A Shift in Strategy

It has been quite a week. The day after I played live last week I played a session on Stars that could have big implications for the way I play going into the future. It started out well but I quickly got behind a couple of buy-ins. From there I played way over aggressively. I won some big pots but ended up donking a few more buy-ins off. I was on tilt in a way, but at the same time something started to click for me. One of my biggest leaks has been my passive play when I know I am ahead or have a very good hand. I often underplay hands instead of being very aggressive with them, especially on the flop and turn. Fundamentally, I have not changed my style a great deal in terms of starting hands or how I play them preflop except I am slighty more aggressive the more limpers there are in the hand. This is doing two things. Raising out players and isolating, and more importantly increasing the pot size post flop. That is something I have been negligent on in the past. It allows a larger post flop bet from me if the cards fall correctly. It gives me more options in bet sizing thru all the streets. It can make an opposing player feel more committed to the hand and more likely to call me down light or conversely bail out without trying to come over top of me. If they do come over the top, it makes it much more likely they are holding a big hand than in the past when I might have been acting too weak with a good but not great hand. I know for a fact I have been bluffed off a ton of pots in the past year. This will hopefully not continue to the extent that it had.

The results this week since that point have been nothing short of terrific. I have been winning at a rate that I have not won at since moving up to the 100nl tables. Whether that continues or not time will tell. I have definately run hot this week, and most of my hands have held up. I was able to finally make a withdrawal that is 41 days late but had looked to be much later. My next cashout is due on the 1st of February. That gives me 20 days; so I have a shot at making that deadline and getting back on track.

One other move I have made that should have a positive impact on my game is the recent purchase of pokertracker software. I have meant to get this for about two years. So, really it is about time! This software will allow me to better track not only my results but my opponents as well. The theory is that will allow me to make better decisions against common opponents.

So, all in all, I have been able to really focus on making improvements to my game and so far the impact has been positive. I hope that continues. Again, no 2008 goals as yet, but hopefully by the next post.