|
Long term vs. short term
There comes a time in any career where a person ahs a \'breakthrough\'. I just had mine, and I think it\'s worth sharing.
I\'ve been playing poker \'for the rent\' for about 6 months now, and while the rent\'s been getting paid, it\'s been by the skin of my teeth, if you know what I mean. I have not been getting ahead, just barely treading water. I have been playing No-Limit exclusively, and while Limit Hold\'em is how I built my bankroll to begin with, when I went pro, I left my limit game behind with my old job.
It was fine for a couple months. I was doing decent, steadily progressing, winning a tournament here and there, doing well in cash games, and then IT hit. The Streak. Sure, I was warned about it. All the top players write about how Streaks are inevitable. Well, it happened, right when I needed it NOT to. After a month of zero tournament profits and negative cash game returns, my formerly healthy bankroll was depleted to just below survival-level. What did I do? Played more. And lost more. And played more. And lost more.
Was there anything wrong with my poker decisions? Not when The Streak started. But by the time I was halfway into it, I couldn\'t play the odds anymore - I was desperate, trying to MAKE something happen, bluffing when I shouldn\'t, calling with second-best hands on the river, and afraid to waste money on draws when the odds were hugely in my favor.
I finally decided to sit back, analyze where my game was, where my head was, and where my bankroll was. Not pretty, none of \'em. My bankroll dictated that I should be playing limit poker again. There was simply no way I could handle the swing of another 2 or 3 bad sessions; I\'d have been flat busted. Problem was, limit poker wouldn\'t pay the bills at the limits I should be playing at. Job time? Close, very close.
Ah, but the shame of it...I couldn\'t bear crawling back into my industry, no way, wasn\'t gonna do it. So, I decided I would NOT decide, not yet. I would play limit poker again, where I knew I could expect a consistent profit, albeit a small one, and I would decide what I needed to do when I had at least a little confidence back. The desperate decision days had to end.
A few sessions into it, I\'m right back on track. And I remembered something, I actually LIKE limit poker, not because it\'s a better game (it isn\'t), but because it PAYS so well. And when you need MONEY, this is a good thing.
So, I take a look at my bankroll - just a little bigger, not much, but the bleeding has stopped. I looked at my finances. I was going to be behind for a few weeks. Sure, I could go play a NL game and catch up in a few hours if I got lucky, or I could bite the bullet, play limit, and put off gratification for a while. I took option 2.
Viola! I\'m back in the game. Caught up on finances, winning again, feeling better about myself, and optimistic about the road ahead.
Here\'s what I learned:
1. No-Limit is a LONG term game, not a short term game. The variance (swing) is too high to play NL for a living unless you can literally afford several weeks of losing LOTS of money.
2. Limit is a SHORT term game. When you hit a bad run, it will hurt less, much less, than No-Limit, and you can count on SMALL but consistent short term rewards for solid play.
3. I enjoy winning more than I enjoy saying \'I only play no-limit\'.
4. To win $1,000 at No-limit, you might have to risk $500 in one hand. To win $1,000 in limit, you might never have to risk more than $100 in one hand.
4. $1,000 won in a Limit game over 8 hours is just as spendable as $1,000 dollars won in a No-Limit game in one pot.
5. 10 losses in a row at limit can cost you 20% of your bankroll. 10 in a row in No-Limit can make you go look for a job.
I still love No-Limit. It will always be my #1 game, and I will be back at it soon enough. But for now, I\'m going to take the consistent profit per hour of limit poker, and I will be sure to have a much bigger bankroll when I move back to playing No-Limit exclusively.
Hope this helps someone in a similar dilemna!
-Rake
\"If you can\'t spot the sucker....\"
|