Limiting The Losses, or: Fear Is My Friend

I've been on another downward slide the past few weeks, and I really had no clue what was going on. I thought I was playing fairly well, but my results certainly wasn't bearing it out. I know I was playing at limits that were a little too big for my 'roll, but even that wouldn't account for the precipitous decline in my bankroll . So what was/is the problem?

To be honest, I think it was a combination of things, including slightly looser play than optimal, some sustained periods of just plain running bad, and..... playing limit poker. Yes, you read that right. I'm becoming more and more convinced lately that, while I know how to play limit fairly well, it's just not the best place for me to be spending my seat time, especially at the low levels my bankroll dictates I need to play at. The players in the micro stakes are a weird combination of a) half too good to make a decent wage against; and b)half too goofy/bad/donkey-like that I can't get a read on them. (yes, I know, it's that old adage: if you don't want to play against bad players, who do you want to play against?) More important, is the fact that you simply can't get the opp to fold in micro-stakes limit, and suck outs are much more common, and when you combine that with running bad, you have the recipe for big swings.

And big swings (for me) often leads to bug-tilt, which leads to.... well, you get the idea.

In contrast, my NL cash game has been thriving. I played just under 200 hands today at $2 and $5NL 9-handed, and I made a fairly easy $14.12. The secret was just solid ABC poker. I never really sucked out on anyone. I took one beat, but even in that hand I managed to keep the losses to a minimum. I refused to succumb to FPS (Fancy Play Syndrome), even when I hit middle set on a dry board against three opp. I simply bet my strong hands, c-bet as much as I could, folded to opp strength unless I had a good hand, and tried hard to minimize losses while maximizing wins. That's it; nothing too difficult. In other words, I played the same way I do at limit, but the results were better. The question is: why?

Dunno, really, but lately I'm feeling more and more comfortable at the NL tables than I am at the limit tables. Oddly, I think part of that "comfort" is due to greater fear. I play tighter and definitely am more aware of the game in NL, simply because I can lose an entire buy-in if I screw up. For that reason, I'm focused, am more willing to pass on marginal situations and, in fact, can lay down some pretty big hands. Take this one for instance today, when I was dealt AA in late position and faced two opp:

I was dealt AA on the cut-off in a $5NL. There was a limp of $.05 from UTG and another call in MP. I bumped it up to $.20, the blinds folded, and both previous limpers cold-called my raise. Flop came 7h-8h-Jc. The pot was $.62. It was checked to me, so I pulse bet $.40, but was then check-raised by the UTG player.

The interesting thing was that I folded pretty easily to the shove. Sure, I thought about it for a bit, but that board was simply to scary for me to consider seriously calling the all-in, even with my rockets. If the flop had been a lot drier, it would have been a more difficult decision (two pair and/or a set are a real possibility on even the driest of boards when faced with a check-raise). Top pair just ain't that strong. In limit I'd call down every time (rightly or wrongly) because I'd be getting the right odds to chase. In NL, however, I wasn't getting the right odds.... and, just as importantly, I was simply too scared to make the call. Rewriting Michael Douglas' line from Wall Street: "Fear is good." At least for my poker game, that is...

All-in for now...

-Bug