The title is what did me in Friday night, a card that killed off the last of my stack and sent me packing for the night, determined not to dig into my bankroll for just a little more.
It was a night that had gone mostly uneventfully. Once again, I was tackling th $6/$12 tables, and once again, not making a move in either direction. I’d get up a little, get down a little, but really go nowhere fast. It was a night when the cards were running slow, where the blinds chipped away at my stack, where the few pairs I saw never made a set, and where wins were few and far between. To put a specific number on that, I pulled in just 8 pots in more than 6 hours of play, well below what I’ve found to be a winning average of 2 pots per hour.
That last hand, I was down to about a stack (30 chips) and was actually thinking about just picking up and going home. I had a morning softball game and it was already past midnight. The blinds were approaching and I picked up AK. Naturally, I raised. Just as naturally, both the blinds and everyone who had limped in called the raise, 5 or 6 players total.
The flop came KQx. Interestingly, it was bet to me, and I raised. That knocked out about half the field, leaving 3 players. The turn came blank an I fired in my last chips. The river paired the queen and I found that a calling station had stayed with queen-rag to get trip queens on the river.
That got me pondering about the nature of the $6/$12 game at this card club as I’ve experienced it. But first, a few facts.
My bankroll is stll up for the year. My play at the $6/$12 tables, however, has been wildly erratic. I’ve played 24 times for a total of 131 hours. I’ve left a winner 12 times and a loser 12 times, but the losses overall have been greater.
The club typically spreads 5 levels of Hold Em: $1/$2, $2/$4, $3/$6, $6/$12, and $15/$30. It adds $30/$60 on weekend nights. I cut my teeth coming up through the ranks, but have hit a bi of a plateau at the $6/$12 level.
I think my coming up mirrors what a lot of poker players have done. Many also stay at the lower levels, content to enjoy the play there. But then there are the gamblers. For them, the lower limits are boring. Yet $15/$30 gets to be a bit rich. Plopping down a $100 bill at a $6/$12 table is just perfect for a little action.
Now don’t get me wrong. Many gamblers–note the distinction between “gambler” and “poker player”–know how to play poker. Heck, it’s just throwing money in the pot.
But 3 or 4 of them at a poker table, however, and strategy seems to go right out the window. Part of my own plateau is that I’ve not found a strategy that works in this situation.
Withone or even two at a table, good, solid, patient play will eventually work. Add one or two more, and the odds seem to be catching up. Even the best hands have reduced odds of winning with multiple people calling.
And here’s one thing that I’ve noticed when a table is overloaded with gamblers and a the bet is raised before the flop: not only will the blinds call the raise, but anyone who has limped in will also call. A raise almost never makes anyone with any money already in fold.
Gamblers want to see flops.
Then, if the flop has any piece of their hand, gamplers will stay in.
And here’s the key: If the turn or the river make’s a gambler’s hand, they are usually smart enough to raise any bet or to bet out if it’s checked to them or they are first.
Gamblers, however, rarely raise pre-flop, nor do they usually raise on the flop when they make strong hands, such as a set.
I have raised with good hands and have had poker players fold. Gamblers, however, take it in stride and simply throw more chips in. There’s a pretty reliable tell here: A poker player will usually hesitate pre-flop when raised. A gambler won’t.
The gamblers seem to settle at the $6/$12 tables. I’ve yet to formulate a strategy to deal with the situation long term. In the meantime, I think I’m going to scale back to $3/$6 games for awhile and get my game back in order.