2 at stake, I didn’t care as much. As a result, I lost.

I know what the lesson to be learned here is, I'm just not sure if I intend to actually learn it. I understand that I shouldn't play at the low dollar games, but I like them. They're zero stress and fun to play. Maybe I just need to train myself to take them more seriously. Or maybe I should just limit the number of times I play at the lower limits. Sigh.

Okay, enough of that.
I moneyed in 2 of 4 SnG’s yesterday.
24-Hour Bankroll Change: +3.4%
All-in for now...
-Bug