pstarfish (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} pstarfish) wrote,@ 2005-07-20 12:16:00 |
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Poker in Phoenix
I'm starting to notice a trend. I haven't looked back through my poker logs to prove this, but it seems that every time I travel to play poker for any length of time greater than a couple of days, I kill the games here when I return. Five sessions since returning from the World Series, five nice wins. I'm up almost 30k in the last six days, and I took Sunday off!
I spoke to one of the best players in town about this yesterday. We shared a room in Vegas for much of the Series, and he hasn't had a losing day since returning either. I told him that I think I learn new things to add to my game each trip, and he agreed. But he also pointed out that we were playing higher games (400-800 for much of the trip), and that we just have to play very, very well to win at those levels in Las Vegas. He believes that we get used to playing well because we have to, and that we continue playing at that higher level when we return home. Unfortunately, that level of play is not required to consistently beat the games here, and eventually we revert to playing at a lower level that will still beat the local games.
I agree with his assessment completely. Looking at my starting hands over the last week, I find that I have played fewer hands than normal. I remember throwing away pocket 8's under the gun in an eight handed holdem game a few days ago. This is a strong hand in these games! You just can't play hands like that in big money games against tough players. They are losers in that situation for sure, but my results since returning home indicate that they are probably losers here as well. I'm going to set a goal for myself to try to retain playing a higher level for longer and longer periods after returning from a trip. Obviously, it would be best to play at the highest level 100% of the time, but I like to set attainable goals!
Yes, this post does suggest that poker players in Phoenix are not as talented as those in Las Vegas. I think that is probably also true, but I am really trying to say that players in high limit games are generally tougher. If I were to rate poker players from 1 to 10, with 10 the highest rating, the distribution of ratings in the 75-150 game in Phoenix would be very different from the 400-800 games in Las Vegas. In the Phoenix game, you might well find players that would rate a 9 or a 10, but there will rarely be more than 1 or 2 of them. More importantly, there will often be three or even more players that would rate at 4 or below. A normal game distribution might be:
10 - 1 player
9 - 1 player
7 - 1 player
6 - 1 player
4 - 2 players
3 - 2 players
1 - 1 player
In the 400-800 game in Vegas, it looks more like this:
10 - 1 player
9 - 1 player
7 - 4 players
6 - 1 players
3 - 2 player
With more than half of the table at a 7 or above, you are forced to play much more carefully. Marginal hands just wont work, unless you are sure to be playing against the worst players at the table.
I'm starting to notice a trend. I haven't looked back through my poker logs to prove this, but it seems that every time I travel to play poker for any length of time greater than a couple of days, I kill the games here when I return. Five sessions since returning from the World Series, five nice wins. I'm up almost 30k in the last six days, and I took Sunday off!
I spoke to one of the best players in town about this yesterday. We shared a room in Vegas for much of the Series, and he hasn't had a losing day since returning either. I told him that I think I learn new things to add to my game each trip, and he agreed. But he also pointed out that we were playing higher games (400-800 for much of the trip), and that we just have to play very, very well to win at those levels in Las Vegas. He believes that we get used to playing well because we have to, and that we continue playing at that higher level when we return home. Unfortunately, that level of play is not required to consistently beat the games here, and eventually we revert to playing at a lower level that will still beat the local games.
I agree with his assessment completely. Looking at my starting hands over the last week, I find that I have played fewer hands than normal. I remember throwing away pocket 8's under the gun in an eight handed holdem game a few days ago. This is a strong hand in these games! You just can't play hands like that in big money games against tough players. They are losers in that situation for sure, but my results since returning home indicate that they are probably losers here as well. I'm going to set a goal for myself to try to retain playing a higher level for longer and longer periods after returning from a trip. Obviously, it would be best to play at the highest level 100% of the time, but I like to set attainable goals!
Yes, this post does suggest that poker players in Phoenix are not as talented as those in Las Vegas. I think that is probably also true, but I am really trying to say that players in high limit games are generally tougher. If I were to rate poker players from 1 to 10, with 10 the highest rating, the distribution of ratings in the 75-150 game in Phoenix would be very different from the 400-800 games in Las Vegas. In the Phoenix game, you might well find players that would rate a 9 or a 10, but there will rarely be more than 1 or 2 of them. More importantly, there will often be three or even more players that would rate at 4 or below. A normal game distribution might be:
10 - 1 player
9 - 1 player
7 - 1 player
6 - 1 player
4 - 2 players
3 - 2 players
1 - 1 player
In the 400-800 game in Vegas, it looks more like this:
10 - 1 player
9 - 1 player
7 - 4 players
6 - 1 players
3 - 2 player
With more than half of the table at a 7 or above, you are forced to play much more carefully. Marginal hands just wont work, unless you are sure to be playing against the worst players at the table.
