Mr. Sit-on-the-fence

So I lost last night, continuing a very mediocre little run. I’ve only won $101 over the last seven days. Even though I feel I haven’t played much, I still have 20 hours in that past week. Not totally sure how to feel about that as a week’s return; I have run… not bad, but certainly not good, and still have $5 an hour. At my stake level that is nothing to be concerned about at all.

I’m not sure I was in particularly good games last night; I faced a few more troublesome large bets or raises than I would have liked. I don’t think either game warranted leaving - I was sure I would be able to trap one of the bet-happy players, and had a bead on the other’s game - but I have been reflecting today on that flipside of game selection. I believe I am good at only sitting in games that (I think) are good; but I can’t recall the last time I left a table when it either went bad, or proved to be much worse than I had thought in the first place.

Somebody quoted the esteemed Tommy Angelo on this in their latest post: "Game selection to me is not so much about getting in games when I have way the best of it as it is about getting out of games when I don't."

On the other hand (sheesh, I am Mister Sit-on-the-fence today), given that I play the lowest rung of Pot Limit Omaha I often think I should be more prepared to face off against some of the stronger players from time to time, or how else will I improve? I don’t want to play $50 max buy-in game forever, bankroll permitting. Actually, bankroll is the key issue there; the swings against stronger players will be far greater than what I currently experience, so the bankroll will need to be dramatically bigger before I consider playing any higher.

One small benefit of my site’s frustrating crash last night was that I ended up devoting some time to reading the Bob Ciaffone book I bought on Monday. ‘Improve Your Poker’ is the one, and I must say it is really, really good. There is loads to chew on, and Ciaffone is not without a sense of humour - his comments on the standard recommendations for required bankroll made me laugh out loud. I would highly recommend this book to just about any poker player, especially since it will be of interest whether you play limit or big-bet, Hold ‘Em or Omaha, cash or tournaments.

I tend to agree with Ciaffone’s approach to most poker issues, in particular his preferred table image and thoughts on bluffing and advertising, but I don’t think that is why I like his writing so much. I simply find that he discusses ideas that I don’t see elsewhere, and articulates them well. One passage in the book made me realise something quite significant about the way my table image in my PLO games may be somewhat different to the reality of how I play.

Moving on into real life, I weighed myself last night and was surprised to find I have gained lately. Virtually twelve stone now. I’m off to see ‘The Corporation’ tonight with my brother. May as well see an anti-corporate movie on the day that USA inc. re-elected their objectionable chief executive.

Personal content in poker blogs? Boy Genius might have a rival in Daniel Negreanu, who has finally got a journal up and running on his site. Hell, I only wish I were as ‘busy’ as poor old Daniel!